Women's Group at Mbaaseny

I should not understate the distances we covered each day in the DME projects because the Diocese area is so very large. Sitting here now after have traveled through the area so many times over five years and considering the road conditions at the time, I feel like it was the norm and no problem but really there is a lot for me to be thankful for.

The first women's group we worked with was the Mbaaseny Group which was a part of the home parish of the Hon Bishop. His wife was part of the group and while she did not hold high office within the group, she had an aura about her that gave her the right to great respect. I found her to be a knowledgeable woman.

At this time Mch Majola was in charge of the King'ori District and was the Pastor for Mbaaseny and he had encouraged us to become involved with the group. I think his idea was for us to become will known throughout the Diocese.


We gave the group a seminar about the importance of caring for the environment and it was well received. It seemed to me unusual at the time that the women liked to have a man within the group 'to provide general guidance' and they took notice of him. Also the parish workers came - the Evangelist, secretary. It is a young woman who had the official title 'Parish Worker'. I had written a short skit (role play) that we had performed using seminar participant s actors - it went well.

The group wanted a tree nursery to raise funds for the women's group activities and we supplied them with rolls of polythene tube, a watering can, a rake, a shovel and seed. We spent a day with them setting them up and they seemed very keen.
You need to approach each group as the situation dictates and this area (by Leguruke) was not a dry, difficult area but fertile and with adequate rainfall. People generally were interested in growing trees for profit or a specific need such as hedges (mchongoma), timber (Grevillea), fruit (Avocado, Guava), aesthetics (Bougainvillea). They were not so interested in indigenous species conservation though that was included in the seminar.

After the seminar we went there for the day to work work with the group to set up the nursery. Half the day was spent eating and socializing - something we were going to have to become used to. They were a good group and took to all the tasks readily. Many of the group members took me aside to ask questions: about the nursery, about the environment, about New Zealand and if we could help with a project of some sort either personally and with another group with which they were connected.
Examples of this were: the assistant head teacher of Leguruke Primary School suggesting we work at the school and her husband was the head of the Leguruke Clinic they needed assistance, the Parish Worker wanted us to visit her home parish further up the hill from Leguruke. This is how we became so busy.

It was necessary to use judgment and offer advice without being officious and this group needed to be told that they would need to water the tree seedlings on a rota system to ensure they dry out. With nobody actually living on site, they needed to organise a daily watering as well as their meetings to carry out the necessary nursery work.


Joshia had taught me about the importance of motivation and one of the ways to motivate people/students was to bring them to the Makumira nursery where they could see haw the nursery worked. We would give them some trees and a meal. Sometimes it caused extra driving for me - the Landrover could seat twelve people so two trips to bring them and two trips to take them home. It was well worth the effort though.


The Mbaaseny nursery was a success and they sold all the trees, but they told me that they found it difficult to get all the work done and keep the watering up to day.
Even though they did not want to carry on for a second season, I felt that it was a successful outcome because it showed how co-operation can achieve good outcomes, it fostered the message of 'Tunza Mazingira' Care/protect the environment, and it gave us many more contacts to follow up.

Nkwakiringa Nursery School

With a young population in Tanzania, it became obvious to many that there was a need for pre- primary schools (kindergarten, nursery, chekechea, call them what you will) to cater for the many under seven year old kids.

There were those set up as business and obviously catered for kids who were fortunate enough to have financial backing. But most did not have that ability and parents banded together and formed groups like those at Muriet. Churches also took the responsibility to set up nursery schools like the one at Nkwakiringa. Most of these small schools were unfunded and the teachers were just volunteers with no skills other than a love for the kids and a willingness to do the job.
You may laugh at the young woman at Malula who worked with kids in the godown there. She was teaching the kids [as we went in to deliver slates and chalk] the kids song 'Old MacDonald had a farm.' Most nouns have a vowel on the end in Kiswahili, and she was teaching 'Oldi Macdonaldi 'e ad a frami.' Sure she was teaching the kids the wrong words but she was doing her very best and the kids were in a learning environment, learning those necessary social skills and learning to sing and even write. We gave her as much support as we could.

Later the government made a ruling that for entry into primary schools, it was mandatory to attend a pre-school so the whole situation was more formalized and the teachers had to more formally trained and qualified. While the transition has been slow and there are not enough building or teachers, some of the older system carries on today, but that thing 'change' - some of those first teachers have been made redundant.

The way to carry tree in the village

The KKKT, DME parish of Nkwakiringa housed the Nursery School under the watchful eye of the very good volunteer teacher. A tall, lean young woman who had to walk some seven kilometers from her home.
We could not visit these churches without being fed. This is the Meru way where they feel they must do something. There would always be bites with a cup of tea (the milky, sweet kind) and later would come a very substantial meal.
We tried and even Loti tried to respectfully request a cup of tea only, or something small, but that did not really happen. We would lose time because the kitchens were fires and the cooking pot(s) sufaria sitting on three stones. And so it is not like 'putting the kettle on' it takes longer to cook things. Most importantly though the cost to the parish and individuals was high. On the other hand the food was delicious and we liked it very much. I called the rice given to me 'Mlia Meru', Mount Meru because it was a huge mountain of food! And they really did enjoy putting it on for us.
The teacher was quick to ask us for help to start a small tree nursery, partly as an activity for the children but also to raise much needed funds. The day we arrived with materials for the nursery, a man turned up who wanted to volunteer to be in charge of the tree nursery. Now that was a surprise. He was the father of of one of the wee kids who had told him of our visit. Who says kids don't know much and don't talk to their fathers?










This fellow was keen to learn all he could about tree nursery work and led the kids well. We supplied the necessary materials - rolls of polythene tubing, chekecheke to sieve soil, a shovel, watering can and of course seed. They brought in the soil and dry cow manure - easy that really, just ask the kids to bring it from home in a korai [and carried on their heads].









The tree nursery worked very well and measuring its' success compared with others is not all that fair as this one had a good supply of water. Having said that, the work had to be done and it was. We always called in to see them as we passed [which was quite regularly] and usually the guy was there and there were no weeds and the plants were growing well. The other good thing was that they were easily able to sell their trees plus we supplied a few extra for them to sell and one each for each child to take home.It was really good because we could take 'big noises' there because it was just a short trip in real terms and they could see a good project and the kids would always sing which was a quick way to the heart of anyone. Here are some reps from MFAT and another vol.

The Stamp Man

Wherever we are we meet and make contact with people and I suppose forge relationships without really knowing the people involved.

One such person was the young man who had a stall beside the post office in Arusha. He was a friendly young fellow and every time I passed by him we would shake hands and we would just make some friendly conversation. Although our relationship lasted for the seven years we were there, I never knew his name nor he mine. He had a neat wooden stall - really just a table with a built in chair.
He made rubber stamps out of old car tyres and carved them only with a razor blade. Many times I looked at his work with interest and he would proudly show me what he could do. He was very skilled!
I asked him to make a stamp for our project with DME and he made it for us selling us the stamp pad as well. He made a very good job of it - sadly I have no copy now to show.
We used it on all sorts of documents and it was useful for some official stuff that perhaps stretched the truth a bit. But after all it was our logo and important to us.

The thing I always wonder about chance acquaintances is where do they live, and what about their family life? When I first met this guy, he was quite young - had he married over the years? Questions that will not be answered to me, you can't know everything I suppose. But I hope he is doing well.

This is a T shirt produced from the stamp my friend had made. We raised funds and had a stencil thing made for printing on T shirts. The plain T shirts were also made locally. We produced a lot of these shirts and used them for gifts to people who helped within our projects and as prizes for school kids who had done well in their particular environmental project.

Funny how things turn out though. We were in Christchurch (NZ) during one of our breaks and we wanted to get some pens printed for the project. I can't remember their name, but a company in Sydenham we visited understood what we were doing and asked if some T shirts be of use to us. They had made a mistake in the spelling of whatever they were supposed to print, so they can only dispose of them by giving them to garages to wipe oil! We were welcome to them! We were very grateful.
Our trip back to Tanzania started with Qantas and of course we would have been stung by an overweight charge on our baggage. I phoned them and after showing proof of what we were doing, the freighted the T shirts free of charge and for that we thank them.

I still have an inward smile to think that we were able to give kids brand new clothing (albeit wrong spelling) which they had earned through their good work and in most cases it was the very first item of brand new clothing they had owned in their life! That's got to be good.

Survey of Ngarenanyuki

The Hon Bishop wanted us to carry out a small environmental program in Ngarenanyui. Well that was an understatement because the area is huge as are the environmental problems; and that causes all sorts of other problems for the population. We were to focus here for some time.

Ngarenanyui is NW of Arusha and to get there it is necessary to pass through the Arusha National Park. I had been into the park before, but only briefly - once to carry out undercover work pilfering snails, and the other to carry out undercover work to pilfer Dodonea seed. Both with the best of intentions and said 'tongue in cheek' - I think.

Actually I was collecting Dodonea seed which is the same plant as NZ Ake Ake - the plant being endemic to NZ, Australia and Africa. It is a hardy shrub and the Maasai use the ash of it to line their calabashes to protect the inside and to give the sour milk a flavor they like. I was happily picking the seed [with Missy] when there was a rustle in the scrub and not more than 5 metres away stood this giraffe looking down at us, blinking it's long eyelashes in wonder of what we were doing.

I picked up Loti at his village, just by the Seventh Day Adventist complex and we proceeded through the gate of the National Park. Actually this was the boundary of the park and people used to walk, bike, motorcycle, lead donkeys or travel by vehicles through the very rough road to Ngarenanyuki without any payment. At a fork in the road, you turn right and after some distance you arrive at the Park HQ where tourists pay. By keeping to the left there is a small area locals call 'Little Serengeti' and budget safari people [maybe taxis or con-men] take unsuspecting tourist.
Things have changed - quite recently, the Park HQ is pretty much at the park boundary and the road has been done up. It is no longer easy to go to Ngarenanyuki in a vehicle without payment.

We proceeded into the park and stopped to look at Little Serengeti and it was usual to see buffalo, zebra and giraffe. This first time they were all quite close, but at other times they were quite distant. I was told that only occasionally are people traveling by foot were injured by buffalo - there is always the danger with them.



The road varied between muddy to rock - sharp rocks - and at times only experienced drivers are able to negotiate the road. Usually I traveled in four wheel drive to make it easier on the tyres. I was seldom able to go fast enough for third gear and at times I needed to go so slowly I needed low ratio.


<div style="text-align: justify;">The Hon Bishop wanted us to carry out a small environmental program in Ngarenanyui. Well that was an understatement because the area is huge as are the environmental problems; and that causes other problems for the population. We were to focus here for some time. Ngarenanyui is NW of Arusha and to get there it is necessary to pass through the Arusha National Park. I had been into the park before, but only briefly - once to carry out undercover work pilfering snails, and the other to carry out undercover work to pilfer Dodonea seed. Both with the best of intentions and said 'tongue in cheek' - I think. Actually I was collecting Dodonea seed which is the same as NZ Ake Ake - the plant being endemic to NZ, Australia and Africa. It is a hardy shrub and the Maasai use the ash of it to line their calabashes to protect the inside and to give the sour milk a flavor they like. I was happily picking the seed [with Missy] when there was a rustle in the scrub and not more than 5 metres away stood this giraffe looking down at us, blinking it's long eyelashes in wonder of what we were doing. I picked up Loti at his village, just by the Seventh Day Adventist complex and we proceeded through the gate of the National Park. Actually this was the boundary of the park and people used to walk, bike, motorcycle, lead donkeys or travel by vehicles through the very rough road to Ngarenanyuki without any payment. At a fork in the road, you turn left and after some distance you arrive at the Park HQ where tourists pay. By keeping to the left there is a small area locals call 'Little Serengeti' and budget safari people [maybe taxis or con-men] take unsuspecting tourist. Things have changed - quite recently, the Park HQ is at the park boundary and the road has been done up. It is no longer easy to go to Ngarenanyuki in a vehicle without payment. We proceeded into the park and stopped to look at Little Serengeti and it was usual to see buffalo, zebra and giraffe. This first time they were all quite close, but at other times they were quite distant. I was told that only occasionally are people traveling by foot injured by buffalo - there is always the danger. The road varied between muddy to rock - sharp rocks - and at times only experienced drivers are able to negotiate the road. Usually I traveled in four wheel drive to make it easier on the tyres. I was seldom able to go fast enough for third gear. From time to time there were the elusive Dik Dik and the troop of baboons, some with red bums and the big occasional old man sitting on a rock being the boss. Rarely and with luck we would see the Colobus monkey with it's black and while, hairy tail. We never saw elephants - plenty of dropping - but not the animal. They cause havoc in the water supplies and in village maize crops though. There were no big cats in the park, which is why tourists are able to walk in the park. The road climbs quite steeply in parts and sometimes there were village road gangs carrying out maintenance with <span style="font-style: italic;">jembe</span> [hoes] and they would ask for a toll. Loti usually talked them out of it but it was voluntary work - sometimes though as punishment. I thought that users of the road should perhaps contribute, but Loti's point of view was that we were voluntarily aiding the villages where these guys came from. The road climbs up into rain forest where it was generally wet and I always expected to see wildlife. We never did but for the Dik Dik, so elusive and always in pairs. But there were (often) clouds of iridescent blue butterflies which seemed to drink in the puddles on the road. The road descends abruptly and it is possible to view the whole Ngarenanyuki area in all its' dry beauty. It takes a while to descend and there is a place where there are always warthogs and they run off with their tails up like little aerials. And there is the camp where the park rangers and trainees stay - it is always green there. The road follows a ridge and the Ngarenanyuki River, with its' red water, is to the left and there are Pencil Cedar trees -<span style="font-style: italic;">Juniperus procera</span> and yes they were used to make pencils. Only a small area of them remains. From here very often there are many giraffe to be seen and from time to time we saw some of their antics. Then at the Momella Gate, the other road that went through the National Park joins here and there is a ranger post there too [and some accommodation for rangers]. This is the step off point for those who are going to climb Mt. Meru. Each day as we passed through there, there were always young men waiting to gain employment as porters - the majority went home empty-handed each day. Of course Mt. Meru dominates the landscape and we travel on its' Eastern flank. Also worthy of mention is the outstanding views that can be had of Mt. Kilimanjaro - that is when she lifts her skirt of cloud up and that does not happen all that regularly. It is downhill into Ngarenanyuki (the area), the first village being the growing frontier village of Olkung'wado with dominated by the grey colour of its concrete block building. But before reaching there we pass by the turnoff to Nasula Primary School, the name of which has been changed to Momella. This area has some fame: The movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Hatari</span> was filmed here (John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, Red Buttons) and Hardy Kruger was the one who started the Momella Lodge. The Pastor-in-charge of the area, Mch Mbise told me that as a child he remembered holding Kruger's hand. The same Pastor also told me that he once saw lions resting right on the junction of the main road and the road that we had just traveled. There was a flat, always wet area where the road was a bit tricky to negotiate and up to our left was Mwakeny Village and primary school we would work there later. Just before Olkung'wado, there is a small bridge but before that is another river crossing that leads up to Kisimiri. Before the road was improved, the main public transport was by Landrover some covered and others not. There was no timetable, when the vehicle was full, the journey started. Most times they were overloaded and tragedy did occur. If you met one of the Landrovers on the road, you had to give way as the driver chose what was the best path for him and he would not deviate! We were well known in the area and sometimes friends of ours would request a lift from us. Of course that meant the Landrover would miss out on a fare and mean they had to wait for another. The drivers and conductors did not like this situation and once they blocked the road for us by parking on the bridge. The Mtendaje came to our aid and the driver had a week's stay in jail. I had to negotiate a peace with them and made the rule that if it is a Pastor or Evangelist, then it is our business and we should give them a life. If they are our friend or the child of a friend (the Ngarenanyuki Secondary School had boarders) then it must be expected that that 'friendship rules'. They accepted that. On this trip we only went as far as the Olkung'wado Church where we spoke to Mch Mbise - in charge at the time - and the Medical Assistant who was in charge of the clinic there. They were building a new clinic at the time and moved there after some time. The Medical Assistant was a cousin of Loti's and he wanted trees for the extensive area around the new clinic. Also for his home. Mch Mbise told us that he would advice the Pastors in the area that they would see us and he welcomed us into the area. I could see that the area was dry and I was told currently the drought was the worst for some ten years. This did not improve and generally the short rains failed each year. The long rain always arrived but not with the regularity of the past. The area was going to have its challenges, but it was appropriate that an environmental program be carried out there. </div> From time to time there were the elusive Dik Dik and the odd troop of baboons, some with red bums and the occasional big old man sitting on a rock being the boss. Rarely and with luck we would see the Colobus monkey with it's black and while, hairy tail.
We never actually saw elephants - plenty of droppings - but not the animal. They cause havoc in the water supplies and in village maize crops.
There were no big cats in the park, which is why tourists are able to walk in the park.

The road climbs quite steeply in parts and sometimes there were village road gangs carrying out maintenance with jembe [hoes] and they would ask for a toll. Loti usually talked them out of it but it was voluntary work - sometimes though as punishment. I thought that users of the road should perhaps contribute, but Loti's point of view was that we were voluntarily aiding the villages where these guys came from.

The road climbs up into rain forest where it was generally wet and I always expected to see wildlife. We never did but for the Dik Dik, so elusive and always in pairs. But there were (often) clouds of iridescent blue butterflies which seemed to drink in the puddles on the road.
The road descends abruptly and it is possible to view the whole Ngarenanyuki area in all its' dry beauty. It takes a while to descend and there is a place where there are always warthogs and they run off with their tails up like little aerials. And there is the camp where the park rangers and trainees stay - it is always green there.

The road follows a ridge and the Ngarenanyuki River, with its' red water, is to the left and there are Pencil Cedar trees -Juniperus procera and yes they were used to make pencils. Only a small area of them remains. From here very often there are many giraffe to be seen and from time to time we stopped to watch some of their antics.
Then at the Momella Gate, the other road that went through the National Park joins here and there is a ranger post [and some accommodation for rangers]. This is the step off point for those who are going to climb Mt. Meru. Each day as we passed through there, there were always young men waiting to gain employment as porters - the majority went home empty-handed each day.

Of course Mt. Meru dominates the landscape and we travel on its' Eastern flank. Also worthy of mention is the outstanding views that can be had of Mt. Kilimanjaro - that is when she lifts her skirt of cloud up and that does not happen all that regularly.



It is downhill into Ngarenanyuki (the area), the first village being the growing frontier village of Olkung'wado dominated by the grey colour of its concrete block buildings. But before reaching there we pass by the turnoff to Nasula Primary School, the name of which has been changed to Momella.
This area has some fame: The movie Hatari was filmed here (John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, Red Buttons) and Hardy Kruger was the one who started the Momella Lodge. The Pastor-in-charge of the area, Mch Mbise told me that as a child he remembered holding Kruger's hand. The same Pastor also told me that he once saw lions resting right on the junction of the main road and the road that we had just traveled.

There was a flat, always wet area where the road was a bit tricky to negotiate and up to our left was Mwakeny Village and primary school we would work there later.
There is a stand of Fever Trees, with their yellow bark. The name came from the supposition that the trees contained and antidote for malaria, but it is not so. The trees though are an indicator of ground water.


Just before Olkung'wado, there is a small bridge but before that is another river crossing that leads up to Kisimiri.
Before the road was improved, the main public transport was by Landrover some covered and others not. There was no timetable, when the vehicle was full, the journey started. Most times they were overloaded and tragedy did occur. If you met one of the Landrovers on the road, you had to give way as the driver chose what he thought was the best path for him and he would not deviate!

We were well known in the area and sometimes friends of ours would request a lift from us. Of course that meant the Landrover would miss out on a fare and mean they had to wait for another. The drivers and conductors did not like this situation and once they blocked the road for us by parking on the bridge. The Mtendaje came to our aid and the driver had a week's stay in jail. I had to negotiate a peace with them and made the rule that if it is a Pastor or Evangelist, then it is our business and we should give them a life. If they happen to be our friend or the child of a friend (the Ngarenanyuki Secondary School had boarders) then it must be expected that 'friendship rules'. They accepted that - grudgingly.

On this trip we only went as far as the Olkung'wado Church where we spoke to Mch Mbise - in charge at the time - and the Medical Assistant who was in charge of the clinic there. They were building a new clinic at the time and moved there after some time. The Medical Assistant was a cousin of Loti's and he wanted trees for the extensive area around the new clinic. Also for his home.
Mch Mbise told us that he would advice the Pastors in the area that they would see us and he welcomed us into the area.

I could see that the area was dry and I was told currently the drought was the worst for some ten years. This did not improve and generally the short rains failed each year. The long rains always arrived but not with the regularity of the past.
The area was going to have its challenges, but it was appropriate that an environmental program be carried out there.

Anna

Mbise came from a large family and because he had a paying job with us, it was his responsibility to help them whenever he could. We came to know and love his family as time went on.

Mbise had told us that his younger sister, Anna was due to have her baby and that she had not been able to have a wedding.
One Saturday morning, Mbise told me that Anna was in hospital and that the baby had died. He asked me if I would help him by going into Mt. Meru Hospital to collect her. I wondered why she was in Mt Meru Hospital rather than the local one, Nkoaranga and found out later the protocol was the first should be at the large hospital and the remainder in local hospitals - but [I think] number four has to be at Mt. Meru. Purely for safety.

Our new friend Mama Upendo came to support Anna which is normal because two guys don't get involved with this sort of women's business.
I parked in the hospital grounds while Mbise and Mama Upendo went in to collect Anna. Mbise came out shortly after with a cardboard box with the dead baby inside. He told me that they had to wait for the doctor to make his rounds and sign the release for Anna.
He put the box in the back of the Toyota and I was pleased that it had the protection of the fiberglass canopy.
I was conscious of the hot sun and what it might do to the small body, so I parked with the canopy in the shade of a tree, but time went by and I had to move as the sun tripped across the sky.
Mama Upendo came out to tell me that the doctor had given clearance but payment was needed for the bed and other items. I had expected such an eventuality so handed over the amount required and soon the three emerged from hospital. It goes without saying that Anna was exhausted and upset but she did not forget to give me the 'shikamoo' greeting.

We were met by the father of the baby at our Makumira house - he was waiting for us. under the mango tree on the corner. It was then that I was asked to take them 'home'. I had not considered this, thinking to get them to our house, but they had no other option. So Mama Upendo and I went in to Mags and had a quick cup of tea and refreshed after a long morning.

As the crow flies, it is not too far up to Mbise's parents' place, but it is steep and slow traveling, but we were not going to to his place, but to the father of the baby's - well his parents'.
We were greeted warmly and offered a cup of tea and without us knowing, the box and baby were buried in the garden without ceremony. I would have thought there would be at least an Evangelist, but no.
I could see Anna crying and some there was some animated discussion and when I moved to leave, Mbise asked me politely to stay. I had no idea what was going on, nor Mama Upendo because they were talking in Kimeru - but thinking about it later, she probably did.
After my umpteenth cup of tea Mbise came to me to say that Anna did not want to stay with these people, but wanted to go home. The family of the father of the baby were demanding she stay with them! He asked for my advice.
What did I know about such things?
I said it was no use leaving Anna if she was upset so soon after childbirth. After having he baby die she would be feeling vulnerable and exhausted so it is best that she be comfortable and that means doing what she wants. I advised him to ask her again to be sure.
Mbise returned to say she was sure, but the guys family were really against her return to her family.
I asked Mbise if he thought they would become violent and he thought they would.
The car was parked the wrong way for a getaway, so I casually turned it around and parked it in the shade of a tree (I explained this to Mbise first). Anna was to 'feel uncomfortable with a sore back and hot, so she should go and sit in the vehicle with Mama Upendo comforting her.
Once they were in the vehicle Mbise and I 'casually' talked for a while forcing yet more sweet, milky tea into our bladders. Then when I saw the chance as nonchalantly as possible we moved towards the vehicle and on my nod we quickly hopped aboard and I fired up engine and took off in a cloud of dust with fists shaking and guys chasing us.

Mbise's mother was full of concern for her daughter, but her father was angry that she had returned and that he again had to support her - in his eyes, she was not welcome!
Wise Mama Upendo knew the guy and whispered to me to give him some money for nyama choma and pombe - grilled meat and booze (he like the strong piwa). I gave him the money and he was truly happy. I have no doubt he knew very well he could not refuse her re-entry into the family fold.

As far as I know, Anna had nothing more to do with the father of the baby.

Quick trip home

Missy and Joshia were carrying out an interview with a woman who had planted some 300 trees so I took the opportunity to look them over. The interview was related to Missy's masters thesis about the effects of our environmental work on local women. I was pleased with the progress of the trees and was fascinated that the family pet was a baboon!

After we had dropped Missy off in town, Joshia and I went on to Engorora to check on the water project. As we drove out of the area, Jo and Mags met me with the news of another family loss at home.

As happened regularly, the Agency telephones were out and it took three and a half hours to make contact with my brother and then with the Agency's insurers. Mo & Jo were to call at our house the next morning with travel arrangements.

We tied up loose ends with the various projects and Missy was to stay in the house - and meet Mags' uncle and aunt who were due to visit us.
DME offered their condolences and sent us on our way with their prayers.

Travel between Tanzania and New Zealand is arduous and we flew Kilimanjaro - Dar es Salaam - Amsterdam - Singapore - Christchurch.
The return was the same route and we were met at KIA by Mo & Jo 16 days later. So our house was full with Missy, Mags' uncle & aunt and Mo & Jo. Mbise was pleased to see us back.
Mo & Jo were to fly to South Africa the next morning, so I was able to take them direct to the airport the following day.

I was back into it because Missy was relying on me for transport and her time was limited; and it gave Mags' relatives a chance to see what we had been doing at Mti Mmoja, Kambi ya Maziwa, Engorora, Makuyuni.

One full week after our return, we at last concentrated on our assignment. Our visitors had left and life became as normal as it ever did at Makumira. Missy remained with us for a time but it is always good to have her around!
Having said that, we had a great deal of support from all directions and that was sincerely appreciated.

Venturing into King'ori

We called into DME office a bit late to join them in morning prayers, but was not mandatory to do so anyway. In the General Secretary's office he told me again that we were 'DME employees and we should behave as such'. He also told us that DME were responsible for us even in the villages.

I guessed that this was in response to the difficulties they had with the fish farming vol but it was good that they felt responsible for us. I had an underlying feeling that we were required to act as part of the church society and so behave in a way that would not embarrass them. I thought that to be fair and reasonable.

Mch Majola [Mch is short for Mchungaji, which mean Pastor or shepherd/herdsman, therefore a perfect title) was to take us on a reconnaissance tour. Mch Majola lived at the end of our road close to the main road and he and his wife became a friends of ours and figured in our work from time to time.

We still had the wee Maruti, so Mch Majola hopped into the passenger seat so Mags & Loti sat on the uncomfortable seats in the back with crouched heads. We headed through Usa River towards Kilimanjaro airport.
The fish farmer vol had told me the area DME covered, and sorry, I did not listen too closely but I found it to be a very large area with a very large population.
We passed Maji ya Chai and Kikatiti and turned up the road where the sign said 'King'ori'. But it turns out this is not King'ori but Malula - King'ori is some considerable distance up the road. We stopped at the godown which is a large storage shed with the village office set in part of it. There we met the village chairman, Mtendaje and Pastor Nnko. Pastor Nnko wore a brown suit and that was always how I though of him 'Pastor Brownsuit'. After a cup of tea, we went to the church on the south side of the road. It was in the process of construction made from concrete blocks and Pastor Brownsuit hoped we could help plant trees to beautify the church grounds. It was a dry, rocky, hard planting site but there was water nearby in a huge pond caused by the extraction of fill to form the main road. This pond was utilized by the local people and I was to find water was a big issue in the area.
We were taken to a well just along from the godown. It didn't look much of a well to me; a hole in the ground about ten metres deep with bits of tree trunks used as protection to stop kids falling in! It was an important well because most ground water in the area is filled with poisonous salts and is not even fit for livestock. This well gave 2 buckets of water a day and I was asked if I could find money to clean it out - well I did and it increased its output to 20 buckets a day. It was valuable fresh water.

We left old Brownsuit and headed for Kolila the place where later the woman killed herself to spark off a hunger survey that I carried out [Blog: World Food Shortage? 6.6.08]. We visited the church called 'Krismas' to see the need for planting trees there and then we passed the Mikuuni Primary School beyond which was another church. The church grounds were extensive and there was a huge area that the Evangelist wanted us to provide trees for, as a cash crop. To the West are low hills and the village of Mareu - the General Secretary has some land there and had requested trees.


There is a church just before King'ori and we stopped at the Nkwakiringa Nursery School where the kids gave us a song and they too wanted a tree nursery to raise funds - the teacher was unpaid and there was a man who volunteered to oversee the nursery. Past the village of King'ori where the the road takes a turn and the town looks like something from the wild west.
We briefly called in at the Leguruke Vocational Training School - like a Polytech - and then on to Mbaaseni which is the home church of the Bishop and where his wife was a member of a women's group. They too would like a nursery to raise funds.

It was a long day and there was a lot to take in. The general Secretary's farm area did not look like a priority area to me nor did the Leguruke area. The Bishop had a small house down by Mulala and that area looked dry. Compared to the Hifadhi areas it seemed to me that the problems were not as severe. But I decided that there was value in enhancing what already existed because the environment is a fragile thing. There was value in teaching the population there that maintaining their environment was a worthwhile thing.

The fish farming vol was quite correct we had only skimmed the surface of the area we were to work and there was much to do.

Back at the nursery we built a potting shed, banda, and cleared an area for soil, marram and sawdust. We had a wheelbarrow and sieved soil collected at the farm and mixed it with sawdust from the sawmill boys and dry cow manure. Paulina's kids helped me gather it and there was a 'ritual'.
They would come running when they heard the car coming along the track and they would hop in - kelele - noise! They would assist me to scrape the dry, dusty manure and they spread it with their hands and bare feet in the back of the car. They were covered in dust! Then they would hop in the car and strictly, I told them to sit quietly with arms folded. Then as we drove away I would encourage them to sing some song or other. At the end of the track they would get out - kelele again, and I would call out kimbia! Run! And off they would go, scampering home. In five years they never tied of this routine - nor did I. Though Pascalina was terrified of the vehicle and would not come for some time, but eventually she came aboard.


The soil was mixed with water - to the correct consistency and the pots were filled. It was a good system.

Making a Start

Even though we were in the Makumira house, there was still residual work left over from Hifadhi and finalizing other projects from various donated funds. Good old Joshia helped when he could, but sometimes I carried on on my own.

DME had given me two weeks to settle into the house, but we didn't need that long and I wanted to get going on the project.

I called at the office of the General Secretary but I could tell by his body language that he was not concentrating on what I had to say - it seemed he wanted to get the interview over as soon as possible! Mheshimwa Baba Askofu - the Bishop had knocked a guy off his bicycle on the way back from Dodoma and it was the General Secretary's job to sort out what had to be done.
I offered to wait and when he was able to relax, I had some answers.
Loti it seemed was out of favor with DME and while he was still on the payroll, he had no official job.
That raises another thing that will keep cropping up - DME was very short of cash. While Loti was on the payroll, he was not actually paid - the Makumira farm had to make money first, for that is where his wages were to be paid from. Mbise was paid irregularly - 6 months apart of even a year!
The General Secretary told me that the fish farming vol and his co-worker did not consult DME on what they were doing nor the location and the request was made that we keep DME informed. On the other had, we could proceed by making our own way and the Bishop was happy that we work with the total population in the DME are no matter their religious belief. So I took it that we would make our own way but keep up a dialogue.
The fish farming vol had demanded holiday time be taken into account when he resigned. The gist of which eludes me to this day, but according to the General Secretary, he expected leave to be taken at the completion of each year. Somehow it affected the relationship with the Agency.
We enjoyed a much more open and friendly arrangement. My attitude was to work hard to complete projects. I worked more than eight hours each day and more than five days per week. So if I needed to go anywhere or do anything, by swings and roundabout, DME had the best deal - and appropriately so!
I was again told about 'upsetting the ballance' by paying people too much. Obviously DME was cash-strapped and had to meet the wage demands of all their workers.
The General Secretary expressed the wish that any nursery we establish, should be on church land.

We went up to Loti's home place at Ngongongari where he had a large farm by his village's standards. To reach it we had to pass through the Seventh Day Adventist Seminary and I got to know the guard on the gate who's job it was to record people entering and leaving the compound - gradually he allowed me to pass without signing in.
There was a government tree nursery (State Forest Department) and we paid a visit there, meeting the manager who showed us Grevillea robusta, Cupressus lusitanica, Pinus patula and Eucalyptus maidenii seedlings. The guy was motivated and interested in the wider environment and supportive about our proposed activities. He even suggested we co-operate and use some of the nursery area for our nursery. Remembering the General Secretary's wish, we politely refused his offer and in the did not have very much to do with him - no fault, we just became busy doing what we do.

I will mention here and no doubt again: Loti proved to be an excellent co-worker. He would wait to see what my attitude was (over all sorts of things) and allow me to have my say or indicate what direction we would move in. He would interpret my Kiswahili so what I said was understood and he had great patience with me for at times he had not a clue what I was going to do or say next!

Mama Kuku is a well-known individual around Arusha and among other things is involved with Rotary in Arusha. Mama Kuku has done a great deal of work to provide assistance in various ways to the local population and her achievements cannot be overstated. Poor woman was recently beaten up and robbed, which is scant thanks for what she has done! She is regarded highly by the local population and the robbers are no more than opportunist thugs who deserve whatever fate might hand out. It will not be good in the end!
I met her (& her husband) from time to time and twice visited her at her home on the crater rim above Lake Diluti. The ritual of taking tea was like going back to colonial times.
Mama Kuku saw the opportunity to 'do something for the environment' and back-load nursery grown trees on her truck that transported day old chicks to Arusha. We had scored some of these trees through Hifadhi, and a large number arrived at the DME office.
The fish farming vol had arranged for the trees - 30 000 of them! And he was supposed to pay for the freight, but I did not know about this until later - when I had to cough up for them!
To be truthful, I did not want to deal with the trees because I would have to transport them and I knew from experience that if you just deliver trees without preparing to people and the planting hole, the success would be severely limited. The other thing was that there was an inadequate supply of water to maintain the trees at DME HQ!
At that time, there were few vehicles at DME - even the Pastors either walked, took Daladalas or Landrovers that acted as buses in the more remote areas.
In the end the trees were given to anyone who would take them away, and I transported them in bulk lots to some village offices within the DME area.

Loti and met at our home to work out how we were going to carry out the project and talk about the need to employ some people to help in the tree nursery.
Of course there was some interest in the work available because the local people thought that we would pay well and regularly. As well there was not much work around.
Mbise was our mlinzi, night guard but he wanted to work in the nursery as well. That was understandable as he did not receive regular pay to look after us - it was not our responsibility to pay for mlinzi work. You might wonder who he could stay awake carrying out two jobs. Well, we just trusted the guy.
Amani was a youg local woman who lived with her parents across the river - she was to work with us for a long time.
Veronica was a vibrant young woman of the Chugga tribe but carried with her a few problems caused by her husband.
Upendo, and while there are many Upendo's, this one was a school leaver who came to us first to sell eggs and wanted to be called 'Helen'. She came from a good family and uncounted problems in her life that may arise later.


We planned to carry out environmental seminars at schools, churches and anywhere else we thought might be appropriate. I had in my mind the content of seminars and we decided that I would make up flip chart for Loti to work from.
It would take some time to make up the chart so meantime I would teach the nursery workers what was required of them and Loti and I would make contact with the target audience.

I was pleased that I could at last concentrate on this assignment.

Setting up at Makumira

I had to decide where I was going to set up the tree nursery, and I had two choices: at our house or down at the farm by the milking sheds.

The General Secretary was happy to leave the choice up to me but I was not all that well informed, so made the decision to have it at our house.

The advantage of having the nursery at our house was that it was so handy and like Sanawari, I could pop out to do some work at any time [watering especially in the evening]. I realised and understood that having the nursery within our compound meant that people would visit us, but that did not matter. I did not realise that there would be a water problem and that I would have to fix it myself. There was a fence around the compound and that meant straying animals would not be a problem.

The milking sheds were perhaps fifteen minutes walk from the house and the proposed site was shaded by some very large Albizia trees. There was a water race nearby. This water race flowed all the way down to Valeska, one of the villages we would work with and there was violence caused when an Australian fellow, (who was advised by his Kikuyu wife) took all the water for his own purposes - entirely another story. But once we ran out of water at our house, and I transported water from this mferegi (race). Mbise and I filled mapipa (drums) by bucket so I could water the nursery. I think that is where I received my amoeba that latched on to my liver and nearly did me in! You see the school kids bathe in the river where the mfereji comes from, they clean their teeth in it and wash their clothes in it. Not only the school kids, some of the village population. Sadly this water comes from a spring just below the house and it is polluted at the very source.

There was a farm cottage (two attached rooms) in one Paulina lived with her husband Sylvester and their tribe of wild but likeable kids. In the other lived Lucy, it was she who Neema (from a previous blog - and tragic tale) lived. This was basic farm accommodation.
There was no security as such as the cows could wander around and tramp on the plants - a fence could fix that.
The other milker was old Samweli who I would trust under any circumstances (I didn't know that then). He lived way up the hill at Mulala (same village as Mbise) and he made the journey, by foot, early for morning milking and home late after cleaning up after milking.- he spent the day on the farm. Sylvester was supposed to help him with the milking but he was more often than not away with the fairies on piwa.
But this was where the cows spent the night, therefore there was the resource of fertilizer for the nursery.

It wasn't a contest really, I opted to set up the nursery beside the house and once Mags had the house in order, she set about cleaning up the garden. I cleared the area that was to be the nursery. The fish farmer vol had grown maize there, but it was hugely overgrown. It took all day to reduce the area to bare earth and I was astounded when I went outside to see the whole area teaming with siafu! Safari ants!

I will do a whole post on these incredible insects but here they covered the whole area that I had cleared and they were about 10cm deep. Now I must have disturbed them for when siafu travel, they go in file, singly or ten/twelve abreast. The column of ants can keep going all day and night and seemingly not end.
I admit to being a little alarmed because if a person fell among them, they would eat him/her! The image of that was a bit much for me.
I had 'used' them at Sanawari: I would kill slugs, cut them in half and place them beside a column
of siafu - they would cut them to pieces and take them away!
I did tests at Makumira to find what food they liked - meat/insects and fats (the cream on our milk and even avocado). They were not interested in sugar or bread.

The next day they were gone and as the nursery area was sloped, I set about digging terraces to sit the pots on. I planted some Sesbania trees to supply some shade as this part of the compound was exposed to the sun for most of the day. At the top there was shade from a huge Albizia tree but the tree did not grown within the compound. There was a huge Newtonia tree in our compound with a crown of 40 metres in diameter! Branches had reached over the house and for our safety, DME had removed those branches. A guy climbed up there and cut the branches (more than 40 cm through) with a panga - bush knife/machete! Again using basic tools, Tanzanians can achieve amazing outcomes.
The Blue Monkeys and wind caused dead branches to fall, creating a constant supply of firewood and I will add these to future posts as well.

Water came from a large tank/reservoir just up the hill and this was served by a project from high up the mountain - it was not long before this failed but that will have to wait as well. At the stream below the house was a pump house with an electric motor that could also feed the tank/reservoir. This contraption was not used much because of the expense of the electricity. Well that did not exactly stack up as Tanesco did not send out any bills! Well not exactly either! The farm had not paid for the post office box, so they could not empty it! All the time the fish farmer vols had been there, the electricity had not been paid. That was all fixed later.
But I had run pumps at the nursery in NZ and had a fair idea of how they work. The fish farmer had told me the motor could run all night and still there was not much water in the tank/reservoir! Well there were leaks and taps that could not be turned off down at the school, but I had no doubt that the actual pump unit was faulty. Everyone had tried tinkering with the motor to give it more power - it didn't need it, it needed a new pump unit. I looked at it and knew parts would be a mission to find, but later the wires were stolen, so I abandoned the idea of resurrecting the pump.
I quickly found one thing that I kept secret. I presumed the tank/reservoir was set up by the German farm manager and he cunningly had the line we were on coming from the botton of the tank, and the other outlet - to the secondary school, primary school about 30cm above it the tank was 4 metres in diameter, therefore after everyone else ran out of water, we still had some 3768 litres left for the house. Our tank held 600 litres, was made of galvanized iron and leaked slightly.
We could afford to share the water, but carefully as if everyone collected water there, we would soon run out too. In the end the only regular was Mama Upendo's family and others depending on their particular case at the time. This was because as things settled down, we only had water coming into the tank for 30 minutes per day - precisely at 7:00 am. I will reveal the reason at another time.

I haven't yet mentioned the mango trees, two of them, just inside our compound. Very large, old trees and they bore abundant fruit that attracted the monkeys, who would waste many by taking a single bite and dropping them (not sweet enough) and primary school kids throwing stones to knock fruit down. This peppered the nursery with stones and caused injuries to the kids when rocks hit them square on the head! I learned to have a roll of toilet paper handy because of the old HIV thing, I could make a wad of paper for the kid to hold on the cut and hurry home for treatment.
From our side of the trees I harvested fruit with a hook on a long pole and tossed them over to the fence to the eager (and grateful) kids.
At odd times kids would climb the tree, but I would call them down because should they fall and injure themselves, then perhaps I would be called to account - I just did not want the hassle.

So I became set up for action.