I’m alive! I just thought I should let everyone know that, with how long it has been since I updated my blog. I’m sorry it has been so long since I told my stories, but I hope you enjoyed your vacation and got to read something else, like the entirety of C.S. Lewis’ works.
A lot has happened since I last posted, but I will try to keep to the point on this one (do I say that every time? Has it ever happened?)
About 2 weeks ago I was able to meet with my co-worker in the U.S. for the first time, Dr. Mary Crave. While we have emailed and Skyped a number of times, we have never had the opportunity to meet until she was coming here for work and meetings. Mary flew into Arusha (northern Tanzania) to spend a couple of days there, so I took the bus out to join her for meetings and a club visit. I decided to make a stop on my way to visit my friend Robert in Rombo (Ooh! That’s fun to say!). Robert was one of my friends and translators from my last time in Tanzania, so I was excited to visit him in his new home on the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro after 4 years! I had no idea how far north I would be heading, but discovered after I arrived that I was within a short walk of the Kenya border. I have heard that bus trips in developing countries can be dangerous (actually, I have seen that first-hand), and my trip to Rombo definitely confirmed this. Don’t worry, I made it safely and without incident…and after I reached my destination it took me less than 5 minutes to remove my fingers from clutching the seat in front of me. The road is actually quite nice and well kept, but the hairpin turns without guardrails does make one start thinking of loved ones. Rombo is beautiful on the slopes on Kilimanjaro! If you have ever seen Kilimanjaro, could you send me a picture? Because, due to low clouds, I never glimpsed more than the base. After a delightful (if not short) stay with Robert and friends, I headed on to Arusha.
Mary arrived in Arusha late that night and the next day we prepared for a full day. First we headed to a meeting with an NGO (Non-governmental organization) based in Canada called Farm Radio International (FRI). We were greeted warmly at their offices by Gizaw and Margaret who were so excited to find out what 4H is doing in Tanzania and were excited by the idea of creating a partnership. Basically what FRI does is takes agricultural information and disperses it on radio channels that they work with. It may be information about crop rotation, or the current prices of maize (corn) in the area. The idea is to take the information to the farmers and agriculturalist in an easy and affordable way. Community groups may meet each week to listen to the programs and then discuss the ideas, and ask questions. Recent research found that listeners are 5x more likely to adopt an improved agricultural practice than those who did not. The best part of our meeting was how excited and ready everyone was to find a way to partner FRI with 4H Tanzania! They invited us to stay for lunch and we had a great time talking about our organizations, international development, and education. As I looked around the table I couldn’t help thinking that I am one of the most privileged people in the world! That feeling didn’t fade as we made a quick visit to an organization down the street: World Vision.
If you aren’t familiar with World Vision (WV), they are one of the largest NGO’s in the world. Their main office in Tanzania is a large campus in Arusha, just down the street from Farm Radio International. Mary and I met with them to discuss their work with technology education. WV is working on setting up pilot computing centers around Tanzania. People would be able to use the computers and the internet at a low cost and receive training on how to use the internet and the resources that are available. As we are working on providing a resource through the Virtual Knowledge Center, we want to be able to get our information out there. World Vision was wonderful to meet with and I couldn’t stop grinning as I learned about their various programs and aid work.
After our meetings we headed to a 4H club meeting to observe. The Themi Primary School in Arusha is actually a test project for us as we try to analyze gender equality in 4H. Themi actually has two 4H clubs, one for girls and one for boys. They meet at the same time and do the same projects, but separately. They are even getting a little competitive when it comes to their gardening. I attended the boys’ meeting while Mary attended the girls’. They are a very new club and this was actually only their second meeting. Even so, they had a Chairperson who led the meeting from an agenda and a Secretary who read the minutes from the previous meeting. I wish all 4-H clubs got going as fast as this one! After the meeting they took me outside to show me their gardening projects. One of the problems that 4H clubs face here is that they hold their meetings right after school and the kids can be pretty hungry and tired by that time. To avoid this, Mary and I brought some small snacks with us, mandazi (like donuts without sugar) and soda. The girls finished their meeting first and as they were heading past our meeting room, a 4H advisor grabbed two of them to pick up the trash and the empty bottles from the boys (who were still meeting). This may sound like a small thing, but it is exactly the kind gender bias we see everyday, in and out of 4H. And all these seemingly little biases add up to make a very unequal environment for girls and young women.
After our time in Arusha, Mary and I went to Tanga to help the team (Joseph, Manase, and Gudila) with parents meetings in Muheza (about an hour from Tanga). We held 3, full-day meetings with a dad and a mom from each club in the District. The purpose of the meetings was to have the parents identify gender biases in 4H and ways to abolish those. Due to funding from Nike’s “Girl Effect”, we were able to conduct research in Tanzania to help identify those biases or issues that girls face. Some include: not having enough time to participate in projects due to their household chores, meetings being too late or far away and the girls have to walk home in unsafe situations, boys taking all the gardening tools, so girls are left without any, and girls’ parents taking the money from her personal entrepreneurship projects, while the boys get to keep theirs. We asked the parents to add up the amount of time an average girl spends on household chores per day, and the amount of time an average boy spends on household chores per day. The results? 160 minutes for girls (nearly 3 hours per day!), and 30 minutes for boys. The parents were shocked to see the difference. No wonder girls had trouble participating in 4H!
While we would have loved to address all the societal biases for girls, we were really interested in finding out how 4H can change our club model to address these. We came up with a host of solutions, most of which are extremely simple: change the meeting time to a Saturday morning so girls aren’t walking home in the dark, hold parents meetings at the club level to educate parents on the importance of 4H and their kids 4H projects, etc. I think the most important thing that parents wanted was simply for other parents to attend the training like they had. If other parents could see the different expectations of girls, they may change their ways themselves, they simply aren’t aware.
After the trainings, it was time for Mary to head back to the US. Since she was traveling to Dar es Salaam with Susan, in her car (NOT A BUS!), I decided to grab a ride for a visit to my dear friend Sammy! Sammy was my translator while I was in Tanzania the first time. I know I have said that about other people, but while the other translators were with our group, Sammy was MY translator, meaning he, my partner Brett and I spent all day, almost every day together in Mbete and I couldn’t wait to see him again! I stayed at the YMCA in downtown Dar and spent the first day wandering around downtown. I found a hamburger place (HAMBURGERS!) and grabbed lunch. After I was exhausted, I took a bus to a wood carvers market near Sammy’s work. He called while I was there and said he would be there in about 15 minutes. As I was walking down the sidewalk, I looked up, and there he was. I gracefully and calmly approached him and shook his hand to say hello. Ok, so I actually screamed his name and ran down the sidewalk and gave him a huge hug…drawing the attention of several bystanders. We met a friend of his, Amani, at a restaurant, and sat down to catch up. The next morning I rode the bus back to the area to attend church with them. Sammy had given me directions to get there, but I found myself standing in front of a movie theater, wondering where the church could possibly be. I called Sammy to come and find me…turns out the church was INSIDE the theater. The church meets in the theater! How cool is that? Even better, after singing and announcements, they have a coffee break before the sermon. I was in love. (The sermon was great too!)
That evening we went to an American couple’s house to play cards. When I walked in the house…I smelled something heavenly…pizza. The first pizza I have had in 5 months, and it was delicious. We played Phase 10 (aren’t you proud, Grandma), ate, and laughed for hours. And not that it matters, but I won the game…by a lot.
Well, I have attempted to keep it short, and considering the length of time I am covering, I think I did ok! I promise to not go this long in the future. And on that note, my future in Tanzania is limited. I will be heading back to the US in a little over 1 month. I arrive in Tulsa on November 23rd (the day before Thanksgiving), so mark your calendars accordingly!
As always, below are links to my pictures, and links to Nike’s “Girl Effect” videos. I found these videos a couple of years ago and still watch them for inspiration. I double dare you to not smile and feel empowered as the music reaches its climax!
Thanks for reading and again, I’m sorry for waiting so long to write!
Muheza Parents Meetings Pictures -- Sorry, I just added them to the existing 4H Tanzania Album...their at the bottom.
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