UMATU Centre Gate & Guardhouse

Karatu is kind of in holiday mode at the moment. Monday was Eid al-Haj, the Islamic festival of the annual pilgrimage -- the Haj -- to Mecca, and Tuesday was Tanzania's Independence Day, celebrating 47 years of Independence from Colonialism.

On another note, UMATU Center is fenced and gated, complete with a strategically situated askari (guard) house. Against all odds, water is flowing and the electricity works so UMATU should be moving in later on this month or by early January at the latest.

December in Karatu

World AIDS week outreach came to an end yesterday with drums and drama at Karatu Market Day. The drama troupe Simba Masai joined CPAR and UMATU to put on a high-energy show. There was a huge turnout at the market, the last one before Christmas, so a lot of people took a break from shopping and auctioning livestock to take in a rather entertaining approach to HIV&AIDS education, counselling and testing.

World AIDS Week Outreach

In collaboration with Karatu District Health Department, CPAR and UMATU are conducting outreach activities at Karatu monthly market sites around the theme "Let's test and know our status". CPAR and UMATU talk about the benefits of getting tested so that depending on the result, one can take steps to stay negative or learn how to live positively. They are provided counselling services and District Health are offering testing services. Yesterday at Endabash over 50 people chose to test. Today the team is in Mangola, tomorrow they will travel to Mbulu Mbulu and on Sunday they will offer services at Karatu town Mnadani (market), the largest market in the district. UMATU members circulate through the hordes of people providing small group and one-to-one counselling and education on protecting oneself and others from HIV, proper use of condoms and they encourage people to test, if not at the market then at a designated health centre.

World AIDS Day 2008

Today is World AIDS Day. The purpose of this designated day is to motivate and educate about HIV prevention, putting an end to stigma and discrimination, the importance of testing and knowing one's status, and the demonstration of "positive" living. First thing this morning, UMATU and CPAR learned about the death of a one-year old girl and admittance to hospital over the weekend of her young mother, Maria. Maria is HIV positive but has been living in denial. Now her CD4 count is low, her immune system is weak, and she has developed opportunistic infections. The hospital here is severely understaffed and patients don't get the care and attention they deserve, so UMATU has started a "hospital-based care" program modeled on the "home-based care" program. As soon as we heard about Maria, UMATU members went to see her to express their sympathy for her loss, to encourage and counsel her, and to ensure that she was getting proper care. It was a good thing they got on top of the situation. The doctor on duty hadn't even heard about the case but after talking to UMATU promised to examine Maria and take appropriate action. UMATU spent time with Maria, helped her with food and drink, and made her comfortable. Maria now says that she is ready to talk honestly with the doctor and start the treatment program. UMATU will be following up tomorrow. Without their intervention, the prognosis for Maria would be grim.

CPAR Tanzania today

We've been gathering information about Mahhahha Primary School, next in line for rainwater harvesting and sanitation activities. Established in 2004 with the self-help efforts of the women and men farmers of Mahhahha, the school is located 31 km from Karatu town near the edge of the Rift Valley escarpment. The school has 472 students – 237 girls and 235 boys -- and 8 teachers -- 2 women and 6 men.

The school's nearest sources of water are a seasonal hand dug shallow well 3km away and a hand pump shallow well 5m away. Both are shared by people and animals. The only sanitation facility at the school is a 6-unit latrine that is shared by girls and boys. Attendance levels are low, with only 51% of girls and 49% of boys attending regularly. Teachers report frequent complaints of stomach ailments and headaches, and sometimes children even faint from dehydration.

The District Education Department has ordered all schools to establish tree nurseries and plant trees but this is difficult given the lack of water for human consumption and health and hygiene. Given the circumstances, landscaping is not a big priority. Nevertheless, over three years the school has managed to plant 500 trees during the rainy season, and 250 are surviving.

CPAR Tz will be constructing two 30,000 liter rainwater harvesting tanks and an 8-unit Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine designated for girls. Other schools participating in this project have seen a marked improvement in children's health, attendance, performance and general state of mind once they have access to drinking water and water for handwashing. Privacy for girls is also an important issue that gets addressed once they have their own sanitation facilities.

SACCOS and Landscaping

UMATU members have completed their Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCOS) training and are now ready to establish group savings, an important step in their progress towards financial independence. Instead of saying "jabini" ("cheese") for the photo, they were saying "ushirikiano" ("cooperation"). Shabani's son Fazil has completed Standard 7 and is awaiting the results that will determine his entry into secondary school. He is helping with landscaping (planting stuff) around the site, along with UMATU Centre's two Masai askaris (guards), Namayai and Leyyo.

This week in Karatu...

UMATU Centre's wall is going up. Deo and Mohammed travelled to the neighbouring district of Mbulu to check out the availability of piglets to purchase for our women's household piggery activities. UMATU, Nderingo and Naisosion, our new financial officer, are spending the week immersed in SACCOS training with the District Cooperative Officer in order for UMATU to take the next step in their process of becoming a full-fledged Savings and Credit Co-operative Society. Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. As a Co-operative Society, to borrow from the International Co-operative Alliance's definition, UMATU will officially be an "autonomous association of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise". The photo shows them taking a break from training to throw a soccer ball around.

Next for UMATU Centre...

Construction of a wall is underway -- burnt bricks and gate at the front, and fence wire and bougainvillea at the sides and back of UMATU Centre. We are also in the process of installing the two water tanks. And, we had a visit this week from a bakery equipment supplier in Nairobi to discuss UMATU's needs for getting the bakery underway. More on that later!

Paprika!

Today at the UMATU building site, Shabani and the guys are fixing the doors, testing the toilets and applying other finishing touches. After much consultation, we finally settled on the colour for the centre -- paprika! We were trying to match the colour of the building with the colour of Karatu soil, and we think we hit it right on! Next will come the water tanks -- one well above ground and one underground -- necessary to manage Karatu's erratic water supply. We will also be constructing the mandatory security wall around the centre. The kids in the photo find the goings on at the site quite entertaining, and they were really interested in the camera.

Pig Training

Over the past few weeks, Nderingo and Deo have been co-facilitating pig training with the Karatu District Livestock officer. We are targeting vulnerable, i.e. low-income, households, particularly focusing on female-headed households and households affected by HIV. The training covers such topics as how to construct a simple piggery structure; prevention and management of diseases; feed formulation; and reproduction. Many people keep free range pigs. We are trying to discourage this practice because pigs are vulnerable to diseases and parasites, and when they are running around freely they tend to destroy crops and have a negative affect on health and hygiene around the household, as you can see in the photo. Pigs are a lucrative income-generating activity in Karatu Distict. Pigs are prolific -- a sow can have on average two litters a year, and one litter can yield 12 piglets -- and a six-month old pig can fetch $80 to $100.

Nyerere Day

Today is Nyerere Day in honour of the first President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere (1922-1999). Known as "Mwalimu" (Teacher), Nyerere made sure that people from different ethnic groups and religions attended school together and thereby grew up together. He successfully united over 120 ethnic groups into one country speaking a common language, Kiswahili.

Although it's a public holiday, the guys are at work at UMATU Centre. It's in the final stages now, with painting underway. Next will come furnishing the bakery, organizing training and launching activities.

Choosing Colours

It's time to paint UMATU Centre, inside and out, so we're talking about colour. Shabani took the liberty of splashing bright pink on the window frames and bars, declaring "ladies like pink", but UMATU and CPAR "ladies" have quickly divested him of that notion. Needless to say, the "pink" is going and will be replaced by "white". Other colours will be chosen to match Karatu's notorious red soil, which oscillates from dust to mud depending on the season.

UMATU Counselling Workshop

UMATU is receiving support from the Stephen Lewis Foundation to conduct outreach education in Karatu District on topics related to HIV&AIDS, including how to live "positively". People find it hard to believe that the UMATU women are living with HIV because they're so dynamic and they look so good! UMATU members recently participated in a counselling training workshop to learn more about effective communication and engaging people in discussions about sensitive issues. This involved a lot of role-playing and sharing personal information, especially about problems experienced with men. Although women tend to be more open about HIV&AIDS issues, men generally are reluctant to go for testing so it's an ongoing challenge for UMATU members to get through to them.

CPAR Study Tour 2008

CPAR Study Tour 2008 has officially begun in Karatu. After a dusty, dusty walk around Karatu yesterday, the group convened at the office this morning for a brief briefing before heading out to pay a courtesy call on the District Commissioner and then continue on to see Rainwater Harvesting in action in rural primary schools. Japhet's briefing included him sharing his dismay while in Canada last year at seeing Africa portrayed in the western media as a continent of war and hunger and hopelessness. His hope is that the study tour will reveal a whole different side of 'Africa' -- one of motivated people working hard (much harder than anyone should ever have to work actually) to improve their lives.

One member of the study tour, Sarah Swan, is blogging the experience. Check it out at http://www.cpar-studytour2008.blogspot.com/

Check out UMATU Centre!

UMATU Centre is roofed and the finishing work -- plastering, doors, windows, painting, etc. -- will now begin.

Quick Update on UMATU Centre

We are getting very close to the 'mabati' stage. The 'mabati' (iron roofing sheets) will be on in no time. There is a lot of illegal treecutting going on throughout Tanzania. The timber you see in the photo has been legally and responsibly harvested from a managed woodlot on the slopes of Mount Meru in Arusha. For every tree harvested, a tree is planted.

Nane Nane Agricultural Fair

A huge group of us -- 44 farmers, District Extension Officer, 6 CPAR staff and 3 university students on field placement with CPAR -- had a really good time at the Nane Nane Agricultural Fair. We looked at different varieties of jam, honey and cheese, and checked out juice, tea and wine made from the rosella plant. In addition to maize cakes and biscuits, we tasted delicious 'lablab' cake. Lablab is the legume that CPAR promotes among our Karatu farmers both as a cover crop to protect and enrich the soil, and as a nutritious protein for household consumption. We saw a huge 32 kg pumpkin, a 7 foot long stalk of bananas, decorative clothing made from goat hide, and really cool furniture made out of rice husks mixed with soil. The farmers enjoyed visiting demonstration plots of vegetables, maize, sunflower, banana and fodder. They had the opportunity to meet other farmer field school members both from Karatu and other districts, and exchange ideas and experiences about livestock keeping and crop techniques. They were really impressed by the pig and dairy goat husbandry demonstrations. They shared information from their own dairy goat activities, and were keen to learn more about pigs since they are in the process of starting piggeries.

UMATU Building Site Today

This is how things are looking at the site today. The next step will be roofing. On another note, tomorrow we are taking 44 farmers (22 women and 22 men) to the Nane Nane Agricultural show in Arusha. Nane Nane is a public holiday in Tanzania. It is held on the 8th day of the 8th month (August 8th). That's right! "Nane nane" is "eight eight" in Kiswahili. It's a day for farmers, and others, to exchange information and ideas and get inspired. We're hoping to get some new ideas on agro-processing and adding value to farmers' products.

Dairy Goats

Recently Nderingo and Deo roamed around neighbouring districts, venturing over 200 km away from Karatu to buy goats. They'd find several in one location, load them up and travel together to the next location. Bit by bit they gathered up 100 rambunctious goats and made their way back to Karatu. CPAR Tz is supporting rural women's household nutrition and income-generation through distribution of 80 dairy goats and 20 male goats (beberu). So far, 80 women have undergone training and taken possession of dairy goats. They are sharing the male goats. Each woman will provide training and pass on her first born female goat to another woman, and so on and so on and so on...

Until now, goats have been owned by men. With this initative, women are busting through the gender barrier with full support of the men who know that resources in the hands of women benefit the whole family.

Latest Scoop on Rainwater Harvesting & Sanitation

Construction is completed on the rainwater harvesting tanks at Shauriawak Primary School. The school has already planted a few seedlings in anticipation of having access to water. Community members dug the pit for the ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine, and now the fundis are lining it with rocks. Kind of a grueling task but very effective in preventing latrine cave ins during the rainy season.

UMATU Centre Update

It's a lot quieter around here since Team UMATU departed, but UMATU's building is progressing very well. We were discussing landscaping ideas with Shabani today, while UMATU members were doing education outreach at the Counselling and Testing Centres at Karatu District Hospital and District Health Centre.

Many hands make light work!

Things were buzzing at the UMATU work site today! UMATU and our wageni (guests) carried bricks, many many bricks, and hauled sand. The builders among us learned from Shabani a simple yet effective method using water and a string to measure the bricks and make sure the walls are even. A lot of work was accomplished. At this rate, these buildings will be finished in no time!

What a Day!

Our guests from Canada arrived today, fresh from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. UMATU sang and danced up a storm, showering them with bright red Bougainvillea petals to welcome them to Karatu. Energy was high, the sun shone brightly (it's winter here now so this was a good thing) and everybody had a moving, wonderful time. After meeting UMATU at their temporary office, we all walked, or danced, and sang down the road to visit the building site. There we met Shabani, our master builder, and he is ready for those who want to build to meet him at the site tomorrow morning. The rest of us will visit schools and farmers. Stay tuned.