School Water Committee Training

We've been training primary school water committees at our most recent rainwater harvesting schools, Haraa and Qaru Lambo. Mohammed, our rainwater harvesting co-ordinator, and Sadiqi, our master fundi, facilitate the component concerned with management and maintenance of hardware and water, while Husna, our public health nurse, facilitates the health and hygiene aspect. Each water committee is comprised of teachers and students. We try to maintain a gender balance -- our approach to everything we do -- but it's a little difficult in schools where female teachers are outnumbered by males, a common occurrence in remote rural schools. CPAR Tz firmly upholds the basic human right to food and water, so our water committee trainings always include snacks, sodas and water.

Qaru Lambo School Water Committee, with Husna & Mohammed

Haraa School Water Committee

Photo update of Awet girls' hostel

Participatory Baseline Exercise

We are facilitating a participatory baseline exercise in Karatu rural communities to develop our new food security program. Using participatory tools like community mapping, transect walks, seasonal calendars, wealth ranking, resource ownership and control, activity profiles and focus group discussions, we have the opportunity to spend time with women and men farmers to get to really understand their situation, and to assess and make plans together to implement a food security program that will get their desired results.


Transect walks are taken through designated areas of the community to observe people, topography, use of natural resources, cropping patterns, water points, etc. to identify problems and opportunities. It's a chance for community members together with a facilitator to observe and analyze stuff going on in their communities from a fresh perspective. And, there are always surprises like stumbling upon children who should be in school...


The Seasonal Calendar lays out weather patterns and activities that occur on the farm during the 12 months of the year. As a partner of rural communities, it is important for us to understand the challenges, responsibilities and pressures farmers face at particular times of the year. Timing is everything in agriculture so CPAR Tz and farmers need to be clear on when, for example, farmers need access to improved seeds and other agricultural inputs, and which times of the year they may have time to participate in training sessions.

Women and men are separated for various activities in order to capture the unique and often very disparate perspectives of both sexes. One of the more interesting exercises is the "Activity Profile" whereby women and men work in separate groups to lay out a day in the life of a woman or a man. When the profiles are presented to the larger group, much laughter ensues when the women need several sheets of flip chart paper to present their day, and the men can usually stretch their daily activities to 1/3 of one sheet. After the initial laughter comes reflection and analysis as to why their days and hence their lives are so unequal...

Let's Talk!

The "Sister Du's" are winding up their program with the girls at Awet Secondary School. After much discussion, reflection and laughter, the Tanzanian school girls and the Canadian nurses have learned a lot from each other. The subject matter has been substantial -- human rights, gender issues, sexual and reproductive health, building self-confidence, setting goals and overcoming obstacles. On Wednesday, the girls performed an igizo (skit) for the entire school. Building on their own experiences, they portrayed obstacles faced by many Tanzanian girls wishing to further their education. The girls themselves played all the roles -- the exasperated girl, the supportive but powerless mother, the chauvinistic father, the predatory boyfriend, the 'role' of HIV&AIDS -- and the result was both entertaining and disturbing. The theme for the performance was "Let's Talk". Post performance, there is a lot to keep talking about.

Looking Good!

Work is proceeding well at Awet Girls' Hostel. We expect to get the roof on in the next week.

Sister Du!

cool, self-confident women with their own unique flare!

Sherry, Sylvie, Deana and Karolyn -- nursing prof and students from Algonquin College in Ottawa, stayed on with us after the great Kili-Awet adventure to facilitate a dynamic exchange of gender, human rights and sexual and reproductive health education with the girl boarders at Awet. After spending lots of time with the girls, they are now way cooler than any of us CPAR Tz staff.

"Bongo Flava" (Tanzanian Hip-Hop)