Kwa sababu maisha magumu

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It took a helluva lot longer than I thought, but the survey has been completed. Actually, the survey itself was done probably about a month ago, but translating all the Swahili surveys (about 500 in total) into English and then complying all the data took me a few more weeks to finish. We also decided to make up T-shirts for the volunteers, and of course that took a lot longer than expected due to the usual obstacles that I have become accustom to facing here in Tanzania.

We had 100 shirts made, sent the first 50 to be delivered by bus from Dar – and they got stolen at the bus stand. So, we had to wait another week until the next 50 arrived in town. Once I got to the village, I figured I’d be distributing them right away. Instead, I met with some of the village board members who over looked the T-shirts and then one of them took the box home. It’s still at his place, so we are still in the distribution process. I assume he’s holding onto them until they start rising in value. On the plus side, about 25 volunteers have gotten their T-shirts, somehow at no extra cost. More importantly, however, since we now have all the data from the survey, for the first time ever the villagers and our foundation actually know the basic demographics of Nhobola.

And I tells ya, their estimates were as far off as an Al Strachan trade prediction! Eric Lapointe for Eric Lindros, can you believe that crap! Anyways, I would hear guesses from people saying that the village had anywhere from 1000 households and as many as 10 000 people. In reality, its about half that, about 540 homes and 3200 people. I say about because although these statistics will help us determine the characteristics of the village, they aren’t exact. They are definitely in the ball park variety. When you conduct a survey to an uneducated populace, and those that are filling out the forms don’t have much of an education themselves, the numbers just don’t always add up. Add into the fact that although we had English and Swahili versions of the survey, the two languages don’t always translate very well. Throw in some Sukuma, and you get a few beauty mixed up answers. Furthermore, since us Canucks have a different way of thinking than they do, there were many answers that I found bizarre, yet to them they probably thought that was exactly what I was looking for.

For instance, in answering their annual income, many people wrote “5”. Five what, I had no idea. As I would later find out, whatever number they wrote represented the bags of crops they sold that year. Now I just had to go back and ask 350 farmers if those bags were of Maize or Millet and we’d be good to go! I ended up just averaging out whatever a bag of crop was, and in the end the average income for the village is about $126 bucks Canadian, not even close to a loonie a day.

I don’t want to bore you folks with numbers, but there were some stats that just jumped out and hit hard when I finally tallied up the final score. For most, its about a 5 km walk to and from the nearest water source, and that water ain’t clean. Can you imagine walking 5 km a day for crapy water! Better question, how many people actually still walk 5 km a day back home at all? Soresy!

Of the 1570 or so adults in the village, only 9 have university degrees. I was actually surprised it was that high, considering the overwhelming majority only completed Standard/Grade 7 or had no education at all. Perhaps the most alarming figure that we saw though deals with the number of kids not in school. Going into the survey I figured many kids would be kept at home to help with the farm and not able to attend class. But the real reason why about 720 kids aren’t in school is simply because they are too young to attend. Over 20% of the population falls between 0-6 years of age and with no pre-school, they stay at home. This age bracket is the most pivotal stage in someone’s life as the brain is still taking shape. And with no schools and basically nothing to do, kids here aren’t stimulated enough to develop as we were back home (well the non-public school kids anyway). In addition, since there are only 2 schools, one elementary and one secondary school in the village, there is gonna be a huge influx of kids in the coming years. As it stands now, the village is ill-equipped to deal with this.

The biggest gut wrenching answer I saw, however, was not a number but an explanation and is the title of this entry. We had a question that asked if the family planned to have more children or not and too explain their answer. In this category, the second most popular answer was ‘Kwa sababu maisha magumu.’ In English, the statement is basically saying the family doesn’t want children because life is too hard. There is no point in giving a life when there is no reason to live. There have been a few moments that have really hit me deep during this trip. Poverty and the harsh life that people live here is seen everywhere, but there have only been certain instances when I was stopped in my tracks. When I first translated that answer I had to call it a day. To me it basically said theres no hope and no future for these people. Being a Leaf, Expos, Rough Riders and now Bombers fan hope is my fuel and to see many people with none is a hard pill to swallow.

The good news though is now that the survey is completed we can start implementing our project on the ground. In a few weeks, we will have a water surveyor come to the village to examine the water table to pinpoint the best places to drill for water and install the bore holes to make the trek to clean water an easier one. Following that we have a teacher turned farmer from Arusha coming to help the farmers organize themselves and teach them about financing and how to farm not only to feed themselves but to make money. With an average of 7 hectares of land per farmer, the potential for economic growth is there. In the meantime well be working on our proposal for funding. Come mid-November, our cargo bin of donations is due to arrive and we will then start setting up our sports programs in the village and in town as well. And by sports, I mean real sports. That’s right folks, baseball and hockey are coming to Shinyanga! And along with the two greatest games in the world, will be bringing a few dingers of hope and a couple a clappers of character for the people who needer the most.

Next week, for about 3 weeks straight, I’ll be heading home….well to the homeland that is. Get your shoulders ready folks, this brown clown is India bound!

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Photos

The Volunteers
About 32 altogether. They did a great job and have helped us and their own village out a great deal.

Foot Soldiers
I kinda grew attached to the volunteers who conducted the survey. I trained them in the class here for two days. All the land that they had to cover and the surveys they filled out, thats hard work. You don't win the war on poverty without your foot soldiers!

Valuable Experience
Conducting the survey has given these folks valuable experience. Participating in the developmental process is huge and they are gonna be the ones that lead the rest of the village to make their own lives better in the years to come.

Village Leaders
Even the political brass of the village got involved which was a great sign. This project is for the village and if its gonna be a success, its gonna be up to them to getter done.

Maple Leaf Forver
I didn't have much to give them but I got some pins and stuff and some put them to good use.

Come to my Office
The village committee is only about 5 people....I think. But every meeting I had there would be about 30 people. I not sure if its because they wanna know whats up or if its cause I'm that much of a superstar but either way I was more than happy to entertain the crowd with my broken Swahili and minimal Sukuma.

Nice Header
This is actually a dramatisation. However, everytime I gotta go in that lil office to have a meeting I ding my noggin on that header. I did that 5 mins before that pic.

Big Meeting
Again, I thought this was suppose to just be us and the leaders of the village. But when were in town, the people come.

Long Meeting
The meeting probably lasted about 4 hours, all in Swahili. I didn't understand anything, but had a feeling that it was more of a pep rally to get excited about the project, which was beauty. Just way too long.

Fab 4
On the ends sitting down are the founders of the ASMK and in the middle is the Village Chairman and the district leader...I think thats her title. Anyway, all in all the meeting was a big success.