Blogs from West, Tanzania, Africa - page 3

Winding Down.This was our first morning without Daniel and Ashley. Eluid is our steady server who drops everything to meet our needs. His smile is contagious and his calm demeanor a joy. Our typical 'spanish eggs' or hard-boiled eggs and toast keeps us every day until mid-morning tea. Jay and Pedro spent the morning fleshing out the 3-year curriculum program for KARUCO. I sneaked in at one point and listened in. Fabulous to hear the debate, the reasoning, the ideas about what courses to offer and when. What is the focus? Who can teach such a thing? How will this meet the real needs of the students? All good stuff. Brighton came a tad later. He and I discussed what seemed like 'everything' for quite a while. He is a deep and kind man. His ideas ... read more

KAYANGA Update: Sorry I have been quiet for a few days. Power has gone out every day. We had no water for several days, and it is unseasonably cold and rainy. Can you believe it? Africa! We were told this is the dry season - so we are teasing our Tanzanian friends that they have told us a fib. As I type I have a half bucket (3 gal) of hot, hot water for me to mix in with the full bucket of cold water for my evening bath. It really is all the water one needs to get clean although at home I am sure I use much more. Our team is extremely good at not complaining about these types of inconveniences. It makes me really happy to be surrounded by people who have hearts ... read more

CURRICULUM TASK FORCE MEETING MONDAY! The Educate Tanzania Team is ready for the week. Early breakfast and meeting in the conference room with key leaders from the community. Graduates from Sokoine University (the only Agricultural University in Tanzania), the Director of CHEMA - a program designed to improve rural life by addressing poverty, the Community Development Officer, a retired professor from Sokoine, members of the KARUCO team, and of course, the Educate Tanzania Team. Brighton had asked me to facilitate the meetings which I agreed to do. That facilitation got a tad awkward as our teams tried: to merge the formality of Africa with the casualness of America; to propose new procedures among people accustomed to leading groups in ways they felt comfortable; to flatten the budding organizations among people who are used to heirarchies; and ... read more

CHURCH I mentioned church in another blog entry but it deserves its very own. Anytime a service lasts from 10:00 till 2:00 someone should write a blog entry. The Lutheran church just in back of the hotel is home to many of my friends in Kayanga so it feels good to revisit there. The entire Educate Tanzania team went and dutifully sat on the front bench. Rachel Kakulima interpreted for Jan and Ashley and Pastor interpreted for Daniel, Pedro and Jay. The music was outstanding as usual. A little electric keyboard, sychronized voices and slight dance movements. I didn't realize I was moving to the music until Rachel asked me, "You like?". Halfway through, I was reminded of the casual approach toward time as various members of the choir showed up during a song and simply ... read more

KARUCO AG TAG / Destination Karagwe, Tanzania - January 22 - February 3, 2013 We take off tomorrow - January 22nd! KARUCO AG TAG will follow Jan, Daniel, Pedro and Jay - 4 curriculum and program development specialists, as they make their way through Tanzania - getting to know farmers, Ag business owners, national and community leaders, youth, and families in Karagwe. You are invited to tag along. C'mon! We will work closely with our our colleague and partner, Dr. Bagonza who founded KARUCO, and our other partners who work tirelessly to develop KARUCO. This blog will help tell the story. (Note: connection is spotty so frequency of the blogs may vary.) Kayanga, Tanzania: Our destination. A small town in the remote Karagwe District in NW Tanzania. It is the center of our activity while in ... read more