Rough Justice

Just a quick note on crime and punishment. It really doesn’t pay to be a criminal here in Tanzania. The other day when sitting in town having a spot of lunch, I saw a man running past the window in front. Then shortly after followed another, and another and another – the chasing pack consisted of around 30 men and boys becoming increasingly more chubby/elderly as they passed. The reason for the excitement? A theft. The result? Although not witnessed, was at best a good beating and at worst a death.

The next morning when eating breakfast (not sure why it always happens at mealtimes) I saw on the TV a man being dowsed in petrol and burned to death, again a thief. When discussing the practice with some the family they said it’s very common and they fully support it. Then they told the story of when they used to run a small kiosk outside their house, the daughter of the family was running it one day when someone reached through the bars to steal some money – on shouting thief all the village men managed to catch the perpetrator… luckily a neighbour happened to have his axe with him so he stuck it in the thief’s head and killed him. Justice!

Needless to say, when I told them about Tony Martin, they thought we live in a very odd country indeed.

What’s for dinner?

I am frequently told that Tanzania is not a hungry country and that there is plenty of food available – looking at the countryside so should it be the case, with lots of very good land available.  Like the country as a whole – I have not been hungry.  It seems that there is a great deal of interest in my dinner, so let me give the low-down.

The staple is rice rice rice… and lots of it, but somehow a very nice type that is grown locally and subtly different to what we are used to at home.  To accompany we will have fish from lake Victoria cooked whole with loads of bones or some ‘meat’ which I think is goat in small but adequate quantities.  Together with this we have a soup (actually a sauce) to poor on the rice made of tomatoes or carrots and onions, and maybe an avocado, but probably a banana. 

My favourite meal is rice with some stewed beans in a sauce with a chopped sweet banana on the top.  A combination I can advise you to try at home.  Some other highlights are the chapattis made of wheat flour and the sugar cane you can buy from a cart at the side of the road.

The most difficult meal to stomach is the traditional Ugali - this is a maize flour paste which is very stiff and bland.  You make a small ball by rolling it with your right hand then press a small hole with your finger to let you scoop up a smattering of soup.  It takes me twice as long to finish than everyone else on Ugali night.  I then have to go straight to sleep – my body is so busy trying to digest the food, it closes for all other business.  

Breakfast is usually a couple of bits of dry white bread, although on Sunday, because all the women we out, I was treated to a fry-up.  7 deep fried potatoes – Good morning!

 

Cement in the Bush

Today was a most incredible day. 

 

First thing this morning, while having a sneaky 75p [1.5 days average earnings] coffee at the best hotel in town, little did I know what was in store for the rest of the day.  Arriving at the office I was told we were going on a safari (this is the term for any trip, not just looking at animals).

 

The safari involved going about 1 hour by tarmac road outside Arusha, then 25km on a dirt track, then I think 10km on no road at all.  The only way of navigating was by heading in the direction of a specific hill.  There was much debate in Swahili as to which hill was the correct hill to follow.  Needless to say we took a 4×4.

 

I have never been in such a remote place in my life, in every direction there was literally nothing but space, and you could see for miles and miles and miles.  No buildings, no power lines, no agriculture.  No nothing.

 

The job in hand for today was to establish the exact coordinates of the area of land using a GPS reader.  In addition to being a micro-financier Mr Sauni is something of a consultant.  He has a background as an engineer and seemingly a specialist in geology.  He is also very good friends with a certain successful businessman in the constructions industry based in Arusha.  Sauni had somehow identified this area as having a large deposit of good quality limestone.  The plan is for the somehow rather loaded businessman, who will remain nameless, to establish a limestone quarry and cement works here – producing 150 tons of cement a day.  A bold enterprise indeed.

 

The trip home was eventful too, including a hardly surprising puncture, getting caught in a herd of cows and having to wait for a rather amateurish rescue operation.  By the way the road in the picture is an official public highway – and the way it is planed for 150 tons of cement to pass each day.  You can imagine the scale of this man’s ambitions.

 

 

The trip made me think a lot about the balance of economic growth and the damage it will cause to the environment.  But really, can we condemn a project which will employ 1000s of people, bring export and tax revenue to Tanzania and reduce the cost of cement, on the grounds of environmentalism??  I’m not sure.  What I do know is that the unspoiled beauty of this patch of Africa is squarely endangered.

Labour day

Ironic I suppose, as relatively few are in paid employment here, there was a huge May day procession.  It seems that all employers were in competition for the most enthusiastic staff.

Salt of the Earth

I had a bit of a shot in the arm earlier this week.  I was beginning to get a bit frustrated with the management of the micro-finance I’m working with.  There are a number of things that I am not keen on.  Anyway, I got out of the office for a client visit – traveling about 30 minutes by bus from the office.  There I met a lady who has had 5 loans from TCBA.  Her business is very simple… twice a week she travels from Arusha to the border with Kenya to buy salt, she takes about a ton and a half, which she sells wholesale to shops in Arusha.  It seems somehow the salt is cheaper in Kenya.  She uses the capital from TCBA to buy the stock, of which over the years she has been able to increase the amount considerably.  The effect is that she has been able to save enough to build a house and send her daughter to school.  It was a perfect example of both the need for credit and the power of micro-finance — and by the way, she had never missed a repayment in 5 years!

Pole Pole [Slowly Slowly]

As we all know, nothing happens fast in Africa.  Well until today that is; I was a bit annoyed because my camera suddenly decided to stop taking pictures.  Not really believing I would be able to get it fixed I went to a small photo studio, who asked me to leave it with them.  Within 45minutes I had a text with a quote, and after agreeing in 2 hours I collected it in full working order with a new fuse in one of the circuit boards controlling the lenses.  How about that for service?!

Safari

Apparently Arusha is the gateway for Tanzanian safari, so naturally I thought I should give it a go at the weekend.  So along with the other volunteers, I took the short trip to the Arusha National Park, although it is one of the smallest parks it is supposed to be the one with the most varied terrain and includes the not insignificant mount Meru which at 4500 meters is bloody big - but somehow overlooked by Kilimanjaro.  I thoroughly recommend the safari.  We took a 4×4 on a game drive in the morning seeing buffalo, warthogs, zebra, buffoons among other things - then a walk with an armed ranger.  We walked through forest and marshes finding more water buffalo and loads of giraffe which were only a few yards away, also 3 types of monkey all in the trees.  When in the forest with the monkeys we heard what sounded like gun shots in the distance, it wasn’t though – the guide told us it was a bush-buck warning the monkeys of some danger.  They then all went crazy, making a very loud grunting/barking sort of noise – this, in turn was a warning to other animals further away.  I don’t know if we were the cause of the commotion, or if we should have been worried about some other imminent danger.  I guide didn’t seem bothered so we continued our stroll.  Unfortunately no lions and no elephants, for these I need to take a longer trip to one of the bigger parks which I hope to do soon. 

 

 

Uji and Chips

They say that the simple things in life are the best.  When I have a spare hour or two I tend to ask the guys at home what they want to do; the answer is always the same… “can we go for uji?”.  So we walk half an hour into the town sit outside a shop on the side of the street and get half a pint of very hot porridge from and thermos flask.  There we will sit for a while watching the world go by.  If we are lucky we can wash the uji down with a plate of chips.

 

Tanzania Capital Boosting Association

It has almost been a week with TCBA and I have not yet mentioned them properly. They are a small micro-finance organisation run by a Mr Sauni. There are about 450 clients, who are small entrepreneurs from in or around Arusha. To qualify for a loan each individual must form a group of 5, to which the loan is provided. This reduces the risk of defaulters as the group is jointly responsible for repayments. Loans begin at 100,000 Tanzanian Shillings which is about £50, with at maximum of £250.

The types of business that we lend to varies but could be street food vendors, small tailors, charcoal collectors really any small scale enterprise.

There are 4 permanent members of staff: in addition to Mr Sauni, there is Julius the accountant, Emmanuel who vets the clients and Lightness who assists him. The offices are in the centre of Arusha, this is where clients will come on a Monday and Wednesday to make repayments.

Congratulations Miss Silvia

Who is Miss Silvia?  I have absolutely no idea, but I went to her send off party at the weekend, and gave her a jar of honey for the pleasure.  The send-off is a pre-wedding ceremony which is hosted by the bride’s parents to mark her leaving their home for that of the new husband.  It is also the opportunity to receive the bride price, well at least a representation of it.  This representation takes the lengthy form of all the women at the ceremony presenting the brides mother with a pair of kanga (the brightly coloured clothes that are worn by most African women).  I have no idea what she is going to do with what must be at least 60 pairs. 

But the present giving does not end there, after the kanga comes the much more practical ritual of the ‘Mother’s bucket’, all the women will now present something useful for the home.  Maybe a bowl, spoons or roll-top bin, they deposit these in a large bucket which is presented first.

There were also the other usual wedding ingredients such as food, drinks and dancing and a very good acrobatics show at the end.