OutreachMillennium Development Goals

Carpenter’s Kids Tanzania–Visit to Mwitikira Parish/Village

We arrived in Dodoma, the future capital of Tanzania after approximately 28 hours in transit.  We were weary and happy to find comfortable rooms in the New Dodoma Hotel.  Dodoma is in the center of Tanzania, in the middle of a 3500-foot high plain making up much of central Tanzania.  It is dry and dusty and not of much architectural merit.  Although Dar es Salaam is the capital, the government plans to eventually make Dodoma the capital and already their Parliament meets here.  Dodoma is where the Diocese of Central Tanganyika has its offices – a large, imposing building called the McKay House – and is also the center for the Carpenter’s Kids Program.  Brian Atkins and Miriam Plume, both friendly and impressive people, met us.  Miriam is from New Zealand and has chosen to work in 3rd world countries.  Brian is retired and British.  He alternates 2-month stints in the UK and Tanzania.  He manages the Diocese’s income generating businesses.  The Diocese generates its own income by running 30 small for-profit businesses – small shops etc. – because its parishes have no money to spare.  Brian is an ex-IBM manager and an off-the-scale Myers-Briggs “S”, but just what is needed to establish a new business or program (e.g. Carpenter’s Kids).  Later that evening, we met Kelly Alexander.  She is a program assistant and is also the daughter of the Bishop of Atlanta.  We slept well that night, sleeping under mosquito nets and taking care not to drink any of the public water.

The next day, Saturday, we assembled in front of the hotel and formed a convoy to drive to our village Mwitikira.  We also met Father Noah (Masima), the program director.  This was the day the 50 Carpenter’s Kids were to receive their new uniforms and school materials bought with St. Paul’s funds.  This was their second distribution because, through Buck, the Diocese of Virginia funded their first distribution in October 2006.  One of the three vehicles was filled with sacks of the materials.  The other two vehicles – all 4-wheel drives – carried us, Suzanne, Roger, Buck, Steve, Beth, Father Noah, Brian, Kelly, Miriam, John Mattoya.  We were going in force.  Mwitikira is approximately 40 miles south west of Dodoma.  Before even getting out of Dodoma, the road ceased to be paved and turned into a series of rocks and potholes.  The drivers are professionals who know the road, what path to take to optimize speed and (dis)comfort; they also know how to fix a breakdown, which fortunately we did not have.  It took 1.5 bone-jarring hours to make the trip.  The landscape is dry and barren.  It reminded us of the Arizona desert, with short, scrubby vegetation.  People lived out there because we could see their houses, not unlike adobe houses, and we saw them walking the road, often women carrying 5 gallon buckets of water on their head.  Without running water, this is their only option for a supply of water in their house.  This was the end of the dry season, 8 months long.  The rainy season was due to start in late November and last through March.  The rain, they say, transforms the desert, making it bloom, green and lush with exotically colored flowers.  It is also the growing season, when the crops are planted for an April harvest.  There were some signs of activity, some patches of land having the undergrowth and stubble burned off, but mostly, people seemed to be waiting.

The villagers at Mwitikira knew we were coming and they came out to meet us.  We were late so we began to meet them about 2 miles out of the village.  It was a tumultuous welcome, singing, dancing, drumming and over a hundred people, mostly women and children, leading us in procession into the village.  There the priest, Rev. Erasto Ndahani met us, took us all to his house and gave us a simple meal with quiet ceremony, first washing our hands – pouring water over them into a bowl – and then asking one of us to say a blessing.  Father Erasto is a young man, not a native of the village; he has been there for just over a year.  He is ordained and Mwitikira is just one of his responsibilities.  He has 3 churches in Mwitikira parish and is the pastor for 9 other villages.  His district covers approximately 40 square miles and he travels around by bicycle.  A round trip takes 3-4 days and in parts he cannot travel alone for fear of attack by wild animals.  For his work, he is paid $20 per month and this means he is wealthy in Mwitikira.  The whole village – 6000 people – is poor i.e. little money, but it is not run down.  They simply live simply: no electricity (thus no TV), no running water, heat and cooking over open fires, no cars and only a few bicycles, but some do have cell phones!

While we were eating and exchanging greetings, others were preparing for the new clothes distribution ceremony.  It took place in a shaded area and we visitors were lined up in front of, we are guessing, 600-700 villagers, mostly women and children and a few young guys.  There was much dancing and singing with drums and whistles.  Poignantly, one song portrayed someone dying from AIDS.  We were all asked to say something and we exchanged gifts.  Roger read Peter Hogg’s letter of greeting and gave them framed photos of Peter and Jim Hall.  Buck gave Father Erasto a fine silk stole.  In return, we received a map of the village drawn by the children, lengths of cloth that we could wear African style, a staff and for the men, a club.  Most unexpectedly, and perhaps significantly, we were given a live rooster.  Also they presented Buck with a fine, carved staff for Bishop Lee. 

After all this ceremony, Suzanne and Roger distributed the new clothes, shoes and book bags.  The kids came up forward with their guardians (mostly older women) in their year old uniforms, some looking quite tatty, and within 5 minutes of receipt they had changed into their new clothes and looked quite spiffy.  It was touching to see them pleased with the way they looked.  Buck and Steve had purchased soap and pencils for all the kids and we had great fun handing out these small items.

Following the distribution, we were fed a meal in the church.  It was rice, spicy beans and a chicken stew and very tasty.  The village elders and the Kids joined us.  We were provided with spoons to eat, but the locals used their fingers.  After the meal, Brian Atkins led a “brain-storming” session, asking the villagers “what do you like most about the Carpenter’s Kids program?”

The kids said they liked the support the program gave them.  They say, however, they run out of paper and pencils before the year is out.

The adults talked more about ways we could help:

The rainy season brings more mosquitoes and increases the incidence of malaria.  They could benefit from mosquito nets, which almost no families have.
They could use support for more than 50 kids, say up to 200.
Their main water supply is a well with an old pump and diesel motor.  The pump and motor are unreliable and they frequently have to use water from open wells that are not pure.
Virtually all construction is masonry and they use cement to get stable building blocks.  They are vulnerable to cement price fluctuations and asked for suggestions of alternative methods of construction.

We then returned to Dodoma.

The following day, Sunday, Suzanne and Roger returned to Mwitikira with John Mattoya and Kelly in one car, Joshua driving.  The numbers welcoming us were less, but no less warm.  After breakfast with Father Erasto, we went to their church, St. Andrew’s.  Father Erasto says the church has 1135 adult members and 1327 child members.  Father Erasto presented us with a written report of his parish and ministry.  It is Attachment 2.

We processed in with Father Erasto and sat in the chancel.  The service was conducted in Swahili but was a recognizable Anglican liturgy.  The church was packed with lots of kids up front.  We are guessing 500-600 total.  Roger preached (John translating) and both Suzanne and Roger administered the Eucharist.  The whole service was joyous, with lots of singing and dancing by multiple choirs.  It lasted about 2 ½ hours.  Following the service we were part of a receiving line and got to shake hands with everyone.  It was a most affirming experience.  The time for the offering showed how limited the cash funds are.  Everyone gave something, but it was predominantly coins; the largest coin is 200 Tanzanian shillings, worth less that 20 cents.  We, as unobtrusively as possible, gave one of our smallest bills, 10,000 Tshillings worth roughly $9.

After lunch, Father Erasto took us to an open area where they are hoping to build a new church.  They said that the present church is not large enough.  It is also simply a larger version of the typical village adobe house construction and has little to set it apart as a church, or a building of distinction.  They showed us the new plans and told us it will cost $25,000.  They clearly invited our support.  They also showed us the partially completed new rectory - the present house where Father Erasto lives is on loan.  The new rectory is roofed but needs the floors to be poured.  Again they invited our support.  They performed a touching ceremony, inviting a continuing relationship, by planting trees in our name.

Later, Father Erasto took us to two small, also adobe, churches in the vicinity of Mwitikira for which he is responsible but are served/led by Catechistis – theologically trained, but not ordained persons.  Again, we were welcomed warmly in each packed church and treated to more dancing and singing.  At each church we were generously given two live chickens.  The Catechists at each church told us how we could help them.  The first asked for a new corrugated iron roof to replace the daubed wattle one, which he said leaked during the rains.  At the other church, the request was for a new church.  The parishioners at this third church were noticeably poorer and sicker than the others.

The final event of the day was sports.  The Carpenter’s Kids played another team in netball – a version of basketball – and soccer.  The Carpenter’s Kids lost! but they had great fun.  Suzanne gave them two soccer balls.  She also gave them two Frizbees.  They had never seen a Frizbee before and enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what to do with it.

After a meal similar to the prior day, we returned to Dodoma.

On Monday, we returned to Mwitikira once again, this time to familiarize ourselves more with the village and its facilities and also to visit the primary and secondary schools.  Only John Mattoya came with us this time – we were getting our sea legs!

After the customary greetings and meal, Father Erasto took us on a tour of the village.  It is spread out with most houses on ½-1 acre, so each has an area to grow something.  We first saw the wells.  We saw the two open ones – where water is drawn by a bucket on a rope – and in one the water looked clean, but the other was almost disgusting with green slime on the top and the water a milky color.  The sides slope awkwardly and last year 4 kids slipped into the well and were drowned.  They accept that they use this water when the well with a pump fails.  We regrettably did not get to see the well with pump and motor.  It is 2 miles out of town.  The water is piped to 4 locations in the village and is where villagers can fill their containers for the day.  The village also has cisterns (number unknown) in which rainwater is collected during the rainy season (roof run-off), but at this time of the year they were empty.

On the way to the center of Mwitikira we passed a guesthouse with a small shop – the only concession we saw to a commercial center – a bicycle repair shop, and the warehouse where grain is stored.  We had an opportunity to see someone making the cement/sand blocks that are used for building construction; they are all made locally one at a time.  In what one might call the village center is a spigot for the piped-in water and the dispensary.  The dispensary is a substantial building with offices for a doctor and two nurses.  The only permanent staff is a medical assistant; the others come on a schedule or on-demand.  The nearest hospital is Dodoma.  One of the rooms is large and contains 8 beds.  It is where mothers can give birth and rest after birth under some medical supervision.  While we were there, the medical assistant was weighing babies, keeping track of their development.  The dispensary is not an HIV/AIDS center.  The nearest center is *****.  There are no civic buildings – like town hall or courthouse – that we could see.  We met the head of the village and his executive officer.  The executive officer re-iterated his concern about the village water supply.

We next visited the Primary School.  At this point it was clear that we were on an orchestrated tour because the teachers and children were waiting for us and had prepared presentations and statements.  Primary school in Tanzania covers the equivalent of our grades 1-7.  The school is on the outskirts of the village and is located on a knoll.  It has a well-marked approach road and the school buildings form a “U” around a play/meeting area.  600 children are enrolled in the school and there are 11 teachers, 8 women and 3 men.  The teachers greeted us and first took to an area where the Carpenter’s Kids were receiving their daily porridge.  Father Erasto’s wife, Rebecca, is one of the cooks.  We tasted the porridge and Roger thought it was good.  Of course, the Carpenter’s kids stood out in their new clothes.  We had lots of small gifts, which we distributed in the classrooms.  The kids were well behaved and seemed grateful for what we gave them – mostly a lollipop and a crayon.

The school buildings are substantial and when new were probably quite impressive.  They could now benefit from a coat of paint.

The teachers took us on a tour of the classrooms and invited us to address the kids.  The classrooms are crowded (student/teacher ratio!!) but another surprise was that more than half of each class sat on the floor; there were not enough desks.  They also took us to their textbook storage room.  Although the materials looked good – primary schools teach in Swahili, but the secondary schools teach in English – but they did not have enough of them.  To American eyes the classrooms looked bereft of any teaching aids.  All that was there are a blackboard and chalk and often the “black” was worn off.

After the tour, we were given lunch – some good grilled chicken – and the headmistress gave us a written report on the school in which she outlined places where we could help them.  At the top of the list are more desks – they have enough for only 1/3rd of the students – and more textbooks.  They expressed thanks for the Carpenter’s Kids program and said that the attendance of the Kids is good, and also their health is good.  They invited us back, perhaps to teach.  A copy of the report is attached (Attachment 3).  The report clearly shows the low resource level of the school; nonetheless, we could sense the dedication of the staff to do their best with what they have.  The headmistress, Irmina Theodori, was particularly impressive.

We next went to the secondary school.  While Tanzania has universal primary school they only have secondary school capacity for 20% of the children.  The secondary schools also draw from a wider area than just the village/town where they are located and thus they have boarders.  To go to secondary school the kids have to pass an exam, which only 40% pass.  For this 40%, there is only school capacity for half of them.  They also have to pay – we understand $100 per year for day students and $200 per year for boarding students.  Furthermore, as mentioned above, the teaching is done in English.  It is thus a privileged and demanding time for the students.  There is a more studious atmosphere here, but as is the primary school, it is clearly a low budget operation with none of the teaching aids we take for granted in the US.  Our time at this school was limited but again the headmaster, Kulwa Msimbulwa, had prepared a written report for us, (see Attachment 4).  It too shows the severely limited resource level under which they operate.

Father Erasto accompanied us on all these tours.  Toward the end of the day he shepherded us back to the village Parish Hall for a final meal and gathering with the village and church elders, including the primary school headmistress.  Each of them spoke and thanked us for coming and spoke hopefully of a continuing relationship.  They repeated their hopes for help from us, mentioning again the new church and an improved water system.  They also asked us to pray for them and to pray for the village youth.  Some of the requests were very simple, like religious pictures that could help with teaching Bible stories.  Both Suzanne and Roger expressed their profound thanks for their hospitality and generosity to us and promised to take their story back to St. Paul’s.

So far we have made no commitments to them beyond our support of the Carpenter’s Kids program.