Back in Tanzania

I arrived here on Wednesday night after requesting a re-routing from my travel agent due to the unrest in Kenya. I was originally scheduled to fly into Nairobi Airport but changed my flight to land in Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. According to everyone I have spoken to here, it was a wise decision.


Here, the conflict hits home even more. The Government of Tanzania has designated an area of land near Kimokouwa to be a refugee camp, should the violence in Kenya escalate and people begin to flee. Kimokouwa, about 15 km from the border, is one of the two villages Project TEMBO works in so any refugee crisis would have a direct impact on so many already impoverished people. Tanzania has a long history of providing refuge to people in neighbouring countries needing protection.


The weather here is warm, about 29 degrees C but not humid. The nights are pleasantly cool enough to have me under a blanket at night. This time of year is in between the short rains and the long rains.


I have been welcomed again by so many friendly people here in Arusha, where I will stay until Monday night. During these days I have been meeting with some of our staff and arranging to open new bank accounts for TEMBO Trust in Tanzania. Today I also met with the contractor who will be building the TEMBO Guesthouse in Longido. This part of our project is key to TEMBO’s future success in Tanzania because it will act as an income-generating mechanism and provide sustainability. This means that many local people will be employed both during the construction phase and after. It also means that use of the guesthouse by visitors will create ongoing income that will pay for many things that TEMBO in Canada currently pays for, like salaries and project expenses.


This is an exciting time for Project TEMBO and for the villagers here. Today we set Wednesday, January 23 as the date for the ground breaking ceremony. This will be a special occasion in Longido and a time for everyone to celebrate including the elected officials, tribal leaders, other NGO’s, and the local villagers. Tomorrow I will prepare English text for the official invitation and have it translated into Swahili. Monday the invitations will be printed and Tuesday we will begin delivering them in Longido and Kimokouwa. I will work with our trustees and advisory council to plan a program suitable for this occasion. I will give you an update about our planning next week.


Another objective during this visit is to give more micro-finance loans to groups of women. Currently three groups of ten women have been receiving loans since July 2007. Small payments are made weekly and to date no one has missed a single payment. Many women have ideas for creating incomes for their families and are requesting loans from TEMBO. As many as five new groups might begin receiving loans of $1,500.00 or $150.00 per woman. It’s a small amount of money, but what a positive difference it makes.


That’s it for today. Warm wishes from Tanzania!