A Village Photo Tour

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. It's true when it comes to describing Longido and Kimokouwa. In today's blog post I want you to get a feel for the places I write about - the place where TEMBO is located. This will give you some idea of the homes people live in and the business activities they are involved in. First is Longido, then Kimokouwa.

Above and below are photos of typical fruit and vegetable markets that are scattered around Longido.
Women buy produce in Arusha or Namanga and bring it to the village to re-sell.
Almost nothing is grown locally because of the persistent drought.

This woman can purchase better quality produce because of the loan she receives from TEMBO.

Here is a used clothing store that carries a bit of everything.

Chinese exports have even found their way to places like Longido.

A common sight is groups of women with their children selling food, 

bead work, or firewood, as they are here. 

Since there is no electricity food is cooked and water is heated

over wood or charcoal fires.

There is a very crude machine for milling corn inside this building. Maize flour is used

for making chapattis or ugali or stiff porridge. These foods are staples.

Women purchase corn kernels and bring them here for grinding.

There are perhaps a dozen butcheries located in Longido. Meat is slaughtered just outside town

and brought to these shops for selling. Goat is most commonly purchased. 

Beef is also available. Ten male goats from the KWGP (Kimokouwa Women's Goat Project) 

were recently sold generating an income for the women who raised them.

The meat would be sold in places such as this shop.

What village doesn't have a Hardware Store? 
Oftentimes you might be limited in what you can get for a project or repair.
It's amazing what works in a pinch!

Here is the Post Office. If you ever send mail to Longido
it ends up in this building.


A Beauty Salon? There are a few of them.


Here is a cement house with windows and screens. This is a very nice house
and is complete with a small garden. These are certainly scattered throughout Longido.
People who live in a house like this would have a steady income.

Many villagers live in accommodation like this.

Or like this. Entire families will share one or two rooms.

This is the pharmacy in the local clinic. The clinic provides very basic health services
to the local people - treating malaria and respiratory problems is common.
So is treatment for burns.

Kimokouwa is 13 km north of Longido. It is home to traditional Maasai herders.
Cattle and goats are everywhere.

You won't find any shops here, and none of the 'cosmopolitan feel' of Longido.
Just bomas and mud huts, like above, spread throughout the countryside
that are home to extended Maasai families.

Water for family use is still drawn primarily from deep, open, man-made wells.

A common sight in your backyard are animals like giraffes or elephants.
This photo was taken from inside a boma during an August 2011 project visit.
The Nursery School in Kimokouwa is in the background.

It's all about the people who live here. You won't find any better anywhere else.

Education That Opens Doors to the Future

Nusra in the TEMBO Guesthouse kitchen window.

If you've ever stayed at the TEMBO Guesthouse in Longido, Tanzania, one of the memories you leave with is the smiling face of Nusra. And you are smiling, too, because you've been able to taste her delicious cooking in the middle of a small dusty town far away from any western influence. For international travellers visiting Africa for the first time, Nusra makes the transition so easy by preparing sumptuous dishes like spaghetti and meat sauce, guacamole, Chinese stir-frys, chocolate cake, home made bread, French fries, and the best pizza in the world. Really!

Nusra baking fresh white buns over a home made outdoor charcoal oven

When I first met Nusra in 2008 she was working as a "house girl" for a woman in Longido. She spoke very little and spent her days cleaning, doing laundry, running errands in town, and preparing meals. Those of us from Canada who knew Nusra always had the feeling that she understood a lot more English than she was letting on. When she started reading books we brought from Canada it was clear that Nusra wanted to know more.

Nusra was like so many young women I have met in Tanzania. She had loads of ability but she lacked the money to develop that ability through training. One day I said "You don't always want to be a house girl, do you Nusra? What is your dream?" Nusra shyly replied that she wanted to be a cook. But, her parents were dead and her family could not afford the cost of further education. The 30,000 TSH, or roughly $20.00 US, she earned each month was easily used just meeting basic needs.

Nusra's story is the story of millions of young girls in Africa. Without sponsorship they have no hope of realizing their dreams or of significantly bettering their lives. They are doomed to live as poor women, marrying young and raising children, locked in the same downward spiral their mothers and grandmothers were trapped in. It doesn't have to be this way, and it shouldn't be this way.

For most secondary school students, 
Vocational Training is their key to future independence

Vocational Training opens doors. Most of the girls that TEMBO sponsors who will be leaving Form 4 Secondary School this year have already asked TEMBO to sponsor them for Vocational Training. They want to enroll in a variety of programs: pre-school teacher training, tailoring, hotel management, agricultural studies, nursing, and military training. They will join young women currently enrolled in community development, tourism, police training, and other programs. When they graduate they will have the necessary skills to support themselves. Some will be supporting children, too, since child-mothers who must leave Secondary School also want to continue their education. Because they cannot return to the government school system Vocational Training is a wise choice.

Nusra at the Sinon College graduation ceremony, with Namaluk.

TEMBO was able to offer Nusra sponsorship at The Sinon College in Arusha where she studied Food Preparation. She graduated at the top of her class - no surprise to any of us - we knew she was very talented and hard working. As it happens, Nusra's graduation occurred just as the TEMBO Guesthouse was opening in January 2009. We needed a trained chef and Nusra needed a job. It was a win-win situation. Nusra has continued to develop her skills. Her pizza is famous throughout Longido - just ask any international NGO worker who spends time in town. Did I mention that the TGH does not have electricity or an oven? So how can Nusra cook pizza, you might wonder? You will have to visit Longido to find out her secret. You won't be sorry you did.

My dream is that one day TEMBO will be able to fund all requests we receive for Vocational Training. Every young woman deserves a chance to learn a skill that will enable her to be self supporting and live an independent life. Young women like Nusra stand as shining lights to girls in the community. What they are able to give back in exceptional service makes the initial investment in sponsorship so worthwhile.

Celebrating the Girls and Women of TEMBO

The girls and women I know in Longido and Kimokouwa are some of the strongest and most resilient people I have ever met. This year, on International Women's Day, March 8, I celebrate and give thanks for their lives.

Our lives are worlds apart in many ways. Most Tanzanian women live without the conveniences and blessings I often take for granted: running water, electricity, affordable quality education, good medical care, abundant food, and so much more. It is good that I can leave the comfort of my own life and culture to live in their world when I can. It helps me to put so much in perspective. I always return home feeling so much more grateful for what I have been given simply because I have been born in Canada.

Members of the KWGP group, their husbands, and village leaders.

Since my first visit to Tanzania in July 1998, I have watched little girls grow into beautiful young women and mothers. Some have chosen to remain in their bomas as traditional Maasai; some have had no say in making decisions about their lives; others have had courageous mothers who have pleaded on their behalf that their daughters might go to school; and there is a growing number of girls who have both parents wisely including education opportunities knowing that the world is changing for the Maasai as it is for people everywhere.

And isn't the world in transition? Few on this earth are not caught up in the fast moving current of change knocking at everyone's door. The women I am thinking of today want life for their daughters to be different than it is for them and they are willing to pay a high price to make this happen. They walk miles in search of firewood and water, spend long hours selling foodstuffs under the hot African sun to earn small amounts of money, and have had their lives given value by the number of cattle their husbands have "paid" for them.

Penina with her mother, daughter, and extended family.

I laud all the girls and women in Longido and Kimokouwa who have the audacity to dream for something better then they have today. I honour the women able to make small positive changes in their homes and families as a result of their participation in the micro-business program. And I honour the girls requesting education sponsorship and working hard to daily overcome great obstacles simply to stay in school.

Future generations will reap the rewards of your hopes and dreams, hard work and quiet sacrifices. And leaders will come from among you, even in your lifetime. I know this because I know you. You are a part of a great momentum composed of so many mothers and daughters all over the world. You are not alone. Happy International Women's Day!

Some of the TEMBO sponsored girls at the TEMBO English Camp, 2011.

Stories About Remarkable People

In this blog space I want to share stories and photos about the colourful, hopeful, and resilient people I have met since first setting foot in Tanzania in July 1998. I want you to know about the world they live in including their challenges, hopes, and dreams, and how they overcome daily obstacles few of us would ever withstand. In particular, I want you to meet the girls and women TEMBO Trust sponsors in the Education and Micro-Business programs it runs in Longido and Kimokouwa, two villages in northern Tanzania. You will also meet the staff on the ground, the people who work day in and day out to improve life in the villages and to make TEMBO's vision a reality.

Some of the women in Kimokouwa. Mount Longido is in the background.

Longido girls fetching water after a busy day at school

Since 1998 I have made many project visits to Tanzania. I have taken thousands of photos that tell as many stories. Some I have shared in journal notes I have kept and written about in other blogs. Still, my collection of stories and of photos keeps on growing, right along with the town of Longido.

I hope you will feel free to add your comments and thoughts. You can enter your email address in the column on the right. This will ensure you are notified whenever a new entry is posted here.