An Uneasy Peace in Longido

Travelling back to Longido from Arusha yesterday I was struck by the number of young Maasai men our vehicle passed along the way – groups of them – crossing dry barren fields or walking along the roadside. It was an unusual sight and I concluded there had been a ceremony somewhere.

When I was dropped at the roadside in Longido, on my way to the TGH, I passed TEMBO Housekeeper, Rosie’s home, and asked about her weekend. “Too many Maasai in Longido,” Rosie replied. When I arrived at the guesthouse I got the story from Carolyne and Nusra.

Longido, with hydro wires in the background and a finished road.
Development is changing the town, yet an uneasy peace is felt today.

It seems there has been a dispute going on for quite sometime between the pure Maasai and the mixed Maasai in the towns and villages here in the north of Tanzania. The mixed Maasai, also called Larusha, have moved to areas where farming is possible, so they can grow crops. They bring their cattle to the pure Maasai for grazing and keeping. The pure or traditional Maasai have retained their practice of keeping herds of cattle and moving the herds around to find food. Nusra used Sanjoy as an example. “You might see that he has 50 cattle but they are not all his. Maybe only 10 are and he is taking care of the others for grazing.” The Maasai have asked for food from the Larusha in exchange for taking care of their cattle and they are refusing to return the cattle until they receive food. The Larusha are retaliating be cutting the water lines, since they claim the water belongs to them.

As a result of this, violent disputes are rotating throughout the north. Yesterday the disputes moved to this area. Hundreds of Maasai warriors armed with pangas and spears descended on Longido and other towns threatening the farmers. Nusra said the shops in Longido closed in the afternoon and no one ventured out of their house after the sun went down for fear of being harmed. Carolyne heard that people had even been killed down the highway at Oldonyo Sambu during the weekly Saturday market. Here at the TGH, one of the guests was hit with an iron pipe.

Today there are still groups of armed Maasai here in town, though I have not seen any disturbances and people are cautiously going about their work. There is, however, an atmosphere of fear pervading the usual “laid back” atmosphere. Mama Nai was just at the TGH and said she was also afraid and wanted to return to her home as quickly as possible. Mama Nai added more information about the happenings on Saturday at the Oldonyo Sambu market. The Larusha stole cattle, goods, and money from the Maasai who had gone to the market to sell. Now the Maasai are threatening revenge. The local police are only a handful of people and they, too, are afraid to get involved. Mama Nai feels the Military Police might need to be called to monitor or intervene in the situation.

Children, like Rosie'd daughter, Noella, are kept out of danger.

It’s difficult to tell who is in the right and who is in the wrong. I don’t know enough about the situation. It seems there is some relationship to water underneath it all. The harsh reality is that water is scarce and getting scarcer, and the short rains are not due to begin for many weeks, if they come at all. 

A Day Around the TEMBO Guesthouse

Wednesday, September 19:  The TGH (TEMBO Guesthouse) is such an integral part of the workings of TEMBO Trust. Through the TGH, TEMBO is developing the capacity of many local villagers who work here doing various important jobs. And guests who stay here have the satisfaction of knowing that besides excellent accommodation and food, they are supporting TEMBO programs designed to help girls and women in Longido and Kimokouwa.

The towering Jacaranda Tree now blooming
scatters soft purple blooms transforming the dusty streets.

As I write this blog post this morning the place is filled with activity – it has been since 5:00 a.m. There are a lot of guests here right now and that makes for long days and creative sharing of space to meet everyone’s needs.

World Vision Tanzania is a regular visitor and TEMBO is grateful for their support. There are about 28 of them here for meals and as many of them staying in guestrooms as can be accommodated. TEMBO staff has helped the overflow requests find other lodging in the village. World Vision makes good use of our large inner courtyard that doubles as a meeting area. Their work during this visit is to map the World Vision project area with hand held GPS units. They are doing this for World Vision Canada, their funders.

Three of the guest rooms are accommodating some prospectors looking for gold in the area. They are working with a major geological company and have been here for awhile. They have set up a small area at the back of the TGH property where they bring their samples, sift them through a screen, then analyze the contents with a very sophisticated portable hand held unit. Everything in the handful of “dirt” registers and is named and the percentages are recorded. One of the prospectors tells me he found a large deposit of uranium on another expedition he was on near the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania.

In the kitchen Nusra, Carolyne, and Mama Ali are preparing dinner for the crowd of 33 who will show up hungry in a couple of hours. Whenever there is a crowd at the TGH, Nusra and Carolyne need extra help, and Mama Ali provides some ‘casual help’ and works efficiently alongside them.

Mama Ali cleaning fish for dinner.

And outside, on the TGH patio, sits one of the Maasai cocos or grandmothers holding Angela, Carolyne's 3 month old baby daughter. This coco takes care of Angela when Carolyne is working and brings the baby to the guesthouse to be fed during Carolyne's shift. Angela is a very content baby and already has beautiful curly dark hair to complement her soft skin.

Coco with baby Angela.

And in the TEMBO Trust office, at the front of the TGH, Paulina, Mama Nai, and I sat with an elder from Kimokouwa Village and his daughter. He brought his daughter to the office to explain why she wanted to quit school. The father wanted to be sure we knew he was not the one wanting his daughter to leave school. His daughter is in Form Three and not doing very well academically. Our counselling did not pay off, even when we offered to try to enrol her in a Vocational Program. It was up to the girl to make a choice. She wanted to go back to the village. Before they walked away the father told us what we already suspected: his daughter would now be married.

Sometimes things just don't turn out the way you'd like them to.

In My Second Home

It's been too long since my last post. So much to do before leaving Canada.

It certainly is good to be back in Tanzania after an absence of a whole year. I was warmly welcomed by everyone - familiar faces in Nairobi, where I landed - to the staff and villagers in Longido. The trip is a long one and my sleep pattern is still adjusting to the 7 hour time change. During the flight from Amsterdam, I sat next to a 2016 Olympic hopeful- a young Nairobi policeman who is a marathon runner. I will follow his progress with interest. One of the nicest things about travelling is the people you meet.

One of the colourful shuttle buses. I can't disagree. 

It's September and Longido is dry. Mt Longido does not have a lot of water to share since it has not rained in a while. The TGH - TEMBO Guesthouse -  is ordering a truck full of water this afternoon in preparation for the houseful of guests it will accommodate tomorrow. We're fortunate to be able to do this. Most people simply have to get by with less water when there is so little. Some turn to the open wells of unsafe water that is shared by the animals.

The internet connection at the TGH is intermittent right now so today I have come into Arusha for business. I was the last person on the shuttle so the driver brought me right to the Everest Chinese  Inn where I will spend the day working in my room. He made up for the not-so-nice shuttle driver that brought me to Longido from Nairobi and left me one the roadside rather than at the TGH door. This fellow was the exception in my experience.

On the way to Arusha we stopped at the bustling weekly Saturday Market that was just setting up in Odonyo Sambu. We dropped people off who added their hoping-to-be-sold goods to what will be hundreds of people selling anything and everything to thousands of people from miles around. The driver needed to do a quick tire exchange on the back right.

Market place setting up.

The staff in Longido were anxious to hear news about TEMBO co-founder, Marian Roks' year of cancer treatment. As I talked, I was only too well aware of how absolutely fortunate I am to live in a country like Canada. TEMBO staff, Mary Laiser, listened intently then told me about a woman from the village who had cancer. I looked at her and said, people here just die, don't they? Every single thing here related to health care and treatment costs out-of-pocket money. Most people do just die.

This week will be busy and I will be collecting stories everywhere I go. They are everywhere.

Toilets and Education

Three of many girls receiving TEMBO sponsorship.

No matter where you travel in Africa, the same thing is true:

Adequate sanitation encourages children to be at school, particularly girls. Access to latrines raises school attendance rates for children: an increase in girls’ enrolment can be attributed to the provision of separate, sanitary facilities.

World Health Organization (WHO) 

In the news this week we learned how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is taking action to fund a solution that addresses a problem affecting the health of so many people throughout the world. They held a Reinvent the Toilet fair and awarded a grant to the California Institute of Technology for coming up with a winning design that met these requirements: it runs without the use of water, electricity, or a septic system; it operates at a cost of no more than 5 cents a day; and it captures energy or other resources. This is part of an impressive larger strategy the foundation has set out. The fair has stimulated a lot of conversation that shows the widespread interest in finding realistic alternatives to both the lack of toilets and adequate sanitation in developing countries. 

Some UN statistics

As an organization that sponsors so many girls and young women for education and micro-business opportunities in rural Tanzania, TEMBO is keenly aware of the difficulties girls face. Toilet facilities are lacking in traditional settings like Kimokouwa. It's a sensitive enough issue for girls in the developed world to sometimes go to school when they are menstruating. Try managing this where there are no toilet facilities or where toilets are shared with boys. At the impoverished and resource-lacking Kimokouwa Primary School, where many of our sponsored girls come from, facilities are very poor. Many other rural schools throughout Tanzania find themselves in the same situation. As a result of very poor hygiene, sickness abounds. This contributes to absenteeism that results in very poor grades.

I am delighted to see that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding so many different initiatives related to overall health and sanitation around the world, including in various districts in Tanzania. They are working through the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program and the winning design in the 2012 Reinvent the Toilet fair is already being tested in South Africa. 

It's so important to see the connection between things like basic sanitation and education. And it's crucial to work with the local residents to come up with a design that meets their needs if we want to be successful. The Community-led Total Sanitation model that originated in Bangladesh 10 years ago, and is now being used by the Gates Foundation, involves villagers, entrepreneurs, and governments working together. You can read more in the strategic overview, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. It's worth the read and our support.

Be Inspired

Some TEMBO sponsored girls who attended TEC - TEMBO English Camp - in 2010.

Dear TEMBO Trust Secondary School Sponsored Girls -

I know many of you in places like Longido may not be aware that the Olympics are taking place in London right now due to a lack of electricity or TV. The athletes are doing some pretty amazing things and I wanted to share one of them with you today. It's about a 16 year old girl named Gabby Douglas.

Gabby's story is printed here in the New York Times. The important thing I want you to know is that this very young athlete has become the first African American woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Gymnastics. This was no small accomplishment and Gabby had to make many sacrifices to reach her goal. Most of all, she had to gain confidence and to believe in herself. She told herself during the competition, "Believe, don't fear, believe."

16 year old, Gabby Douglas: "Believe, don't fear, believe."

Gabby knows she is now an inspiration to so many young girls all over the world and I wanted you to be some of those girls. You may not want to be a gymnast, and you have dreams and goals of your own. The message here is simply BELIEVE IN YOURSELF and have confidence that you can overcome whatever obstacles you find on the path between you and your goal. For you this might be just staying in school, or saying 'no' to marrying young and having a child. Keep your focus on your goal to finish Secondary School, then take the next step to learn something after Secondary School. Then, the next step will be clear. You can do it.

Good luck as you continue Term II studies at different schools in Longido District. I will end with another question I found today - I think it's a good one, not just for you, but for people of all ages.