"Quick Wins" Take a Long Time

Greetings once again from Tanzania. The team and I finally finished the report and visited all the villages in which we worked to report back on the results. Each of us took a topic from the research...latrines, water, flies, economic development, and had fun with markers and big pads of paper. In general the basic statistics on the 700 surveys we conducted were quite interesting:

-Water: The Tanzanian National Target in line with the UN MGDs is to ensure that 65% of rural individuals have access to "improved" water within 30 minutes of their home. What we found:

"Improved"-62% (Dry Season), 50% (Rainy Season)
Within 30 min-11% (Dry Season), 25% (Rainy Season)

As it turns out the access to water is still terribly low. Safe water, especially in the rainy season when villagers prefer the fresh-water natural ponds (i.e. big pools of water full of cow crap) the precentage with access to improved water decreases.

-Latrines: The government target for rural areas is 95% access to latrines and we found that the actual number is quite close to this at 88%. Yet the conditions are quite appalling. Of course I could have told someone that without doing the survey based on my own experiences. Encountering a family of goats living inside one latrine along with several latrines "full to brim" quickly come to mind. According to our rankings based on use and health benefits:

<1%:Modern, improved with Vent Pipe

19%: Improved, but O&M not completely sufficient

80%: Poor latrines or no latrines at all

The lesson here is that much more effort needs to be put into educating people about the importance of latrines and providing tools/knoweldge to assist in building and maintaining latrines. One can build a high, quality, easy to clean latrine for $30 or less. One idea we are exploring is a establishing a Latrine Revolving Fund where villages give an initial contribution and then slowly over 2 years pay back all the materials. The purchases items are basicially just a bag of cement for the floor and a vent pipe. The rest of the materials are all locally available such as clay-burnt bricks, grass for the roof, and cloth for the door.

-Hygiene: Hygiene also demonstrate an area that could definitely be improved. For example:

-50-98%,depending on the village, had feces within 10 meters of their home (watch where you step)

-53-82%, depending on the village, did not have a garbage pit...which means the garbage is strewn about which makes for very happy flies and hence possiblity of transmitting disease.

We had to be creative about where we presented. As the photos demonstrate we used classrooms, taped paper to the side of buildings, and the most effective was the "mobile classroom" which involved us using the side of the car. A local artist illustrated methods by which to prevent trachoma which we distributed. At least they could look at something if they tired of our faces. Besides discovering the Tanzanian markers last for about 2 minutes before they run out of ink, we learned quite a bit, including "Quick Wins take a long time." Quick Wins is actually a project funded by the African Development Bank to alleviate immediate shortages of water in rural areas before longer term solutions can be implemented. Two of the villages in which we worked were selected to obtain Quick Win money in early 2007. One village did receive the money and the well so I suppose 50% is not bad. Meanwhile the other village decided to sit-down right then and there and write a letter to the Deputy Minister of Water in Dodoma articulating their commitment (water fund, water committee, etc) and inquire about when the Quick Win might happen. Hence we added another task to our list for the day....rural post service.

Now the big challenge awaits...the in-depth analysis , paper writing, and dissertation.... I guess I should start saying my prayers.

Haiku for Laughter

Spontaneously

Two hearts decide to converse

Laughter says so much.

Roadside Market

They sat brilliantly

neatly arranged by the seller

as if there was nothing more important

than placing one tomato

on top of another

we all do it with our own lives

placing fruits on top of fruits

hoping to hide the blemishes;

if ever asked a price

it would be impossible to

account for all the labor,

the love,

and this is how we go on

planting, tending, harvesting,

and simply hoping there

will be sweetness at the

end of each day.

African Cake

The day of African cake began like any other. The birds starting singing at 5:30, then the roosters started squawking at 5:45 and finally at 6:00 you could here the children and mothers humming as they walked to the well or community tap or broken pipe sticking out of the ground, all the typical places people obtain water in the bustling town of Kongwa. We just finished collecting our data in our last village on water, sanitation, and trachoma (where the photo shows myself with Ester, Peter, two of my assistants, along with some villagers). It was time to celebrate. Of course the report, final fly experiments, and presentation of results to the villagers remain but the African cake was just waiting to be eaten.

We drove to the nearby village, Mlanga to pick up our cake, or rather our goat. She was not happy about riding in the pickup and tried to jump out several times. Her prayers must have been answer as my assistants decided she was too small so we drove to another villager's house to exchange her for a much bigger, more boisterous billy goat. We brought the goat back to the research station where Uweso our GPS lead, wise advice lender, and driver slit the neck. Unfortunately all we had in the kitchen was a dull, Chinese made knife which made the process of killing the goat a bit difficult. Luckily I was in the "choo"-bathroom and missed the actual process. Next it was time to clean the goat and many were quick to claim the skin which is used to make local drums. Before we could start chopping the meat we had to wait for the local vet to come examine the goat to make sure it was safe to eat. After about two hours of waiting he arrived on the scene, felt a few of the internal organs, and declared it fit for consumption. I'm not sure about the science of this method, but considering we bought 6 liters of oil in which to fry the meat I was sure whatever disease the goat might have had, it was certainly be killed in all the grease.

I, along with Rehema, the office manager shown in the photo, decided to stick to the less messy task of peeling 100 bananas that also would be fried (of course) to compliment the African cake. A few hours later the guests arrived, among them many children dressed in their Sunday best. We ate, and drank and ate some more and then danced to the Tanzanian tunes that blared from the tape player. As always I tried in vain to shake my behind like the women are so adept at doing; if only I had more time for practice! We did decide though to pass on the local brew (as these women are shown cooking).

The rains have finally arrived here in Kongwa and it has tamed the dust storms that sweep up everything in their path. It also means that soon the dry ponds and river beds which have become mere trickles of water will hopefully fill with blue life. The lack of water is quite evident as the villagers constantly remind us. They often complain of their inability to wash themselves or their clothes, the lack of water for having gardens and growing vegetables and the fact that the little water they do have is often either salty (difficult to use for cooking or washing) or from a surface source which is contaminated by cattle and whatever else is roaming in the bush. The villagers also complain about the lack of attention from the government officials. However, after recently meeting with the Ministry of Water and listening to them explain for over a hour the 15-step process for using funds provided by the World Bank, for example, I understand why water projects take so long to initiate. And each funder has their own 15-step process...African Development Bank, World Bank, US AID, etc. One needs a computer program just to decipher it all.

We are now busy working on a bit of analysis, making GIS maps, and finishing the report which will be given to the villagers along with district, regional, and national stakeholders. I have made a few Swahili blunders in the report, such as confusing "kujitegeamea"-self-reliance, with "kujisaidia"-to relieve one's self as in going to the bathroom, but in actuality the two words probaly are not so different. Hopefully my assistants will catch most of the errors.

The final poem was inspired by all the furnerals that have occured in Kongwa recently. They are large affairs where dozens and even hundreds of family and friends come to sleep, to eat, and to mourn for several days. Often the entire neighborhood is consumed by the affair and everyone stops to pay respect. Life is so fragile yet the people so strong.

Sky

If you are in need of encouragement
look up at the night sky
surely you will see
at least a thousand stars
wanting to give you their light.

No Longer Among Us

They do not cry,
much.
Tears do not feed the stomach.
They come together to remember,
to sit silently;

whispering strong words.
Death is too familiar here.
Is God taking one too many?
What is not understood
is left to simmer.
Patiently they know
faith and courage prevail.