It’s that time of year when that
man in red, Father Christmas (or Babu Christmassy), begins his world tour, and
this week it was time for him to come to Tanzania. This was a bit of a shock to
the old fella as he is used to the temperature at his home at the North Pole.
Irene came across him when she
attended a local craft fair. He certainly attracted a lot of attention with the
children, especially when he handed out sweets and presents.
But the older children didn’t
want to miss out either – there is no limit when it comes to Santa.
And when the African drums
started there was no holding him back.
However, even Babu C is not as
groovy as one of our shop staff, Athman. Although he has stunted growth he is a
big character that always has a presence enjoying dancing to all kinds of music, even with someone hanging
from his back.
At Neema Crafts Athman, as well
as all staff, are represented by colleagues on the Democratic Workers
Committee. This meets once a month with management (aka Malcolm for the next 4
months) to discuss areas of concern to staff. One of the treats at these
meetings are plates of pop-corn.
Near to us is the ‘Gentle Hills Hotel’.
Its name creates thoughts of green hills and clear flowing water. For some
reason, however, the owner decided to decorate the entrance with a model of a
leopard carrying home a dead deer, perhaps as a present to its family.
There was another sort of present
this week. Earlier one of our guard dogs, Bella, decided to fine a safe place
to give birth in the shelter of some rocks. This week she gave birth to 5
puppies.
As a long time follower of
Crystal Palace FC Malcolm is used to disappointment.
This week there was a home match
for the deaf football team from Neema Crafts. The supporters turned up with
great expectation. Some of them even brought their own football, made to a
local specification – from plastic bags!
Unfortunately, after a thrilling
match, we lost 2-0. The unbiased view of Ally, the teams organiser, is that the
loss was the referee’s fault – we woz robbed!
Unfortunately Ally ‘woz robbed’ for a second time this
week. Mobile phones are probably one of the most valuable items that most
Tanzanians own, where even a modest one costs about a month's salary (£60). They
are even more highly prized than in the UK, not only for their cost but also
because in East African culture communications and relationships are most
important.
One day, during a tea break, a
thief stole Ally’s phone from the ceramics workshop where it had been left to charge.
However, the thief did not realise we have CCTV. Enquiries continue to see if
the phone can be recovered. Although the thief is recognised he may have moved
away.
There are a team of people in the
Admin office helping prevent Neema Crafts being robbed. One of these is Mariam.
Though of stunted growth she is not someone to cross!
Fortunately we are not ‘robbed’
by the scenery here. The Sunset Hotel has a spectacular view over Iringa, and
Irene enjoyed sharing this with Zachi, the son of Ben and Katy, the Directors
of Neema Crafts.
Many of the deaf men at Neema
Crafts have formed a football team which go out, with one of the Diocese Priests, to villages for the Sunday Church Service and to play the local
team. Last weekend Malcolm decided to travel with them.
The 50 mile journey took about 3
hours. This was partly because of the state of the dirt road, but also included
a delay of about half an hour due to the only road to the village being flooded. Although it
had not rained much this area is prone to flooding as the rainwater comes off
the surrounding hills into the valley.
After many of the team waded into
the flood to test the depth and waiting for the water to subside the driver
risked driving across the 50 yard gap – leaving Malcolm behind to take the
photo, and then to wade across himself. Fortunately there were no crocodiles!
The church was packed, and the
sun very hot. For many this meant sitting out in the sun as the church is only
partly constructed, not having any roof. Fortunately for us we had the shade of
a thatched canopy.
During the service one of the
team, Ally talked about the work of Neema Crafts in proving how productive and
useful to society disabled people can be.
After lunch the teams prepared to
clash. Malcolm lead a large group of children in cheering for Neema Crafts
(which you may think was a waste of time as our team was deaf ….. but the opposition weren’t!!!!). After a hard
fought much, including a penalty, Neema won 3 – 1. Now just a 3 hour journey home!
Following on from last week,
window frames have now been put into Julius’s house. Malcolm visited again to
meet the family, and to see their old home which is a mud-brick hut.
One of the hottest jobs at Neema
Crafts is the ceramics area where there is a kiln for firing pottery and fusing
glass for jewellery. This week the kiln was fired up by one of the
potters, Maneno.
The kiln was designed by a visiting specialist and can fire up
to 45 mugs at a time. It is designed to run on sawdust bought from the nearby
saw mill. The sawdust is placed in a large hopper and fed into the kiln by a
series of pipes.
Last week we introduced Agustino
who was making hanks of wool ready for dying. This week the hanks were dyed and
left out to dry in the same work area as the kiln.
One of our tailors is Julius. He
was the first born in his family, but because of his disability of having
undeveloped legs he was not regarded as of any value, and hidden away at home.
As an adult he made some meagre money by sewing sacks by the side of the road.
One day, the farmer who owns the farm we visited last week noticed him and
offered him a job. Julius’s skills were later recognised by Neema Crafts and he
was trained as a tailor. He is now one of the most productive workers here.
One of the schemes of Neema
Crafts is to raise funds to build houses for the workers to buy at a
discount. With his earnings Julius saved enough money to purchase a plot of
land and to make a 5% contribution to the cost of building a house on it. The 2
roomed house has recently been built and is just waiting for
doors and windows to be fitted. (Julius will think about installing electricity
and water sometime in the future). When we visited last week he was levelling
the garden by hand and plans to rebuild the 50 yard track leading to his house,
again by hand. Enabling staff to own their own homes is a key step in making
them valued members of their communities.
We sometimes think that certain
people should be hidden away. In the following video being shot for one of the
UK companies who assist Neema Crafts by supplying rolls of felt at cost price,
someone makes an un-welcome appearance (taking the photo of Julius above)
Although he thinks he knows a bit
about history, and about the battles in the Great War in France, Russia, Turkey
etc, Malcolm doesn’t remember that fighting in the 1914-18 war took place in
Tanzania. One of the war cemeteries is near Neema Crafts in Iringa. This week
the UK’s High Commissioner for Tanzania came as part of a nationwide visit to
meet UK citizens living in Tanzania and she held a brief remembrance ceremony
to honour those killed in war.
Later she took the opportunity to
visit the workshop with her Vice Consul, to speak with the staff and to find
out how their lives have been transformed by having employment. She also went
away with a car full of goods bought from our shop!!!! The next best place for
retail therapy to Oxford Street.
The week always begins with a
service in the chapel led by our chaplain. This is an opportunity for staff to
pray for the coming week and for the work of Neema Crafts. It will also be one
of Malcolm’s duties to make announcements of what will happen in the coming
week – he had better start remembering some Swahili!!!!
Some of the techniques used here
are a reminder of the traditional ways of working. There are several weavers
using hand machines. Agustino is one of the older disabled workers and he turns
cones of natural wall into hanks ready for dying, using a traditional wooden
machine turned by hand. These hanks are then used by the weavers to make cloth,
or to make table runners on the smaller table top looms.
Miriam (Mim) is a physiotherapist
working at Neema Crafts. Because many of the severe physical disabilities in
adults are a result of child-hood difficulties not being treated properly she
provides care to children in the community. Paulia suffers from cerebral palsy
due to a difficult birth which has resulted in weakness in her ankles and left
arm. Today she received her new, reused, boots to help her to walk.
There have been opportunities for
relaxation. This week was the 2nd birthday for Alessia (daughter of
Ben and Katy Ray, the Directors of Neema Crafts). Fortunately Irene remembered
to bring a roll of pre-made icing to decorate the cake.
A regular feature of life here is
to visit a local farm on Saturdays to play Volley ball. This farm has been in the
same family for generations – and for a moment the farmhouse reminded us of
Merrie England.
Until we saw the scaffolding which certainly doesn’t meet UK
Health and Safety standards.
We arrived in Iringa, Tanzania,
just 26 hours after leaving our home in St Neots. Not bad for a 4,600 mile
journey by car, coach and 3 aeroplanes.
Iringa is set amongst the
mountains in southern Tanzania, which means the weather is cooler, but the air
thinner than where we worked in Central Tanzania 8 years ago.
Our first day was spent finding
our way around the craft workshop which employs 100 physically disabled and
hard of hearing adults. In under-developed countries like East Africa, where
everyone struggles to scratch out a living, it is vulnerable groups such as
these who really suffer from discrimination as it is believed that they are
unable to contribute to society. It was to prove this attitude to be wrong that
Neema Crafts was set up 14 years ago.
Irene began to learn about the
stock control of products, including those made by the tailoring workshop. This
is a particularly busy time as the centre prepares for a major ‘artisan’s fair’
to be held next weekend in Dar es Salaam when it is likely a large amount of
stock will be sold.
Malcolm’s first day included
going out as part of a group to complete negotiations to purchase a plot of
land about 5 miles from Iringa. This will be used to build an additional 20
subsidised houses to be purchased by staff. This will be a major step in
building their self-esteem as valued members of society. Although land
boundaries are uncertain we were assured by the surveyor that a rectangular
plot of exactly 2 acres would be properly identified through the use of GPS satellite
tracking.
Tanzania may be a developing
country, but it is moving forward quickly in adopting new technologies
It's time to pack again, this time to go to Tanzania.
It's 'interesting' when you have to decide what you need to take when you are going abroad for 6 months. Whilst sorting this out Irene came across the suitcase she used when she joined the Wrens before we married. It is now far too small to use for Tanzania, and yet, at the time, held all her worldly possessions. Has the suitcase shrunk, or have we just got more 'stuff'?
Now she had to decide what to leave, what to throw away and what to take.
Fortunately between us we can take 4 large cases and 2 small. And this also enables us to to take some supplies to the Neema Craft workshop. Everything from beads to bales of felt; face masks to headles (for weaving machine). The mountain of clothes and boxes seemed impossible, but Irene performed her magic and managed to pack it all turning a chaotic pile of 'stuff' into well packed order.
In a few days time these cases will be unpacked in Iringa where we start to work at the Neema Craft workshop for disabled and deaf adults.
And what was Malcolm doing during this hard work? Playing table football with his grandchildren - what else? Well at least he was out of the way.
PS the result of the question in the last blog about whether Malcolm should do something with his beard before we go to Tanzania was that everyone said either to trim it or shave it off. No-one thought it should be left alone. There has therefore been a major attempt to once again create order out of chaos
We have been married since 1973 with 4 grown up children and 7 grand sons and 2 grand daughters. Malcolm retired (early) as Director of Corporate Services (Treasurer) of a District Council. Irene has had a range of careers most recently as manager of a Volunteer Bureau and Business Broker for a community project.
