At the Diocese of Iringa (DIRA)

This morning we got up to cold showers and no coffee (hard to say which is the worst).  I am afraid that the power is once again out here in Iringa.  Our electricity has been going on and off for the past week or so.  Last night it went off for about 4 hours – so we got to read and have dinner by candle light.  This morning it was out once again – who knows for how long this time.  We are sure it will come on sometime soon – but after all, TIA (this is Africa).

About 9:00 I took a short walk over to the Diocese offices (DIRA).  (Sandy was feeling under the weather and stayed in the apartment.)  Walking into the DIRA complex is always a surprise.  You never know who you will meet there.  There was Protus (the manager of Radio Furaha), Rev. Benito (a long time friend), Peter, Rev. Ngangango, and many others.  One thing which always stands out to me is the sign on the main building.  The Tanzanian name for the ELCA is the KKK Tanzania.  Somehow the irony of this sign is never lost on me.

I arrived a little late, but that was no problem of course, because the SACCOS members had not yet shown up for the meeting – TIA.  The chairman and secretary showed up shortly after 10.  Soon afterwards the members came in.  Of the 43 members of this SACCOS, 29 made the meeting.  (I was surprised there was this many because many of the DIRA folks had left for the funeral of the ELCT bishop from Arusha the day before.) 

Before we got started I spent a few minutes visiting with the chairman about this SACCOS.  The DIRA SACCOS now has 43 members (up from 26 last year).  They had started to give out loans last year but then stopped when we advised them that they  had to increase their savings first and apply for registration.  Over the last year they have managed to save over 4,300,000 Tsc (about $2,700) and have now completed their application for registration.  I congratulated them on their good work and advised them to start lending to their members.

The meeting was fairly short today.  I talked about their status and welcomed them into the Iringa Hope network.  I told them that we were going to set aside an additional 3,200 Tsc for them to use in making loans.  Peter gave a brief lesson on the rights and obligations of members. 

DIRA is of course an urban location.  As a result their members are hoping to take larger loans and will earn a lower return than our rural locations.  I briefly discussed this with them and told them that we were advising our members to limit loans to no more than 800,000 Tsc (about $500).  This was a bit of a disappointment to them since they were thinking of borrowing over 1,000,000 Tsc.

After the meeting some more people that I knew came over to visit.  It almost seems that I know more people here than I do in Lakeville.  Finally Peter and I interviewed a few of the members.

We spoke with Rev. Joyce Ngandango, 32.  She is married with 2 children.  She and her husband find it very hard to live on what the Diocese pays them (the Diocese often pays many months in arrears and then pays far less than the “official” salary of $1-200/month).  She wants to borrow 1,000,000 Tsc ($650) to raise chickens and pigs.  It will take her about 6 months to raise and sell them.  She expects that she can earn $650 in profit from this.

Rev. Kurwa Sadataley, 28, also wants to borrow 1,000,000 Tsc.  He wants to sell eggs from the chickens he plans to buy.  He believes that if he buys 120 chickens he can get 3 trays of eggs a day from them.  Selling these in the market will net about 450,000 Tsc/month income for a profit of about 200,000 Tsc($125).  He estimates that they will lay eggs for at least 18 months – making his total profit $2,250 – or $1,500/year.

As I walk back to our apartment I start to make some estimates.  So far we have visited seven SACCOS.  We have talked with 189 members, 20 officers, and have interviewed 20 of them in depth!  Still, we have just begun!

As I write this my internet connection keeps crashing!  The power here has been out for about 6 hours now and it raining something fierce.  We are very glad we did not go out of town today and can stay in tonight!  Hope we have hot water by morning.

I walked over to the DIRA compound.

The name "KKK Tanzania" has always struck me as ironic.

Pastor Koko, the chairman, started the meeting.

The members gathered as we got started with the meeting.

Rev. Joyce Ngandango, 32, is married with 2 children.  She and her husband find it very hard to live on what the Diocese pays them (the Diocese often pays many months in arrears and then pays far less than the “official” salary of $1-200/month).  She wants to borrow 1,000,000 Tsc ($650) to raise chickens and pigs.

Rev. Kurwa Sadataley, 28, wants to borrow 1,000,000 Tsc.  He wants to sell eggs from the chickens he plans to buy.