An Interesting Day At Mlowa

Today we went to Mlowa, a village we had visited last year but had not heard much from since.  Mlowa is located along the Ruaha road, about 90 minutes from Iringa.  You head down the pavement to the northwest until you hit the washboard section of dirt; then grab your seat and hold on for the next hour or so of big potholes alternating with bad washboard and an occasional flat section.

When we got to Mlowa there seemed to be no one there.  Itiweni had spoken with the pastor the night before so we were certain that they knew we were coming.  In fact, the reason we were visiting is that a few weeks ago they once again contacted us and asked if we would come and talk with them. 

Brown went to the pastor’s house and spoke with his wife.  She came out and welcomed us and told us that the pastor would be coming soon.  A few minutes later Pastor Chaula came riding up on his motorcycle.  He greeted us and told us that he had announced a meeting in church but that no one had come for the meeting.  He called the chairman from last year (who lives very close by) and asked him to come over. 

When the chairman came we went into the pastor’s office to see what was up.  Last year when we came there was a very enthusiastic group here.  They told us that they had 108 people waiting to join and wanted to know how to proceed.  Itiweni gave them a class on what is in the constitution, how the SACCOS works, how to organize, etc.  They had selected three officers and sent them to our four day training session.  We wondered what had happened since then.

As we talked to the chairman it gradually became clear what was going on.  It seems that the crop the people here raise is about half “ground nuts” (peanuts to us), 35% rice (they have a certain amount of irrigated land), 10% maize, and some beans.  The ground nuts are raised in large (10-30 acres) fields where they do not use any fertilizer, spray, etc.  The rice is raised in moderate (about 1 – 2 acre) sized fields which also do not use anything beyond their basic seed.  The maize is mainly raised beside the rice where they can use the left over water.  Otherwise a maize crop does very poorly here.  As a result, although they have seen how using fertilizer, spray, and better seed can raise their maize incomes (they told us that the yields go from 1-2 bags per acre to 7-8), there is not much interest since the “real money” is in the ground nuts and rice.

We asked about the average income here – it is about $700/year, higher than most areas we visit.  We asked if they have alternate places to borrow and were told that they do.  According to the chairman they can get three-month loans with an 8% per month interest rate.  This works out OK he said because they have a 4 month growing season and the penalty for stretching from 3 to 4 months is not too large.

So why did they ask us to come and why were there so many people interested last year?  It turns out that they had had a government SACCOS here.  The SACCOS had started up with government money, offered no training, but people could borrow for any reason and only had to save a small amount before they got a loan.  After about 2 years they all took out large loans and then did not pay the loans back.  They told us that the government appointed manager then went around and asked for payment, but when no one paid he just went away – free money they all thought!

So when they heard about our SACCOS program they at first thought “more free money!”  This was in 2010.  At this point they had 184 people interested.  When they heard that we, in fact, did demand payment and would not go away, these people all lost interest.  Following this there was a group of 108 folks who became interested.  They were all related and went to the Lutheran Church in Mlowa.  They thought they would all join, the church would put in the money, and they would keep it in the family!

As a result when we came and told them that they had to admit all borrowers who passed our criteria, they realized that some of the family members would not get in and some of the outsiders would.  It got even worse when they realized that there was no “free capital” for them to take over, but that they would have to save and contribute.  Once this became clear, they all lost interest.  The chairman told us that when he came back from our training he tried to hold a meeting on three different occasions and no one came. 

It seems that the chairman did not want to give us bad news so he just told us what he thought we would want to hear. The pastor thought that with two Wazungus coming people would show up whether they were interested or not.  He explained, however, that he has only been here a few months and did not realize that right now the people are staying in their fields to keep the elephants and monkeys away from their crops.  Mlowa is very near Ruaha National Park and unless someone is in the fields, whole crops can disappear.

We went into the house and had chai and talked a bit more.  Frankly it is good to understand some of the dynamics in these villages.  We do not want to waste any time or money working on a solution that does not fit their problem.  We are aware that there are other villages where a SACCOS is not really a good fit for their situation.  I guess this just illustrates one of the reasons that we never push to go to a village, waiting instead for the village to invite us to come to them.  Back to the University and more paperwork.

To get to Mlowa you take a 90 minute drive down a washboard, pitted road.

When we got there there was no one around.  (Yes - that is a Mosque in the background.)

Finally the pastor and the chairman showed up.

We went into the office to have a chat.

Most of the farmers were staying in their fields to keep away the monkeys and elephants.

After talking for awhile we went to the house and had chai.

Then it was back on the road towards Iringa.

On the way back we stopped at this Boma.

Back at the university it was more paperwork.

On to Kiponzero

When we left Wasa we headed back the way we came,  a 90 minute drive down a narrow, bumpy road. On our drive Itiweni and Brown, who are both in the Cathedral choir, started to sing.  As the road got rougher they sang louder.  Pretty soon Sandy had the camera out and started filming them – or at least tried to.  Bam – we hit a puddle and there was mud all over the car (again). 

We arrived at Kiponzero just minutes before a group from Gustavus Adolphus Church in St. Paul, the church from the St. Paul Synod that is partnered with Kiponzero.  They are interested in learning a bit more about micro finance.  They are accompanied by the pastor from Kihesa, who is serving as their translator on this trip, and his delightful daughter.   

We went to the church to start our meeting.  There were about 60 people in attendance (including children and secondary school students) here for the meeting.  Itiweni gave a class on how to start a  SACCOS.  She covered the organization, the constitution, the basics of loans, etc.  There were a lot of very good questions.  What are the criteria for membership?  How much are entry fees?  How many members should we start with?  And so on.   At one point the group got excited and started singing (The theme of the song they were singing was roughly that you need to work towards your goal or you will get in trouble)

We finished up the meeting and went into lunch while the group continued on with an organizational meeting .  While we ate we asked a few questions.  How much had they collected so far?  About 1,000,000 Tsc had been collected for their SACCOS.  How many wanted to join?  About 80 had said they would join (we advised that 40-50 was perhaps a better size to start with.)  How did they know to call us?  They all listen to Radio Furaha and like our program.   Will they come to the training session at Kihesa?  “Can we send more than three” was their reply.

At the end of our meal the pastor brought out a bowl and set it down.  He told us they were talking a collection for their SACCOS in the church and wanted to know if we would contribute.  Tom told him that we  (Iringa Hope) will send 3,200,000 Tsc if they get their work done this year.  Everyone one got very excited.  Tom challenged Pastor Bonnie to match that amount and after a momentary pause she said “I will match this!”  Everyone was very excited.  This SACCOs now has the funding it needs to get started.  Now they need to get their training and organization in order.

We  headed back to town and the group from Gustavus was off to visit preaching points.  Tomorrow is Sunday and we are sleeping in. 

It is a pretty drive back along the ridges.

Itiweni and Brown struck up a song along the way.  Then we went through the next puddle!

We got to the church just before the group from Gustavus arrived.

There was a large crowd for our meeting.

We started the meeting with a song.  Brown, Margaret, and Peter thought it was funny that Tom knew the words and was singing along.  (He is sooo bad at Swahili they find it funny,)

Everyone appreciated Sandy's Swahili sayings.  Our intern Margaret said she was going to be listening to mama very carefully to see if she got them right (she did).

The room got very full as Itiweni gave her class.

There were lots of good questions.

At one point in Itiweni's seminar the room broke out in song.

The pastor's little girl was very cute.

Just as we were leaving these kids appeared.  They smiled and giggled a little when Tom took their picture.

Wasa

Today we had a busy day.  We went to visit two new sites for SACCOS.  They are both on the same road so it made sense to do this, however it resulted in another busy day.  To get to these villages we went down the hill from Iringa and turned west towards Ihemi and Ifunda.  The drive down the pavement takes about 50 minutes after which we turned and headed down a long dirt road.  The drive is pretty; we went through a beautiful valley with a few rough spots here and there, but nothing we hadn’t seen before.

The one problem was that no one in our vehicle knew where we are going.  We were going to have a reporter from Radio Furaha accompany us today, but his wife had to go to the hospital and as a result we made several stops to ask for directions.  The direction we were always given was “moja kwa moja” , which means “straight ahead”.  When we finally reached Wasa, our destination, we found the Lutheran Church, but there was no one around.  We needed to find the pastor’s house.

We stopped at a secondary school and learned that the pastor lives on the other side of the village we just came from.  So, we turned around and headed back to where we had just come from.  It’s somewhat difficult to tell where the village is, but the Tanzanian members of our team knew where to stop.   The young man we talked with said he was planning on going to our meeting anyway,  so he climbed into the backseat (which already held four people- so our intern obligingly climbed into the back) and directed us to our destination.

We got to the pastor’s house – or rather we stopped on the road where we could see the pastor’s house.  The pastor came running to meet us.  We all walked down along the corn to his house for chai and potatoes – and, of course, our meeting.  The corn was interesting.  On one side of the dirt path it was 8 feet tall – the biggest we have seen.  On the other side it was 4 feet tall – not bad, but not great.  The pastor explained that the tall corn was planted by a man who “could get some capital” and used fertilizer and better seed.  The short corn was planted by a man who could not afford fertilizer or seed. 

The pastor is currently living in a mud house and compound.  Inside he and his wife have tacked up newspapers and hung them from cord to try to cover up the mud.  He explained to us that he is going to build a new house near the church soon.  We had chai with Irish potatoes – they are excellent!  We talked a little about this area.  He told us that he has 200 adults and 300 children in his congregation.  Most of the children cannot attend school beyond  primary since their parents cannot afford secondary school  tuition.  The estimated annual income  is $435/year for most of the congregation.  He tells us that for those who have some capital it is about $1,800/year – but these are very few.  But there is no source of capital in this village he tells us.  That is why they asked us to come.

The pastor sent word out to some of his congregation members who are interested in forming a SACCOS and soon se were joined by several of them.  We spent 1 ½  hours going over the details of what they need to do, how much capital is required to get started, etc., and then we invited them to send 3 people to our training session that will be held in Iringa in late March.

We asked about their interest in SACCOS and were told that they always listen to our Radio program on Radio Furaha.  According to the pastor the show is often the subject of talk in town the day after, which is something we like to hear.

We said good bye and headed down the road  to Kiponzero for our next meeting.

We turned off the pavement and onto a long dirt road.

We had to stop for directions.  “moja kwa moja” was what everyone kept saying.

The back seat was full today.  There was Itiweni, Brown, Margaret, and Peter stuffed into a seat built for three.

This lady gave us directions while balancing her pail on her head. 

 “moja kwa moja” is what she told us.

The pastor lives in a mud compound near the road.

He came running up to the road to greet us and show us the way.

This man could afford fertilizer.

This man could not.

We had some great potatoes with our chai.

Our interns had fun visiting with the cooks.

These three mamas showed up with their babies.

The views from the pastor's house were marvelous.

This little cutey stole the show.

We loaded up and headed down the road. We have another meeting today!

 

 

Today At Nyanzwa

Today we went down to Nyanzwa.  Nyanzwa is one of the longer drives for us.  To get there you go down the hill from Iringa and head back down the pavement towards Dar Es Salaam.  It is a pretty drive for the first 60 minutes or so, and then you get to the escarpment.  Driving down the escarpment is always an adventure.  There are lots of trucks that have trouble making the grade.  Broken down vehicles litter the road.  Baboons scamper around here and there.  The road curves and winds as it drops a few thousand feet from the plateau to the valley below.  

Once you get down you continue on the paved road for several kilometers, then turn down a small dirt road and drive along parallel to the escarpment.  Another 60 minutes or so and you arrive at Nyanzwa.   

Driving along the Nyanzwa road you pass several small dusty villages along the way.  The baobab trees are lovely and the mountains form a beautiful back drop, but it is hot, hot, hot.  When  we arrived at the church the pastor’s wife, her helper, and three children ran out to greet us.  Today Tom did not drive.  Our car is just not safe enough to use it to go down the escarpment so the university loaned us a car and driver.  It is a good thing that we have their car; it would be very crowded inside ours.  Traveling together today were Brown, our two interns, Itiweni, an announcer form Radio Furaha, our driver, and the two of us.

Our group went to the pastor’s house and Brown went to look for the SACCOS officers and board members.  This SACCOS was started by the Diocese in 2007-8.  They had done some training and then left.  The SACCOS worked fine at first, then things went wrong.  They started making loans for all sort sorts of things – motorcycles, parties, weddings, etc.  They also stopped monitoring and making collection efforts.  As a result this SACCOS had run out of money and was suspended when Itiweni  first visited them in 2010.  We went to see them with Itiweni last year and looked over the situation.  At that time we decided to get involved and fix this SACCOS.  We got the government coop officer and the village officials involved.  We then had a special election to replace all of the officers and board members and gave them a special charge to collect all of the missing funds.  Finally we made sure the police were involved to help with the collections.  Now, one year later, we were here to review where everything stood.

Itiweni has spent a great deal of time training and helping them with their task.  There have also been visits by other Iringa Hope personnel.  In addition, we have pushed  the various government officials to work with the SACCOS officers. 

When we finally had everyone assembled we began by praising them for collecting 80% of all the missing funds.  Yes, 80% of the funds had been collected and, after harvest, they stood ready to increase this to 90% - what a great job!  Now there is more work to do.  We spent the next few hours going over tasks that remain before we can get this SACCOS running again.  There were lots of questions and a great deal of discussion, still, when we were done, we all felt that we had a firm grip on things and would have the SACCOS working again very soon.

We broke up this meeting to go and talk to the members.  This SACCOS used to have over 200 members.  As a part of the plan to collect and restart the SACCOS everyone that we had to collect from was ejected from the SACCOS and will not be allowed to return.  This took the membership from over 200 down to about 40.  Now that the work had spread that we were fixing this SACCOS and it would start running again soon, there was a flood of people wanting to join.  As a result the membership had shot back up to 84 with many more wanting to join (we had the SACCOS halt all new members until next year so that we could insure that all the members are properly trained and prepared to work).

At the members meeting there were 58 in attendance.  We told the members what had been collected, what the rules of the SACCOS were, what steps were still needed to be completed, and when the SACCOS might begin working again.  Then we left the meeting so that they might work on the items we had told them about.

Back in the pastors house we had lunch and waited to see if there were any more questions people had.  Soon the SACCOS officers came in and told us that the meeting had approved the needed items, the members were off working on the tasks we had told them about, and they would be in Iringa on Monday to finish up the work – could we be there to help them?  Itiweni looked at us – we were planning on visiting another location on Monday – and we said “sure.”  I guess we will have to have another day when we double up to make up for Monday – but we will be changing our plans so that we can help.

We finally said good bye and headed back to Iringa.  Another 2.5 hour drive, up the escarpment, around the wrecks, and down the road.  The car had started out at the University at 7:20 this morning.  It would be getting back around 5:30 or so tonight.  A long day on the road.

It is a pretty drive down the road towards the escarpment.

Along the way you pass through Ilula.

The view from the escarpment into the valley below is lovely as well.

You turn off of the pavement and drive along the edge of the escarpment for an hour or so.

Nyanzwa is a hot, dusty place.

We were met at the church by the pastor's wife, some children, and her helper.

Tom had Brown find the officers and board members of the SACCOS.

After our meeting in the pastor's house we went over to meet with the SACCOS members.

We met out under the baobab trees.  (Half of this SACCOS membership are Muslims.)

After talking with the members we left the meeting so they could start working on the tasks we had given them.

Walking back to the pastor's home we passed two mamas on their way to work.

Two of the board members have new babies.

The SACCOS officers came in to tell us they wanted to come to Iringa on Monday and finish the tasks we had given them.  Could we help?  (The man in the striped shirt is the chief village official.)

We headed back through Nyanzwa to Iringa.

The road runs through a baobab grove.

The view of the mountains on the way back is great.

There are lots of wrecks on the way up the escarpment.

The trucks struggle to make it up the grade.

The baboons patrol the shoulder in places.

Finally we are back in Iringa!