Tuesday, March 2nd

The next morning I toured the kitchen facilities at the WTC. The kitchen itself is sometimes an integral part of the training such as the time when participants were given the task of assembling a meal right from scratch – sorting& cleaning of rice, picking vegetables, all those things that go into making an evening meal. The purpose was to show the women participants how hard some women have to work just to feed their families once a day. This understanding in turn becomes one among many which will build solidarity across the economic layers of women in this society.

I could not help but reflect on the potential of the land and the kitchens for the development and training of community gardens and community kitchens as they are known in our Canadian context. It is an area of community based ministry that I am very interested in with my own context especially in light of the new movement of eating locally and for some, the lost skills of cooking from scratch.

Leaving this wonderful centre had also left me with a profound gratitude for the vision and determination of the CCT to invest in such training and development of women in a society that historically has minimized them. Our sisters are blessed by this.

On the way to Dodomo I was once again impressed by the beautiful farmlands along the way. I saw the way in which some were able to rebuild and rebuild their family homes as the people’s sheer creativity, resiliancy and determination allowed that to happen. Often the first homes are built of sticks and rope packed with mud and a thatch roof. My guess would be that they were approximently 8 x 10 ft in size? As one can imagine, during the rainy season many of these homes would suffer damage as the roof and mud walls washed out. As the family’s economic means increased, these homes were replaced with clay brick construction and thatched roofs which were replaced by corrugated steel as money allowed. The clay brick walls were then plastered, then painted.
Each step of improvement seemed to be accompanied by an increase in the size of the home. The value of educating the women with income producing skills and knowledge is directly seen in the landscape that passed by the car window.

Arriving at a very nice hotel in Dodomo I was aware of my own tension that happens as one steps through poverty back to the norms of wealth. This tension is always difficult for me to reconcile.

After 45 mins to unpack and refresh, it was time for lunch with 3 of the staff members of the CCT. From our conversations I was impressed at how much working for the CCT meant to each. The overall Christian framework, the sense of solidarity within the staff and the self understanding that they do the work of Jesus Christ is critical to their sense of work. More than once it was mentioned that to work in a different organization would be very difficult even if it meant more income for their families.

As was becoming noticeable the matters of HIV/AIDS and gender justice seemed to weave itself into so many peices of the complex web of issues that the CCT faces today. The conversation touched upon the ways in which people can be transitioned from seeing themselves as needing charity to finding ways and means to solve their own problems. We talked about the impact of what was named as 12 Step Theology (something I equate to my sense of the Prosperity Gospel). And we discussed how much patience is required at times when working through Ecumenical Councils and the tension that creates when the daily needs of the people are so deep and wide. It was a long lunch hour discussion that was very fruitful and I thank the staff for giving up their time when the workload is immense.

At 4 pm I was greeted by the organizer of Youth Employment and Food Production Foundation (YEFOFO), another partner of The United Church of Canada in Tanzania. (now the weakness of my note taking will show - for I did not write down the name of the gentleman, believing I would remember it - will provide as soon as I find out).They have applied for funding under the Extra Measures Program through the UCC. Here is the description of that request as it appears on the Hamilton Conference website.. "Many rural communities in Tanzania are struggling daily with the ripple effects of national debt, inadequate government support, and health crises that manifest at a local level in a lack of resources and poverty. Drought and lack of access to land are also major factors in crop and livestock failure. Drought comes not only as a natural phenomenon of inadequate rainfall and floods but also due to poor land management practices that strip the land of its capacity to produce. The brunt of these food shortages is borne by vulnerable groups such as women, youth and children who historically have had less access to society's resources. The United Church has been in partnership with YEFOFO since it was formed in the 1980s."

For the next 2 1/2 hours we talked about the process of helping people to believe in their own capacities. First was a tour of a facility being built in one of the outlying neighbourhoods of Dodomo. This building will house a conference/banquet hall, smaller meetings spaces and office space as well as washrooms. The intent is to use the space for the develoment of the young people in this community, programs such as language and computer upgrading, learning functional skills such as electricity and construction as well as other needs as the arise from the youth. The rental of the hall and meetings spaces for weddings and conferences will provide much needed income to allow the programming to happen.

One of the most successful projects focused on teaching young women in a particular village to develop their own food security and become teachers for other women. This seems like it was a complex yet carefully thought out program that was developed over 4 years. It was located in a small village called Itumba, further west of Dodomo. The first challenge was to negotiate with the village elder to come in, talk to the women, see who would be interested and form a group to work with. Then, some analysis was done by the women on how best to start to increase the stability of themselves within the social fabric of the community. When that analysis was done and the focus clearly became food security, the next step was to approach the village elder for some land that could be given to the women for this project. That meant explaining the benefits to the village as a whole which would be one of the priorities for the village elders. Land was granted and the women formed an association (I associated that as a collective organization). They began to plant a mix of crops using techniques for cultivation and companion planing. The work was hard but doing it together sustained the women in this initial stage. When it was time to reap the harvest, metal boxes were secured for the women to protect the seed and some of the food from rats which can sometimes destroy nearly 60% of what has been saved. Since the harvest produced and sold well, the profit was divided among the women as well as reinvested into the growing project. With the share the women received individually, most spent it on their children's school needs or their homes. This is a common story about women across this land.

The next year or so, this women's association grew to realize they needed to expand past crop production. They began to explore micro-credit options, and with loan, they purchased some locally bred cows. YEFOFO I believe, provided them with a bull from a different locale in order to keep a broad genetic pool. Then came a real stretch of learning for the women. It was one thing to have the cows, it was another to learn about tending and using all the benefits of cows. For example, cows have traditionally been allowed to graze freely through the countryside. Recent practice however, shows the health benefits of containing one's cows away from other herds, thereby reducing the risk of cross-contamination of diseases. The thought of tying a cow to a certain spot and letting them eat grass and stubble seemed counter intuitive to them. However, after seeing other people tending their cattle in this manner and seeing the health of the cattle, the women agreed to try this new method.

Than came another challenge - using the manure that was being produced. I of course thought immediately of using it as a fertilizer on the crop. Not so. It was far more valuable as bio-gas to replace the traditional way of cooking with charcoal. Once again, demonstrations of others using this method convinced the women to try likewise. Equipment was secured and teaching was done on proper use.

The following year came the challenge of roof water harvesting. In four years, these women and by now their supporting life partners were changing their economic wellbeing and finding a way to improve their whole community in areas of food security, peace and harmony in the families, getting children for an education and building capacity to become self-sufficient individuals. As the director of YEFOFO said when I asked him what motivates him to offer his whole life into projects such as this, his reply was simply "God is not about poverty, but abundance for all. What else should I do but make that happen?" Profound words lived out by action.

It was a very long day, full of things to think about. I so regretted that the connections were not made earlier that would have allowed me time to go and see this community of women. But the story is inspiring!