Widows & Orphans Day – Goat Presentation(s)

The entire family joined Heather this month as she went out to the bush for her monthly Widows & Orphans program days.   As it is the rainy season, and has been raining heavily lately, we were concerned about the conditions of the roads as we headed out for the day.  Several of us had made recent trips to the area and had found some of the bridges washed out and roads impassable.  Heather actually received a call from Gary earlier in the morning telling her that the roads past Mairowa were not a good idea.    However, we were pleasantly surprised that overall the roads were good, and with the exception of a few areas made pretty good time.

This day was going to be special as it was going to be an opportunity to present some of the widows with a goat.   Through the generosity of several supporters many of the widows have now become sponsored monthly.  Three of the widows on this day would receive a goat.  While this may seem humorous to some, it is a true blessing to these women.  It will provide them with several opportunities that they did not have before.

It was a great day with several local and tribal government officials coming to offer their greetings and congratulations as well as be on hand for the presentations.   I thought rather than try to explain what the impact of a goat is on one of the widows, I would ask the leaders and one of the recipients to discuss it on video.  This crude interview was put together as a way that one of the widows can express how this program personally is a benefit to her, and what the addition of one little goat can do to further her ability to provide for herself.    So, as you watch the video below, know that the audio is not the best as we did the video on a little Flip Video camera.  Also of note, the language that is being translated is Maa.   It is the language used by the Maasai tribe.   Heather is on the right, and Joseph Ngida is on the left.  Joseph is a national staff member with CMF that is a Community Health Evangelism (CHE) trainer.  He is also a pastor and for us today he is an interpreter.    I think that video is always better than trying to explain something in writing.  So, I hope that you enjoy this brief interview and that you get a better understanding of how something as small as a goat can have as huge of an impact on someone’s life.

Widows & Orphans

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After seeing this video, if you are interested in how you can be part of this ministry and how you can contribute to the widows and orphans program currently going on through CMF in rural Tanzania please contact us at www.cmfi.org/tanzania or you can also find us at http://cmfi.org/partner/discovergreatprojects.

Thanks to all of those who continue to provide your generous monthly financial and prayer support of this program!

 

The Rainy Season Is Upon Us

The Maasai were warning of weather change and the coming rains in February.  True, the winds were picking up, and changing direction, but we po0-pooed the predictions.  Being from a western culture it took more than just wives tales and speculation for me to expect a drastic weather change.  I needed graphics, dual-doppler, touch screen zooms, and witty weather-man anecdotes for me to believe change was coming.  Sure enough, as if on que the rains came as the Maasai predicted.  Unfortunately, the lasted a week.  What was a good start to the long-rains quickly fizzled and then died entirely after a few days.  Prophesy turned to tragedy for just as quickly as the rains stopped the sun and dust returned.    For several weeks the sun and temperatures appeared to mirror the heat that you all were receiving in the US and reported in Europe as well.   Unseasonably high temps, sun, and dust increased the suffering of the people and threatened to ruin the crops that had been planted in anticipation of the rains.  The people began to pray in earnest for the rains to return.  Again, as if on que over the past few weeks the rains have indeed returned.  Heavy, soaking rains!  Probably as much rain in any one time as I have seen here.   Some of the rains were lasting 10-12 hours.

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We are not talking about showers either, we are talking heavy “monsoonesque” rains.   Crazy things happen when it rains here.   What once was a dry and dusty creek-bed becomes a raging torrent.  Roads get washed away, bridges collapse, etc.   Blessing can quickly turn to curse.   Bad drivers and poor decision makers become worse drivers and well……….lets let the pictures tell the story.  Some things remain constant.  Overloaded truck…….muddy road………..equal stuck.    Equation #2………..Overloaded truck, narrow road,muddy road, only road, stuck truck…………….equals significantly long delay.   Ron Richmond and I made a trip up to Mairowa last week to deliver some material to the Widows & Orphan site and check on the progress of the construction.   This trip was just after some of these heavy rains and we ran into  roads that had fell victim to the rains.   On our way back we happened upon an overloaded truck that tried to make it along the muddy road only to get stuck.  Ron and I helped the four men get the truck into a position where we could get around it, and then pull them out with the Landcruiser.  You never know what Africa may throw at you.  Some would say that Africa requires you to be flexible.  I guess I would agree with that statement to an extent.  I think though that Africa requires planning and preparation.  You have to be prepared for what it may throw at you.  You have to plan things out in advance.  Its not like the US, where you can wing it.  If you do get into trouble, there is Triple A, tow trucks, cell phones, rest stops and road-side assistance.   Africa requires planning and consideration.  If you are going into rural areas in the rainy season you gotta consider these possibilities and have a plan.  Africa is like life in general.  You have to have a plan, not matter what it may throw at you.  Fortunately for all of us, God has a plan for each of us as well.   That plan is still the same yesterday, as it is today, and as it will be tomorrow.  There is an old adage that says into every life a little rain must fall.   If you haven’t experienced it yet, discover God’s plan, and let His reign fall upon you.

The Duka La Jamii (Community Store) is open for business at the entrance to the training center. It is another example of micro-enterprise at work in the community. The store provides staple items at discount prices to members of the Oltrumet community. Under normal circumstances the people living around the training center would have to walk roughly 10km to the nearest town (Ngaramtoni).

 

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The store serves several benefits. Not only does it benefit the local community, but it an opportunity for the training center to attempt to recover some of its expenses through its sales.

 The name for the center came from an employee suggestion. We held a contest prior to opening for all of the center employees to submit suggestions for the name.  The winner received a small gift as well as the employee’s home church.

 The store is also an wonderful “real-life” example for those interested in starting something similar.  It provides a safe (risk-free) opportunity to learn the various aspects of running a small business. Things like developing a business plan, developing supplier relationships, planning and stocking inventory, cash-flow, pricing, customer relationship management, etc.

Currently we have two young men working for us, Lucas and Lalashe (La-la-shay). Both men speak English, Swahili, and Maasai. This is a huge benefit for us as most people in the local community are Warush or Arusha and speak Maasai or a variation of it. These men have worked in small stores similar to this one, but have aspirations of owning their own. They are learning the various aspects of small business ownership in a safe environment, and are also able to earn a wage.

 Although we are just getting started with some of the micro-enterprise activities here, the duka is a great example of some of the projects that we have starting here. It is also another example of how we are trying to teach and develop people within the community. It is a definite win-win scenario for all involved.

This is micro-enterprise in its pure form. Our best day thus far has not provided a net sales of over $10. This is the difference between the communities we work in and other scenarios. These businesses are very small. They are located in remote villages far from any banks or sources of capital. So getting started isn’t a function of going out and getting a loan. Most prospective business owners have no collateral, and most banks don’t want to discuss dealing in small scale enterprises like these. Some newer micro-financial institutions may entertain something of this nature, but none are available in our area. So getting started is either a function of a micro-loan from an investor or from personal savings.

 We are excited to be able to provide opportunities like this, and are eager to find other opportunities in the community. We will provide future updates on how the duka is going in months to come.

Would You Like Monthly Updates?

We want you to be a dynamic part of the ministry going on here in Tanzania.  We attempt to provide you with as much information that we possibly can on a monthly basis.  We attempt to use a variety of modes, but plan on using more video in 2012 as it is such a great tool in being able to combine sights and sounds.  To that end, we are planning on changing the way that we send our monthly newsletters.  We are switching our manual method to mailchimp.  Please click on the link below if you would like to subscribe to our monthly newsletter updates.  We really appreciate all of our ministry partners and what you each to feel as close to the ministry as possible.  We feel that this new format will assist us in getting more information to more people in a much faster manner.

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Widows & Orphans Ministry Kicked Off!!

Widows & Orphans Kickoff

IDES FAMINE RELIEF – MAIROWA, TANZANIA

IDES Famine Relief

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Our team was fortunate enough to receive a generous grant from International Disaster Emergency Services (I.D.E.S).    We were able to put it to good use to positively impact the lives of 810 families. The church leaders from each church in the area were able to identify the most needy within their congregations.  This had to be a difficult task as these areas all contain destitute poor people.  The leaders identified the “poorest of the poor”.  Once families had been identified, the church leaders then got together and coordinated the entire day.   Stations were set-up for each church.  Families from each congregation in the area were called by name.  They would come with their bags, etc. and would receive (based upon size of the family) a weighted ration of corn, beans, and oil.   It was quite an efficient process.  We started the morning by organizing each station and stocking it with the appropriate amount of bags of each commodity.    Then we broke for some chai (tea).  After chai, the families were  then brought in to receive their ration.   We were able to provide assistance to all of these families by noon.  It really was a great job by the church leaders in setting this day up and for making it run so smoothly.  Enough food was available to not only meet the needs of each family, but also to provide a 3 month supply of meals for the local preschool and primary school in the town of Mairowa.    How blessed our team, and specifically our family was to be blessed to be able to participate in this day.   A special thank you to IDES for their wonderful gift.   Obviously, all glory goes to God for another example of His wonderful provision.  All glory, honor, and praise goes to Him!  We hope that you enjoy this video recap of the day.  Thank you so much for your support, and for making our ministry here in Tanzania a reality!   Blessings!!