bts newsletter - britain tanzania society...on may 4th at south bank university london, bts...

Britain-Tanzania Society holds

Summer Event

On 27th July over seventy people: BTS members, friends and families came together at St Mary-at-Hill Church in Billingsgate for a summer event. We were entertained by music from Freddy Macha and Kitoto plus Mvulla Mandondo and Fabra Moses,

plus a fashion show from Neema, all well

received. Our thanks go to all of them.

We were well fed with Tanzanian food prepared by the ladies of the Swahili congregation which meets in the church; thank you to Nelly Nsemwafungo who organised the food and the ladies who

prepared it. Thank you for supporting us so

well.

This was the first such event for some years. The last

social event we held was for TDT’s 40th anniversary four years ago. From reactions to this event, we look forward to holding similar events in the future.

AGM We will be returning to St Mary-at- Hill Church for our AGM on October 5th at 2pm. Our speaker at the event will be Togolani Mavura, Private Secretary to the Former President H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. His topic will be ‘Whither UK-Tanzania Relations?’.

AGMs are often looked on as necessary evils. They should be a time of celebrating what we have done before and looking forward to where we go next. To make progress we need an active committee. Please do consider being nominated for the committee.

The AGM provides an opportunity for those who work in Tanzania to tell us about it. So that they can do this, NGOs and charities which operate in Tanzania are invited to have a table display at the AGM at no charge. Businesses associated with Tanzania are welcome to have a table display at the cost of £15. I look forward to hearing from you asking for a table.

May all that we do continue to build up the friendship between the peoples

of Tanzania and of Britain. – Elizabeth Taylor, Chair BTS

BTS NEWSLETTER

www.britaintanzaniasociety.co.uk www.tanzdevtrust.org

September 2019

Volume 17 Issue No 3

PAST EVENTS:

Implementation of Traceability System of Imported Agri-Products

from Tanzania

On May 4th

at South Bank University London, BTS Vice-Chair Petronila Mlowe ran a workshop, primarily

for members of the Diaspora who are exploring the possibilities of importing agricultural products into the

UK. This is in fact the second workshop she has run on behalf of BTS, but on this occasion we were

privileged to have two high commissioners in the audience – H.E. Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro Tanzanian High

Commissioner and H.E. Julius Peter Moto, the High Commissioner of Uganda.

The EU is one the biggest markets for agricultural products from Tanzania. But the processes and paperwork

to bring these products into the EU are formidable. Every consignment has to have clear labelling which

shows its country of origin, a date after which it will not be safe to eat, and, for manufactured products, a list

of its ingredients and warnings about allergies. It has to be clear of bacterial contamination, arising, for

example, if the product is washed in contaminated water. It must not have chemical contamination, such as

excessive pesticide residues, or heavy metals. It must not contain aflatoxins (these are funguses which

flourish in damp conditions, and particularly affect groundnuts and maize, and sometimes other crops). It

must not bring plant pests and diseases into the EU. The quality of the product must be maintained, for

example products with bruises will have a short shelf life. The importer must be able to demonstrate that

they have money to pay for the costs of the clearance (which quickly mount up), any customs duties, and, if

the worst happens and the consignment is condemned, for the costs of disposing of it in landfill or

elsewhere.

These matters were dealt with in detail by Petronila, who is herself a Food Safety Officer who inspects

premises and food stores in this country; by Joseph Senyah, a Senior Environmental Health Officer and food

scientist working in the Imported Food Office at Heathrow Airport, who explained how he inspects

consignments of food coming into the country; and Mayank Vashisht who works for a freight forwarding

company that assists importers with their documentation.

In the front row from the left are H.E. Julius Peter Moto, the High Commissioner of Uganda and

H.E. Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro Tanzanian High Commissioner.

All who attended, 67 in total, came away not only much more aware of the need for the documentation, and

the difficulties of obtaining it, but also more knowledgeable about how these difficulties may be

surmounted.

Thanks to Dr Alex Paurine for organising the venue. Page 2

TUHEDA/BTS Health Talk

Diabetes; Food Quality and Nutritional Requirements The first of a series of TUHEDA

1 /BTS Health talks took place at South Bank University, London on April

13th with expert speakers from the medical Diaspora communities and others, addressing health related

issues.

Petronila Mlowe (Senior Food Safety Officer, BTS Vice-Chair, Trustee TDT and TUHEDA) spoke about

the importance of food safety and nutritional quality of food for different groups of people, from pregnant

mothers, different ethnicities, different ages (young, adult, elderly,) and vegans. She emphasised the

importance of having a variety of food groups per meal every day. She also spoke about food safety and

how to avoid cancerous substances forming during food handling and preparation.

The take home message was “Remember proper food safety handling procedures and ensure you have a

balanced diet with a variety of foods especially fruit and vegetable and minimise meat product

consumption”.

Dr Gideon Mlawa, Consultant Physician in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Queen’s Hospital London

(Romford) UK and a TUHEDA member presented on Diabetes and his talk covered the following areas:

definition of diabetes, Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, modifiable and non-modifiable risks for diabetes

and treatment for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The talks were very well presented and the interactive sessions were well

received with much positive feedback from the audience.

From left to right: the speakers Dr. Gideon Mlawa and Ms. Petronila Mlowe. Furthest

right: Dr. Hamza Hassan, Chairperson of TUHEDA.

1Tanzania UK Healthcare Diaspora Association

MORE TUHEDA NEWS

East Africa Health Summit TUHEDA members attended the 4th East Africa Health Summit at the British

Medical Association House in London on 27th April – group photo right

Teach and Learn Event On June 22

nd TUHEDA organised a “teach and learn” session at the Tanzania

High Commission in London on HIV for staff and other healthcare professionals.

A brilliant presentation was given by Dr

Ranjababu Kulasegaram, Consultant

Physician in HIV/GU Medicine at Guy’s & St

Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust London. The

photo left shows the Tanzanian High

Commissioner H.E Dr Asha-Rose Migiro (far

left) and other participants listening carefully

to Dr. Ranjababu Kulasegaram’s presentation

Group photo picture right with Tanzanian High Commissioner H.E Dr

Asha-Rose Migiro centre and Dr. Ranjababu Kulasegaram, standing

left to the High Commissioner.

Page 3

The South Sudan Medical Journal, which carries articles on health care for South Sudan and neighbouring countries including Tanzania, is looking

for volunteers to help to copyedit manuscripts prior to publication. Some

of our authors need support with academic writing in English.

For further information contact

admin@southernsudanmedicaljournal.com or annpburgess@gmail.com.

Donation of medical books

to the Tanzanian High

Commissioner

TUHEDA NEWS contd

Donation of ‘Msafriri’ and medical books Also on June 22

nd at the event held at the Tanzanian High Commission a high-fidelity simulation manikin

named ‘Msafiri’, a Swahili name meaning the traveller was presented to the Tanzania High Commissioner

by TUHEDA, thanks to the support of the Northumbria NHS Trust. The manikin will be flown to Tumbi

Hospital for training doctors and nurses, plus medical books with a value of more than 100 million

Tanzanian shillings

Scotland BTS - Update from Ann Burgess Ujamaa Ralph Ibbott’s book, ‘Ujamaa - The Hidden Story of Tanzania's Socialist Villages’ (available from Amazon) has been translated into Kiswahili by Anna Nyerere (Julius Nyerere’s daughter) and should be published soon. Ralph is Chair of the Scottish BTS Group. In the Name of Your Daughter The film ‘In the Name of Your Daughter’ (followed by questions about FGM in Tanzania) is

being hosted by Julian Marcus and his wife on Thursday evening 7th

November in St John’s

church, Princes Street, Edinburgh. More detailed arrangements will be available later from

Christopher Hall cjph@challca.com

Page 4

Left:

Dr Mlawa with ‘Msafiri’

Right:

The Tanzanian High

Commissioner

examining ‘Msafiri’ for

a chest infection.

REDDITCH RETHINKS RUBBISH EXPO Saturday 19th October 2019, 10.00am - 4.00pm, Redditch Town Hall

Redditch One World Link will be exploring our responsibilities for the ONE WORLD sharing recycling initiatives, raising awareness and responsibilities, investigating how the way in which we live impacts on other parts of the world, with reference to Mtwara and Redditch.

To include:

“We have engaged schools, community groups, businesses, local organisations and of course the general public to come and find out and even have a go at re-creating and re-designing from rubbish! The day will be opened by our Mayor, to be followed with a talk given by Dr Alan Dixon, University of Worcester. We will connect with Mtwara via Skype as they are sharing in this day, though this will depend on the internet connection on the day! But their schools are participating along with ours in a photographic competition of something created out of rubbish. We hope that we shall see some of the wonderful toys created out of recycled materials too. Other short talks on relevant topics are invited, one of which will be an illustrated presentation by a young person who led a group to clean up the beach in Mtwara. Our thanks go to Trade Aid and Teresa Wells of Edukaid with the encouraging of schools in Mtwara. It is so good to have everyone networking like this and working together.” The Redditch One World Link team.

Please get in touch to have more detail on how you can be part of this day. Redditchrethinksrubbish@gmail.com

Above all, come for whatever time you can spare and enjoy the day

Crowd2Map Update In 2015 TDT Trustee Janet Chapman was visiting one of our projects, Ikondo school in Muleba, Kagera with our local

rep Mr Mashasi. They drove around for 2 hours through rivers in the pouring rain looking for the school, all the time

getting frantic phone calls from the school asking where they were. It seems crazy that in the 21st century much of the

world is still very poorly mapped, but unfortunately that is the case. In most of rural Tanzania maps are very poor, and even settlements of 10,000 people are missing from the map. This makes navigation, planning and development

challenging. Therefore Janet started Crowd2Map Tanzania a crowdsourced mapping project which is putting rural

Tanzania on the map. Since 2015, we have been adding schools, hospitals, roads, buildings and villages to OpenStreetMap, an open source map available to all, with

the help of over 11,500 volunteers worldwide and 1600 on the ground in Tanzania.

With minimal budget and no staff we have so far added over 3 million buildings and

trained community mappers in 26 areas of Tanzania. It helps community development and FGM activists like our local rep Rhobi Samwelly find the villages

where girls are at risk of being cut. The mapping is in two phases – firstly online

volunteers trace roads and buildings from satellite images then volunteers on the ground add names of villages, clinics, offices, churches, shops and other points of interest using a free smartphone app Maps.Me.

Anyone with an internet connection can help map. If you would like any more information, or are interested in

mapping a particular place please contact Janet j.chapman@tanzdevtrust.org

‘Points of Light1’ award for Crowd2Map We are delighted that our mapping project has been recognised in May this year for its efforts by 10 Downing Street with Janet being given a ‘Points of Light’ award. In a personal letter to Janet, the then Prime Minister Theresa May

said: “The innovative online mapping project you created is not only engaging thousands of people

worldwide in citizen science, but is making an extraordinary difference for girls in Tanzania at risk from

female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is an abhorrent crime against women and girls, and

your inspirational work is invaluable in preventing young people in Tanzania from facing this barbaric

practice.”

Janet said “I am very grateful to receive this award on behalf of ‘Crowd2Map’ and everyone in the open

mapping community that has helped us. Anyone with an internet connection can help so please join us!” 1Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers - people who are making a change in their community. There is more information here https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/crowd2map-tanzania/

Repair Re use Recycle

Reduce Replace Rethink Recover Reject Refuse

Page 5

Ikondo head girl with her new glasses

TDT News

Vision Screening Project In rural Tanzania very few people wear glasses. Unfortunately this is not because they do not need them, rather because they have never had a sight test and even if they did, they would not be able to afford the glasses they need. Therefore we have started a pilot school and community screening project in Kagera with local rep Ngailla Alpha. Trustee Janet Chapman brought the first set of 1500 pairs of distance and reading spectacles in May and started vision tests for students at Ikondo and surrounding schools, and other community groups. One woman said it was the first time in 20 years she had been able to read a book. We are selling the glasses at 10,000 Tz, in instalments if necessary, to make the project sustainable. We have now received a shipment of 2000 reading glasses from China which will be sold at cost to community groups in various areas of Tanzania. They will sell these at a small profit to generate enough money to pay the testers and buy new stock. If successful we hope to expand the scheme to other areas so that more people can obtain cheaply the glasses they so desperately need.

If you would like more information about this project please contact Janet j.chapman@tanzdevtrust.org

Pre-form One English – award from Eddie Byers Fund1

We are delighted that the pre-form one English course that we ran in 4 schools last year has been awarded funding from the Eddie Byers Fund to continue for another year. This will allow primary school leavers to attend preparatory lessons before they start secondary school so that they can better access the English Curriculum. The classes prioritise English speaking and group work and are taught by secondary school teachers.

The schools involved reported that this had a huge impact on the confidence and performance of their form one students last year. 1 Eddie Byers Fund was created in memory the late chief executive of English UK, who was passionate about

the transformative power of education, to help aspiring students study English for better employment, education and

community life. https://www.englishuk.com/eddie-byers-fund

‘Snapshots’ of some recent successful project outcomes in schools and water.

Tunamkumbuka School, one of our 4 Ikimba project

Schools. Student attainment has risen dramatically following

TDT’s long term project work at the school in buildings, desks, library, curriculum and science materials and support visits by project officers. The school was at the top of national achievement levels in last year’s examinations.

From Headteacher, Robert Kasaaju.

‘Good evening

Rafiki,

These are students of form three this year who got Division

one and two in the form two exams last year. I have decided to

motivate them today. They have eaten lunch with their

teachers. Also being given each five exercise books and two

pens. It was a nice day.’

Left: Tunam Girls Club benefiting from English tuition

Page 6

TDT: TANZANIA DEVELOPMENT TRUST EVERY POUND GIVEN TO TDT

GOES DIRECTLY TO PROJECTS IN TANZANIA

Manyoni Secondary School, Singida Region

From Wilhard Titus, our local representative in Singida Region and teacher at the

school who recently reported on the computer installation project. ‘We purchased 10 desktop computers, 1

laptop, 1 printer, long tables and chairs to

be used in our computer lab. Our computer

room is now an active computer room and

so helpful to teachers and students. Students can access teaching and learning

materials locally and on the internet.

Truancy levels have also fallen from the

interest created in learning.’

From Kurunyemi School, Kigoma Region. ‘Let there be light’ – Solar powered lighting

project. Headteacher Rueben wrote "Our school is the only building in the

village lit with electricity. For our children

we provide the light in the darkness that will

change their lives. That light is education'.

Students can now study in the evening,

contributing to better examination results.

From Sasajila School, Manyoni District, Singida Region

Rainwater capture tank and staff toilets at a rural secondary school about 30km from

Manyoni town.

At the base of the Rift Valley, this school is very remote with basic facilities. Students no longer have to carry water to school each day and staff members no longer have to walk many metres to a local house for toilets. This supports staff retention at this successful school and students can attend more lessons instead of fetching water.

Thank you to all our donors who make this possible.

Jonathan Pace

Many other projects may be viewed on our website at www.tanzdevtrust.org and our annual report will

be published in September showing all projects funded in 2018 – 2019.

Page 7

TDT committee news

End of a fantastic era: Our TDT meeting in September and BTS AGM in September will be time for us to bid farewell to our Treasurer Robert Gibson who has decided it is time to step down and move on to other interests and commitments. Robert joined TDT as Treasurer in 2010. It is impossible to adequately reflect in a short article just how valuable, wide ranging, influential and supportive has been Robert’s time with us. His core role of managing the accounts, project financial records, payments overseas, receiving donations and arranging Gift Aid has been carried out with extraordinary dedication, skill and accuracy. The annual reporting of accounts for the Charity Commissioners is a task which demands careful analysis of the whole year’s income and expenditure and Robert has done this not only with great clarity, enabling all of us in TDT and beyond to understand our successive years’ funding but also in a way which creates interest and encourages donors to make further investment in our work.

Alongside his financial role Robert has offered so much more as a trustee, a vital role in the trustee team’s checks and balances for TDT’s work. As Chair I have valued greatly his advice and sharp analysis of many issues and questions raised in and outside committee. His ability and skills to be able to inform our work across all areas of project scrutiny, decision making and monitoring has always been offered in a friendly and thoughtful but sharp way. Robert initiated much of our early media platform spread on Facebook and in updating and posting on our website. The setting up of our new database led him to produce an early user manual to introduce this new initiative to colleagues. I cannot count the number of helpful phone and web calls between myself and Robert during my last 4 years as Chair. I know other colleagues will have shared this greatly appreciated support; always available and willing to listen, intervene appropriately, offer advice and suggestions and share some frustrations and concerns when they have arisen, but with good humour and understanding.

There will be an opportunity for BTS and TDT members to say thank you to Robert at our

autumn meeting and AGM on October 5th. Robert, you will be greatly missed but we say a

heartfelt asante sana and all good wishes for whatever life holds in pastures new.

New Treasurer We are very grateful to Brian Medcalf for agreeing to take over Robert’s role after the AGM in October. Robert and Brian have already been working together in recent weeks. Brian has had much experience in Tanzania and is looking forward to working with us to continue the support for our Tanzania community partners and TDT colleagues in the UK.

Website Manager We are delighted that Peter Kenworthy has agreed to take on this important role for TDT. Peter has considerable experience of Tanzania and is a long-time member of BTS. Peter brings a remarkably full package of experience and skills to the role. This is especially exciting for TDT since it will be the first time that we have had a dedicated website manager working on an existing, up and running site. Peter has generously offered to give regular slots each month to the website for a trial period of 6 months to evaluate how this will fit in with his other fuller work commitments.

New TDT Members We have recently welcomed two other new members. Steve Scorer worked for some years with VSO in Lindi, set up the Friends of Lindi charity to increase educational opportunity and reading for disadvantaged children and has his finger on the pulse of how things work in Tanzanian local communities and officialdom. Tony Goodchild has also joined us after many years working in Tanzania in veterinary and livestock health, and now campaigns on climate change.

We look forward to welcoming all our new colleagues at our September meeting.

Jonathan Pace

Page 8

Presenting a package of three computers and

a printer to Mungano Primary School, Geita

Computer Loan Project in Schools in Tanzania BTS members Hilary and Peter Bacon have supported schools in Tanzania over the last 8 years or so, working with a Tanzanian social enterprise called Affordable Computers and Technology for Tanzania (ACTT) www.actt.co.tz . [See Newsletters September 2014 and 2016]. By funding the installation of computer equipment and providing training and ongoing support to teachers, schoolchildren benefit not only from learning how to use computers but they also have access to a wide range of educational content to enhance their knowledge and education. All the computers supplied through ACTT are preloaded with a large amount of software including antivirus, Microsoft Office, typing tutors, English/Swahili dictionary and a huge amount of educational software including 1000’s of books, lessons and lectures, educational videos and games and then things such as Wikipedia for Kids; so the computers are a huge educational resource for these schools.

A New Approach Over the years however their work and approach has evolved as Hilary explains. “In the first few years we supported one individual school per year giving them between 10-15 computers and then providing computer training for teachers. However in 2017 we changed our approach and set up a ‘Computer Loan Scheme’ for schools through ACTT. So each year, with the money we raise, we purchase computers and equipment from ACTT and then we ‘Loan’ these to a variety of schools. We start off loaning up to 3 computers per school and then challenge the schools to show us how they are using the computers and how they are improving teaching and learning at the school. If the school does well and communicates regularly with us they can apply for more computers the following year but if they don't make good use of the computers or, as is sometimes the case, they fail to keep good communication with us, then they are unlikely to get any more and in the worst case we remove the computers from the school.

At present we are actively supporting 10 schools in and around Mwanza, Geita, Chato and Moshi. The schools we support are all government schools which have ICT trained teachers and a secure room to use as a computer lab with electricity. They also have to commit to having the funds to pay the running costs of the computer lab. The schools have each been loaned between 1 and 8 computers depending on how long they have been part of the project, and some will also have a printer and/or projector.

Peter and I go back to Tanzania at least once a year to assess and update the school projects. During the 11 months we are back here in the UK, Robert and the staff at ACTT keep an eye on all the schools for us and sort out any problems as they occur. We obviously could not run these school projects without their help. Our next trip will be in January 2020. We will visit all the schools that we have loaned computers to, assess them face to face and extend the loans where suitable. We will also try to add 1 or 2 new schools to the project as well. Whilst on our trips I always keep a blog so that everyone who has supported us can see how the money raised has been spent. So if anyone is interested here is a link to my blog for our trip earlier this year.” https://shepstravels3.blogspot.com/2019/02/only-10-days-until-we-return-to-tanzania.html

Each year Hilary and Peter have conducted a fundraising exercise, and then travelled to Tanzania at their

own expense, to visit beneficiary schools and projects. TDT has worked with the Bacons in recent years to

facilitate fundraising using the BT MyDonate platform. This platform has now closed and TDT is using

Virginmoneygiving for online donations on its website. TDT would be very glad to hear from others, particularly BTS members, who would be interested in similar

forms of fundraising for Tanzanian projects.

Above: Photos from 3 of the schools that are currently being supported.

Page 9

Profitable Popcorn: Five Talents creating opportunities in Tanzania

We all want to make a difference in the world. The question is, how?

At Five Talents1 we believe that the route out of poverty is through resilience – helping people build the means to

meet their basic needs: nutritious food, education, healthcare… This doesn’t mean handouts. It means teaching people

how to save. Together. We currently work through 12 local partners with a focus on East Africa. We provide business

and financial skills training to rural households helping them form local savings, or ‘Trust’ groups. Each member

learns how to save - building a safety net for the difficult times - manage cash flow, invest in productive assets and

develop a profitable business plan for the future. Bound by trust, members pool their resources and make loans to one

another from their own accumulated funds. In Tanzania, we work in rural communities around Morogoro through our

partner, the Organisation for Matumaini Communities.

Just 17% of adults in Tanzania have a bank account and 28% have no access to any financial services at all, even the

most informal. 48% of the population says they do not save any money at all and 47% have no access to loans from

any source, including friends or family (Finscope 2017). These figures are exacerbated for women, young people and

those living in rural areas - exactly the communities Five Talents seeks to serve. Without the chance to save, borrow

and learn about money and business, it is almost impossible for households to cope in an emergency such as drought

or sickness, or to invest in a small business so that they can earn enough income to meet their family’s basic needs.

Providing access to financial services and training to use the services well can make a huge difference - as our

members Edina and Ojo demonstrate:

Meet Edina

At age 24, Edina found herself completely dependent on her

husband for money. Edina’s daughter was only a year old, and her

husband’s business selling motorcycle parts was not making enough

profits to sustain their small family. Edina knew she needed to do

something.She joined a Five Talents savings and loans group.

Immediately, Edina saw the value in adopting good savings habits,

as well as taking part in business skills training. Within three months

of joining the group, she was able to take out a loan and start her

own business. Today Edina is selling fried fish and rice alongside

her husband’s motorcycle parts. Their income has grown, and Edina does not have to worry about how she

will feed her daughter. Now she is able to start planning her future.

“I can clearly say that the businesses helped me and my family to a great extent, especially when it comes to

health, food, and shelter. It is my hope to become a big seller within the market where my profits will grow.”

Meet Ojo

Ojo is 22 and lives in a small village in Morogoro. Like many young people, Ojo didn’t have

access to financial services. He had aspirations to start his own business so he could support

himself, but he didn’t have the resources and skills he needed to make this a reality.

After attending a training session at his local church, he was inspired by peers who had

started their own businesses. Having joined a Trust Group, and after six months of training

and saving, he took out his first loan and was able to start a small business selling sunflower

oil. He used his profits to invest in the future of his business and to pay his school fees. With

the knowledge he gained from his Group and his further studies, he did some market research

and identified that popcorn could be a very profitable business. So with his latest loan, Ojo

rented a popcorn machine and also bought seeds to grow vegetables in his garden. His

business has flourished and he now has big plans to buy his own popcorn machine with his

next loan and expand into rice cultivation.

1To find out more, visit www.fivetalents.org.uk

or contact BTS member rachel.lindley@fivetalents.org.uk

Page 10

EMPOWERING WOMEN FARMERS THROUGH TOURISM Tricia Barnett

It’s a simple idea that has the potential to transform the lives of many impoverished farming women and their families in Tanzania. It’s to link such women living in tourism hotspots to a new market, which has been invisible to them. With training they can supply local hotels directly with all the horticultural produce they need. Too often tourism wealth is surrounded by poverty and this was a clear business opportunity that would benefit all involved. We’re piloting the idea in the Kilimanjaro region and will share the learning as widely as possible. My organisation, Equality in Tourism1 is the driving force, and a local women’s empowerment NGO, KWIECO (Kilimanjaro Women Information Exchange and Community Organization)2, experienced in training women as entrepreneurs and recognising the empowerment potential embedded in the project, is the facilitating partner. I’ve been a champion of sustainable and responsible tourism that benefits local people for many years as director of Tourism Concern. I now want to put my skills to use myself on a practical project in my favourite country.

A village was chosen that was close to the main road near Moshi. The project received strong support from the local bank, hotels, district and local authorities and the women and families themselves. We planned to train the poorest of the women in improved farming methods, in farming as a business and in women’s empowerment and then help them create a co-operative. It’s essential they produce the quality, quantity and consistency of produce that hotels require and this they could only do by working together. Two years on and 120 women have been trained successfully through the support of UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and a training farm, SEVIA (Seeds of Expertise for the Vegetable Sector of Africa)3 . They have learnt for the first time how to farm well, are now trained in farming as a business, receive women’s empowerment training and now understand their marriage and land rights. Wamboma is their registered co-op and a shop is leased in Moshi. All this has been achieved on a shoestring. The women now save, are proud and ambitious and hotels interested. Investment funding has been critical. Crowdfunding was important and supportive, but not sustainable.

Our business plan shows that the project will pay for itself in three years, but tourism has never been high on the agenda of funding bodies seeking to bring people out of poverty. Few understand that holidays are embedded in development issues and have the potential to transform lives of locals if only pathways were enabled for them. Unexpectedly I was approached by the World Bank and encouraged to apply for project funding from its new We-Fi fund, established for small and medium women entrepreneurs. An astonishing $1 million was offered to us for a four year project. But 18 months later we’ve received nothing and are now advised that this will no longer be forthcoming. Forget the Sustainable Development Goals! It seems our beneficiaries are now too poor. S&M enterprises are no longer country defined but IFC (International Finance Corporation) defined as: • Sales between $100,000 and $10 million

• Assets between $100,000 and $10 million • Between 10* and 300 employees”

However, it seems our ideas have found fertile ground within the World Bank, as an internal proposal, replicating Equality in Tourism’s project – but minus the words poverty, women’s empowerment or co-operative – is now active.

1Equality in Tourism www.equalityintourism.org

2KWIECO www.kwieco.org

3SEVIA http://sevia.biz/index.php/aboutsevia

Page 11

The main building housing textile centre and shop

on left, and education/training centre on right

HESHIMA Heshima was set up 10 years ago by husband and wife Alison and Steve on some land they purchased a few kilometres from Kisongo, just south of Arusha. The village largely serves the Maasai Community which sadly often faces discrimination and prejudice and finds it difficult to get good jobs. Heshima which means respect in Swahili, and underlies all it does, hopes to support these people by offering the children a good start to life with preschool and offering their mothers training and skills, enabling them to make an income and become more independent.

Textile Project Stage one of the project was to erect a small building housing a textile centre where local, mainly Maasai, women would receive training, and so develop skills in making clothes and other items to be sold to local people and tourists. This of course empowers the women by providing them with an income independent of their husbands. Initially, there were 6 or so women measuring, cutting and sewing the kanga into the various products and, with the help of competent volunteers, designing new items. Within 2-3 years a larger, purpose-built centre was erected, housing the workshop on the ground floor with a shop above, so that more than 30 ladies have now received or are receiving training. Women who have finished their training are employed to make products, which are sold in the Heshima shop, tourist shops, safari lodges and at the Arusha Christmas Craft Fair. As well as providing income for the women, the money from the products contributes towards the trainers’ salaries and the purchase of new

equipment. A recent visitor from Belgium introduced crochet to the ladies, so as well as a large variety of textile items they are now also producing baby blankets as seen in the photo below far right.

One of the original women, Adelfina, is now the textile trainer herself, and is formally employed by Heshima. Like a few of the other women, the training she received at Heshima has enabled her to set up her own business in her own village. Another very able young Tanzanian lady, Mwamvita, is also employed and she oversees the whole project: purchasing the kanga, and marketing the products in the Arusha area. The ever enterprising Mwamvita has also encouraged the younger women to form a netball team, which helps them develop a different range of skills, as well as building their self-confidence.

Pre-school A small schoolroom has also been built, providing pre-school facilities mainly for the children of the

textile ladies, but is open to other local children: Mwamvita (yes, her again!) is their teacher, providing education largely through play, and giving them a basic grasp of English.

Training Centre Finally, the building which houses the textile centre also contains a large room which is being developed into an education/resource/training centre where, once a suitable person is found, schoolchildren will be able to come for support, and adults will receive vocational training. Several laptops are already in place, powered by recently installed solar panels.

Heshima Products To find out more about the work of Heshima and the range of

products on sale go to www.heshima.org.uk . I visit the project twice a year and always bring back whatever my baggage allowance permits, so if you have any requests ......!

Alan Cram email alan@heshima.org.uk

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SWAHILI MATTERS In Tanzania, Farmers Reap the Benefits of

Radio How do you share ideas—including potentially

transformative ones—with people who do not have Internet access, are largely illiterate, and live far from

paved roads? Even in today’s hyper-connected world,

most farmers in Tanzania—who make up 75 percent of the country’s population of 48 million—have limited

interaction with people outside their communities.

Ideas, by extension, are slow to travel. Many small-

scale farmers use outdated farming techniques . . . They also run the risk of being cheated in the market,

if they do not have frequently updated price

information for crops. . . In this environment, there is one communication technology that is being harnessed

to deliver important agricultural knowledge: the simple

radio. Nearly 90 percent of rural Tanzania have access to this inexpensive, centuries-old technology—and

they use it frequently. “In the mornings, I listen to

Christian music, and then the news,” said Onesmo

Sumari, a cucumber farmer in Njoro, a village outside Arusha. “And my family listen to it every evening.”

Around the world, farmers use the radio to get timely

crop information and learn new techniques. In sub-Saharan Africa, four times as many farmers have

access to the radio as to cellphones. . . [Tanzania’s]

Radio 5’s agricultural content is supported by a Canadian non-profit [organisation] called Farm Radio

International (F.R.I.) It works with 10 stations in

Tanzania, collectively reaching up to 40 percent of the

country’s farmers. . .

This is an extract of an article New York Times 27

November 2013. The piece was also published in the New African Magazine, amongst others.

Kule Tanzania, Wakulima Wapata Faida za Redio

Vipi unaweza kugawanya mawazo—pamoja na yale yanayoweza kuleta migeuzo—pamoja na watu wasio

na fursa ya kutumia Internet, ambao hawajui kusoma

wala kuandika, na ambao huishi mbali na njia za lami? Hata katika ulimwengu wa siku hizi unaojiunganisha

bora kabisa, wakulima wengi sana Tanzania—walio ni

asilimia 75 wa idadi ya watu nchini kati ya milioni

48—wana mwingiliano wa kikomo na watu wanaoishi nje ya jumuia zao. Mawazo, kwa kiasi fulani,

hugawana polepole. Wakulima wengi wanaofanya kazi

ndogo ndogo hutumia mbinu za kizamani . . . Pia wanaweza kudanganyika sokoni, ikiwa hawana habari

kuhusu bei za mazao zinazorekebisha mara nyingi ili

kulingana na hali ya sasa. . . Katika mazingira hayo, ipo teknolojia moja ya mawasiliano ambayo inatumika

mno kupeleka maarifa muhimu ya kikulima: redio

sahili. Takriban asilimia 90 ya Tanzania ya vijijini ina

fursa ya kutumia teknolojia hiyo isiyo ghali na iliyo ya karne za kale—nao wanaitumia mara kwa mara. “Kila

asubuhi, mimi husikiliza muziki wa Kikristo, halafu

habari,” alisema Onesmo Sumari, mkulima wa tango kule Njoro, kijiji kilichopo nje ya Arusha. “Na familia

yangu huisikiliza kila jioni.” Kila mahali duniani,

wakulima hutumia redio kupata maarifa ya wakati wa

kufaa ya mazao na kujifunza mbinu mpya. Kule Afrika ya kusini mwa Sahara, kiasi cha wakulima mara nne

wana fursa ya kupata redio kuliko simu za mkononi. . .

Vipindi vya kilimo vya Redio 5 [Tanzania] vinategemezwa na shirika la Kanada lisilo na faida

liitwalo Farm Radio International (F.R.I.).

Linajishughulisha na vituo vya redio 10 Tanzania, kwa pamoja kuwasiliana hadi asilimia 40 ya wakulima wa

nchi hiyo. . .

Translation into Swahili courtesy of Donovan

McGrath

Tanzanian Produce for sale In the last issue of the Newsletter we suggested having a new feature to advertise where Tanzanian produce could be

purchased from within the UK The idea is that whilst shopping for everyday items BTS members could help businesses in Tanzania by choosing to find and purchase produce specifically from Tanzania.

Ethical Additions Tea and Coffee “We buy our Machare coffee beans from Ethical Additions, because they are from a coffee farm we visited, but they have other Tanzanian coffee too (beans or gound) as well as Usumbara loose leaf tea.

https://www.eacoffee.co.uk/ourshop/ Thank you to Kathryn McNicoll for sharing this

Cafe Direct Tea and Coffee In addition to Cafe Direct ground coffee, 'Kilimanjaro' mentioned in the last Newsletter there are also Cafe

Direct Everyday Tea bags - 80, which use Uganda, Kenya, AND Tanzania tea.

Traidcraft Coffee There are also Traidcraft coffees, again ground: the rich roast coffee from Peru, Nicaragua, AND Tanzania, and the

Decaff ground coffee, being sourced from Peru, Honduras, AND Tanzania.

Both Cafe Direct & Traidcraft have their own online shopping facilities, https://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/ https://www.cafedirect.co.uk/ but also many Oxfam and independent Fairtrade shops will stock these products.

Thank you to Phillipa Grant for sharing this

Send any information you have to share to The Editor, BTS Newsletter, 33 Viola Avenue. London SE2 0TQ

suemitchell1953@hotmail.co.uk Tel 02036651144

Page 13

Remembered

Did you know Sam Ntiro? I am currently focusing on Sam Ntiro's time in London, first as a Slade School of Fine Art student and then as the first Tanganyikan High Commissioner to London in the early 1960s. I am trying to find people who might have met him at the Slade, the High Commission and at St. Anne’s Lutheran Church which he attended, and also people who bought his paintings at the various exhibitions he had in London at this time.

If you can help please contact me jshirland@bridgew.edu

Jonathan Shirland PhD, Associate Professor of Art History Department of Art & Art History, Bridgewater State University MA 02325 USA

Page 14

Ralph Isaacs OBE We are very grateful to BTS member Ruth Isaacs for her recent generous donation of £2,500 in

memory of her late husband Ralph who sadly passed away in March. Ralph spent many years working

in Tanzania in education. His schools were in Kagera Region, Tabora Region at Tabora Boys School,

Same Region, Dodoma Secondary School and he completed his long tour of service in Dar es Salaam.

Ruth tells me that they shared a special interest in the overall benefits of education, English teaching

and improving opportunities for young people and is pleased to make this donation available now. In

accordance with their wishes TDT will be aiming to use this for our education support programme in

our regions where Ralph worked and where they shared many years together.

Jonathan Pace

David Hunter O’Brien, 1932 – 2019

“As he [David] turned 23 in mid-1953, he left for East Africa from Tilbury Docks, seen off by his

parents and his fiancée, Rothy, for his first 3 year tour as cadet District Officer in Mtwara, Southern

Province, Tanganyika. No home leave for 3 years and young officers weren’t meant to be married in

their first tour. Then in February 1956, having got special permission, he sent a cable out of the blue

to Rothy (now a Nursing Sister at the Westmorland County Hospital), simply stating: “Come. Repeat

come. David”; not ‘Love David’. As she later found out that extra word would have cost another

shilling, a lot from his meagre £75 a year salary. Matching his adventuresome spirit, she went – 7

weeks by ship; then witnessed by Best Man, Harry Brinkworth, (Surveyor for HM Overseas Colonial

and Civil Service, Southern Province, Tanganyika 1948-1960) they were married in Mtwara in a

Mission Church on 3rd

April 1956 – a mud and wattle hut, with a sandy floor, and a wind-up

gramophone for ‘Here Comes the Bride’. They spent their honeymoon in the foothills of Kilimanjaro

at the other end of the country. Dad has been devoted to Mum ever since, and she to him. I, Stephen,

appeared a year later, born at the community hospital in Mtwara overlooking the Indian Ocean. My

mother reports that when I was just 5 weeks old, Dad was posted to Tunduru up-country to the

remotest of stations. The mail was only delivered every few weeks by a small ‘round the airstrips’

plane. Dad’s superb Swahili was vital, not least as his role was primarily to keep the peace, maintain

infrastructure and food supplies, and train local people to take on responsibilities for the anticipated

Independence. He loved his Safaris, often in almost impassable conditions, to meet people in the

communities where he was respected and liked in equal measure. He left a benign mark on those with

whom he worked in Tanzania and his affection for the people and their interests never waned

throughout his 86 years.”

This is an extract of the tribute given by David’s son Sir Stephen O’Brien KBE, at the funeral

at St. Andrew’s Church, Dent, Cumbria in May.

BTS Annual General Meeting 2019

You are warmly invited to the Annual General meeting of the

Britain-Tanzania Society

Saturday, 5th October at 2.00pm at

St Mary-at-Hill Church, Lovat Lane, Eastcheap, London, EC3R 8EE

We welcome as our speaker

Togolani Mavura Private Secretary to the Former President H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete

His topic will be

Whither UK-Tanzania Relations?

NGOs and charities which operate in Tanzania are invited to have a table display at the AGM at no charge. Businesses associated with Tanzania are welcome to have a table display at the cost of £15.

The Annual Reports for both BTS and TDT will be on our website from 1st October and hard copies will be available at the AGM.

For a table display at the AGM or for a hard copy of the Annual Reports to be posted to you, please contact Elizabeth Taylor at 4, Titchener Close, Bicester, Oxon OX26 2BZ, telephone 01869 243479.

etaylorsjut@gmail.com

The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge This year the Britain Tanzania Society/Tanzania Development Trust will be participating in The Big

Give’s Christmas Challenge, a matching funding campaign which runs from 3-10 December, in order to

raise money for our clean water projects in Tanzania.

We are very grateful to the BTS members who have already pledged over £2000. This “pledge pot” will be

used to match contributions from other people donating to our campaign during Christmas Challenge

week, and to secure additional funding from other Big Give donors. There is a short video on Christmas

Challenge here that explains how the campaign will work or go to www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/christmas-

challenge.

Nearer the time, we will be encouraging BTS/TDT members to ask some of their friends and family

members to donate to this very worthy cause, and will be sending out more information about the

project(s) we are hoping to fund. We do not expect all members to do this, but it is a great opportunity for

you to have fun renewing old contacts and spreading the word about the work you have been so loyally

supporting over the years.

It costs around £1500 to supply a village in Tanzania with clean water via a locally manufactured rope

pump and hand drilled bore hole, with health and other benefits that are many times this size. We are

starting small because this will be the first year we have participated in The Big Give, but are still aiming

to raise in excess of £6,000, enough for 4 water points.

Please help us by donating in December. Janet Chapman TDT Trustee.

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would be greatly appreciated.” Andrew Coulson

BTS Who’s Who & Contacts

BTS CHAIR Dr Elizabeth Taylor 01869 243479 etaylorsjut@gmail.com

BTS VICE CHAIR Petronila Mlowe mwakatumap@gmai.com BTS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Charlotte Pallangyo charlottepallangyo@gmail.com BTS MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Godlisten Pallangyo godlistenj7@gmail.com BTS TREASURER Gabriel Mgambwa 07968851007

gmgambwa@gmail.com

BTS SEMINAR ORGANISER Janet Chapman j.chapman@tanzdevtrust.org BTS WEB EDITOR Alex Paurine alexpaurine@icloud.com

TDT CHAIR: Jonathan Pace o7901563322 J.pace@tanzdevtrust.org TDT EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Kristina Putsova pkristinka@gmail.com. TDT TREASURER: Brian Medcalf treasurer@tanzdevtrust.org

TDT FUNDING APPLICATIONS: Phil Grant

applications@tanzdevtrust.org

TDT WEBSITEMANAGER: Peter Kenworthy tdtwebsite@gmail.com TDT CARD SALES: Ann Marcus +020 8668 5230 ann.marcus43@gmail.com

BTS NEWSLETTER EDITOR Sue Mitchell 020 3665 1144 33 Viola Ave, London SE2 0TQ suemitchell1953@hotmail.co.uk

BTS President: HE Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania BTS Vice-Presidents: Ron and Liz Fennell, Trevor Jaggar, David Brewin, Andrew Coulson, Julian Marcus, Esther Mwaikambo

BTS Tanzania Chapter contacts: Chairman: Ambassador Paul Rupia chairman@bts.or.tz

Vice Chairman: Professor Cuthbert Kimambo kimambo@udsm.ac.tz +255 754 281680

Committe Member: Daniel Mwasandube dam@webburonu.co.tz +255 682 442 151. dmwasandube@gmail.com

BTS Scottish Group contacts: Ann Burgess 07858 481038 annpatriciaburgess@yahoo.co.uk

NEXT NEWSLETTER DEADLINE

1st

Deecember 2019.

Tel 02036651144 but email preferred

The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge

3-10 December to raise money forTDT’s clean water projects

in Tanzania. See page 15

BTS Newsletter September 2019 Volume 17, Issue 3 Back page

BTS Diaspora contacts: Petronila Mlowe mwakatumap@gmail Fadhili Maghila fadhilimaghiya02@hotmail.com

TANZANIAN AFFAIRS EDITOR Ben Taylor ben.d.taylor@gmail.com

BTS AGM Saturday, 5th October 2.00pm

Guest Spaker: Togolani Mavura

Private Secretary to the Former President H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete

Whither UK-Tanzania Relations?

St Mary-at-Hill Church, Lovat Lane, Eastcheap, London, EC3R 8EE

REDDITCH RETHINKS RUBBISH EXPO Saturday 19th October 2019 See page 5 for more details

BTS Seminar Monday September 2

nd 6pm – 8pm at

South Bank University

Global warming in Tanzania - how big is the

problem and what can be done? Further details on BTS website and Facebook