Newsletter for MS-Tanzania

For MS partners and development workers in Tanzania.

March 2005

Editor: Information worker Tina Loevbom Petersen and Michael Bech
Editor-in-chief: Director Finn Petersen

The more the merrier

The Annual Meeting ended on a high note. All the partners and DW’s were gathered at TCDC in Usa River from 16^th to 19^th February for their respective meetings and the general Annual Meeting for MS-Tanzania. And it was an annual meeting with a lot of good and fruitful participation from the partners.

The main subjects discussed at the Annual Meeting were election monitoring, code of conduct, networking, the new MS-paper ‘Partnership against Poverty’ and then the Danish ambassador Carsten Nilaus Pedersen presented the Danish development assistance in Tanzania . A lot of the new MS-partners were actively involved in the debate and in the group work – a good sign for the future.

News from the director

The director is in Denmark right now, so there will be no word from him this month.

UVIMTA nominated for the MS Price Award

At the MS annual meeting in February 2005 the PAB members agreed to nominate UVIMTA for the MS Price Award this year. The MS Price Award was established in 1989 with the aim of encouraging a sustainable and democratic development in the MS program countries. In 2003 the price was given to a partner of MS Tanzania, TAYEN (Tanzania Youth Exchange Network). Back in 1992 the price was given to Ms Wangari Maathai from the Green Belt Movement in Kenya . Maathai was later honoured by the Nobel Price Award in 2004, so who knows what this MS award can lead to!?

UVIMTA is an umbrella organization of 10 villages in the area around Njombe in the Southern highlands. PAB has decided to nominate UVIMTA this year, because PAB finds that UVIMTA has grown a lot during the partnership with MS-Tanzania. From being a poorly organized and not very efficient organization, UVIMTA has developed into an organization with knowledge, strong and transparent leadership and a widespread interaction in the communities.

The MS Price Award will be awarded to a partner in the South at the annual general meeting in Denmark in April 2005.

New DW’s to Tanzania

Right now MS-Denmark is advertising six DW jobs in Tanzania , so hopefully MS-Tanzania will be able to welcome six new DW colleagues by the end of July 2005.

UVUKI (Kibaha Agricultural Co-operative Joint Venture) in Kibaha is applying for a new cooperative advisor to replace Michael Lund Sørensen. WAMATA (Walio katika Mapambano na AIDS Tanzania) is applying for a new capacity building advisor at the head office in Dar es Salaam to replace Henrik Zilstorff and the MS-Tanzania country office is applying for a new Information Worker as replacement for Michael Bech.

New partners to apply for DW’s are Morogoro Paralegal Centre for Women and Children (MPLC) who are looking for an advocacy and networking facilitator to assist on organizational capacity building, JEBA Society in Bagamoyo (Jumuia Endelevu Bagamoyo) is applying for an organizational Capacity Builder, and finally Youth Action Volunteers (YAV) are applying for an advocacy advisor to assist them, as they enter partnership with MS Tanzania.

As mentioned at the annual meeting Pia Norgaard, the administrator of MS Tanzania, will be leaving this year, so right now MS is also looking for a new administrator. Hopefully the new administrator will be appointed this month and will arrive in Tanzania in May 2005.

Habari za Tanzania

In a small editorial meeting, we have decided what themes to cover in the coming partner-magazines. The four issues of Habari za Tanzania 2005 will be: 1. Water – 2. The ‘ Para ’-phenomenon (paralegals for instance) – 3. Elections and 4. MShikamano.

The first issue of MShikamano is now close to launching. The magazine is a joint effort between MS-Uganda , MS - Kenya and MS-Tanzania and the first theme is ‘The new East African Community’.

For the coming ‘Water’-issue, the deadline is approaching. Tanzania is experiencing growing problems with water-shortage, unsafe water sources, pollution and more people to share the same amount of water. We would like to put a focus on the water-problems. If you have any inputs or ideas for this theme, please let us know.

TTT

The Travelling Topic Team (TTT) visits Tanzania from 5^th to 15^th March 2005 with the concern of making poverty eradication operational at the partner level. The objectives are to foster greater interest in addressing poverty reduction and increase (shared) knowledge about conceptual and operational issues among relevant country office staff. And then TTT will assist MS-Tanzania to be able to make poverty reduction initiatives operational together with partner organisations.

Four partner organisations will be involved in the initial workshops, namely UVUKI, YAV, Naramatisho and TAYEN. The visit will be comprised of Wonder Phiri (MS-Zimbabwe), Lene Christensen (MS-Denmark) and Shiva Bhusal (MS-Nepal).

Back to African soil

She must have been missing Tanzania ... Karen Kruger Rasmussen left TRC-Mugumu in December last year and now she’s back again. Karen is working short-term with the TRC-Coalition and the main purpose of her new contract is to finish a book she has been writing on ‘teaching aid’ for the educational sector in Tanzania .

Contact for the Newsletter: michael_bech@net.dialog.dk – mobile 0744 - 87 40 80