Newsletter for MS-Tanzania

For MS partners and development workers in Tanzania .

June 2004

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

 
Peaceable nation

Tanzania has always praised itself of being a peaceful nation. This is still very true. In a region surrounded by nations marred by conflict and harsh dictatorships, Tanzania has found its own direction – not a very direct or effect-full direction when it comes to improving the living conditions of the poorest or the economy in general. But a peaceful direction on a continent of civil war and in a world fighting terror with terror.

The newspapers and tv-channels are flooded with images of suicide-bombs, hostage-taking, counterattacks in helicopters, fearful American soldiers on foreign soil and presidents and prime ministers talking about the tough approach towards terror. But we have to look at the roots of terror. Why is the suicide-bomber doing his dirty deed? He is a desperate person pushed to the limit and sees no future for himself or his society. Instead we need to continue the soft approach against terrorism that the development aid has always been. If you give the person the basics for a life, a job, a sustainable existence and thus start building people to support themselves and build a society then we don’t need to fight terror – because the reason for terror will not be there.

The world might look to the Tanzanian example of turning the other cheek, using the smile first and communication before fighting. In Tanzania more than 120 tribes have been living together, marrying into each other and finding a common language. The country has a large minority of Moslems living together peacefully with the Christian majority. The first president of the nation, Julius K. Nyerere, taught his people to focus on the similarities binding them together rather than the differences separating them.

Nyerere mixed the blood of the people to form a strong nation in peace. While other new nations ended up in bloody religious or tribal conflicts, Nyerere created a good platform to build upon - because building is now necessary. The nation needs other structures to develop and to join a global market that’s not waiting for Tanzania to catch up on economical performance, fighting corruption or learning new skills in an ever-changing world.

The next issue of Habari za Tanzania is about ‘Global Tanzania’. How has Tanzania failed integrating into the ‘global village’ and why is it important to be part of globalisation? Already now the articles are available on the homepage of MS-Tanzania here and the magazine itself will be out in the end of this month.

News from the director

A few important points from the meetings in Denmark . The PAB Chair Rosemary Thomas and the MS-Tanzania Director was in Denmark in April for the Annual Policy meeting (APM) and the Annual General Assembly (AGM). Generally the agenda's were influenced by the findings/recommendations from the MS evaluation, e.g. focus, DW’s, intercultural cooperation, financial management, dependency of only one source, educational material and MS International versus MS as a Danish organisation. Which recommendations from the evaluation were relevant according to MS’s own interpretation of the challenges ahead of us ‘at the crossroads’? Most of the recommendations has already been addressed or is in the process of implementation. Examples on that:

• At the AGM, a new ‘Vision and Mission ’ statement was agreed upon, which will give more focus to MS more and create a sharper profile for MS (the English version will be distributed soon): 1. Main focus in the South - 2. MS works politically - 3. MS is a popular organisation. This means that MS can easier prioritise (we can not continue doing ‘everything’), create synergy between our activities and will be in a better position to explain what MS is all about. 
• Fundraising strategies has been decided upon globally as well as locally, to minimise MS’ vulnerability with only one donor. 
• A new financial system is in the implementation phase, which allows for easy tracking of how the resources are spent according to our objectives. 
• Survey on how the personnel input has an impact in the partner organisations. MS acknowledges that more flexibility is needed and other kind of personnel should be introduced, but generally there was an appreciation of long term DW’s (this is only the preliminary statements, is has not been finally analysed). 
• ‘Intercultural Cooperation Policy Paper’ is right now in the process of having draft guidelines developed and this might assist in integrating it more vividly in our activities. 
• MS as an international organisation was discussed at length – the pros and cons – how could the values of MS be utilised best? The discussion will continue in the future and will include the question on how the South can get closer to the policy developing/decision making level. 
• What will PAB’s role be in the future MS? A working group consisting of PAB chairs will come up with a draft proposal for a new PAB TOR. It was agreed that PAB needed to be institutionalised in MS and creating some clear communication structures between the board in Denmark and PAB’s. 

In the board there are a lot of new members inclusive a new Chairman and Vice-chair - they now have the challenge of implementing some of the necessary changes.

         

Working-team in Losinoni

The Africa-team from ‘ Grenaa Youth Production School ’ (GYPS) in Denmark started their project for Tanzania 1st September 2003 . This project dealt with collecting and reconditioning old sewing machines, a maize mill and computers. It should all be sent to a little village called Losinoni Juu that lies in Arumeru district, 40 kilometres north of Arusha.

In the beginning the ‘Africa-team’ was only a temporary school-subject - now the team is a permanent work-force. They started with making plates for tables and benches to make the frame for the container that should bring the maize mill, sewing machines, teddy bears and all the stuff from Denmark to Losinoni Juu in Tanzania .

The hammers, the funnel and other parts to the maize mill, were grinded and the other parts were painted. The sewing machine-boxes were painted and after that, two of the pupils sewed dresses and shorts in both children- and adult-sizes. Three of the pupils went into practice in a kindergarten called ‘Landsbyen’, which is the neighbour to the GYPS. They should gather impressions and ideas on how a Danish kindergarten works and this knowledge should be brought down to the kindergarten in Losinoni Juu.

Two pupils already had knowledge about the use of computers, it was therefore evident, that they were in charge of fixing the computers. They got parts from InterGen in Århus, who collects used equipment from hospitals. That's why it didn’t cost a lot to get the project running. The last three pupils worked on various small projects that could come up.

The container was sent from our school late November 2003 and was already in Losinoni Juu at our arrival the 4th February 2004 . Only two of the 17 candidates had been out flying before. After almost nine hours of flying, we arrived in Nairobi , with a day to drive to Losinoni Juu. Here we started immediately making the camp.

A lot of the students were thinking about the meeting with the maasais. How they would look like, their way of dressing and the way they would act. During the stay the pupils were wondering, if the children were brought up in the family culture, which is so different from ours. Many asked questions about this, plus their way of living, the cultural differences and the jobs of the maasais. After a couple of days of getting used to it all, we started the projects.

The mill was built, the floor was made, the roof put up, and in the end the maize mill was established. Sewing machines, teddy bears and other toys were sent up to the village church, where the workroom was going to be established and the impressions from the Danish kindergarten should be decrepit in the Tanzania-way.

The computers was driven to Oldonyo Sambu and was installed on KKKT theological seminary. The MS-center in Arusha had given a car to our disposal, so there was the possibility of going to Arusha each Thursday to get money and do some shopping for the coming week. On every Arusha-trip, there were four students coming along, who therefore also could get in and do some private shopping and buy souvenirs to their families back in Denmark .

A Production School is a different kind of school that not everybody knows of. It's a place where youngsters have a possibility to try and qualify in different technical subjects, getting used to be in a working environment and just as important, to get to know new friends.

In the production school we are around 60 pupils and eight teachers. And the age of the pupils ranges between 16 and 25 years. The production school is also a shortcut to get started on an education or a work.

Grenaa Youth Production School has gone through two earlier Africa-projects with five weeks working stay.

By Knud Erik Asak

 

The chain reaction

The teachers Resource Centres in Lake zone did an exercise on networking and coalition building this month.

TRC’s that have previously been partners with MS have already for some years met once a year to a regional meeting (Mara and Mwanza Region) but in last years meeting we challenged a new district to host the meting and to extend the invitees to cover all districts in the Lake zone.

On 19th May almost 50 TRC coordinators, representatives from partner organizations and a few officials arrived at Ngudu in Kwimba for a two days talk. In many ways it was a new and exiting event: Some of the districts did not respond to the invitation, but it was pleasant to see that the old core group was only a small part of the total number of participants and many new faces were seen.

 It became a great forum for exchanging experience, frustrations and ideas. The individual programmes differ on working conditions and support from local authorities and partners, but all coordinators were eager to make a difference in their own area and to learn from each other.

Kwimba TRC presented an impressive collection of teaching materials made on inspiration from a workshop in 2002 arranged by the TRC in Sengerema and DW Birgit Sohn Christensen, financed by MS and with a facilitator from Uganda . They did not only copy what they had learned in that workshop, but had also developed the concept and made it an income generating activity.

Rhoda Msemo from Monduli and Yustine Sabato from Sengerema presented the Coalition – the National Network. It is yet difficult for some of the TRC’s to grasp that they really can be a part of this network and the Coalition will have to work hard on the awareness raising. Rhoda passed a lot of inspiration to her fellow coordinators. She brought back strong arguments to her own local authorities to make similar meetings for TRC’s in the Northern Zone.

The coalition and networking of TRC’s is growing!    

By Bodil Moeller Joergensen, DW in TRC-Missungwi

Out and around the CO

Today ( 1st June 2004 ) the country office is celebrating a rare event. Our accountant Restituta Caesar – Resty – has been employed with MS-Tanzania for exactly 10 years. Congratulations to Resty for endurance, hard work and a positive in fluence on the working environment at the country office!

The transport officer Jared Duhu has found a new job in the American NGO, Deliver, in Dar es Salaam . He informed that on Friday last week and had his last day of work on the country office yesterday (Monday).

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