Day 13 – Strategy Workshop

For the last two days we have been participating in the Anglican Diocese of Tanga’s 3 day Strategic Planning workshop. The goals are 4 fold: deepen the understanding of the Diocese of Tanga’s mission; develop vision, mission, goals, activities, and effectiveness indicators; ensure shared/clear vision; and plan a way forward. The workshop is being held at St. Barnaba Christian college down the street from the diocese, and is being attended by educators, healthcare professionals, priests, and office staff from all of the diocese’s institutions in the Tanga region. Thus far, it has proved to be an interesting, and, against all odds, productive workshop, considering that we break for tea every 15 minutes. In the end, we hope that the diocese will have a refined vision, fully utilizing its resources in an effective and efficient manner to be a positive impact on its community.




Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit a horticulture project near the Pangani river that runs south of Mandundu (New Korogwe), right behind the Korogwe Town Council’s office and the Anglican Diocese’s “Go-Down”. The project teaches good farming practices to youth and low-income farmers (most all farmers are low-income). Our visit, while informative, also appeared to be a propaganda campaign for a local political party as we later found out that our guide was the chair for one of the local parties. He was very happy to have us pose with him for a picture being taken by the photographer we picked up on the way to the garden! At least it appears that the project is having a positive impact on the community, and maybe, at some point, we will try to collaborate with the city on expanding and improving the project (the Korogwe Town Council (KTC) provided the land and planning for the project). Vote Chama Cha Mapinduzi, 2010!


Today, missing a portion of the workshop I attended two meetings at the Korogwe Town Council (KTC). Sam took one for the team, persevering at the Diocesan meeting for hours 6 through 10. My first meeting was with the Trade Officer for the Korogwe Distric Township. The officer expressed his support for the work The Korogwe Project hopes to do and added that there is a need for educating farmers on planting cash crops to sell in the market as opposed to planting only food crops and hoping that there will be a demand for them. Specifically, he mentioned that there is a demand for sunflowers that are later processed to make sunflower oil in a nearby district. In the future, Korogwe hopes to have its own processing plant, but for now producing more of the crop will initiate the first step toward that goal.


The second meeting was with the KTC’s economist, Renatus, who is currently preparing an investment profile for the district. Renatus provided information regarding proposed agribusiness opportunities in the area and offered to help our research by suggesting more opportunities as they came up. He also asked a number of questions about Obama and the current effects of climate change on the United States’ economy/environment. People in Tanzania often ask if the US is facing hardships similar to those they are experiencing. Frequently, the answer is, yes, we are facing similar problems. For instance, water shortages are a problem for subsistence farmers in Tanzania, but they are also plaguing farmers in parts of the Midwest that don’t have readily accessible water sources. The US uses far more fresh water each year than is available according the USGBC. This is a problem because it means we are rapidly depleting our freshwater sources, and in time, without change, we will have major problems. Problems that we think our localized to developing countries, but in reality, they plague the developed world where consumption far exceeds our production, resource efficiency, and conservation. We all have a lot of work to do.

As always, we want to give our thanks to those who are following our project and encouraging our success. We are so blessed to have this opportunity to experience community with the people of Korogwe, and to work together on projects that will facilitate opportunity and fight poverty. In such a short time, we have so much to share about our experience, and we hope that the adventure will continue to be as action packed and fulfilling as it has been thus far.

Take care,
Jesse & Sam

Day 12 - Kwamasimba to Magoma

Sorry for the delayed update! It’s been a busy few days here in Korogwe; we’ve been working hard day and night trying to gather as much information as we can while also trying to begin formulating an implementable project(s).

On Thursday we traveled up to Kwamasimba, a small village up in the mountains behind Korogwe. We enjoyed a gut-rattling drive up rock-strewn, nearly vertical dirt roads, enjoying the breathtaking scenery all around us. When we arrived, we found the entire village waiting for us. We got a royal welcome, which was flattering though at times a little awkward. After elaborate introductions led by Father Komba, we proceeded to sit before the village and listen as they voiced the many challenges they faced as a community. These challenges are not insignificant—the village has no medical dispensary, and, as we had learned on the drive up, no easy means of access to facilities in Korogwe. We heard of women in labor having to be carried down on stretchers (a hike of at least several hours) to the hospital to give birth, and other similarly heart-breaking tales.

After listening to villagers elaborate several other similarly daunting challenges, we tried to ease the conversation towards the topic of agriculture. The main point we heard repeated again and again was the need for proper agricultural training. Food security is a major issue, one that will only increase with time as the population grows. The looming crisis was evident from the moment we arrived—there must have been 8 children for every adult gathered before us.

After concluding the town meeting, we slowly made our way down to the village shambas. We enjoyed the company of about 25 children, who eagerly crowded around us, mostly mesmerized by Jesse’s cameras.


The farms themselves were incredible. We saw mostly maize, and a few bean plots, all cultivated along the extremely steep slopes of the mountainside. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to try and harvest. As with so many other areas here, drought was a major issue this year.
The most moving aspect of the day, though, was seeing the incredible unity of the village. It appeared an extremely tight-knit community, and one eager to mobilize to tackle the many challenges it faces now and in the coming future. And man, the kids sure are cute.


On Friday, we spent the day visiting the Anglican Diocese’s main agricultural assets. Within the last 5 years, the diocese has purchased 5 farms in the Tanga region. All the farms are of significant size—the smallest is 41 acres, and the largest, still in the process of being purchased, is 1000 acres. Unfortunately, nothing has been done on the farms since they were purchased. Similarly, several years ago the diocese purchased a 20,000 sq. ft “go-down,” or storage warehouse in Korogwe town. Since its purchase, the go-down, which is large enough to store grain to feed the entire region, has been left empty.


Let’s just say that there’s incredible opportunity to utilize assets (farms, warehouses, etc) already in the diocese's possession.

Inspired by the repeated requests for training we’re hearing—from farmers, diocesan folks, and community leaders alike—we’ve begun formulating potential plans for an agricultural training facility to be located on one of the diocese’s farms. In fact, the diocese had already picked out one of their farms for such use, though as of yet, the plan has not been implemented.

Similarly, as we consider potential solutions for the marketing and distribution challenges farmers face, the go-down is an ideal resource for centralized storage and distribution.

Yesterday, we continued our market visits, spending the day at Kwashemshi market. Kwashemshi was the largest and best organized of all the markets we’ve visited. It’s held every Saturday beside an elementary school, and draws a large, lively crowd. It also appeared to be the wealthiest of all the markets we’ve visited—people seemed to have gathered for more than social purposes, and real transactions were taking place.


Today, we drove to Magoma, a town about 30km away. We got up nice and early to make it to a 7:30am church service. The service was terrific—the youth choir was rocking, complete with electric guitar and bass accompaniment. Each guitar must have been at least 30 years old, and considering they didn’t have an amp for the electric guitar, we don’t know how they put on such a show. After the service, we gathered with about 20 male farmers from the congregation to discuss needs in the community.

We heard many of the same needs reiterated—access to subsidies/loans for expensive high-yield seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, crop failures resulting from drought, and a complete lack of (though great interest in) proper agricultural training. Indeed, none of the farmers had ever been visited by their appointed agricultural extension agent.

In another interesting note, none of the farmers gathered (or, indeed, any that we’ve met so far) are receiving loans. It seems that farmers here (and, I suppose, everywhere) are severely hampered by the inaccessibility of capital. The difference in cost between regular/local and high-yield seeds is 2,000 Tsh. per 2kg bag. That’s about $1.50. Yet this is an insurmountable cost barrier for almost every farmer we’ve encountered. We’ve been inspired by the work that two other NGO’s—Nuru International and the One Acre Fund—are doing to give peasant farmers access to the capital they need to purchase agricultural inputs. Both organizations have seen tremendous gains among those receiving loans—most are doubling their profits. It seems clear that this is an issue that we must consider, and it’s hard not to be excited by the explosion in popularity of microfinance around the world and the measurable impact that similar organizations are having in this region.

After our meeting and a rejuvenating cup of tea in the pastor’s home, we walked up to the Magoma market. The Magoma market is fairly small, and not well organized. The most notable sight was the many women lined up along the side of the road, all selling the same tomatoes. The over-saturation was quite startling, and again highlighted the need for better agricultural planning, training, and distribution.



As the farmers we met with after the service had pointed out, farmers here are generally failing to work together in any meaningful way, which has been the case in most markets we’ve visited. Despite the governments encouragements, farming cooperatives have completely deteriorated in the last two decades – mostly due to political corruption and local distrust. The farmers we have spoken with have repeatedly emphasized the need for better organization, both to facilitate the dissemination of training and information, and to help gain leverage in and access to marketplaces. It appears that it’s truly a matter of good leadership. Again, to us, this is an opportunity!

Well, that’s all for now. If you’ve made it this far, you’re a real all-star. You’re also probably our mothers.

Kwa heri na tuonane,
Sam and Jesse

Day 7 - Meeting Yakub & Visiting Kerenge

Yesterday we had a very illuminating meeting with Best Friend of the Korogwe Project, Yakub, a local mechanic/computer science engineer (the former as family legacy, the latter as a passion) who first contacted us several months ago after hearing about our project from a German social worker who had been working in the area. Yakub has been a great friend to us thus far, both in helping us get settled here in Korogwe and developing our project. From the start, he has insisted that we meet his friend, mzee John Mtambo. We happily obliged, not having any idea who he was or how he might relate to our project. Lucky for us, the guy is absolute dynamite. He’s an older man (hence mzee, which literally means “old person” in Swahili), and an incredibly wise one. He has been involved in agriculture in various ways for several decades, and seemed to know everything about anything pertaining to agriculture in Tanzania. He also spared no breath in imparting his voluminous knowledge into us. Mzee Mtambo’s newest project is the creation of an agricultural training center in a nearby district.

Perhaps the most critical issue farmers here face is an almost complete lack of knowledge of “modern” farming practices. For centuries, farmers here practiced shifting agriculture—they farmed one plot for as long as they could and then simply cleared a new patch of forest and moved on. There was never any reason to develop sustainable methods of cultivation—why waste time replacing nutrients in the soil if you have no intention of farming it permanently. Today, farmers are no longer mobile, yet most have not adapted their farming practices to their new, sedentary lifestyle. As a result, there’s little legacy of generational exchange of agricultural knowledge—you can’t pass on what you never had. Of course, economic limitations compound this cultural/historical problem—fertilizer does little good if you can’t afford to buy it.

Mzee Mtambo’s vision is to create an agricultural training center where young farmers can learn modern farming practices. The principal focus would be on food security. This is, of course, a pressing problem today that will only intensify in the future, as the climate changes, populations grow, and food prices rise. This adds an interesting wrinkle to our project. As mzee Mtambo pointed out, marketing and distribution might be a pressing issue for some farmers, but what of the many farmers who don’t produce enough to feed their families, let alone to sell surplus in a market?

In light of this issue, we headed off for our first real market visit early this morning. We visited the Kerenge market, a village market 12 miles from Korogwe. We travelled down a pot-hole lined dirt road into a scenic valley, passing by women headed to the market with sacks of maize and vegetables atop their heads. The market itself was bustling, and alive with colors.

At the market we met up with a local Anglican priest, a community development officer, the district agricultural extension agent (1 government employee for 10,000 farmers), and a couple other local officials. We made our way slowly through the market—clearly not a tourist hotspot, judging from the general reaction to our posse—chatting with produce vendors as best we could. We talked to several women selling maize, and each told a similar story: the women bring maize to the market, and are under serious financial pressure to sell their crop to raise cash for purchasing essential goods. Most are reluctant to leave the market at the end of the day with any of their crop unsold. “Buyers”/middlemen know the pressure that these women face. As a result, they approach the women at the start of the market and offer to buy all of their crop at an extremely low price. Some women agree. Others choose to stay and sell. Thus the buyers/middlemen patiently wait along the fringes of the market until the end of the day; when the market is ending, they again offer to purchase all of the crop at an even lower rate. Many have no choice but to sell. According to the women, the “buyers” are organized—they all agree amongst themselves to buy at a certain price, eliminating any leverage the women might gain via competition. It certainly did seem that the buyers were well organized. They were all gathered at the edge of the market, chatting amiably amongst themselves, waiting for the end of the day. The women have little hope of selling their crop at fair market price at the village market. In the two hours that we were there, none of us saw a single transaction take place. The buyers, however, organize themselves to transport the maize to bigger markets, particularly the district market in Korogwe.

Having discussed the farmers’ plight with John Mtambo and Yakub – and having visited the market in Kerenge and interviewed the agricultural officers and local farmers – the Korogwe Project is now considering solutions for two problems: Food Security and Fair Market Prices for remote villagers. In the weeks ahead, we will be working with several people on mapping possible avenues for change, starting with but not limited to using the Anglican Diocese as a disseminator of best farming practices and an organizer of local farmers who want to join forces to move their goods to the main markets in Dar es Salaam and along the Kenyan Border.

We finished the day with a lovely meal at Bishop Philip Baji’s house nearby our temporary home in Korogwe. Bishop Baji completed seminary in Virginia in ’89 and has been the bishop of the Anglican Diocese in Tanga for the last 8 years.

Tomorrow we will be heading to two local markets in the mountains 15km outside of Korogwe city center: Kwamasimba & Lewa markets.

Again, thank you to those who are following our project. Please continue to pray for wisdom, clarity of purpose, and a sense of adventure for Sam and I as we struggle, as many who have gone before us, to understand our role in this incredibly complicated process of balancing change with maintaining cultural tradition.

With Peace,
Sam & Jesse

Day 5 - Korogwe

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Korogwe!

Two days ago Sam and I hopped a Scandinavia Express bus out of Dar es Salaam and began our trek to Korogwe. Eddey, our new friend who helped us navigate the endless chaos of Dar’s bustling streets and markets the two days we were in the city, dropped us off at the bus station and basically carried us to our bus to ensure that all went smoothly. It helps to make friends in foreign places!

If you’re not accustomed to traveling on African roads, the bus ride may have been mildly terrifying. But after 3 days of flying around the city in Eddey’s 1980’s camry, narrowly avoiding head-on collisions with every person, vehicle, animal, building we passed, the bus ride was by our newly formed metric, uneventful.

5 hours later, we arrived in Korogwe.

Jumping off of the bus, we were immediately greeted by several very friendly cab drivers each of which had a different idea of where our bags should go. Thankfully, Canon Edward and Brendan, a 26 year-old from Ohio who is working with the Anglican Diocese, rounded up our gear and threw it in the Diocese’s Landcruiser.

Still not knowing where we were going to stay during our time in Korogwe, and thinking that we would end up bargaining to share a room in the local hotel on a random off street of New Korogwe (Mandundu), we were bewildered to find ourselves dropped off in front of a 3 bedroom home on the hillside above Old Korogwe (about a 5 minute walk to downtown Old Korogwe and a 30-45 minute walk to New Korogwe). Complete with running water (some of the time), electricity (some of the time), a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and lots of tea, our new home is incredibly nice. Though we still have to use buckets for showers, it is fantastic to know that I can wash off every few days. And I am very thankful that Sam and Brendan can wash off every day—limits the smell!

Soon after unpacking our gear and cozying up to our new abode, we were thrown in a car and shuttled off to our greeting celebration with Dr. Damian, another new friend. Dr. Damian works at St. Raphael’s hospital in Old Korogwe attending to locals stricken with malaria, HIV, birthing complications, and other such common problems. But for that night, with the workday over, he wanted to relax and enjoy some good drink, good food, and good conversation with us.
As we sipped on Kilimanjaro—motto: “It’s kill time. Make the most of it!”—we enjoyed a real local delicacy: pork, slow roasted for hours over coals in a huge cast-iron oven. It was delicious. We were soon joined by another doctor coming from Teule, the region’s main hospital. Dr. Damian had invited him to look over the grant proposal he was writing for a program to limit transmission of HIV from mothers to their children. The two doctors made for great company, and the hours (and rounds of Kilimanjaro) passed freely.

Yesterday morning we met up with Canon Edward and headed down to the two markets in Old Korogwe. All of the vendors at the first market were selling various produce. The first vendor we spoke with was a teenage girl, sitting amidst hundreds of oranges laid out on a large canvas. The Tanga region is famous for its oranges, and we all enjoyed a fresh sample of her family’s crop. Tanzanians do not peel and eat there oranges section by section; instead, they use a knife to peel off the rind, then cut the orange in half like a grapefruit and bite/squeeze the juice and pulp out of the pith. Of course, the locals make it look easy, but Sam made quite the fool of himself trying to wield the knife, and ended up covered in fresh-squeezed orange juice. Brendan bought a dozen oranges and Canon Edward, Jesse and Sam did a little research on the production, transport, and sale of the vendor’s family’s oranges.

From there we continued on through the market, sampling and purchasing fruit and vegetables as we went. Finished with the first market, we moved on to another, busier, more diversified market in the center of town. It was a hive of activity, as daladalas, taxis, and buses passed in and out. The market was fairly sprawled—it was divided into several connected squares, with vendors lining the perimeter of each. The market is comprehensive, with second-hand shoe vendors, women’s underwear vendors (ever wondered where those clothing drives end up?), and cellphone kiosks mixed in with butchers, spice sellers, and large produce stands. It all easily overwhelms the senses.

We came to the hillside palace for lunch and a siesta. Once fully rested, Jesse and Sam grabbed a soccer ball and headed down to a small soccer field in Old Korogwe.

Nothing quite beats the spectacle of a couple of wazungu walking down a road with a soccer ball, and we quickly picked up a large group of eager, up and coming soccer stars who led us to the nearest “soccer field” – think rolling grass mounds with crudely constructed stick frame goals. In no time, we had two teams fighting it out on the field with half of the Old Korogwe community playing their role as audience – the goat herder watching as his herd mowed the adjoining field, the local men disenchanted by the Euro futbol game happening at the local tavern, the parents’ eager to see their children outperform the other local children, and the majority anxious to see if these two white boys had any skill, which we left no doubt, we’ve still got it – at least against 10 year-olds. Jesse attempted to play barefoot, as was the local fashion, but quickly discovered that his feet, normally very satisfied in athletic socks and supportive shoes, did not appreciate the abrupt change of environment and quickly tore to pieces. Sam experienced similar discomfort. But the games continued.

After about an hour of play, the coach arrived; although, we didn’t notice until we started losing players one by one to drills on the lot next to us. Yet, occasionally players would return to the field, raising the question, had we become part of the practice? It didn’t take long for our question to be answered when the coach appeared on the field with a very brief English welcome and direction, ”Hello. You can keep playing but I sub out 7 to practice over here and then replace with new 7. Ok?” So the game continued in an incredibly structured fashion. The field was spread. The ball worked around with accuracy. Few shots taken. The kids wore expressions of tension, the type of tension that comes with the awareness that coach is watching. This continued for another hour until we were thoroughly exhausted. With high fives and a quick chat with the coach, which included an invitation to come back anytime, we departed back to our home.

That night, we were invited over to the Komba’s for Mama Komba’s special Korogwe welcome dinner. We enjoyed beef stew, fried pork, sukamawiki (collard greens), rice, potatoes, noodles, and watermelon. To wash it all down we sipped juice made fresh from mangoes and guavas. It all was delicious.

This morning we got up bright and early to head to church. We traveled with Canon and Mama Komba to a parish about 4 miles away. The church is located a good ways off the main highway; we navigated the dirt/mud road roads up a picturesque hillside and eventually reached the church. We received quite the welcome—personalized welcome signs greeted us from the wall of the pastor’s home next door. The service was beginning just as we arrived, and we were immediately hustled up to special chairs at the front of the church. The service was lovely. It featured a wonderful mixture of High Anglican orthodoxy—lots of incense, heavy robes, chanted readings—and African charismaticism. The small youth choir sang several stirringly beautiful songs. Sam strained to follow along with the Swahili service as best he could.

Midway through the service we were invited to stand in front of the church to greet and be greeted by the parish. Canon Edward translated, and Sam generated some excitement by attempting to introduce himself in Swahili.

After the service—two and half hours, lightning quick by African standards—Pastor Joel welcomed us into his home for tea. Pastor Joel is a really incredible guy. He is not married, but has adopted five orphan sons. He is directly involved in the care of several other children, and runs a program for the several hundred orphans in his district. We met three of them, and they are all awesome—incredibly kind and sharp. The youngest delivered the announcements during the service, and is clearly a budding superstar preacher. The kid had serious charisma.
In all, it was an incredibly moving Sunday. We’re back at the palace now, tossing a football and waiting for the rice and beans to cook.

For those who made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this absurdly long post! We will endeavor to make subsequent posts much more abbreviated, hitting the highlights with more photos and less verbage.

Much love to all,
Jesse and Sam

Day 2 - Exploring Dar es Salaam

Hey Team,

Greetings from the Peacock hotel. Sam here, filling you in on the major developments of our first days here.

Things got off to a great start last night, when Jesse blew out the power to the floor of our hotel attempting to plug in his powerstrip. Luckily the fireball that exploded out of the outlet left our friend unscathed, and the Peacock Hotel’s crack team of electricians had things back up and running within the half-hour. Surely a terrific omen for a high-powered team such as ourselves.

We battled through jet-lag to get a few hours of sleep, then headed off this morning to explore our surroundings. Dar es Salaam is like just about every other African city—big, bustling, crowded, and relatively charmless. The urban life is not what you come for, needless to say.

In our exploration of the city, we made a successful stop at the Bureau of Statistics, picking up some very useful and comprehensive compendiums of census, economic, and agricultural data for Tanga region (where Korogwe is) and Tanzania as a whole. My first foray as team translator was quite a dud. After thoroughly embarrassing myself sheepishly stammering through a broken Swahili explanation for our visit, the woman in the Bureau bookstore politely responded in perfectly fluent English that she could help us meet our needs. Ouch.

From there we made an unsuccessful visit to the Bureau of Maps—the necessary employee appeared to be on a very extended “break”—and then headed onto lunch. After some post-lunch jet-lag recuperation, we headed off to the swanky peninsula suburb to meet up with Mbwana, a friend of a friend of the Korogwe Project Guru Jim Meeks. We met Mbwana at “O’Willie’s Irish Whiskey Tavern,” the official “Irish pub” of East African ex-pats. It was a fascinating experience, people-watching on the beach-front patio and chatting about our project and African development with Mbwana. The beer was terrific.

Tomorrow we’re back at it. We plan to head to the ministry of Agriculture in the morning, and then check out the main market in the afternoon. We’ve got another “business meeting” with Mbwana planned in the evening.

All in all, things are pretty swell here thus far. Thanks so much for all of your continued support!

Kwaheri na tuonane,
Sam

Day 1 - Arriving in Dar es Salaam

After 20 hours of travel, we have reached our start point: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I'm about to hop in bed, but before I do, I wanted to post a few photos from today.

Take care, Jesse

July 13 - Departure Day

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Korogwe Project Blog! We will start out by using this platform to keep everyone updated as to what we are doing on the ground in Tanzania. To stay fully updated, click on the RSS Feed at the bottom of the page to receive updates as soon as we post them.

At 6pm EST, Sam Bonsey and I will be boarding Swiss Air Flight LX017 bound for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We will arrive in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest port city, and hopefully be picked up by the Peacock Hotel staff.

From the airport, we will be taken to our hotel in the center of the city, where we will probably pass out after the 20hrs of travel (actually much less time than the 54hrs it would have taken from Seatac, according to several itineraries on kayak.com).

The following two days will be spent in Dar es Salaam, meeting with aid workers we know in the area and exploring the markets scattered around the city. Then the morning of the 17th we will leave for Korogwe, Tanzania, about 150 miles northwest of Dar es Salaam by bus. There we will be hosted by Canon Edward of the diocese of Tanga, and we will spend the next 50 days working with he and others in the community on improving their agricultural goods distribution system.

More updates to follow, hopefully every few days if not sooner.

Thank you to all who were involved in this project over the last few months and to those who are now supporting us with your prayers and encouragement. Please feel free to email Sam and I at any time during the next two months (Jesse.Uddenberg@thekorogweproject.com). We would love to hear from you!

Until the next time, many blessings,
Jesse Uddenberg