Better than oil!

WE FOUND WATER!

Can you really put yourself in their feet and think of living without water at the turn of a knob? No flush toilets, no showers or baths, no way to quench thirst and no liquid for cooking. What you would get, however, is exercise, because to fill your bucket you would walk sometimes more than a mile to the nearest stream. For some, there may be a public spigot in walking distance - but this water costs money that the poorest of poor do not have.

In these exciting days for Kilimahewa, the Maji Drilling company showed up late last week - amid all of the building repair work - and began to drill the bore hole in search of water. Although it is not an educational project, EdPowerment committed to this endeavor early on because water is essential to uplift the poor in this community. It will facilitate healthier lives and a better food supply for our students and their families. In turn, this will allow for greater financial support for the school. In addition, without a better water supply, it is impossible for us to provide decent toilet/sanitation facilities and develop an on-site lunch program in which women can prepare the local makande dish of maize and beans for the students.

Drilling itself, however, is no guarantee of water. And so today, when we in the States got the email - we have water - it was time to celebrate. Mama Grace was so upset that she did not have her camera to capture the event - the children and teachers ran out of the classroom, community members gathered, and her cell phone began to ring from places near and far: all this in a community of limited communication. Mama Grace said they called it a "river" and it truly will be a river of life for these people.

Huge challenges remain - further drilling is necessary, the water must be tested, the proper pump determined and then a security system put in place, in addition to system for allowing access to the water - but with some kind of contribution from the community. But for now, the possibilities are endless.

Sweat equity

Our "fundi" (contractor) from the Karanga Vocational School began a "makeover" of the Kilimahewa school about two weeks ago. Although the "kids" hated to be out of school - this is Tanzania where school is a blessing - Mama Grace divided them into teams to help clean up, fix and improve their school. I am going to share a few pictures with you to see this process. Don't really have the before/after shots yet, and we are still waiting on a few things such as the new desks and blackboards (in this regard, TZ is just like our contractors here - all done except for.....) but already the atmosphere is clean and more fitting for a place of learning. The students are joyful and the best piece of news is that a new teacher who has a good command of English and readily connects with the "kids," has joined our community.

We think that this formula - students who want to learn, teachers qualified to teach, an atmosphere conducive to both, and support from those with resources - will make Kilimahewa a model - albeit a small scale model - of effective education in Tanzania's poor communities.

Building knowledge, dispelling myths

Last Friday, August 20th, Kilimahewa Educational Center hosted its first HIV/AIDS seminar for the 35 students of Kilimahewa and over 50 members of the surrounding community, men and women alike. EdPowerment teamed up with the Knock Foundation to sponsor the first event of its kind in this community. Led by KNOCK's leaders and Tanzanian peer educators, the program addressed a wide range of topics including self-esteem, healthy relationships, the reproductive system, safe sex and HIV/AIDS.

The Knock Foundation, which has presented well-received HIV/AIDS seminars for the last three years to increasingly large groups in Rau village, Moshi, provided a set of educational handouts which were welcomed by the participants, who also enjoyed a hot lunch of rice and beans. This marked the first time that KNOCK has brought its program to another village, and the need - and community desire - for this type of outreach was quickly apparent. Simple information such as which gender determines the sex of a child can be life-changing, especially for women who often bear the burden of harmful misconceptions. In group discussions and open questioning, other myths about HIV transmission and the practice of safe sex were dispelled as the teenagers of Kilimahewa gained critical information to help them make good choices in life. Not only did the teenagers benefit from this seminar, but adults also came away with new insights into basic well-being, including healthy eating and the need to limit alcohol consumption.

The positive impact on participants was most remarkable in the response by the village chairperson who asked that more such seminars be presented to the entire ward of Samburai (of which Kilimahewa is a sub-division). Ultimately the best education addresses the needs of the whole person and EdPowerment thanks the KNOCK Foundation for helping to provide this service to the community of Kilimahewa.

Local Buy-In

I just watched Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea) on TV, talking about the importance of local buy-in to assistance efforts in the third world. I wanted to stress to everybody who is getting to know EdPowerment that this is one of our guiding principles.

In the past two weeks, Kilimahewa Educational Center (the "informal" school that we support) has hosted two community education workshops - one on Autism (and other special needs) Awareness and the other on Health and HIV/AIDs (conducted by the KNOCK Foundation). The community came together not only to attend the events, but also to prepare for the seminars by cleaning the facility, clearing the site, erecting tents, providing tea and getting out the word. After the last seminar on reproductive and other health issues, one of the village chairpersons (men) expressed interest in inviting the entire ward to future seminars.

This is the type of community engagement that EdPowerment seeks to build as we strengthen Kilimahewa's programs. In the next month, we hope to begin the drilling phase for a water well - this project will support economic progress in the community which, in turn, will allow for even greater participation in the school's development. Ultimately, our goal is to empower the local population. This is not the "Dead Aid" of top-down government funding. This is grassroots, bottom-up aid that incorporates the local community in reaching its goals of a better life.

Shedding light on autism

On August 10th, our outreach program, Autism Connects Tanzania, touched a population that is virtually ignored in this region. Parents, teachers and professionals from Arusha, Rau, Majengo, Mabogini, Korogoni, Kibosho, Siha and Bomag’ombe joined together for the first Autism Informational Workshop hosted at the Kilimahewa school.

The EdPowerment team of (Mama) Grace Lyimo, Kerri Elliott and Jillian Swinford, its local supporters, and the Kilimahewa staff worked tirelessly to get the word out about this first meeting for those impacted by autism. A tent, projector, flip chart, white board and other portable facilities were assembled behind our little school. Transportation costs and lunch, as well as notebooks, pens, autism informational handouts in Swahili and flip cards for picture communication were distributed to attendees.

The result – another milestone for the community! Nearly 70 parents and professionals were able to share their experiences, learn more about the condition and begin to build strategies for working with autism. All participants took away valuable information from the instruction led by Kerri, a special education teacher. For example, the few special needs classes that do exist in Tanzania today simply bundle all students in one classroom. The workshop introduced the concept of “differentiation” (a fundamental practice in the U.S.) to attending teachers, who can now consider some specific strategies to use among students with varied disabilities in their classes.

Moshi’s pioneering therapist in this area also shared her insights while waves of assent rippled through the audience as individuals described behaviors that mark their autistic loved ones.

In these communities, autism generally is not even identified. Therefore, autistic individuals can be misinterpreted as drug addicts, drunkards or other social pariahs. Today’s meeting was literally the first opportunity for many of these people to experience some kind of public acknowledgement of their daily struggle – to know that they are not in this alone.

Suggestions were many for future workshops, community support groups and educational seminars. Today was the first small step.