While we were in Longido, we stayed at the Tembo Guest House, which was built several years ago by a group of women from Ottawa. This is where we ate our breakfast - the building is round, with the bedrooms on the outside walls, and this eating space on the inner circle.
Since Art and I were only in Longido for 2 full days, we didn't get to know the staff of Sauti Moja Tanzania as well, but they were very helpful in touring us around a little bit. We travelled in this vehicle nicknamed "the beast"!
Ngoresa (may not be spelling that right!) was our driver. When we were getting in, he said "the Momma should sit up here" - that was me, and I got the passenger seat in the front. Tim, Jenaya and Nashapai were very gracious about climbing into the back seat!
The roads here were nowhere near as rough as the roads in Marsabit. However, the rains have eroded the roads in this area as well. At one point we had to cross a river bed, and the banks were rather steep. Ngoresa said "no problem - the beast is an old strong truck - lots of power". I covered my eyes (which he found hilarious) as we drove straight down one side and a steep climb up the other side - but he was right, we got through fine without getting stuck. One of the places we visited was the school at Oltepesi. Unfortunately, the rain has badly eroded the mud walls again, and the inside of the school was flooded so the floor was a mess.
What they really need is for the walls to be cemented, but at this point there is not enough in the budget to do that. So everytime it rains they will be in a bad spot. This is a pre-primary school - using the Montesori program, they teach the Masai children some basic Swahili, and some math, so that when they go to primary school in the village they will not be so alienated from the other children. Here I am standing with the teacher - he is Masai himself, and has received the Montesori training, so he can now teach the children. He made all the teaching materials he uses himself - clearly he is very proud of the work he does. I just hope that some day his school will become more permanent so that it can withstand the heavy rains. These are roads we were driving on to travel from Longido out to Oltepesi - not as bad as Marsabit roads, but not exactly a highway either!
Another day we travelled about an hour away to visit the village of Mairowa. This is where Cory Wright began the experience of community conversations to help address the struggles of HIV/AIDS. Our first stop was to see the progress on the resource centre which has been an ongoing project. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but they began with cementing between the bricks, then ran out of cement so there are a few layers that are mudded, and then they were able to do the top layers with cement again. Inside there is a large open room where the community conversations and education sessions can be held, plus there are two smaller rooms for an office and for storage space.
Our first visit was with two people who have self-disclosed that they are HIV positive. In Mairowa, there are a few people who made it public that they are living with HIV/AIDS. That is one of the most positive effects of these community conversations - no longer are people living in such isolation and fear once they have tested as positive. By self-disclosing they are HIV positive, they can access a support group, and get more education about how to live a healthy life, even with the diagnosis.
The man sitting with his head down was the first one to admit to testing positive. He told us about how in the "glory days" he could walk for miles, often taking part in livestocks raids as far away as places in Kenya. However, he kept getting weaker, and was diagnosed 3 times with TB, each time getting a little more sick. So they did a test for HIV/AIDS, and it was positive. He told us he feels fine now - the only struggle he has is that he is now blind as a result of the disease. But otherwise, he manages quite well.
He had 3 wives. 1 refused to get the test, 2 others tested and both were positive. One of those wives died a short time ago. But the other woman here is his second wife.
She has become a very important spokesperson for how to live a healthy life-style even with the diagnosis. She has spoken to groups in Longido, and usually begins by asking them to describe how they think someone would look who was HIV positive. Once they have described all the probable symptoms of someone, she tells them that she has been tested and she is positive. They are usually shocked because she looks so healthy. She then tells them why she is so healthy looking - that she gets the proper medication and she does her best to eat well. She is a very helpful spokesperson in terms of encouraging people to have the courage to be tested, and then educating people about how to live longer even after the diagnosis. She is upbeat and filled with both grace and strength. Once again I was touched by the warmth of her heart, and the beauty of her smile.
The other thing this woman made clear in speaking with us, is how very much she appreciates the support of Sauti Moja. Over the years they have helped by providing them with a donkey so they could get water, plus they have made it possible for them to get the transportation necessary to travel to the clinic to get the medication they need. Part of the difficulty of this illness is that people can't afford to travel to the clinic - the actual medication is not costly, but the transportation to get there is not easy. What they are now hoping to get assistance with is a way to work their fields. They own land, but they are too weak to do the plowing themselves. If they had some assistance to work the land, they could do the planting and the weeding themselves. That might be one way for them to stop relying so heavily on food relief, which is not always dependable for feeding their family. All the children have been tested, and none of them are positive, so her concern continues to be to give her children a healthy diet and to make sure they all get to school.
The last night in Longido, Jenaya treated us to her gourmet pasta dish - the ingredients in Longido are a little sparse, so she had to be extra creative to come up with the meal she prepared for us! We bought her a little magnetic dart board so that she could have something to do in the evenings besides talk to her cat, Pete. I know that I will continue to be processing much of this experience for a very long time. I am profoundly thankful for the experience I have had both in Kenya and in Tanzania. Tim and Jenaya helped me to see a face of Africa that I know that I would never have seen on a regular "tourism" kind of tour. Art said it well to me - when all the layers of "stuff" that we tend to surround ourselves with are stripped away, it enables us to see human decency at its best. The women we were introduced to through Sauti Moja have a dignity and a strength that is impossible to miss. The work that Sauti Moja is doing with the most vulnerable women in Kenya and Tanzania spoke strongly to me of our call to seek justice, love kindness, and always to walk humbly with God. I don't expect that I will ever forget that group of widows saying to us that they never expected that they would survive the drought, so to be alive is for them a clear sign that the God of the poor is not asleep.
As we move ever closer towards Christmas, I hope that you will think of Tim, Jenaya, and the others who work so hard for Sauti Moja - for "one voice for peace". If you are at all able, go to their website and make a donation - it will help to build a school, or feed a child, or bring hope to these women who are doing their utmost best simply to survive. One of the things we talked about was how so little cash can make such a huge difference in the quality of lives here in Africa. I know that I have gone out for supper in Regina and easily spent $50 - that amount of money will feed a whole family here for a month or so. I know that my finances are stretched thin in Canada - but I also know that I will be thinking about what I can afford a little differently now that I have have sat in the homes of some of these women in Africa. If you can't make a donation at this point, please hold these people in your hearts and prayers. As one of the widows told me with great emotion in her voice - it helps a huge amount to know that there are people across the ocean - strangers - who will pray for the well-being of herself and her children.
My next post will be moving away from the vulnerable widows, as I share with you some of the amazing pictures and stories from the 3 days we were on Safari in Tanzania. Amazing what we learned from watching the animals of Africa!
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