Go MAD in Tanzania Report for Tearfund
The main aspect of our work was working in a nearby remote village called Mkirira which was about a twenty minute drive from where we were living. We were involved in many areas of the village including building a house for the Pastor, a water tank and a pit latrine. We also set up a Sunday school and a sports club for the children. We wanted to make sure that the work we had started would continue and be sustainable. To do this we involved as many of the local people as we could showing them how to build the water tank so that they could carry on building them throughout the village. By encouraging people to help lead the children’s work and leaving resources for them to use we are confident that this work will also continue. We gave some health talks to the local people and took a doctor to run a small clinic in the village. We bought the medicines the doctor had prescribed and took some people to the local government hospital. It would take locals almost a day to walk into the town to go to the hospital and when they get there they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for treatment. Through all our work we were able to build strong relationships with many of the local people who we became very close to.
We also spent some time observing different areas of the Diocese which included:
Development and Discipleship Program
This program is headed up by a woman called Rhobbie. The program currently has about ten villages on it and is looking for more funding to be able to expand its excellent work. Each village that is placed on the program is on it for three years after which Rhobbie is confident enough that they are capable to carry on on their own.
So, what happens? When a new village is put onto this program Rhobbie and her team go to the village and give them twenty days training in two main areas – developing their village practically and spiritually. She sets up a committee of about ten to fifteen villagers; this usually includes the village leaders and has an equal number of men and women. The program makes available to the village £500 to spend on an income generating project beneficial to the whole community. These projects range from goat, sheep or pig rearing to buying and renting out maize mills. The village is required to pay for half of the project and to provide all the labour necessary. This helps to give the village a sense of ownership to the project, to look after it and to work hard to make it succeed. On the spiritual side the committee set up small bible study groups and prayer meetings, they may also start a Sunday school group for the children too. A pastor who works for this program gives a few talks to encourage the people in their faith. The work that Rhobbie is doing is amazing and the project is such a sustainable way to help give people better lives. All the decisions that are made are made by the committee with guidance from Rhobbie and her team. It is important that the committee make the decision as it’s their village so they must take ownership for what they are doing. After the initial twenty days training the village will have review meetings with Rhobbie over the three years depending on how they are getting on.
I was really encouraged by the work that Rhobbie is doing in these villages and I think it is a brilliant way to practically help improve people’s lives. Providing spiritual support helps villagers to grow in their faith and gives them hope and a future. The village that we were working in, Mkirira, was put onto this program during the last couple of weeks that we were there. I was at the initial meeting where Rhobbie explained to the local people what the program does and how they must commit to helping it work for their village. It was so good to see that the people were keen to be involved and I am confident that Mkirira will do very well working with Rhobbie as they did working with us.
AIDs Home Care Program
This program has several aspects to it including out reach activities to raise awareness of AIDs and a home care program. The home care involves two trained nurses visiting people living with AIDs in their homes out in the villages. They provide their clients with a small amount of rice, sugar and soap if the client is too ill to be able to work to afford these things. These things help to make their ARV medication (Antiretroviral) work more effectively. The program also helps individuals to set up a small business so they can support themselves so that they are not dependent on the program. I met one woman, called Stella, who is on this program who was doing amazingly well. She has set up a little shop outside her home selling tea, sugar and other such things. This lady was also a volunteer for the program which meant she went into her community sharing with people her story and how she copes with living with AIDs. The program also provides counselling and spiritual support to both the client and their families. At present there are about 50 clients on this program.
Another area of this work is running road shows and voluntary counselling and testing. The team go to a village and perform a road show which involves lots of singing and dancing which attracts a lot of people. There is also a drama and a question and answer session. The road show raises awareness of AIDs and also talks about some of the taboos associated with it. They also provide a free HIV test for those that feel they may have been at risk. Before having the test, clients receive a little counselling on AIDs and about the test. The test only takes a few minutes to perform and then they are given more counselling depending on the outcome. The road show and voluntary testing works really well and has decreased the number of positive cases in some areas.
Again I was really encouraged by this work and think it is a great practical way to help reduce the spread of AIDs. I went to visit a Mother who was suffering from AIDs who also had a two month old baby. The Mother had been forced into prostitution as a way to earn money and she had two other children who did not know their Fathers either. The Mother had given up on the youngest child who was malnourished and very ill. She said she didn’t even want the baby and was leaving it to die. The nurses talked to the family and the Grandmother agreed to look after the baby and try to make it better. The program provided some special baby food to help rehydrate the baby and to provide good nutrients for her. We also gave the Mother some rice and sugar and the nurses gave her some counselling. The nature of this case meant it was easy to judge the lady but the nurses were very understanding and treat everyone the same without judging them. We went back a few days later to see the baby – not knowing if she would still be alive – but thankfully the Grandmother had been feeding the baby like the nurses had said and she was looking a lot better. This just shows how much this program helps and without it this child and many others would probably have died.
Disability Centre
We were also involved with a disability centre which carries out home visits and clinics. One clinic they run is a club foot clinic. Young children with clubbed feet come to the clinic each week for their foot to be gradually twisted back and plastered until the foot is in the correct position. Some cases are quite severe and require surgery so the clinic refers the child to hospital for this. Most children make a full recovery. The centre provides the children with special shoes if they require them which the parents pay for half and the centre pays the other half.
Home visits involve going to patients homes to see how they are getting on and to provide some exercises to stimulate muscle movement for patients with muscle problems. I went to visit one 14 year old girl who has Cerebral Palsy; the centre had provided her with a wheel chair (of which the parents paid for half). This chair had greatly improved her quality of life as she could now go outside and play with her friends instead of staying at home all day. She was not able to go to school because the school that would take her was too far away and her parents couldn’t afford to take her there. It would also mean her parents would have to stay there with her so they would not be able to work.
The centre made me realise how lucky we are and how good our healthcare system is. It also reminded of me how much support is available for people with extra needs and the amount of equipment we have available for these people.
Mara Primary School
Mara Primary school is run by the Diocese and the children are taught in English. The school has the best results in the Mara area however, parents have to pay more money to send their children here than other schools. We visited the school a few times to help out in some lessons. One lesson we went into was English where we were put into small groups and the children interviewed us on what England was like and about ourselves. In their English lessons after this they wrote up what they had discovered and produced posters/reports. We also taught the class the song ‘Lean on Me’ which they then performed to the rest of the school at their end of term assembly. It was very interesting to visit the school and see how very different it is to English schools! The children are very good at speaking English and it amazes me that they are taught in English, a foreign language to them. I asked some of the children how they got to school and most of them said they walked; one said he rode a push bike. Some children have to walk a long way; one of them said it took him one and a half hours to get to school. This made me realise how lucky we are not only to be able to get cars and busses to school but to be able to live reasonably close and not have to spend such a long time getting there.
Halfway trough the trip we had a few days break and during that time we went to the Serengeti for one night. We spent two days going through the National Park and seeing all the animals. It was good to be able to spend this time away from our busy schedule, to recharge and see the amazing scenery and animals in the Serengeti.
This trip really has been an amazing experience and I have had a great time being able to experience this different culture. It has made me realise how fortunate I am and made me aware of many of the things that I take for granted. I would love to return to be able to see some of the amazing people I have met and become friends with. Before I went on this trip poverty was just a load of statistics to me but, I have now experienced and met the faces behind these statistics and hope I will be able to continue to help these people. I am eager to see how the village I worked in is getting on and how they are helping themselves to make their lives better. I would also like to return again maybe as a leader with another group to work in another village and help spread the brilliant work of Go MAD and the Diocese. I am about to start Southampton University to study Medicine, I hope to return to Musoma for my elective and also once I am fully qualified to use my skills as a doctor in this poor country.
This trip has brought me closer to God and showed me how much he cares for these people and that we are called to help the poor. It also showed me that there are many Christians all over the world all seeking to follow our one true God, just like us. One passage from the bible particularly stood out to me during my time away, Romans 12:1-2. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind. Then you will be able to test what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” I hope and pray that my life will act out these verses so I will not live according to how the world lives but in a way that is pleasing to God and in line with His will for my life. Also, being open to what God wants me to do in my life, even if it seems strange in comparison to the patterns of this world.
Ollie Shaw (Go MAD team 2009)
