The Land is our Life

Sinandei Makko, one of the founders of African Initiatives’ partner the Ujaama Community Resource Trust, talks about the importance of land to pastoralist communities in Tanzania, and why everyone else wants a slice.

“The Maasai pastoralists are a nomadic community living in northern Tanzania and Kenya. Pastoralism is a way of life based primarily on raising livestock including cattle, sheep, goat and camel on arid and semi-arid lands.  For pastoralists, the three most important things, the three pillars of society, are land, livestock and family. But pastoralism is not necessarily considered important by many policy makers.

The eco system is fragile in northern Tanzania. There is unpredictable rainfall and in order to co-exist with wildlife pastoralist land requires integrated and sensitive resource management. The practice of livestock herding keeps all members of each household in these communities busy throughout their lives. Pastoralists live a nomadic lifestyle as they are constantly on the move, searching for water and pastures and managing the land carefully to allow the regeneration of endangered plants. Their lifestyle is ‘holistic’ which takes into consideration socio-economic and natural resource conservation of environment and wildlife.

 

Most of the land the pastoralists use is labeled “a strategic national economic zone” because the good scenery and rich wildlife promote tourism. This influences Tanzanian politics and economy and creates huge land use conflict which has resulted in land grabbing, local community eviction and the displacement of pastoralist families from their ancestors’ land.

 

Land grabbing is caused by a lack of understanding and recognition of pastoralism which result in unsympathetic policies and ultimately – social injustice. National Policies such as wildlife and conservation continue to separate human and wildlife conservation, like the Wildlife Act of 2009. Keeping these two things separate does not make sense. Pastoralist people live with wildlife and their land continues to be the habitat of wildlife. Pastoralism can co-exist with wildlife.  

UCRT educates pastoralist communities on the importance of securing land rights and developing land use plans which map the different ways the land is used by communities; whether for grazing, water, habitation or buildings such as schools. We secure titles for grassland and work to broaden dialogue by strengthening community voices in the country amongst policy and decision makers.

When you think about pastoralism, the land affects everything. We want this basic fact to inform livestock and wildlife policy reforms impacting on all parts of the pastoralist way of life – health care, education, women’s rights, governance, conflicts and livestock production.

We are just as important as wildlife. And we can work together.”

 

 

Developing Talents

Nasiri Yasin Mwinyikondo attends CASEC’s Youth Centre in Arusha, Tanzania. This is his story.

“My name is Yasin and I’m 22 years old. I live in Arusha town at Daraja Mbill. I got my secondary certificate at school but didn’t get a chance to continue with higher education. This was a big disappointment and a challenge for me. Without a good education life is hard.

Then I found that I had a talent in  fine art and crafts. So I started this job so that I could help my family and myself. When I started this work in 2009 my parents were not sure of what I intended to do or whether I could manage it.

I use banana plant leaves to make picture frames, hand bags, pen holders and many other products. It is not as easy as I thought it would be. People don’t value this sort of work – it makes is hard for artists to establish themselves. Many Tanzanians don’t value things made from traditional materials.

In 2012 I decided to join CASEC’s youth centre so that they could help me advance my talent and promote my products. When I joined I found more interests because there I met with a lot of youths with different ideas and talents. This has improved my determination and I shared ideas with other people. I’ve improved my skills and the quality of my products.

I thank CASEC because they have helped me to promote my work through my participation in Nane Nane exhibitions in Arusha. This has helped me to be known by the community and potential customers who have helped me to improve my products by using other materials and not just banana leaves. It has encouraged me a lot and helped me know how to deal with different customers with different tastes and interests. Also, I learned that not all people will accept your products, they will discourage you.

There are still problems. I don’t have a special show room where customers can easily visit me. And it’s hard to fix the right price for your products which will both attract customers and enable you to make a good profit when you take into consideration the amount of time spent on producing one item.

But, I can see that life has changed in the last year. It is better now.”

The Unseen

Simon Daffi Kirway, one of the Project Officers at CASEC (an African Initiatives’ partner in Tanzania) came over to the UK for nearly 3 months earlier this year on a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship. One of the biggest things he took away from that experience was the UK approach to inclusive education. When he returned home to Tanzania he decided to do his own research into the situation of children with disabilities in schools in Mbulu and Kilolo districts. He has just sent us a report outlining his findings. 

For Simon, these children are the “unseen”, hidden in the community by their parents because of common misconceptions, including that these disabilities are a “curse”. “They are not given medical care when they’re sick, let alone being enrolled in school” Simon reports, “their mothers struggle to help them, regardless of what other people’s beliefs are, but it’s hard.” 

There are not only barriers to education from their communities. In Tanzania there is one teacher training institution for special needs teachers, Patandi. Each year between 378-400 teachers graduate. They have to be spread across 25 regions of Tanzania and Zanzibar and are not even always posted to teach in schools which provide inclusive education. Demand for these teachers is always very high. In Mbulu district only 2 schools out of 140 had ‘inclusive classrooms’. There was no provision for assistant teachers or community volunteers. This means that when teachers are ill and cannot teach the children cannot go to school. In Dongobesh Chini Primary School the inclusive classroom was temporarily closed in December 2011 because the teacher was sick. For 5 months. 

Teachers report budget constraints. Children with learning difficulties are not funded: although a government programme requires the central government to pay 25,000Tsh per child the schools have yet to see it. They say that they do not have resources to work with, one District Education Officer said “Why should you bother with children who are impaired, while as a district we have not been able to respond effectively to the needs of those who are okay?” Some parents even see teachers as an opportunity for respite care, for relief from the burden of responsibility that lies on them. One teacher stated, “In my town here community members openly referred to these children as my own children. They believe that I’m responsible for teaching them, meeting their medical care, food and clothing costs.”

Change is beginning however. At Endigot Primary School a local councillor mobilised communities to construct toilets suitable for children with learning difficulties using government funding proving. This proves that change can be driven by the community. Policy too is moving forward; it is now a government requirement that all government secondary schools should be adapted to become more user friendly by 2014. 

Now CASEC, too, are looking for ways in which they as a community grassroots organisation can build the capacity of schools and their communities to educate children with disabilities. Something African Initiatives is committed to working with them on. Together we can lift the curtain on ‘the unseen’.

Changing the World one MP at a Time

For a small organisation such as African Initiatives it is hard to have the impact we would like on policy change, particularly when the policies which need changing are on the other side of the world. In fact we learn a lot from our partners in Africa, especially CASEC, on the ways in which they influence change and their ‘softly, softly’ approach of building relationships over time and then making requests of their change makers. When we find a member of parliament who listens to the issues we are shouting about it is something to celebrate.

Recently, our CEO heard that her local MP in Wells, Tessa Munt had a keen interest in Africa and East African history in particular. When Rosie met her she was able to talk frankly, and face to face about the difficulties faced by Tanzanian pastoralists who are fighting for their land and those daughters who are fighting to go to school. This means a direct link into parliament; one more MP who knows what is happening and who can help to direct the British government’s reaction to these injustices. Ms. Munt talked to Rosie about the potential for African Initiatives to benefit future generations of young Africans with the programmes we and our partners are running. To gain the interest and support of a local MP with an existing understanding of Africa will be vital for African Initiatives as, with our partners, we continue to fight for justice and equality.

To see more on Rosie’s meeting with Tessa please click here

Land Rights in Tanzania - Update from our partners PWC

African Initiatives has just received this update from our Tanzanian partner, the Pastoral Women's Council (PWC), regarding local pastoralist's land dispute with Tanzanian Conservation Ltd (TCL) which has the same ownership as US based company Thomson Safari.

"Just now the DC [District Commissioner] is harassing Maanda and Melau (PWC staff) and has locked up 5 men for 'trespassing' on the [Thomson Safaris/TCL] farm where they were grazing livestock but you can't trespass on disputed land. The men are still in prison, they were imprisoned on Friday as the DC is 'making an example of them'. They are due in court tomorrow but no one wants to be accountable for locking them up. The DC won't appear so the police won't appear. Shilinde (Advocate) is in Loliondo with 2 journalists to try and expose the DC for what he is doing. The DC has threatened to de-register PWC as he claims we send the men to the [Thomson/TCL] farm to 'intimidate Thomson tourists'. The DC also threatened to lock up Maanda and Melau but nothing has come of this.

Melau spoke to the DC and he has somewhat relented from his initial state of confrontation. Last news is that more Maasai have taken their cattle to graze in the disputed area in retaliation of the DC's action, without, and I emphasize, any encouragement from PWC. Thomson's new manager, John, seems very reasonable and perplexed by all the recent goings on. The same men were arrested last week and he called to have them released but then they were of course re-arrested this time without bail. As of yet we still await the court case."

Clubbing Together

Val Bishop explores one of  the most successful initiatives in our girls' education programme in Tanzania

In Ngorongoro, Kilolo and Mbulu districts in Tanzania girls are becoming a force to be reckoned with. African Initiatives’ partners the Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) and the Community Aid and Small Enterprises Consultancy (CASEC) are working with schools to establish ‘girls’ clubs’ in 40 secondary schools. These clubs aim to empower girls through exploring their rights, and helping them to build the confidence to claim them. In Ngoronogoro District PWC work with Maasai groups, where girls have to find their place in a highly patriarchal society and have to overcome huge challenges. Often parents and communities do not see the worth in educating girls, it costs money and is there any point investing it in daughters when they will leave the family fold and marry into another? Often they marry early; often they are forced to marry early. Their dowries come in useful.

Nabaya Parmya is one of the girls who has benefited. She is 15 years old and attends Lake Natron Secondary School. Both a member and secretary of the club she has seen changes in others and experienced them herself. Nabaya says that she has had “the opportunity to learn about issues affecting my education like HIV/AIDS, female genital mutilation and pregnancy as well as to talk openly about problems at school. I understand my rights better and how I can communicate with people in order to stand up for them. In Maasai culture, girls have no say on any issues that affect their lives” It is Nabaya’s father, elder brothers and uncles who determine her destiny.

Girls’ Clubs like the one at Lake Natron help students like Nabaya to access rights that we in the west often take for granted. When Nabaya grows up she will be able to pass this knowledge to her children. In this way girls such as Nabaya can help change an entire community. And it starts with a club.

Val Bishop

Head of Communications

val@african-initiatives.org.uk

Going Global at Sexey's School, Somerset

Tuesday 26th June saw the first of the summers Go Global Days at Sexey's School in the south west of England.  Ellen Hubbard, African Initiatives' volunteer gives her account of the very long, but rewarding day.

The day started bright and early, I met with Sian and the other volunteers at the African Initiatives office at 6am - a shock to the system but I soon saw the necessity of it.  We arrived at Sexeys School in Somerset by 7.30am, meeting two more of the team of 12 volunteers there.  Luckily Sian took on a ‘mothering role’, supplying us with breakfast and snacks, and generally making sure that we (her volunteers) were well looked after.

The hour of unloading, orientating ourselves in the school and setting up flew by.  I had organised the resources into boxes for each of the workshops the previous week, so found myself on the ball at this point trying to help to ensure that the right resources went to each volunteer.  With 10 workshops in total covering; Malawi – Sustainable Inventions, Ghana – Adinkra Printing, New Zealand – The Haka, China – Storytelling and Asia – Playground Games there were a lot of resources!

My main role during the sessions with the 240 Key Stage 3 students was to support Manuela who was running a workshop about New Zealand, where students learned the famous Haka. Even though I had looked through the workshop previously, I felt that I was learning more about Australasia and in particular New Zealand in all four of the sessions I helped run. This pleased me because if I was learning then surely the students were, right? Manuela and I wanted to try and encourage all the students to get involved and have a go. It didn’t take them long to get into doing the Haka, and then creating their own.

In session two I went to support another volunteer, Immanuel, who was running the Malawi workshop.  I was fascinated to learn the story of William Kamkwamba, a 14 year old boy from Malawi who had built a windmill from a picture he had seen in a book he borrowed from the library.  Using materials he found in a scrap yard he generated electricity for his family home, and eventually the whole community. It really is a story that makes one want to shout ‘if there is a problem, don’t sit back, work on a solution!’  And this is what the students did in the workshop.  Using junk materials they had previously collected, they built models of inventions that could encourage sustainable development in just 20 minutes.

After the fifth and final workshop all the students returned to the main hall for a short assembly and debriefing of the day. As part of this Sian got every single person on their feet, and Eleanor and Manuela led all the 240 students plus staff in a huge group Haka!  I performed it at the front with some student volunteers for everyone else to follow. This truly was amazing and a lovely end to the day, which was then topped off by the thanks we were given; the school gave a thank you card, flowers and a box of chocolates to each volunteer.

I learnt a lot from the day, and really enjoyed working to increase the awareness of a world that has always intrigued me, and which I believe everyone should be encouraged to explore and get to know. Even if the students only enjoyed the day half as much as I did, and learnt half as much as I did about New Zealand in each of the workshops, then it was certainly a success.

Since this Go Global day I have danced the Haka to myself each time I needed to lift my mood, it works so well! I am already looking forward to any opportunity I get to be involved with future Go Global days, and I think I would now even have the confidence to run a workshop myself.

For more information and to book a Go Global day at your school please visit www.globaleducationinitiatives.org.uk/go-global-days