My good buddy Carter Jensen has arrived in Kigoma! I thought it would be a long lonely road for me from this point on – after saying Kwaheri to my girls on July 5th, but now Carter – a good friend from SLC, UT – has arrived! On his first day in town, Carter had to endure a day heavy on the business for Project Wezesha. This was our tick list: open a post office box, open a joint bank account (Lucas and I), register Project Wezesha in Tanzania, meet with the architect for school plans, meet with the Kigoma Ministry of Education, meet with the land officer.
So – why such a crazy list? Some of it was pre-planned and some of it evolved as the day progressed. When the earth moved such that the sun was hidden by the mountains of DRC across the lake, we had accomplished this much: opened a post office box (but need to return for key Monday), met with Ministry of Education and the land officer (but have to return on Monday) and the plans for the school are ready!
Isaya, Lucas’ brother, and his partner Ahamadi are the general contractors for the project. I am lucky to have Lucas as a partner and then just superbly fortunate that his brother is one of the best builders in town! They are efficient and detail oriented at the same time – a rarity here. After seeing that the school project in the neighboring village has only produced one classroom in four years with tens of thousands of dollars worth of donations (big trouble in little Kiganza), I was worried that Tanzania might be a nation within which productivity might just be out of reach. I was soooo happy to see – upon my first return to Mgaraganza village – that they had built two new classrooms on their primary school (in partnership with Jane Goodall Institute and an NGO called Allianz) and a new office building for the village – also donated by Allianz and JGI – since I left one year ago. So, with renewed faith the project moves along.
Before Carter got here – Lucas and I met with Isaya and Ahamadi. I told them that I raised about half of what I had hoped to produce for the project by this summer. With that number in mind, what were the prospects of making something happen? Isaya and his partner ‘shared views’ as Lucas says. It was our first official business meeting about the big project and it took place on a building site – me squatting on a pile of rocks, them leaning on a dirt wall – all shaded by a kind tree. Final verdict – hamna shida, Rai – No problem. The plan is foundation for four classrooms and the walls for one – maybe two classrooms. I am leaving Lucas with a digital camera that my boyfriend Adam donated before I left. Lucas will continue taking pictures and emailing images to me so I can track the progress from home and continue with fundraising. In the meantime, we do have a goal of getting foundation and one classroom up before I go in under 3 weeks time … no complaints here!
Today – Carter, Lucas and I made our way back into Mgaraganza village for our second big business meeting with the Chief and Chair of the village and the 15 or so council members who weigh in on all village decisions. They were so delighted to see that I had returned. A little rumor was spinning that I wasn’t coming back – so when they saw me walking around the other day, they knew I didn’t break my promise. In fact, two days ago, as we wandered through the forest and across the river to the village, every man whose path we crossed asked Lucas, is this the mzungu who is building the school? Then big welcomes came my way, smiles and renewed confidence. I’m so happy to have NOT let them down. Importantly, I was only able to come back and follow through with my promise to help thanks to the amazingly generous donations of so many supporters and friends around the country and world who chipped in for Project Wezesha! Asante Sana and Urakoze Cane to all of you!!!
In today’s meeting we talked about the need for some members of the council and the Chief to go into Kigoma town and pick up where we left off yesterday with the Ministry of Education and the Land Department. They have to verify that the village has donated the land to Project Wezesha for the construction of Amahoro Secondary School. The Ministry of Education told me two days ago that they are happy to have this be a government school. The will contribute as much as they can. For a neighboring secondary school, they built one or two classrooms for every two that the village built. They will do the same for us!! They are also willing to donate the latrines!! Excellent! Government buy in! Just what we needed!!
After our meeting, we were invited back to the wife of my friend Ashahadu for a nice fish and chips lunch. We’re heading back into the village early early in the morning to carry stones and sand with the men and women who have already started working to prepare the land for building. Today, after knowing that I had returned and this was a reality – 30 of them showed up to carry stone and sand this morning! Tomorrow the same – plus two wazungu who are bound and determined to learn how to carry buckets on their heads!!