PICTURES From top left, clockwise: 1. A major street in Dodoma, the administrative capital of Tanzania. Yes, it is a bit like the Wild Wild West but without horses. 2. The Chairperson of Ntyukwa village inspecting a latrine (urinal) for the school boys - this is new for this community. Note he is wearing his political party hat, as there is an election tomorrow. 3. The managing Director of Maji de Maendeleo, Mr Matthew Halla, in his office. He speaks Swahili, English, Russian, French and his local village language. 4. This is me walking towards a drinking source for the Chumwino Village primary school, constructed by Maji de Maendeleo for only US$1000 funded by a Japanese town. 5. Latrines (toilets) constructed in Ntyukwa Village 6. Lunch in a Dodoma cafe. Mr Halla had chicken and chips (a usual Tanzanian lunch) whilst I had tomato stew on rice with chicken.

About Today

Today I met with staff of Maji de Maendeleo, an organisation that helps local communities in the Dodoma District (approximately 500 villages) with access to safe drinking water. They do this by supplying wells that use underground water; creating drinking points that tap water from the local dam; building latrines, so that cross-contamination of drinking water with human waste is avoided; educating communities about safe drinking; and building capacities of communities and schools to manage their water facilities. I met with Mr Matthew Halla, Managing Director; Mr Augustine, a program manager; and Mr Semu Nassari, program manager.

This is an impressive organisation, and clearly committed to their vision. They partner with a range of overseas NGOs as well as the World Bank and World Food Program. Today, they took me on a tour of 2 of their projects.

One, which is completed, was to construct a well for drinking water in Ntyuka Village near Dodoma city. They also took me to visit the village chairperson (who is facing an fiercely contested election tomorrow!) and the village doctor and his medical dispensary... they are very lucky to have a doctor, but he lacks adequate supplies including a delivery bed, and Rapid Testing Kits and microscope for testing for malaria, HIV and other blood-borne diseases.

The second project is much bigger and based in Chumwino Village primary school - the village is more rural than Ntyuka. This project has 4 phases:

(a) Build 8 latrines (toilets). This is because currently, the school of 3500 pupils is served by just 4 toilets, and 2 for teachers. This means children are often forced to go in the bushes, and in the wet season this is dangerous as the waste can be swept into the local water supply, causing parasitic disease.

(b) Extend the current water source to these new toilets, so that students can easily (and remember to) wash their hands

(c) Teach the children about hygeine through simple diagrams, and through games (often, through sport).

(d) Build the capacity of teh school to maintain the resources. Parents are happy to contribute to this effort so that it is all sustainable.

Travel to Dodoma and... making a splash

LEFT: The 'pool' I dived into (see below) RIGHT Picture of a Dar es Salaam market from the bus

Fairly non-eventful bus ride from Dar to Dodoma, although it took much longer than the advertised 6 hours... the bus driver was very careful! I met a couple of Bangladeshis who are working for an NGO who were very interested in HAT & Australia, and we are going to keep in contact.

The hotel in Dodoma is quite nice, soon after arriving hot and sweaty I decided to go for a swim in the pool and dived into this one. Shortly after, one of the waiters in the restaurant yelled "Bwana! Bwana! Hapana! ('Sir! Sir! No!') It is not a pool!". Apparently this was not the pool, I had jumped into something that was purely for display purposes. He then led me ingloriously through the rather nice hotel restaurant (topless and wrapped in my towel) to the real and much bigger pool. Oops!

Profile of NGO Maji na Maendeleo

Profile of organisation I will visit tomorrow in Dodoma

The picture on the left is one of their completed projects, a well in a village that had no access to clean drinking water.
Maji na Maendeleo Dodoma (MAMADO) is Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs on 24th May 2000. MAMADO operates in all six Districts of Dodoma Region namely Dodoma Urban, Bahi, Chamwino, Kondoa, Kongwa and Mpwapwa.

Since its establishment, MAMADO has been closely working with communities in all six Districts. Participatory approaches have been employed in all kinds of development projects implemented by MAMADO.

1.1 VISION
To have strong, capable and self –dependent communities which are able to plan, implement and manage their water supply and sanitation facilities and services in a sustainable manner.

1.2 MISSION
MAMADO is a regional NGO organisation which aims to improve sustainable water supply, sanitation facilities and the hygiene situation of communities by supporting and facilitating activity in partnership with relevant organisations.

1.3 CORE VALUES
Based on the regional and founding values of unity, love, peace, justice and sustainable use of local resources: MAMADO is committed and believes in:

Ø Unity and solidarity among all its members and communities of Dodoma region.
Ø Building positive relationships, sharing information and promoting dialogue.
Ø Self-dependency and creativity among its stakeholders in fulfilling their development objectives.
Ø The facilitation of communities and other stakeholders into becoming agent of their own empowerment and development.
Ø Putting proper perspective the issue of gender equality and equity in all its activities, programs and initiatives.
Ø Openness and fairness in the practices of its members, Board of Directors and other committees.

1.4 KEY OBJECTIVES
Ø To facilitate communities of Dodoma region to improve and sustain their community water supply
Ø To facilitate communities in Dodoma region to improve their environmental
sanitation situation
Ø To build capacity and skills together with Regional and District Councils, NGO’s, companies and individuals to enhance efforts in water, Sanitation and hygiene improvement in Dodoma
Ø To establish a water and sanitation demonstration centre for the promotion, and where appropriate piloting, of water supply and sanitation technologies
Ø To lobby and advocate for improvements to the water and sanitation situation in Dodoma region
Ø To ensure HIV/AIDS, gender issues, environment and water/land rights are considered in all aspects of project planning and implementation
Ø To mobilize local, national and international resources to enable MAMADO strategic plan to become reality


1.5 ACTIVITIES
The organisation in carrying out the aims and objectives above named does the following:
Ø Assisting communities and community based organisations to plan and implement their water supply projects, sanitation, and hygiene projects by working directly with them in a participative way
Ø Assisting communities to ensure their water, sanitation and hygiene projects are sustainable
Ø Researching, documenting and disseminating information on water, sanitation and hygiene in Dodoma region
Ø Publicising the real situation of water, sanitation and health in the communities and efforts made by them to improve their situation.
Ø Liaising and collaborating with District, Regional and National authorities, NGO’S Private sector for improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene
Ø Providing advisory and consultancy services on water, sanitation and health.
Ø Lobbying and advocacy for water and sanitation as well as water and health policy issues

Typical street scenes, Dar es Salaam

Just worked out that I can use my iPhone for pics at least..... this is not great, but is typical of Dar es Salaam Dusty, crowded, crumbling colonial buildings, friendly.

First day in Tanzania!

Went to the airport in Singapore dressed very smartly, in a suit and new travel case... not sure why, just felt like it. The Singaporean Qatar Air guy upgraded me to business class! However once I reached Qatar airport, they were assuming I was a businessman from the West and I felt slightly less than welcome.... and by the time I got to Tanzania, the suit was a definite disadvantage, clearly I looked like Mr Moneybags and there was no way I was going to find a decent-priced taxi ride to my hotel ! I've suitably dressed down since taking a cold shower... my hotel is very basic, but fine. There are still pictures of the famous first Pres of Tanzania, Julius Nyere, around.

Yep I've arrived safely in Dar es Salaam. It reminds me of Darwin (laid back, on the sea and with tropical trees) but in major need of an urban renewal project. People are relaxed but clearly very poor... and keeping in mind Dar is richer than most of the rest of the country, it's a stark reminder of their need. I bought a basic "learn Swahili" book from a man on the road, for 20 cents, and bought the only fruit that I could peel and thus be protected against microbes... a banana.

Haven't taken any photos yet, need to get a feel for this place before I start whipping my camera out.. hopefully tomorrow, when I run around town to purchase bus tickets for the next leg of the journey, and to buy things I forgot to buy (eg: towel, bandages).... Dodoma on Wednesday, where I will meet the first NGO on behalf of HAT, Maji na Maendeleo who help communities by providing safe access to drinking water and health education.

Transit in Singapore

Hi everyone - have reached Singapore safely, and about to board the plane for the Qatar-Tanzania leg. My first meeting with an NGO will be with Maji na Mandeleo (http://mamado.org) in Dodoma, which is a 6 hour bus ride West of Dar es Salaam. Be back then!