Community Engagement

When we first arrived in Chipanga, we soon saw that the community had a different way of looking at the project than we did. With hindsight I can now reflect on certain reasons for things that members of the community did. However, at the time when we went to help dig the trenches for some water pipes, we were definitely not expecting to be met with a bucket of baga (alcohol) and people working bare foot. It’s fair to say that we were surprised and flinched every time someone from the community brought the pickaxe to the ground as it narrowly missed their bare feet. However, they didn’t have access to the safety equipment and good protective footwear that we had, and so we could hardly blame them for putting their toes at risk.

Although this was one of many shocks that we accounted in our first couple of week in Chipanga, we were positive that we would have as good a turn out for when we started our latrines at the Primary school.

However, unfortunately this was not the case and as I mentioned in another post (Primary Project) we were only joined by a few men who had been paid to help dig the latrines. They worked tirelessly, and although it was a little disheartening to not see any other community members around as we were keen to work in partnership with the community, it is understandable that their priority was to make a living for their family.

After the latrine holes had been dug and we were waiting to get started on the brick making, we came up with some ideas on how to engage the community. We decided that we needed to make a conscious effort to talk to people that we met when we were walking around the village. We also went to Church on Sunday, which was an interesting experience even if it was 3 hours long. We held a sports day in the community and it was really nice to see the whole community come together for our event. Improvisation was needed and an egg and spoon race became a potato and spoon race, and the day was finished with a big race.

Wheelbarrow race

egg and potato race

Our main turning point in our community engagement was when we held a tea party at our camp. After attending the women’s group, called Tushirikiane, we invited them to our camp to get to know them better. 

Due to a water majanga (disaster) we tried to cancel the tea party but the women weren’t having it and came anyway for our raison and biscuit party. We discussed our project and the need for their help, which came alongside explaining the concept of volunteering. After some more discussions about other issues in the village, we finished off the ‘tea party without any tea’ with some Gogo dancing.

 Gogo dancing

When it was then time to start making the bricks we were so pleased to see lots of the women and other members of the community helping out.

We continued to work in partnership with the rest of the community until the end of our time in Chipanga and they certainly helped make my time in Tanzania amazing!

Secondary Project

In the second phase of my 10 weeks in Tanzania, we started a secondary project of our choosing. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, we decided to paint a room in the Secondary school in order to make a study space for the children.

We decided upon this after it became clear from our action research that the school children saw having a library and books as key to fulfilling their learning potential. We undertook Action Research in the first few weeks in Tanzania which included doing questionnaires in the community on their access to water and sanitation. We also did a session in the school in which we asked the children to draw their model Secondary school and write about what was needed in their school to maximise their potential.

A common theme was a library and books, and although we could not provide enough books to fill a whole library we decided upon creating a study space. Our aim was to give the children a nice space to work in when they did not have lessons, particularly because we often saw them still at school once school had finished. During the mid-term review, we had to pitch our idea to Raleigh people, and fortunately we were given enough money not only for paint but also for some books to go in the room.

We then got to work and painted quotes, the world map and our hand washing song, with the help of a couple of students.

We even used tooth picks to outline the map.
Now that's dedication!

In our last week we had an opening at the school where some students who helped us paint cut some danger tape to officially open the study room. 

With the books that we will able
to provide for the study room

Lusajo making a speech before the
danger tape was cut

The children enjoying their new books for the first time

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER -
the school motto and our hand washing song

Tippy Tappy's

It’s been 7 weeks since I left the comfortableness of camping in Tanzania. It’s fair to say that it’s been rather different being back home, especially now that I’ve moved to the North (Durham) for university.

One of the Tippy Tappy's we built around the
community to promote hand washing

In my room at Durham I have a sink which is worlds away from the hand washing facilities available in Chipanga and many other rural communities in Tanzania. There was little or no hand washing facilities in Chipanga, and definitely no plumbing.

A community member testing out her new
Tippy Tappy for the first time

Not washing your hands after going to the toilet and before cooking leads to serious consequences, such as diarrhoea, which are not so easily treatable out there as in the Western world. To begin tackling this problem, using instructions provided by Raleigh, we began building Tippy Tappy’s. This is a really simple hand washing facility made out of 2 Y-shaped sticks, a long stick, an empty oil container, some string and a short stick, some stones for drainage and some soap on a rope.

We built a Tippy Tappy at our camp which the
children tested out for us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The schoolchildren lined up to wash
their hands

We built Tippy Tappy’s for people who owned businesses. It only took about an hour and has real potential to prevent the spread of diseases. We also built 2 Tippy Tappy’s at the Primary and Secondary school, one outside the boys’ latrines and the other outside the girls’ latrines. As part of one of our Awareness Raising sessions, we held a competition where the schoolchildren were split into groups and had to come up with a song that lasted 30 seconds which they could sing whilst washing their hands. We taught the children how to build them and encouraged them to build them at home. It was really amazing to see Tippy Tappy’s popping up around the community and it felt that we had started a long lasting change in the community.

 

 

 



I entered this photo into the ICS Photo Competition
and came 2nd place in the Health Category

 

Awareness Raising



The SWASH club that was set up in the Primary School

We planned and gave 4 awareness raising sessions – 2 in the Secondary school and 2 in the Primary school. They revolved around the importance of washing your hands and preventing the spread of diseases. We taught them a song that we had made (actions included) about when to wash your hands, which we continued to hear the children sing up until the day we left.

 

 

 
We tried to raise awareness in fun ways! My favourite was when glitter was involved. We (the volunteers) had a handful of glitter and we stood in a huge circle with the children in between us to play a game. The aim of the game was to go round the circle, counting from one to ten, or moja to kumi in our case. As you said a number you brought your right hand over to your left side to clap the next person’s hand. When you reached kumi you had to clap the next person’s hand before they moved it away. Whoever won stayed in the game and the other person went into the middle. The glitter spread onto the children’s hands which led to the comparison with the spreading of germs. Therefore, it is important to wash your hands to prevent the spreading of germs and consequently diseases.

1) moja  2) mbili  3) tatu  4) nne  5) tano  6) sita  7) saba  8) nane  9) tisa  10) kumi



Drawing the 5 F's on the blackboard

Alongside this, we also taught them about the 5 F’s – Food, Fingers, Fields, Fluid and Flies – which explain in more detail about how bacteria is spread. In a non-scientific explanation, if one of the 5 F’s (eg. Food) is contaminated and unclean, then it leads to the possibility of the person who has been into contact with it contracting a disease.

 

Hopefully, the things that we taught them will prevent them from getting diseases in their future!

Our Primary Project – School Latrines

Our Primary Project was SWASH which stands for School, Water and Sanitation Hygiene. We worked with a partner organisation, a Tanzanian NGO called MAMADO, who had received funding from Water Aid. Our role was to assist the community in building school latrines as well as raising awareness around hand hygiene.

We measured out the holes and marked them out with danger tape before beginning to dig down. We didn’t get a great deal of help from the community, apart from 3 men who were being paid. The concept of volunteering was relatively new in the village.

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, things were different when we began making the bricks. As well as 5 men, who were being paid, working with us, a lot of community members also came to volunteer with us. We made the bricks by mixing sand, cement and water, and then using a mould. In total we made 2400 bricks (by hand) which were slowly but surely being moved to the school when we left.

Making 1 of the 2400 bricks

A villager pouring water onto the sand and
cement, ready to be mixed

We had to water the bricks twice a day for a week, to stop the bricks from cracking

Some of the bricks were transported by cows 

Unfortunately we didn’t get to start building the latrines (nor did any of the other Charlie groups) as an engineer never arrived!

But the building of the latrines wasn’t necessary the most important part of the project. As part of SWASH, we also had to give awareness raising sessions to the school children and teachers, which I’ll tell you more about next time.

MAMADO had a 2nd project in Chipanga - putting in water pipes. We helped dig the trenches in our first week. The ground was incredibly hard so we had to use pick axes before shovelling out the rocks/dirt.









I'm Home

I returned to the UK on Monday morning after an amazing 10 weeks in Tanzania and have since spent the week recovering. In the coming weeks I am going to be updating my blog on what we did, as well as uploading some photos.

Walking home with some of the Primary School children

Half Way There

Mambo!

I am now half way through my time here in Tanzania and I am absolutely loving it. With a chance to have internet connection for the first time since being here, I've written the shortest message possible to let you know how I'm getting on. Having been in Tanzania for 5 weeks (with the 1st week consisting of training) we have now come to the Mid-Term Review, in which we came away from our project sites for a few days to reflect on phase 1 and plan some of phase 2.


We (Charlie 1) have been on our project site in Chipanga, which is in the region of Dodoma, for 4 weeks and we will return for a further 4 weeks. Chipanga has a desert-like landscape. It is hot during the day, but the jumpers come out first thing in the morning and last thing at night, although we're normally tucked up in our sleeping bags by 9pm at the latest.



Our Primary Project consists of building latrines at Chipanga Secondary School. So far, we have dig the holes for the latrines, with the help of a few community members. When we return to Chipanga we will help to make the bricks and then begin to build upwards. 

As well as the construction, we have carried out some SWASH (School, Water And Sanitation Hygiene) lessons in which we raised awareness of the importance of hand hygiene and how good hand hygiene enables diseases to be prevented. The children have been very receptive and have become very comfortable around us, particularly when they come and take over our camp.

This was a regular occurrence at our camp and you took your camera out at your own risk














Jeff (in the skeleton top) and Muhammad (leaning over Jeff's shoulders) were regulars in the camp






We have been camping in the village and sleeping on the floor in tents. The majority of our day is therefore spent outside. I have proudly perfected the art of showering with just 3 jugs in our make shift shower. We have a varied diet of rice, pasta and tomato sauce, with the occasional chicken or goat added in to mix it up. We obviously also have a long drop, but fortunately we didn't have to dig it ourselves. 

Our camp, with the shower construction taking place. There is also our usual audience of kids, behind the trees.

A villager using a Tippy Tappy

Whilst settling into camp, we helped the community dig some trenches as some water pipes are being put in as part of another project.
 We have got to know the community through our Action Research, which consisted of doing questionnaires with villagers, asking them about their access and use of water and sanitation. We have built Tippy Tappy's, which is a hand washing facility made out of sticks and an oil container, in the community and the schools. This also helps to raise awareness around hand hygiene and preventing diseases. A couple of weeks ago, we held a Sports' Day which was really good fun and all the children loved it.





A sprint race during our Sports Day

I'm also really excited for our Secondary Project which we will be starting when we return to Chipanga. We have decided, as a team, to paint an empty classroom in the Secondary School for use as an educational room. We will paint inspirational quotes and important information, such as the process of washing your hands, on the wall, as well as providing some books for some independent learning.





So that's what I've been up to with Charlie 1 in Chipanga in a 'brief' summary. There's so much more to share and it's been such an amazing experience so far, even when the black scorpions turn up on our camp! 













Hope everyone is well and is having a great summer! I definitely am...

Asante, bye!