Tonya visits with Maasai women during a planning session for their Heifer project, which focuses on integrated livestock assistance and gender equity initiatives.
By Tonya Toney
After traveling over 5,000 miles, I arrived in Tanzania with my stomach full of butterflies, anxious and excited about my first visit to a foreign land. I couldn’t believe it I was in Africa. Being an African American, I felt a strong connection to the people and culture. Upon landing, we traveled to Arusha, which is nestled below Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.
The first day of the study tour, we went to the Heifer Tanzania office where we meet the staff, toured the offices, and got an overview from Peter Mwakabwale, Tanzania country director, on the various projects, the different communities, successes stories and what’s next for the program. I was looking forward to the project visits and seeing firsthand Heifer’s work in the field. I took in the scenery as we traveled back to our hotel. The streets were bustling with people selling produce, roasting fresh corn-on-the-cob, and women carrying tall loads atop their heads with ease.
Model Farmers Educating Others
Our first day of project visits, we traveled outside Arusha to the Nambala village where we met Zadock Kitomari and his wife Mama Nama. This family received a cow from Heifer in 2003; since then they have expanded the one and a half acre farm to include goats, chickens, tilapia ponds and organic farming. Zadock grows sugar cane, vanilla, bananas, mangos and tangerines. He is considered a “model farmer” in his community, educating other farmers on the techniques of organic farming, how to produce better yields, types of grass to use for livestock and animal management. He is now able to pass on the gift by educating others.
You could see the pride and happiness as he shared with us that he has been able to send his children to school and provide a better life for his family. He wished he had only known about Heifer sooner so that he could have sent his oldest son to school, but he was thankful for the opportunity for his other children.
Our study tour leader pulled out a plastic blow up globe to share with his two daughters and two sons. We each took turns showing them where we live on the globe; they smiled shyly. We asked how old they are, they told us nine and eleven. By holding up my fingers I explained to them I have a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son. I took a photo of the two of them on my digital camera and held it out to show them as they giggled with delight. It was a special moment that reminded me of my two children back home.
Joy On Mount Meru
We then traveled to the slopes of Mount Meru to the AGAPE Women’s Group, in the Mulala village. The ride up the mountain, some 6,000 feet above sea level, was a bumpy one with a breathtaking view of the countryside. As we drove up the mountain, excited children ran alongside our trucks waving and shouting “Jambo” (“hello” in Swahili) and they made funny faces. I took in the beauty of the countryside with lush fields of banana trees, sunflowers, and lavender African lilies dotting the landscape.
Mama Anna, who started the women’s group, greeted us with a hug and a smile that radiated warmth. They welcomed us with a popular Tanzanian song and once we got the words, we were able to sing along. Mama Anna and her husband Ismael started with Heifer in 1992, receiving cows whose milk they sold at the local market. In 1997, after training in milk processing and becoming successful dairy farmers, they expanded to making cheese and butter. In addition to dairy farming, she started the AGAPE Women’s Group to empower the women in their community. Then, they showed us how they made cheese and butter. Surprisingly, we even got to take turns churning the butter, which can take four hours from start to finish.
Before they were walking many miles to sell the cheese and butter at the local market, but were soon able to purchase a motorcycle to get to the market. As the demand increased and they were getting more orders, they started making several varieties of cheeses. Mama Ana’s children now attend school and one is in college. They have helped build a school and a medical clinic in her community. She truly has a passion for empowering the women in her community to work toward improving their lives and helping families through education and training. The group is also expanding to a bigger building to process the cheese and butter. She has many awards for the success of her group and contributions to her village. She said she will continue to “help the women of her village become better.” The power of “passing on the gift” is very evident in the lives of Mama Anna and Ismael.
Planning For Success
Next, we traveled on a bumpy, dusty road to Los Kitos, where Heifer is working with the Maasai people in the Ekenywa village on integrated livestock assistance and gender equity initiatives. The Maasai are an indigenous semi-nomadic tribe. Their livelihoods largely depend on livestock keeping and pastoralism. The Maasai welcomed us to the village with traditional Maasai dance and singing as they encouraged us to participate. The men dressed in red “shuka” and women were adorned with plate-like, colorful beaded necklaces, earrings and bangles. Massai women are skilled handicraft workers who are known for their use of colorful beads. I was in awe of the beauty of these majestic women and men who looked so regal. The children were curious and cautiously came out their boma’s (Maasai house) to see the visitors. Their tradition is the to give visitors something when they come to the village. A prayer was said and we shared hot goat’s milk, fresh ground coffee and tea.
We saw dairy cows, goats, donkeys, and chickens that have been passed on to others in the village. We visited the home of Lillian who received a cow in 2007 and has since passed on her first calf. She has been able to use the manure to fertilize corn crop to increase yield. She was so eager to tell us that now she could pay for school fees and buy school supplies for her children.
We attended a planning session lead by the project supervisor with Maasai elders. We all sat together in a circle and the chairman of the village spoke to us about the project’s successes and challenges and how excited they were about what the future held for the village as they continue to pass on the gift. We listened as the group discussed the Heifer Cornerstones and areas they wanted to improve, including education, training, nutrition and animal management.
Both women and men shared in the decision making when putting together a plan to improve in these areas. They also covered areas in which they are doing well, including gender and family focus, full participation, and passing on the gift. One of the women in the group spoke to us about how empowered she felt to speak before anyone now and how much better her family was now that she and her husband worked together to take care of the animals and decide how to spend the income.
A Brighter Future
Just outside of Arusha is the small mountain town of Moshi where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated the community. This has increased the number of widows, orphans and vulnerable children in the area. Heifer Tanzania started the Orphans and Vulnerable Children project in 2000 with 85 cows, 400 goats and soil conservation efforts to assist the people in the area. “The need in this area is great,” said Reginal Dmoshi, project supervisor. They hope to improve household incomes of widows, child-headed households, and those caring for orphans, thus increasing their access to basic social services, such as healthcare and education.
Joseph Lui Massawe is a 65-year-old widower. He has a half-acre farm with a small house and garden. Before he received a goat and chickens from Heifer this year, he was struggling to care for his three grandchildren who are all AIDS orphans. Thanks to the “pass on the gift” he received, his family is already benefitting from goat milk, which has provided for the nutritional needs of the children and income for home improvements like the new corrugated roof on his home. He is thankful that now things are better for his family and hopes to “pass on the gift” to another family this year.
We then visited the home of Bernadina Michael, a 56-year-old widow living with AIDS. “Karibuni” (“welcome”) she said as she shook our hands with a bright smile, more than happy to show us her farm and lovely home. Bernadine had five children to support when she was widowed. She desperately needed help providing for her family. In 2003, her family received a goat. “The children were so excited” she said.
Since then, she has “passed on the gift” to two families and used the disposable income that her animals have provided to build a bigger home for the family. Bernadina showed us her old home where the family lived that was much smaller than her new home, which better accommodates a family of five. She has been able to provide better healthcare for herself and her family. Her children attend school and her oldest daughter has completed secondary school, which is a big accomplishment.
I had the opportunity to speak with her oldest daughter who spoke some English. I asked her what she saw in her future now that she has finished secondary school. “I want to go to a university and maybe work in the tourist industry,” she said. She asked what I did in America and I said, “I work for Heifer, USA.” She reached out for my hand and said “thank you.” This took me by surprise. I offered back to her, “hapana, asante sana” (“no, thank you”) she smiled and I took a photo to capture this moment. I was touched by her words and by how an animal given to this family provided a secure future and allowed Bernadina’s daughter an opportunity to achieve her dreams.
My experience in Tanzania was both humbling and enlightening. The country is beautiful, and the people are so warm and giving. This trip has given my work at Heifer Foundation so much more meaning. It was invaluable to see firsthand the life changing work of Heifer.
