NYT, Kristof: Micro-lending, A powerful truth

In the New York Times today, Nichola Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote a great article about the power of micro-finance and women.
"There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism."







Click on this photo for a link to listings of organizations supporting women in developing countries

And there are a few other things to do in Zanzibar

Micro-lending possibilities with WEDTF, Zanzibar

This may be the most fun of all the possible micro lending/teaching experiences for myself. I met Mrs Alam and Mr, Ali who run the Women Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund (wow). They give micro loans, training and mentorship to people looking to become entrepreneurs. It is mostly women. Mrs. Alama has numerous women interested in getting in the wedding decorating business here in Zanzibar. It is good money and at the moment, the people of Zanzibar who can afford wedding decorations are bringing people and materials in from mainland Tanzania and other places. They are looking for people to train others who in turn will train the women. Although this is not considered interior design it is in the same realm. I think this would be a great opportunity for students to teach some basic design 101. Mrs, Alama mentioned that when one person has a successful business, lots of people copy it and then the market is flooded and nobody wins. She suggested teaching the women how to be creative. That would be interesting to try and do in a week, very challenging. I will go back to Zanzibar and do this!

Micro-lending possibilities with The Maasai, Tanzania

I met Seele today. She is a Maasai woman and works with an organization called CORDS. The fundamental purpose of CORDS is to enhance sustainable pastoral livelihoods.
The overall goal is to integrate women fully into pastoral development processes through initiating projects that reduce women's workloads, improve their working and living conditions and enhance development status of pastoral women from the grassroots.

Seele conducts seminars and trainings in order:
To impact new knowledge and skills to women about running small scale projects
To raise their capacity for income generating activities.
Privation of credit to self-help women's groups.
To prevent FGM (female genital mutilation)

I plan to work with Seele, adding to her micro-lending as well as helping to teach basic business classes. I think it would be interesting for women to spend a day with a Maasai woman, perhaps go to market with her, which is held once a month, and help her sell. I'm not sure yet exactly what they sell but it is the same market where their sons go to sell the cattle.

see this link for more details
http://www.cordstz.org/

Micro-lending possibilities with The Abayudaya (Ugandan Jews)

I had shabbat with some Jews in Uganda and it was great. The Friday night service was casual, real and basic. The music was similar with a much better beat. The drums were being played. I went to Rabbi Gershon's house for dinner after the service. We had goat, matoke, (because what Ugandan meal would leave out the matoke?) soup (broth) and homemade challah. We sang songs after the meal, a drum was brought out, of course. It was my new found friend Rachel, a rabbinical student from NYC and myself, the rabbi, his wife Siporah, their 3 kids and 20 other kids at dinner. Rabbi Gershon is interesting and funny and I plan to work with him and this community. It is a modest village and people are looking to start businesses. I think bringing Jews here and Jewish youth, in particular, would be beneficial to everyone involved. I look forward to bringing my kids to Nabugoye.

White Water Rafting in the White Nile

The scenery was beautiful, the water was warm and it was a warm sunny day (surprise, surprise, most days are). Great trip down the river. The rapids really get your heart pounding.

On to Uganda

Took the bus from Arusha to Kampala, 20 hours. It was lovely, the earth is burnt sienna, the terrain goes from lush tropical green to brown and tan with sparse vegetation. The roads had potholes the size of a VW bug and there is tarmac about half the trip and dirt/rock road the rest. There is constant music with static that plays on the loudspeakers for most of trip. Lots of talk on the bus. It all went smoothly except the one girl who got left behind at the Kenyan border. Everyone started discussing what to do, the priest arguing with the bus driver, the fare taker arguing with some other passenger, etc. etc. Not a bad ride. However, I don't think I'll include this experience in my tours.

Lake Eyasi

On the way back from the bush.

Hunting with the Hadzabe

This was one of my favorite days n Mainland Tanzania. I went hunting with the Hadzabe people. They are hunter gatherers and move around to wherever the animals are. They eat any animal, so I was told. They hunt with bow and arrow and insisted I get a lesson. I did much better with the bow and arrow than the spear. We didn't catch anything (I was really happy about this because there was a chance I may have cried which probably would have been impolite). We did eat some roots and some honey, live bees and all in the honey, which was quite tasty. The roots had a lot of moisture in them. The Hadzabe don't drink water, they get their liquids from roots and the blood of the animals they eat, which they eat super rare. I got a lesson in making fire from 2 pieces of wood, not a myth. Their way of life was just amazing to me. They make survival in the bush seem so easy, which I know it is not. One young man was all scarred up from a leopard attack. He shot the leopard but it didn't die. It came back and attacked, He survived, as all the Hadzabe know what to do with the native plants and how to use their medicinal qualities. They also smoke a lot! I refrained from that, as the situation seemed a bit unreal as it was. Lastly, there are very few old people in this tribe which live in small groups or clans. When a person gets old and is no longer useful to the tribe, an animal is hunted and killed. That old person gets a big meal and then is taken out to die. The animal carcass is left next to the person and the hyenas come and eat them both. Typically, hyenas only eat already dead things unless they perceive their meal will be taken from them. So, the person gets eaten alive. I had a hard time believing this, but Donatus did his thesis on the Hadzabe people and spent time living with them so I believe it's true. It may seem cruel to us but it is part of the end of life for them.

Ta Tonga

Loserian's friend is also a guide and he took us to his uncle's house. The Ta Tonga are herders like the Maasai. I believe they were not always on friendly terms with the each other. Once again, it goes back to the Maasai taking all the cows. It was not considered stealing though, because all the cows in the world belonged to he Maasai, according to their beliefs. A treaty was signed regarding the Maasai and cow stealing. I'm not sure who the other parties were but now all is well and the Maasai are probably one of the most famous and most photographed people in all of Africa. Back to the Ta Tonga. Papa in the picture has 10 wives. Five are here at home with him and the other 5 are out with the cows looking for greener pastures. There was an onion factory and farm built near here, then people came to work and a village grew. However, this resulted in less grazing land so the herders must take their cows wherever there is good grazing. It is their way of life,

Spear Throwing Lesson

Slept in Karatu last night, had dinner w/Donatus and Loserian. It was nice, they drink Red Bull and gin - I couldn't do it. I went to the the market today with our chef to buy groceries for this evening's dinner at the campsite. Dinner was just like "Out of Africa", the table with the tablecloth, dinner settings, gas lamp and a couple mosquitos. The food was really delicious, some sort of stew. I would give it high marks anywhere I ate it.
After the market, we visited the Irako Cultural Center. It was basically a family's home and the dad made a traditional house like the Irako used to live before the government of Tanzania tore their houses down. It was part of Tanzania's socialist experiment. It was based on the "ugamaa" (familyhood) village, an agricultural collective. That didn't work and next came direct state control. 85% of the rural population was relocated into 7000 planned villages in an effort to modernise agriculture and have better access to social services.
The Iroka built their homes underground so that when the Maasai came to steal their cattle, they would hear them coming and could grab their spears, which they kept overhead near the door, and defend their cows (which they kept in their houses). So I had a spear throwing lesson as well as grinding millet lesson. The coolest part was that this man took his cow's dung and urine and had these vats underground and turned the waste into gas to power his home, lights and stove. It seems like there's a lot of shit in this world, why is their an energy crisis?

Some Fine Camera work at the Ngorongoro Crater

OK, perhaps my camera skills need some work. I'm sure by the end of this trip, you'll see a marked improvement!? Couldn't be much worse. Spent the day at the crater and saw all the "Big Five" and more. (The big Five are lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos and buffaloes.) Loserian and Donutus, my hosts and guides, are conservationists and work here at the Ngorongoro Crater so I had real experts telling me about the animals and their behaviors, etc. We also took advantage of the various lookouts around the crater who called into Donatus to report a rhino spotting, etc. They are actually there to look for poachers and animals that may be behaving strangely and are sick. It was all good.

African Hospitality - Tanzania

I arrived at Mount Kilimanjaro airport late in the evening. My airplane mate offered me her passport, being that Americans pay at least twice as much to enter Tanzania, $100 US for Americans, compared with anyone else on the planet. I thought about it but the blond hair and extra 50 lbs might look suspicious. No wonder they like us Americans, not to mention Obama's name and face are everywhere. Don't the Tanzanians know we're having a recession in the US? It hasn't seem to affected Tanzania much (tourism is slightly down) according to my sources.

Loserian, my host, came to pick me up, and in typical African style, took care of my room and everything else. Hospitality is extremely important everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa and if one has a guest from somewhere else, it's typically the host's responsibility to take care of that person until they leave. Stayed in a nice little hotel/motel with a tropical courtyard in the center. Typical African layout and style. I love the tropical foliage, it's a bit like a happy pill for me. Will be starting my safari in the morning.
Habari za joni! goodnight.

So many possibilities

East Africa
Kilimanjaro airport, Tanzania
Arusha, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Eyasi
Kampala, Uganda
Nbugoye
Mombasa, Kenya
Zanzibar -Old Stone Town, Nungwi, Kenwda