Getting to Magu was a slight challenge. Part of the reason was the visit of “the esteemed president of the United States” to Tanzania. Days before the visit, from all road corners in Dar es Salaam, his silly grin would look at you from billboards with backdrops of the Kilimanjaro or the Tanzanian flag, thanking him for “his help in the fight against malaria”. Right.
His visit turned into a practical problem when he finally arrived and three out of probably five major roads in the city closed down, which made it hard to get around, and more specifically, to get to the airport. A day before my flight to Mwanza (in the Northwest of Tanzania, about 1,5 hour drive from Magu) we received word that the flight was moved two hours back because of this. Add to this: five more delayed and two cancelled flights at the airport, no luggage allowed on the plane because of fuel problems, boarding and then having to go back because of engine troubles (it felt good to blame Bush for this as well!), 300 waiting Tanzanians, 35 degrees centigrade, sticky airport food, incomprehensible messages over the airport intercom, wailing children, and 20 people hanging out of the airport bus taking pictures of Air force One. We waited for 5 hours, but – to my surprise- in the end the plane did leave. My biggest challenge was not to show my slight frustration, as the Tanzanians surrounding me remained their happy self, thanking God for finding the engine trouble before we left.
The following morning we left early for Magu. Together with Dr. Ngaiza, one of the Tanzanian partners for Monitoring and Evaluation, I was there for an end user Focus Group. Our intention was to reflect with a group of end users from Cromabu, a price information project for farmers, on the data that that the project collected over 2007. From the data we already knew that there were very little complaints from their side: the information that Cromabu disseminates was highly valued, both for its quality and for the service given in the information centre and the different farmer groups felt very much connected to all aspects of the centre. Apart from farmers, there are other people using the services of the centre. A local representative of the Salvation Army explained how he uses the internet service the centre offers to stay in contact with his organisation’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam.
Several groups of farmers had prepared a role play, explaining the daily process of getting the price information together, and disseminating it to the various communities in the Magu area. Impersonations of Cromabu’s manager and the mime of how bicycles are used to visit the communities were received with laughter and loud applause by the other participants. As was a poem on IICDs assistance to the centre.
Afterwards, we asked them to discuss some additional aspects found in the data analysis. Why did some people for instance not –or no longer- visit the centre and what could be done to remedy this?
The meeting started, ended and was paused with a great number of speeches: we were welcomed, thanked for being there and for our assistance and many farmers took the opportunity to tell in detail about the impact the project had had on their life. One of the things I learned working for IICD (apart from, for instance, eating a complete guinea fowl with just my right hand) is to come up with opening and closing speeches on the spot, a skill that came in handy during this visit.
His visit turned into a practical problem when he finally arrived and three out of probably five major roads in the city closed down, which made it hard to get around, and more specifically, to get to the airport. A day before my flight to Mwanza (in the Northwest of Tanzania, about 1,5 hour drive from Magu) we received word that the flight was moved two hours back because of this. Add to this: five more delayed and two cancelled flights at the airport, no luggage allowed on the plane because of fuel problems, boarding and then having to go back because of engine troubles (it felt good to blame Bush for this as well!), 300 waiting Tanzanians, 35 degrees centigrade, sticky airport food, incomprehensible messages over the airport intercom, wailing children, and 20 people hanging out of the airport bus taking pictures of Air force One. We waited for 5 hours, but – to my surprise- in the end the plane did leave. My biggest challenge was not to show my slight frustration, as the Tanzanians surrounding me remained their happy self, thanking God for finding the engine trouble before we left.
The following morning we left early for Magu. Together with Dr. Ngaiza, one of the Tanzanian partners for Monitoring and Evaluation, I was there for an end user Focus Group. Our intention was to reflect with a group of end users from Cromabu, a price information project for farmers, on the data that that the project collected over 2007. From the data we already knew that there were very little complaints from their side: the information that Cromabu disseminates was highly valued, both for its quality and for the service given in the information centre and the different farmer groups felt very much connected to all aspects of the centre. Apart from farmers, there are other people using the services of the centre. A local representative of the Salvation Army explained how he uses the internet service the centre offers to stay in contact with his organisation’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam.
Several groups of farmers had prepared a role play, explaining the daily process of getting the price information together, and disseminating it to the various communities in the Magu area. Impersonations of Cromabu’s manager and the mime of how bicycles are used to visit the communities were received with laughter and loud applause by the other participants. As was a poem on IICDs assistance to the centre.
Afterwards, we asked them to discuss some additional aspects found in the data analysis. Why did some people for instance not –or no longer- visit the centre and what could be done to remedy this?
The meeting started, ended and was paused with a great number of speeches: we were welcomed, thanked for being there and for our assistance and many farmers took the opportunity to tell in detail about the impact the project had had on their life. One of the things I learned working for IICD (apart from, for instance, eating a complete guinea fowl with just my right hand) is to come up with opening and closing speeches on the spot, a skill that came in handy during this visit.
As usual, I did feel somewhat uncomfortable with the speeches of gratitude. I feel I have a wonderful job working together with dedicated and professional local partners. Not something that I should particularly receive praise for, the way I see it. That said, it was amazing to hear first hand all those stories that we confirm by means of formal questionnaires on a yearly basis: the impact Cromabu has on the daily lives of the farmers. In the open answers in the questionnaires collected by Cromabu and during the meeting users described that with the extra income they’ve earned from the information received, they send their children to school, buy cows, repair their roof or buy a bed. Statements that make it very clear that information for development is far from a luxury!
Looking back on the day, one of the participants indicated that he was happy and proud that no issues were left out of the discussion. According to him, this showed that it was both possible and necessary to have farmers be part of a process like this. In my opinion a great compliment for our process and for the involvement of Cromabu with their user group. And very much worth coming to Magu for, despite all roadblocks and delays!
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