The end of the year special

Well, I am recovering from a parasite I contacted a few weeks ago. the medical people in Arusha did a very good job of diagnosing and getting me back to health. This was the first time in all my travels that I got hit with such a problem. It is all good now and I am back to working.
I delayed my return to the states again. I will spend Christmas here in Tanzania. I made the decision because we are supposed to get our driller to drill next week. We have waited for a well since May of this year and I did not want to chance another delay.
We were invited to meeting in Arusha today with several large NGO’s. Their focus is to promote interfaith relationships. I was appreciative of the invitation and look forward to the possibility of working or assisting in some way. I will update as things progress.
Our small enterprise projects seem to be moving along. I say seem because almost every week we encounter an issue. Nothing that can not be overcome but it does stress that we need to manage and mentor the groups through the infancy stage.
Our shop is doing well now. I have just hired a new shop keeper. I have been filling the position for the last two months and it has been interesting. Selling groceries to a Maasai who does not speak englis and me no Massai has been entertaining at best.
I still need to work out access to the internet so I can communicate with my friends and family on a more regular basis. Lou, Patsy, Rick and Pam, I have not forgotten you but it is very difficult to get internet access. I only have a few minutes to write this as I need to take th ethree hour journey back home. I hope to have more time soon.

Blessings,

Rick

The End of a Very Interesting Year

Well, 2013 is almost over and I have to say it will go down as one of the most interesting years of my life. It started with my expectation of moving to Tanzania in January but that plan hit a snag when the organization I am supporting wanted me to wait until they cleared me through the local people. I was a bit taken back but understood my plans are not always in sync with god’s plans for me. I did get clearance from the local team and they were vey gracious and helpful once I arrived here at the end of May. The clearance and then visa permits took a while.
I came with the hope of helping find some income generating projects that the schools or the NGO could run to make money to offset the decline in sponsor money which is planned over the next several years. I really had no idea what I would find or ultimately do, but trusted that my experiences in business would lead to something. It was apparent that the NGO team here was very capable and had several good ideas but could not generate a plan that they could sell to the donors to raise the necessary capital to fund the ventures. After a month or so I concluded that the land at the Mairowa school had the potential to generate income with the right focus and plan. In July I found funding in the form of a no interest loan to start to grow watermelons on the two plus acres we have behind the school. All of those who know me are aware of the fact that I am not a farmer, but I could follow a plan and hire the right people. We had many set backs. Labor problems with the first workers resulted in them walking off job. This ended up to be a blessing as we hired two people three days later who work twice as fast, don’t complain and are satisfied that we provide a good work place for them. We installed a drip irrigation system since we live in a very arid climate. We overpaid for the system but could not live without it. Next we had problems with the wild animals. First Dik-Dik a small deer like antelope. Then came the rats, followed by the monkeys and finally the turtles. We fight the monkeys and turtles every day. We have lost our share of fruits but I guess this is the cost of farming in the African bush.
We are two weeks away from our first ripe melons. We have been researching the available markets and feel we will be able to sell all 20-30,000 melons in the month and a half of harvesting. We missed the high market of December but have been assured that we can still sell all in the city and surrounding villages. We will see.
Since we think we learned a few things about watermelon from this planting we will replant the next crop in melon also. We are developing a half acre vegetable garden to supply the local villages with a variety of vegetables. The markets are not large but the margins are better than in the city. This will be our experiment into selling vegetables. If successful we will plant more next rotation.
I am wanting to fence the four acres we have next to our farm and raise dairy cows. if we have three cows and do not graze hem but raise their feed. we believe we can get 30 to 40 liters a day per cow. This would pay for itself in less than one year and supply the village with milk all year. The Maasai raise cows but they do not produce enough milk for the families, especially in the dry season. If anyone want to loan us $20,000 no interest loan payable in two years please sign up via the reply button. I will put your name on the cattle stalls!!!
I am in Arusha cooking pasta fazzoli and looking forward to returning to Mairowa. It has been a very rewarding year and I am looking forward to the excitement and challenges that are ahead next year.

Happy New Year everyone,

RJ (Rick) Morro

Celebrating Christmas in the Summer

I have travel a bit in my life. Seeing every continent except Antarctica, and most major cities from the USA, Europe and Asia, but I have never spent Christmas south of the equator. This is a first. It really isn’t much different than celebrating in Arizona or Houston Texas, the weather is warm and the people are just as festive. It will be one for the book if I can ever get someone to write it.
Other news, the rains have come. This is very good and very bad. The good is the country side has turned green almost overnight. It is beautiful and it feeds the animals both domestic and wild. The bad is we are losing watermelon to rot. first we had the dik-dik, then the rats followed by the monkeys now the rain. We have lost crops but still are optimistic. The lesson learned is get the crops in by early December before the rains and before the holidays so everyone can relax and be with their families. One step at a time and if we pay attention we just might learn to be farmers. I really have a much deeper respect for those who make their living providing food for the rest of us.
I celebrated my birthday last sunday at the boma with goat and sodas. It was different than most years but i believe everyone had a good time. Goat is always a local hit on the menu.
I will be staying in the village for christmas so the workers can be home with their families for Christmas. the three live far from the village and understand that we will plan better next year so they can take more time off. It is good to have a team that is pulling in the same direction. this gives hope for the sustainability of the school and it’s future.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Rick

Sometimes the Lesson is Hard to Understand

Well, I know I just posted a few days ago but I am sitting in my Arusha house and have some time to kill. I drove the two hours to pick up a few items for the farm but I really used that as an excuse to come to town and take a hot shower. It seems as though my plans never work the way I wish. I arrived to no water at all. that means no shower, no coffee and no cooking. I am headed back to the village later today with a trip planned to Moshi on Sunday to pick up banana plants for the farm. We have some additional space and are getting the seedlings for free from our farm managers family. He gets a ride home to see family and we get two hundred seedlings. Good deal for all of us.
I am constantly amazed at how Tanzanians think. This is a socialist country and the first time for me to live in that sort of culture. There are some good points to this system and some that are not so good. Everyone here is never in a hurry to accomplish any task, even if it is only for themselves. The government is the largest employer and pays very little and expects even less work for the pay. You may see 20 men standing around a work site with one or none of them busy. the men are happy at work but then complain that they don’t get paid enough. The professionals as they may be usually work for an NGO. They also complain that they don’t get paid very much but agin very little is expected of them.
Many have business ideas and claim all they need is money to make the idea a winner and get rich. When I discuss their plans with them I find they have given very little thought to what work is involved in making the business viable and have no idea of the working capital needed to start and maintain the business. They only see other peoples businesses looking profitable and think all they need is to start theirs and they will be rich. Once I help them understand what is needed to start they are always optimistic that their would be no problem in accomplishing the tasks. I wait for a week or so and follow up to see how they are doing and find they never have done anything and either have several excuses or are waiting for me to do the work for them. It is sad in a way because they are intelligent and I would not say they are lazy but they certainly don’t take any initiative on their own. This would be ok with me if they were satisfied with what they have but it seems all want more but are waiting for someone to give it to them. I have had many discussions as to what I think it takes to be successful, hard work, dedication to task, focus, etc. They always agree and say they understand but I have seen no progress on their part.
I am hopeful that they will get it one day or at least be satisfied with what they have. They do value quality time with friends and family and that is one thing Americans sacrifice for what we call success. I may learn more than I can ever teach from this journey.

Rick

The Beginning not the End

It was a good week. Our contractor completed the drip system. A few glitches and significant overrun of budget but the watering system is working. The fields are planted and just three days after the first field was planted we had germination ( small seedlings).
Now for the challenges. On the third day our farm manager ind=formed me that we were being attacked by cut worms. I am thankful he knew what he was doing because I had no idea what these were or how to deal with them. It was Saturday and we were over two hours from Arusha the nearest city to purchase the pesticides. The banks close at noon and it was seven am. We were blessed in that I could reach a friend in Arusha, he could get the money from the bank and send the pesticides to us via bus. It looks like we caught the critters in time, we will see.
When all seemed like it was back on track my manager informed me that a village man questioned him on why I wanted to kill the children of the village. He asked why anyone would ask such a question and he said that we were going to build greenhouses and that they were very dangerous to children. We have set up a meeting with the village leaders to discuss but have already been told that we should not worry as the leaders are supporting the efforts knowing that the work is there to support the school which they are very proud of. We will face many more difficulties but are confident that as we pull together we can succeed.
I had to make another quick trip to Arusha to buy more materials and discuss some issues surrounding the rumors and the source of them. I am sure all we turn out well.

A picture of the Kenyan greenhouse we would like to model our farm from. The yields are incredible and the growing season is now year long. We can not afford this yet but hope our watermelons help us finance this next year.

Rick