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

Soccer shoes or Safari?

Another interesting week. I never expected to learn so much in so little time. I was planning to return to the States as I already had my return ticket from my initial trip. I earlier decided that it would not be wise to use the ticket since our crop was in the last month of growing and this is a very critical time for the fruit development. I then had a change of plans since all seemed to be going well, then came the rains. Rain is good in an arid place like this but it also means you need to pay attention to detail as things can go wrong quickly. Long story short I have decided to stay and not take a return trip until April.
I then took a few days off and returned to Arusha with two of the children from our school. I had promised them a trip to the big city and this seemed to be a good time. I was already in Arusha and our team was in Mairowa so they brought the two boys to my house on Thursday. We went shopping as they both wanted or needed, depending on whose opinion you believe, soccer shoes. The one boy had no socks so they were added to the list. We had a good time and they were very well behaved but asked a million questions. I need to explain that you had to aim to the water in a western toilet and that the lid was not the target. I also showed them how to turn on the hot water for a shower. These boys wash out of a bucket when they have water at home. They both used the shower every day without having to be told. this was different form my children when they were in grade school. We took a safari to Tarangire on Saturday. I originally gave them a choice of shoes or a safari and they choose the safari. I was surprised that they picked the safari over shoes as they see most of the animals that one sees in the parks where they live. We all had a great time and saw 21 different species including a young leopard, a first for me.
I came back to Mairowa this morning to see 60 new banana seedlings planted and the melons getting bigger. We are not getting the yields we expected on this planting and are trying to determine why. Overall we are happy with the progress but we can always improve. I find that if you start talking about the good progress everyone relaxes and slows down. You need to realize that slowing down from an already slow pace can be detrimental to your farm. The gas peddle was pushed a bit harder today. I expect that the rest of the week will see improvement. The holidays are near and the guys are wanting to go home as they live far from this village. We are trying to accommodate everyone. The lesson here is have your crops in before the holidays arrive. Lesson learned for next year.

Kondoa

Kondoa Integrity School children

Well, I had two nights in my house in Arusha before headed to Kondoa. The five hour ride over rough roads is interesting. One of the drivers said get ready for your free massage.
We have our second school here in Kondoa. Stark differences between the school here and the one in Mairowa. This community is a bit more urban and the children are still poor but not as desperate as the ones in Mairowa. this school also started a year before the one in mairowa, since we needed to feed the children in Mairowa to get them to a point where they were nourished enough to go to school.
I have tried in other posts to include some photos but I am not sure if it is me or the slow connection but I have not been successful to date. If you do not see a picture with this post it is not for lack of effort on my part.

Blessings,

Rick

Mairowa, almost home away from home

Ok, third trip to Mairowa in last seven days. Two groups in from Scottsdale Bible Church. First were teachers who came to share new teaching methods with the Mairowa Integrity School staff.

Second trip to meet with local Pastors to discuss sustainability projects and get commitment on support.

This trip is for sponsors to visit the school and their sponsored child.

There are many very good things happening here. The progress since I left in late November is quite remarkable. I see only opportunity with the attitudes and enthusiasm of the local team.

Tomorrow we attend the church’s of the Pastors who work and support our efforts and then back to Arusha for a much needed shower.

Monday we are off to Kondoa for family visits and project discussions.

Monday the 24th to visit and support Young Life organization in Arusha which will have in excess of 1300 children attending, over 100 from Mairowa. Very exciting.

I will write more specific things about the potential projects once we complete the individual plans.

More to follow.

Rick