In preparation for my trip, I had spoken to numerous experienced development staff and researched piles of historical texts, development strategies, journals, papers, personal accounts, etc. I had lived in Singida before and used that experience to draft a flexible framework of activities that would engage the villagers and stimulate collective learning and practice. And I adopted a naïve idealism, thinking that accomplishments could be made if there was a blindness to certain overwhelming obstacles.I wanted to erase all preconceived notions – to really listen to the villagers so that any intervention for positive change included their voices and involvement. This has not always been easy, and I have been especially affected when the stereotypes I tried so hard to erase presented themselves in plain view – World-Vision-style poverty (cue music), unmotivated villagers waiting for handouts, blatant lack of skills, accountability, follow-up initiative, effective facilitation, a hierarchical system excludes the vulnerable, etc.. I have spent some of my previous entries mentioning some of these issues and I always feel a sense of regret because my accounts are simplified versions of the “real thing”. It takes a lifetime to grasp the intricacies that weave together the conditions of this community.
So I retract my previous attitude. Blindness is not the answer. There must be an awareness of the multiplicity of a community. There is both good and bad. What is important is to celebrate hope and have the energy to invest in it.

youths gathering with OVCC director to learn about strategy and planning

 youth drawing out strategies in the sand

In impoverished rural communities where unpredictable weather, sickness and unreliable infrastructures reinforce the fragility of existence, a sense of powerlessness can pervade the consciousness of the community. Villagers need to have access to resources, have the skills to analyze, make the right choices and implement. The youths (60% of the population is under 21) will be trained to do just that. A new generation of active leaders will be empowered with the ability to control the destiny of their communities.

Girls are emphasized to participate. Women are usually the breadwinners of the family but are often treated as “second-rate citizens”. In participating in the Youth Leadership Programme, girls are empowered with the skills to plan, strategize and execute projects that can benefit themselves and their community. They will be reinforced with the attitude that they are equals and should demand the same rights and choices as their male counterparts

Training a new generation of leaders is a lengthy process. Like any new idea, correct implementation involves an incredible amount of effort – especially “on-the-ground-facilitation”. There must be a sensitivity towards the unique conditions of the place – environmental, social, skill level, existing governance structure, etc. Many well-intentioned plans for development have failed to align their practices with existing conditions. Also, minimal (or a complete lack of) follow-up ignored emergent problems and possible solutions. Any programme that hopes to succeed must have skilled staff capable of addressing these issues, making the appropriate decisions, and having the infrastructural channels to discuss and implement.
How can small-scale development programs such the Youth Leadership programme succeed if it operates on the backbone of ineffective banking systems, services, roads, mobile phone and internet connection, effective government support, etc? Improvement of these large-scale enterprises takes time and are often only accelerated when real incentives emerge (ie: profits). Ironically, what can drive these incentives is the success of small-scale developments that can improve the earning/spending capacity of villagers. Therefore, projects need to be catalytic..

Stay tuned for more updates

Chicken 1,2. distribution of chickens for the “Chicken Project” (see earlier posts)

The Tanzanian Development Workers held their annual nation-wide 5 day meeting this past week. Each year, the meetings are held in a different district. Luckily for me, this year, the meetings were held in Singida. Even luckier still, the visiting workers were staying in my hostel. Mary (I love that she is a woman since female empowerment is desperately needed) was particularly helpful. With 20 years of experience, she is currently working in inner Tanzania. She remarked that regions such as Singida – isolated by poor infrastructure – have been delayed in its exposure to developmental strategies. Self-initiative and planning skills are underdeveloped and unfortunately, the general attitude of the population is to wait for aid.

Critical and creative thinkers are needed.

OVCC’s youth soccer team brings together local youths and engages them in a collaborative productive environment. During practice, the youths learn about teamwork, strategy, and discipline. This is a safe place to interact where each player’s voice is respected.

Soccer field littered with sharp pricklies. Soccer ball holding up so far

here they come! Team warmup


shirts against the skins. Fancy footwork


applying teamwork and strategy


going for the last goal of the day

A surprise donation from a local physician has created a new opportunity for the soccer team. Using this donation, OVCC is able to execute a small “Chicken Project”. The youths will use the capital to buy and raise chickens. The chickens breed and the youths make a small profit. Part of the profit goes into loaning a set chickens to vulnerable children and their caretakers. The youths teach the vulnerable to successfully breed the chickens and get a return on their investment. A portion of the return goes into the “soccer team fund” where the team collectively decides how to spend or invest their money.

The benefits:
1. Youths learn how to plan, strategize and document their project progress
2. Youths have the incentive to invest in the well-being of the vulnerable.
3. Youths teach the vulnerable healthy living strategies. The income from the chicken project will allow the vulnerable to adopt these strategies
4. Youths become accountable to each other. Develop a transparent government for group decision making
5. Youths learn to self-organize. Regular meetings will emerge – creating the opportunity to successfully coordinate seminars for Aids Education, etc.

The “Chicken Project” will begin with only a handful of youths. It must start slowly to work out the kinks before a more ambitious project can emerge. The first youths will act as future mentors. Stay tuned for more updates!

Been feeling under the weather lately. flu/malaria-like symptoms are keeping me bed-bound most of the time. However, i have been working! met with OVCC at last and watched a youth soccer game. These young players love their soccer.. some playing with no shoes (as they cannot afford them) on a ground scattered with tiny thorns. These same thorns are a danger to the ball itself as one has already been destroyed. (pictures to come)

Singida’s rural condition creates an interesting case study. Since youths here are relied upon by their families to share in the housework/fieldwork, youth programmes must be structured to address youths’ varying routines so that they can participate without sacrificing their commitment to their families.

In the coming weeks, mapping exercises will be conducted to examine the social networks the physical spaces that are routinely inhabited so that youths can identify key times/places they can start to meet and collaborate.

“brings to life the global language of football and demonstrates how it can bring together two peoples of differing beliefs into one afternoon of playing the beauiful game”

Last fall, during my volunteer-school-build in rural Singida Tanzania, I met a school master who wanted to address the youths and vulnerable children in his community. Together, with a group of dedicated villagers, we formed Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Care (OVCC). Currently, OVCC organizes a soccer league where youths come together to play and learn useful skills to share with the vulnerable.

A quick sketch made by a villager in my mini-notebook, explaining to me how his household is run

This September, I return to Singida to participate first-hand in OVCC’s activities. Using “mapping” as a visual communications technique, we can collectively discuss the spaces, infrastructures and social networks that define the community, its needs, and potentials.

Mapping refers to plotting points and finding common terms of reference with which to analyze data. Mapping is, in the words of landscape architect James Corner, a “collective enabling enterprise”, a creative act that describes and constructs the space we live in, a project that reveals and realizes hidden potential
- Janet Abrams and Peter Hall, ElseWhere Mapping

Taking cues from the “strategy-game-play” drawings used by the youths during their soccer matches, a similar mapping methodology can investigate target areas that will benefit from grassroots ingenuity and innovation. Mapping can also be used as a method to document and analyze the success of these small-scale projects.

In my participation with OVCC activities, I return again and again to two incredible talks by two extraordinary women, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Jacqueline Novogratz, as a guide. True dialogue that engages local expertise is fundamental.

As the mapping exercises unfold and stories from the community emerge, issues such as youth empowerment, aid vs. trade, the need for effective cross-cultural dialogue, etc, will be confronted and documented. Check back regularly for new posts and please join the discussion by sharing your comments, questions and expertise.