everything you need to know, you learn in kindergarden. out of everything i learned in high school, i should have remembered how to write a simple paper. ABABA – of course!!! so simple.

wake up, laundry, 1h work – ABABA, bike machine, shower, eat, buy cheesecake, go to library, work – A, B, A, A, B, A, A, B, dinner, A, A, B, home

Haven’t been able to access an internet café this last week. Now there is only one computer left in all of Singida that can access blogger. my next update may be from Johannesburg airport on the 17th…
Anyhow, Here are some updates (though not complete, check back later for more)

What does it take to build a healthy rural community? How can we investigate?

identifying patterns, resources potential. Some examples of village maps.

Mapping builds capacity. Understanding existing patterns, group conditions, and communications resources allow networks to emerge and strengthen. Mapping is a method of problem solving where sustainable solutions can be found by investigating and investing in the potentials inherent in the existing system.

Mapping also empowers the community with the skills to organize, strategize and document their efforts. An organized community is able to more effectively leverage their resources and capabilities.

Mapping has the potential to address the infrastructures/interfaces that facilitate transparent governance and human rights issues, organize capital/social capacity to collectively invest in tools that can improve quality of life (ie: solar panels, water cistern building, ditch digging, sustainable agriculture, etc)

The Youth Leadership Programme (mentioned in previous posts) embraces strategic thinking through active participation (sometimes lacking in the school system where class sizes can reach triple digits).

And now for some String Exercises..
developed to establish rapport, participation and collective effort between the youth leaders and the children. Evolved out of a common children’s game. During my visit to Tanzania last year, I was intrigued by a group of school children playing cat’s cradle using the unraveled yarn off their torn uniforms.

String games such as “cat’s cradle” have been played by different communities around the world for centuries. Many different cultures surprisingly share similar games and rules. Infact, there are tales of foreign visitors using string games as a way to negotiate acceptance into a new community.

The strength of this exercise is its engaging quality. Those involved are actively participating. The first step is collective story telling. Youth leaders build rapport with the children by using the string to create images of landscape features in their community. Some landscapes need multiple hands to create (ie: illustrating 3 hills, or multiple bends in a stream, etc). Using these string-landscape-images, personal stories as well as local legends start to be told. The malleability of the string allows different stories to unravel as the participants control its sequence. This dialogue between the youth and child(ren) builds a relationship based on common expressions of environment, personal tales, and collective history.

The second phase of the exercise involves using the string for strategic planning, documentation and comparison. As the small-scale chicken project is introduced to the children, knots in the string will act as a visual tool. It documents the current number of chickens and allows the child/caretaker to visually strategize/plan future investment and expenditure. The youths will use this exercise to assess the child / caretaker’s progress and planning skills. A community of children/caretakers involved in this project can also come together to compare their strings and discuss varying strategies for success.

There is a reason why string is used as a documentation and planning tool. In these communities, paper is scarce and sometimes unattainable by the very poor. Literacy is also an issue. String, on the other hand is more accessible and is a “tool” that all are familiar and comfortable using. This comfort level gives the user a sense of control. Using simple methods of expression, ideas and strategies that have often been simply verbally discussed, now has physical presence – opening up the opportunity for accountability, follow-up, and critique. Individual and collective progress is “written” in the knots on the string.

The simplicity of this exercise allows it to easily assimilate into the children/caretakers everyday routine. As time unfolds, it has the potential to evolve as skills improve, resources expand and opportunities increase.

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!