Hi team,
I hope this finds you all very well. I wanted to provide you
with an update and overview of my visits with Heifer Int’l and partner
organizations for the Starbucks project – Mbozi Farmers Livelihood Improvement
Project. This project intends to increase sustainable livelihoods and improve
quality of life for 5,000 smallholder coffee farmers in the Mbozi District.
- Increase income of smallholder coffee farmers by at least 50% through the production and sale of milk.
- Increase access to water and improve sanitation and hygiene facilities by 25%.
- Increase utilization of alternative sources of renewable energy by 35%.
Last Friday, I set off at 7:30am with the Heifer and EADD
(Eastern Africa Dairy Development) team. We quickly met with another partner,
SHIPO (Southern Highlands Participatory Organization). We had a packed schedule
in order to get me back to the SCS team by 2pm to visit a CPU.
The day started with a visit to the Shiwinga Village to meet
the local leaders. We had some time to talk about the project and the
benefits it will bring to their local community. The Village Chairman, Leader,
and Executive Officer were in attendance and joined us on the rest of the
visits in the community. Next, we visited a female coffee farmer, Mrs. Gulli
who will be a recipient of a cow to help compensate her income during the low
season. This was quite emotional. When we arrived to her home, we sat outside
and talked about the project, her reaction to learning she will receive a cow,
and what it means for her. Mrs. Gulli shared her story with us…her husband
passed away from HIV, as did her daughter. She is also HIV positive but
receiving treatment and doing fine, although she is taking care of her 3
grandchildren on her own (2 boys, 1 girl – ages 13, 15, 17). Mrs. Gulli relies
on coffee as her main cash crop but her trees are infected and dying. She
desperately needs agronomy support, financial assistance for
pesticides/herbicides, training, and seedlings to replace those that have died.
Fortunately, she also has corn and beans on her land but this is just to feed
her family which sometimes is not enough and she will borrow from neighbors and
pay them back once she receives money from her coffee crop. It was difficult to
“keep it together” during this visit, but somehow I did. My heart aches for Mrs.
Gulli and the many people living in this circumstance.
Once we departed Mrs. Gulli’s home, we drove to a natural
spring water point which this project intends to improve. SHIPO is helping lead
this project due to their technical expertise in this area. I was able to see
the spring water which was cloudy and gray. The village women were there
collecting buckets of water that they take home for use…some have stoves to
boil the water while others collect branches to heat the water over fire. This
portion of the project can be amplified at many spring water points once in
place, and based on budget…it’s bound to be a great thing for these
communities!
Next, I visited a primary school and met with the lead
teacher. The purpose of this visit was to see the toilets and washing area the
children use that will be improved. There are 910 students and 19 pit toilets.
The project will build new pit toilets for the students to help accommodate the
amount of students at this school. It will also build new hand washing
facilities to help improve hygiene & sanitary health.
Before heading to lunch to meet the country project manager
of Heifer Int’l, I visited a training where community representatives and local
government reps are being trained on the project. It’s a bit of a “train the
trainer” model which will allow the community to train lead farmers and then
the trickle-down effect will take place from lead farmers to the rest of the
farmers in this community (photo attached).
What an incredible day. I look forward to sharing the
details with the Community Team when I return.
All in all, a worthwhile visit to the unique country of
Tanzania. I’m so grateful for the opportunity (even with some of the odd things
that occur here). I’m looking forward to getting back to Seattle and seeing all
of you.
My best,
Jamie
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