One Small Drop will be working with 4 villages in Southwest Tanzania, in the Livingston Mountains: Kandete, Masebe, Ndala and Lusanje. The two specific projects we will be working on were identified by leaders in these communities. The projects are pork production and orphan uniforms. Each community is excited to be collaborating with One Small Drop (and that is an understatement!). I have met with amazing women groups from each of these areas. They are competent and compassionate women that know first-hand the needs and strengths of their neighbors. They also know how to rally a community and get the job done.
- School Uniforms for Orphans: Dreams to Reality
- Education is a dream of children living in Tanzania, yet endless barriers limit their opportunities.
- Education is the true stepping stone out of poverty, yet out of reach for so many children. In Tanzania, education is highly regarded. There are no fees to attend primary school, but a school uniform is required.
- A uniform costs approximately $30. The average monthly income is about $40. For many families the cost of a uniform is difficult at best, and often beyond their capacity. Now throw in the dilemma of orphans. There is no orphanage in the Livingstone Mountains. Orphans are taken in by extended family, neighbors, friends, or looked after by older siblings. The extra burden of caring for orphans, as well as supplying them with a school uniform is a luxury most will never see.
- The Village of Kandete recently canvassed their community to compile statistics about orphans in their area – 69 were identified. The other 3 communities will use Kandete’s system as a model.
- Through your contributions, One Small Drop will contract with local tailors and seamstresses to make uniforms for orphans. This also provides economic assistance to local merchants
- The Pork Project
- The pork project consists of starting a family with a pig. $30 buys one feeder size pig. The family awarded the pig is educated in how to feed, care, house and breed it. Piglets from the first litter are then given away to other families. It is a gift that keeps on giving.
- The project will start out with each community hosting a center with 6 pigs. These centers will be a model to all individuals that will receive pigs. It will be the education center to teaching how to provide proper feed, vaccines, medical care, construct pig pens, breed and farrow.
- An application process will be used to apply for piglets, giving widows with children the first priority.
- There will be follow up once the pigs are placed. The project will be sustainable.
- Within the first year, more than 200 piglets will be placed in homes.
AVOCADO TREES: A retired pastor from the Ndala village has been raising avocados for several years. He has connections with a company that markets the avocados in Israel, Saudi Arabia and hotels across Tanzania. Seedling avocado trees cost $8 and will take 3 years before they will bear fruit. The Livingstone Mountains have a natural environment for growing avocados. If a “group” purchases avocado seedlings, they only cost $4. Each tree will produce about $120 worth of fruit.
One Small Drop has set a goal of raising funds to purchase 50 trees for each of the 4 communities, each of the next 3 years, so a rotation of trees will begin. Lukamenda (the group formed by the women of the 4 communities) will purchase the trees as a group and will operate the tree distribution to widows. This will be another self sustaining project that will have long lasting benefits to the Lukamenda communities.
SOLAR STOVES: While in Tanzania in September, we took a solar stove with us to get input from the 4 villages on their thoughts of the usefulness and feasibility of this technology. Currently families gather wood morning and night, sometimes walking a couple miles each way. Some have their cooking area inside their homes causing respiratory issues. This simple solar cooker (made of foil lined cardboard) folds into a 13” x 2” square. A pot of rice will cook in about 2 hours. The rule of thumb is one liter of water takes one hour to heat to boiling temperature. A cut up chicken and vegetables will take about 6 hours (similar to our slow cookers). The women were thrilled to learn that there would be no soot lined pots to wash and no stirring is needed, because the food doesn’t burn. Because of its portability the women can also take the cooker to the garden fields and return home with a meal that is ready to eat. They are investigating the design plans to see if the needed materials are readily available to construct these cookers for themselves as well as the possibility of generating enough of them to sell at reasonable price.
