This will really be my last blog, at least, from Mwanza. Today (Tuesday 8th April) is my last day at MSA – well that’s the intention as I write this in the cool and opening movement of the 6 am chorus. More about MSA after I made a few concluding comments about my stay here.
I am really ready to move on although it’s been lovely to be close to Jenny and Joey. They have both been very attentive, but perhaps my patience at having to wait around for long periods is being rather too stretched. It hasn’t been made easier by the ball and socket mechanism, called my left hip, not finding any comfortable place to be. That’s not quite true as I’ve found a very comfortable settee at the Tilapia Hotel and it’s fine when walking. I think Jane thinks I’ve become a bit of a ‘Forest Gump’ as I have enjoyed just taking off and going out walking. It is unfortunate that Milestone House (our ‘home’) doesn’t have any nice area to sit outside. We are left on plastic seats in a concrete courtyard with a dusty road outside the bolted gates. No, this isn’t prison, or public school for that matter, as we are free to come and go when we please!!
Perhaps I’m being a tad harsh on Mwanza, which is a friendly and decent place with a good climate and many lovely views. It might be just me – Africa or the parts I’ve spent some time in have been great because I managed to lead a very active life. I am sure that if I could have played more sport, be more involved in work activity, or have the willingness (and capacity) to be out late socializing it would have been great, but unfortunately time has moved on a bit since those days. So I think I will look forward to returning for a much shorter duration and procure a suitable sitting object with a view of the lake! Jenny’s landlord is building some luxury apartments by the lake, which could be good.
My last blog indicated the intention not to contribute more to the basic running costs of MSA however hard that might be. The reasoning being that sticking the odd plaster on a problem isn’t going to sort things out in the long term, and that it what Saidia Tz wants to be about. So when Joey and I left Moschye on Thursday we made it clear that we might contribute more in order that a good teacher could be found for the computer classes, but that was it. Money for electricity, water, rent, food etc would have to be found by other means or even the centre being closed until more funding became available. In fact I didn’t think that to be such a bad thing as I think Moschye could do with a break. Anybody faced with no money coming in for nearly 6 months without reserves is bound to be getting down. So that’s how we left it. He would think about things and get back to us if he needed anything more from us. He phoned yesterday which was a bit unexpected as it was public holiday. ‘Karume Day’ – that is after the chap who together with Mwalimu Nyrerere forged together Zanzibar and Tanganyika to form Tanzania. Incidentally the tension between these two territories still exists today and is probably the most difficult political issue the country faces. Anyway back to MSA. Moschye phoned and said he wanted to show me something and discuss a couple of issues. So off I walked (of course) and on arriving noticed two new glass doors into the computer room. I didn’t say anything because, although he had mentioned about doing this on Thursday, I was not at all sure where he would get the money from to pay for them. I walked into his office without going through the new doors first. His office I had indicated in my ‘action plan’ needed a bloody good clear out, and I had tentatively put it down for getting done in May. I was gob-smacked when I entered – it actually looked like an office. A table had been removed, the assortment of books and papers had been cleared and those deemed important put orderly on a bookshelf that had previously been like an island that needed passing in the middle of the room. I could even see the floor. It had obviously taken a huge amount of effort to do it so well. If that wasn’t enough Moschye, smiling now, suggested we have a look in the computer training room (to be). Based on the possibility that the centre might have to be closed for a month or so we suggested to Moschye that he leaves the computers etc in there boxes so as not to get dusty. So off we go to have a look. Do I mention about the glass doors? I decide to keep quiet, and go through them. There inside are 5 plastic covered computer screens sitting neatly on our newly made tables with the other bits that I am told are important to the functioning of these machines below on the ‘designed’ ledge below to keep them off the potentially dusty floor. I had thought we had agreed that we would start with 4 only and keep two in reserve, but that really doesn’t matter. The printer from the office is also there. The table from the office has been moved to be the teacher’s table, and supports one of the older computers from the office. It had all been installed and works without too many wires showing. Brilliant! It really looked like we were going to have a proper training room.
We then went back to his ‘new’ office and discussed about administration, teaching course-work, pricing and other aspects of the project. I came away feeling we were really getting somewhere. I left saying Joey and I would return tomorrow. I left feeling I had no alternative, but to give him the extra money needed to get the project going and take some of the financial pressures off him so that he has a chance to earn his own income. Well let’s hope it works out like that ……………..
So it’s now Tuesday and we have been back. The money has been handed over without any instructions as to where or when it should be spent. That’s up to Moschye and I think he will really do his best to get this project off and running. Just to surprise me more he has the opening date for the 11th - not May, but April in 2 days time!! I have said my cautionary bit about making sure he has things in place before starting, but it is up to him now.
So that’s the start, and the bottom line is for between £500 and £600 we have bought some food for the children, refurbished a whole room, kept the electricity and water from being cut off, have some money to pay for a computer teacher, bought an inkjet cartridge for the printer, had sign writing done on the face of the building, and had chairs and tables made for the donated computers. We also have new glass doors, but I am not mentioning them! In addition Moschye has a report which if he goes somewhere down the road to achieving should have MSA in a reasonable financial position in about 6 months. We have also done a ‘bid’ for about £10,000 from a Portuguese charity, which Moschye feels very confident about getting. At least it’s in a form and language that should get it read. Finally and probably the nicest part was the frenzy of activity from the orphan children as they came into the ‘new’ computer training room. We are now all very good at saying hello and goodbye to each other in Swahili and English, and it was a joy to see so many smiling faces. Let’s hope they keep them in the years to come.
So that’s what the Romans have done for Mwanza Samaritans!! This comment is only applicable to those old enough to have seen the Monty Python film.
Goodbye and kwa heri from Mwanza.
Donald
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