Every morning when I water the plants, I pray for rain. Sometimes I call on the Spirits, sometimes it is God, sometimes I sing the Indian rain song we learned at camp when I was young. Only once has it worked. The wind picked up suddenly and all the trees around me danced and rustled their leaves in anticipation. The clouds rolled over our little school finally shading us from the sun, but only a small amount of rain came from them. It felt nice on my red dusty arms and neck and I stood in the middle of the garden enjoying myself as much as the thirsty earth. Later, after it had stopped and the sun returned, it was hard to tell it had rained at all. Not even two inches down ,the soil was still dry and hot.
Our water at the school tastes bitter and feels thick and heavy. It is never cold. It comes from deep in the ground and a pump forces it to the surface, where we have tanks to collect it. The pump is run off of solar power-a sustainable energy that is not being used nearly enough in this country. Polly feared the water would prevent the plants from growing, but thankfully, they drink it in and use it. The water test proved there is a certain type of sodium in the water, but it is not salty and it has been approved for domestic use-drinking, bathing, and as we now see-growing vegetables. No one drinks the water though, since the taste is so horrible...Only the plants….today I found that the watermelons have fruits on their vines and most of the tomatoes are flowering. I feared that there might be lack of pollinators living there, but again, my prayers have been answered.
More perennials have been added to the berms around the gardens and I hope they will survive. I planted some sad looking papaya trees, and more matembale (a green) and aloe vera-which I learned, if blended with honey makes a yummy drink and a good preventive for malaria. And we also planted more lemon grass, which the Tanzanians call Chaichai, and they use it for tea. I have been making tea out of each night combined with licorice root that I brought and it is so sweet and refreshing! We planted mchicha as well, which has sprouted (it is still so weird for me to plant a weed!) and kunde, cucumbers and some other greens, which I am still waiting on. I also started cabbage, peppers and sunflowers in a seed bed. We transplanted some established eggplant, but it was too hot and most of them have died. The girls come from 10am-4pm and this is the hottest part of the day, so it is hard to transplant anything and harder still to keep the girls working in the heat. I am exhausted at the end of the day mostly from the sun. In January the girl will move into the dorms which will make the work in the garden more enjoyable as we can do it early in the morning or late in the day. I bought a new hose and a sprinkler with some of the money raised at the fundraiser (thanks again to all those who helped out! I have also bought seeds and some established plants!) which have helped us with the watering.
We are also talking about planting trees, but again, we need lots of water throughout the day, so we may have to wait until February or March when the rainy season is suppose to come. I left Vermont, where there was so much rain-too much, to come to an area where there is never enough. The grass is truly greener on the other side. Or maybe the Earth is just suffering everywhere and in turn so are her people.
I really like the idea that these girls will go on to grow their own food, but somedays I am not sure. Like most cultures, farming is left for the peasants in the far away villages. An educated person has better things to do and can buy their food at the market. When I ask the student what they hope to be in the future, most of them say doctors or teachers, not one of them says farmers. I hope they realize doctors and teachers can also grow food. I discussed this problem with Grace, an organic agriculture trainer from the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM). She helped SEGA start their gardens, and although she didn’t use the double digging method she still incorporated some good techniques like compost, natural insecticides and raised beds. I asked her how we can break this mentality, and she agreed it is very difficult and that most Tanzanian farmers scoff at the idea of organic and strive to stick to conventional methods using herbicides, pesticides and GMO seeds. I really hope to show the girls that growing your own food can be enjoyable, gratifying and gives one the sense of responsibility and pride-especially in a country where woman are suppressed. It is also nice to walk out your door to harvest veggies for the night’s meal, rather than spend the entire day walking to and from the market in the hot sun, spending money on food, transport, etc. These small, double dug raised beds would be a good answer to the food crisis all over the world. Tend to one bed well and see where you can go from there. Grace also told me they have been training people without land to grow food in large grain sacks filled with dirt. Grain sacks are readily available-as is soil.
On the way to the school or on a dalla dalla to town I see Tanzania out of my window, I feel Tanzania close to me, squished in side by side, I can smell it, taste it, hear it. There is a cement block factory near our house. Men wear rolled up kangas or shirts on their heads,where they place a heavy block, balance it, and then are handed one or two more cement blocks-these are not bricks, but thick, heavy cement blocks, even their gray color looks heavy high on their heads. They carry these blocks about a hundred feet away and then return for more. I wonder how their bodies feel at the end of each day and how they can rouse themselves in the morning to return to that work. A dead dog lay on the side of the road the other morning and people passed by on foot or bicycle or motorbike with not even a glance, just as they passed a man, his bike loaded with grain sacks of charcoal, trying to change a flat tire on his janky bike.
We bought a Christmas tree the other day-well it is not a true Christmas tree, but it comes close-I think it will be nice to have and decorate for the holidays. Sandra is really into it and has decorations that were sent to her last year. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it is 90 degrees outside! Just doesn’t feel like December.
If anyone would like to send real mail to me while I am here I would love to receive some! (Stu I have already sent you a letter) My address here is:
Mwalimu Lindsey Scott
PO Box 273
Morogoro, Tanzania, East Africa
Asantini sana rafiki zangu!
Pendo na amani,
Linz
