Travels in the life of Laila

I am writing this a good few weeks after my trip because after coming back from my trip round Tanzania with the DIWEO organisation, I felt pretty disheartened.

I knew that during a week away I wouldn't be doing much actual volunteering or really making a huge impact on any of the centres I would be visiting. My trip was more to see what the organisation does and visit the Centres to see how they run and what needs they have. BUT I didn't appreciate how little of my services/ help they needed, and how what they really need is money. At times I felt like I could have sent a big cheque instead of me and it would have been more useful.

It has taken me a little while to take in the trip and appreciate what I saw and how it was actually a very positive experience.

I learnt that the local communities I visited are incredibly capable, which is a hugely positive thing. They don’t need some westerner to come in and dig a well or build a house. Don’t get me wrong- they do need support and advice in these things, as well as help in constructing waterways and dams. But a lot of the labour and expertise is there. What they need is funding to advance their projects.

So anyway, to tell you about my trip and the organisation. DIWEO stands for Diana Women's Empowerment Organisation and was created in memory of our Princess Di, but has nothing to do with any foundations in her name. It was started to empower local African women, either widowed or affected by HIV/AIDS in improving their circumstances. It quickly took in orphans and today it has a centre in Dar es Salaam which houses 50 orphans and looks after a further 20 children on a day care basis (paying school fees, etc.). It also has a centre in Tanga (20 children) and cares for orphan children in Morogoro and Lushoto. It also helps elderly people in Muheza. A lot of the people affected by the organisation are just people they have met along the way. DIWEO is as grass roots as you can get, as there is nothing in between the members and the people they help. If a member visits someone and they need money for a child’s school fees, more often than not that member will reach into his/her own pocket and give the money. 

So on the trip, in the car was myself, the lady who runs the organisation (Fareeda), one of her staff who is a young girl who was an orphan in the Dar Centre and was helped by the Organisation (Toni) and Fareeda's driver Muba who is basically her right hand man. During the trip we also collected about 15 different people at different points, picking and dropping them along the way. I have no idea who half of these people were as the predominant language was Swahili so most of the comings and goings were lost on me! I just sat in the car and listened and observed.... and guessed a lot! It was quite an experience for miss organiser here to sit and not be in control of what was going on.

SO the first stop was Tanga to visit the Centre there. Or so I thought. We actually went via Morogoro which is a small town wet of Dar and not really on the way to Tanga (which is North along the coast on the way to Mombasa in Kenya). We stopped there (after picking up a consultant) to look at a plot that Fareeda wants to buy to build a centre. After visiting the man that owns the plot and buying some fruit?!, we drove on to Tanga.

On the way we also passed through the little town where the President Kikwete was born, Ngosa (little useless fact!).

Tanga is a port town, as I said North of Dar near the Kenyan border. It is also where my dad was born and grew up so I was really excited about visiting it and seeing the places he spoke about.

We visited the Centre the night we arrived only to hear from the children that they had been without power for a week as the electricity supplier cut them off due to unpaid bills. The bills had been unpaid because the money was needed for unforeseen medical expenses for some of the children. Here started a pattern I saw often..so many expenses, so little money to go round. And yet the children didn't really complain, they only complained about the mosquitoes at night! We had a late dinner and went to bed to start early the next day.

Fareeda has tonnes of family in Tanga as she grew up there so we set off at 9am for the Centre the next day but didn't arrive until 11am...as we stopped many times along the way at various family houses. We ate breakfast, mid morning tea and snacks...I feel the food theme is reappearing! We got to the orphanage and held a long meeting with the staff and local organisation members to discuss problems and current issues. It was all in Swahili but I muddled through with some translation. I also used the time to talk to the children, play with them and look around the orphanage. The girls were lovely and I convinced Muba and Fareeda to take me and 6 of the older girls to the beach in the afternoon as a day trip out! We had a great time at the beach and even scored free drinks from the English owner of the resort we went to (Pangani beach- Peponi resort- check it out as the next undiscovered place to visit).

We got back and took the boys for ice cream so they didn't feel left out, and then grabbed some food.

The problems at the orphanage were relatively few considering....mainly funding related. There was a staffing issue of one of the girls who kept taking unplanned holidays and not showing up for work...but otherwise the children were happy, well cared for and bright.

This is where my Television moment comes in. Thanks to a contact Fareeda has at the national TV station (ITV), we were interviewed at the orphanage and filmed giving them gifts. It was mildly unsettling for me being filmed hanging out gifts as it felt a bit showy but I was interviewed, along with Fareeda and some of the children, about why I was there and what I saw. I have NO idea what I said but it sounded ok and I got to see myself on TV a few days later after the 10pm news!! I have photographic proof it really happened.

We spent 2 days in Tanga with the children and I really loved it there. The town itself feels like it is still in the 1950's and it is pretty basic, but the Centre was lovely and the children were so much fun. We also visited a lot of Fareeda’s friends and family in Tanga which was really interesting.

So from Tanga we drove to Muheza which is a little village just outside Tanga. It is actually where Fareeda was born. Here there is a group of elderly people who receive help from Fareeda, in the form of medicine, clothes and toiletries. Here the plan was to buy a plot of land to build a Centre for the elderly, as currently they are being cared for by other villagers or not at all.

Accomplishment: We secured a plot of land during our visit in Muehza and now the work starts to raise the funding needed to build the Centre.

After meeting the landowner and signing the contract, we then drove on to Lushoto which is in the Usambara Mountains. The drive up there was amazing – really hilly and green and full of jacaranda trees and lily fields. We got to Lushoto quite late and stayed in a beautiful hotel run by the Lutheran Church called Tumaini Hotel, Tumaini meaning Hope. It was so picturesque with the room balconies overlooking the mountains.

Lushoto was a great experience for me (sorry to sound so Oprah about it) because I met two women there who made me think a little differently about my perspective. They were Canadian and American respectively…one was 60 and one was 68. They both had such a passion for life and so much energy – spending most of the year flying round the world working on development projects. They both looked at life as a gift and looked forward to all the things they had yet to come. It was so inspiring for me and it made me think a lot about the way I see life. They had also done some seriously COOL things like kayaking 1000 miles across the lakes in the Northern Territories of Canada. That is one to add to my “I must visit/do” list.

In Lushoto I visited a primary school and nursery where some of the children who are orphans are supported by DIWEO. I got to talk to the children and play with them and see the school conditions which were pretty good. The resounding story here again was that they ideally needed an orphanage to house the children and stable income to pay for school fees, uniforms, etc.

From Lushoto we drove to Morogoro where we stayed at a DIWEO member’s house as all the hotels were full due to a local election happening in Dodoma nearby. It was interesting ! She was so hospitable and lovely and it was interesting to see how locals really live as so far, though I have met a lot of Tanzanian locals, I have been staying in tents or pretty decent accommodation.

Morogoro was very similar to Lushoto in that there is a need for a centre but at present they just support some children. It is heartbreaking how many people come by the office daily asking for support/ funding. It is also very encouraging how many are helped, mostly by the members of the organisation rallying round or digging into their own pockets.

Incidentally we managed to pay the electricity bill in Tanga by doing just that- everyone pitching in and asking friends/ family for help.

From Morogoro we came back to Dar, and the final day we spent time in the Dar es Salaam centre with the members of the Organisation and the children. Here I learnt more about what challenges they face and where they need help.

This may seem a bit random to people reading it, I guess its one of those things that is hard to explain. What I did learn is that there are so many projects they are looking to start up and there is so much enthusiasm and need there. They just need funding and support and encouragement. I didn’t feel like I made much of a difference but the little money I had to donate, plus the gifts I gave and the fact that I made the effort to visit all the centres, apparently had a big impact on all the staff and children I met. I got such lovely gifts back from them and so much care and affection.