Kindness in Kayanga

“Mr. Erici? Are you here, Mr. Erici?” – the Swahili-speaking custodian, grounds manager, watchman, and chicken-slaughterer called through our room door, adding the final “i” that is customary for adopted English words. “Yes, James, I’m here,” I said as I opened the door. He had brought a gift – one pineapple and one papaya – presumably because I gave him a small amount of antibiotic ointment (antibiotic-i) a few days ago when he nearly sliced his finger off. I’m sure the cut deserved stitches. I’m sure James is as deserving of basic health care as I am, but instead he’s left showing his thanks with gifts from his garden for a small amount of antibiotic ointment. The people of Kayanga (town), Karagwe (district), Kagera (region) are continuously kind and welcoming.

Earlier today I went with a small group of students to learn more about a regional outreach effort to support people with disabilities. In short, the challenges are these: people with disabilities have long been marginalized as presumed burdens; children with disabilities do not typically attend any school, because those with physical disabilities cannot manage to walk to school and those with mental disabilities have no support services; there is a severe problem with rape of women who have disabilities, along with ensuing pregnancies for women who may not be able to care for the children.

Into this sea of challenges steps a network of dynamic community-based organizations that are making real, if painfully slow, progress on each of these issues. Today we accompanied the Anglican-supported Karagwe Program for People with Disabilities on a village outreach visit. As a special treat, our group included Matthew Mcllvenna, Field Representative for Friends of the Children of Tanzania. Matt is currently on sabbatical from the UN and has been focusing on developing and supporting the networks that work with people with disabilities in this region.  

We drove out of Kayanga, past Omurushaka, onto the dirt roads, off of the energy grid, down continuously narrower dirt roads, until finally we reached the small village Catholic Church that was the center of outreach for the day. Word had spread, and more than thirty people with disabilities had found their way (walking, limping, otherwise moving over miles) to the site. The day began with a prayer – inviting Muslims and Christians to pray as they wished for one another. Immediately after that ecumenical beginning our female facilitator, Upendo, asked the group what they had learned during a previous visit.

Their answers were quick and compelling, “people with disabilities are fully human; people with disabilities deserve equal treatment; people may be born with or may develop disabilities; disability may result from old age…” The answers continued for several minutes. After this educational outreach, the triaging began. The visit focused not on care but on connecting people with the appropriate services. Several people were recommended for treatment by Dr. Angelo, the orthopedic doctor and physio-therapist at the hospital in Bukoba.

Each individual patient’s story was extraordinarily compelling, and their challenges include not only their physical ailments but also the need to pay for transportation to the hospital and to afford food during their stay. I’ll share specific stories as students summarize them in their journals.

And now  a few photos courtesy of Shannon Wheatley Hartman. They are as follows: a Kayanga Village Street (near where we're staying), local entrepreneur and friend Peter Lazaro explaining his screen printing business to us, and WOMEDA Director Juma Massisi sharing information about Women's Rights in the region. 

Returning to old friends; witnessing change; comfort in Kayanga

As the Arizona State-Amizade Community Development course begins, the red-dirt streets of Kayanga are familiar. I’ve spent more summertime here over the past five years than any other place except Pittsburgh. It’s been a joy to return and reconnect. Peter Lazaro has a wife and baby. Juma Massisi is doing very well. Joseph Sekiku’s son Simeon has grown into a young man and his young daughter Anna is now away at boarding school in Uganda. The originally-imagined Amizade-ELCT orphanage project has morphed into a much-needed nurses training center (as reviews of orphanages have steadily grown more critical). This year’s students are rapidly meeting and connecting with Amizade’s network of friends in the area. We’ve noticed that more people seem to know how to say uh-ma-za-gee correctly in Kayanga than in most cities in the United States. 

Amizade’s presence and partnership here has contributed to the development of at least one small business, one nonprofit organization, seven family water harvesting systems and tanks (supporting some 40 people), one USAID grant supporting WOMEDA and renewable through later years, further dialogue and awareness about women’s rights, English tutoring in schools, the expansion of FADECO radio, the creation of a tree and plant nursery at Mavuno, the completion of a village-scale water harvesting system in Chonyonyo, the completion of one-going-on-two water tanks at Mavuno for a girls boarding school that is currently under construction, and the development of water access and wind-generated electricity at the Eden Center, where computer training classes for women currently take place. We are here now with fourteen students; yesterday was the first day of service.

One group is supporting WOMEDA’s most recent data-gathering project, working to provide data for a future grant application that will help address teen pregnancy. Another group is supporting English language learning in the schools, and the third group is advancing the construction of a water harvesting tank that will support the Mavuno girls’ boarding school. The groups will spend several days on each project, cycling through with steady leadership at each location. Along the way, the students are wrestling with development issues, learning a great deal about the reality of regular electricity service, steady and sometimes hot water, travel, and dust. They’re experiencing international borders in East Africa and getting a glimpse of what education systems often look like in rural communities. Most of all, they’re eating an awful lot of matoke (mashed banana).

I find myself at comfort here; the systems of support for the program continue to improve and I’m increasingly familiar with each bend in the road and trail through the banana trees that cover the valley. My main concern as always is how we could do more as an organization and group of service-learners. Organizations like Amizade serve many missions, providing students with educationally challenging and personally rewarding study abroad programs that encourage global ethics while also taking seriously the substantial challenges involved in community-driven development across cultures. I think Amizade does a good job of balancing the pressures at play here: neither focusing too much on students at the expense of community concerns nor jeopardizing students’ experiences, learning, and safety in order to give more attention and resources to the community. How this is achieved will be the subject of future posts. For now: we are all healthy, happy, and pleased to be serving and learning in Kayanga.