How is the New Year?

by Chris Enns ~ February 2012

Warm greetings to all our supporters around the world! We pray that your Christmas and New Year celebrations were a wonderful time with family and friends to celebrate our Savior’s birth and all the blessings He has given. For many here in Tanzania, hardships are frequent so the arrival of a new year is a time to celebrate that God has provided perseverance in struggle and granted another year of life.

A common greeting in the New Year goes like this:
A: “Heri ya mwaka mpya” (Happy New Year) or “Habari za mwaka mpya?” (How is the New Year?)
B: “Namshukuru Mungu. Tumefika.” (I am thankful to God. We have arrived.)

Even in February, we are still occasionally greeted in this way: it is a frequent reminder that the daily challenge to survive here is a stark contrast to the life that we are used to in Canada. There, the new year often just means changing calendars and making some resolutions that you may not manage to keep. Daily life is a struggle for so many around us, which is why the work of CRWRC and our local partners is so important here.

Here are a couple stories of people whose lives have been changed through CRWRC and our partner organizations here in Tanzania.

In 2011, CRWRC-Tanzania received many donations from supporters like you to give goats to help people earn income. In December, our partner AICT Mara/Ukerewe Diocese (AICT MUD) used some of these donations to give fifty goats to 25 of the neediest households in four of the villages where they work. (MUD is pronounced “mood”, not mud)

 Each village was asked to meet collectively to select the poorest of the poor, or most deserving families among them to receive the goats. Then, a special day was arranged to deliver all the goats to those chosen families (many of whom were widows). When they received the goats just before Christmas, the recipients were overwhelmed by the generosity of the gift, and the fact that their own community had chosen them to receive the help.

 Peter Ngwili, Development Program Coordinator for AICT MUD, said, “The recipients could not control the tears of joy that flowed down their cheeks as they told their stories and related the significance of their gifts and the turn-around it brought into their lives.” In about six months, these goats will have offspring that can be sold for income. One baby goat will also be given to another needy family in the village.

 The communities themselves were also changed in this process. They saw the importance of recognizing and taking care of their most vulnerable members: they vowed to do more in the future to look after those who are in the most need. Praise the Lord.

 AICT MUD plans on distributing more goats to other communities in the coming months, as does our partner AICT Geita. We all thank you from the bottom of our heart for your generous donations to support this life-changing income generating project.

In the mining town of Geita, our partner, the Africa Inland Church of Tanzania Diocese of Geita (AICT Geita), runs a program that empowers people in their local villages to improve their lives through self-help groups. They are currently helping 42 groups with a total of 682 members, 486 of whom are women.

One of these group members is Mr. Jumapili Hamisi (Jumapili means Sunday). He lives with his wife and two children in Nyankumbe village near Geita. Before joining the AICT Geita program, Mr. Hamisi had a bicycle taxi business, earning the equivalent of $2 per day. Often most of his earnings would just pay for the food he needed for energy to ride his bike that day. Life in the Hamisi household was difficult, with many arguments between Jumapili and his wife.

Jumapili said, “I was living with no plans. In fact how could I plan for tomorrow, while I had neither enough food to eat or a proper place to sleep?”

In 2010, Jumapili joined a group named, Tujikomboe (Swahili for, “Let’s liberate ourselves”), and learned about small business ownership and income-generating activities. Equipped with this training, Jumapili started a brick-making business, which brought him enough profit to build his family a proper house. When a death in his family meant that he then had to sell his new house to cover funeral costs, his group was again there to help him.

A while later, Jumapili joined another AICT group called Baraka Vicoba, which had a savings and credit program. Mr. Hamisi withdrew a loan equivalent to $250, combined this with his income from making and selling bricks, and was able to buy a motorcycle costing around $1,200.

Now Jumapili has a Bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) business to take his customers around Geita, and earns around $20 per day--more than ten times what he was earning with his bicycle and more than four times the daily minimum wage! He is building a new house and his family is very happy. He recently told his story at a group leader’s training session.

“Now I am able to meet my daily needs at home, I have my own transport and soon will finish my house,” Jumapili says. “ I advise all my colleagues to effectively use the opportunity provided by AICT Geita’s self-help groups initiative.”

You may have guessed from Mr. Hamisi’s last name that he is of Islamic background. We’re thrilled that he decided to join an AICT program and that he has found a community of loving Christians there. Economic change, attitude change, and a change of heart go together. We are excited by what God’s people are doing.

Praise the Lord for lives, like Jumapili Hamisi, that He has changed in 2011 and will change this year through programs like these and through your support.

Give Praise!

• CIDA funding was given for three significant proposals that CRWRC submitted last year.

• A wonderful 3-week visit for our family back to Canada last fall to connect with CRWRC staff, family, and friends, and to see our new nephew, Joshua.

• Strong rains came from October to December. We need more rain now so crops don’t dry up in the hot sun.

• God’s blessings last year to our family and work, and for His upcoming provisions for this year.

Points for Prayer:

• Approval of a project extension application we just submitted to the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (more details next newsletter).

• More lives, like that of Jumapili Hamisi, changed through our programs.

• God’s provision and protection for our partner staff as they carry out their work.
  

And Great News!

Our five-year proposal to the Canadian International Development Agency to support some CRWRC programs in Tanzania and four other countries was approved! I thank all of you who have been praying for this over the past few months. This is a big answer to prayer! It gives us stable funding for five years to carry out our programs in economic strengthening (for people like Jumapili), adult literacy, and agricultural training. Now we can begin the exciting work of making clear plans for implementing this project. In order to receive this funding, however, CRWRC is required to match it with $300,000 per year in donations. If you would like to help us continue changing lives in Tanzania, we would love to receive your support. You can read more about the CIDA funding here, and you can donate on that weblink to the “Sustainable Livelihoods” project or directly to the Tanzania program by clicking just above the thermometer on the right side bar of this page.

About Chris Enns

Chris joined CRWRC at the end of 2009 and is living in Mwanza, along with his wife Heather and their two boys – Ryan (7) and Jeremy (4).  Chris’s background and expertise is in rural planning and development, with a particular focus on evaluation and project design. Prior to joining CRWRC, Chris was involved in evaluating development projects around the world and coaching organizations in project planning and reporting.  He has also served as board chair at Dalhousie Community Church in Calgary. The main focus of Chris’s work is helping CRWRC partners (churches and NGOs) in the Mwanza and Lake Victoria region of Tanzania build their capacity to carry out their development programs in the surrounding communities. These programs deal with economic empowerment, agriculture and food security, small business development, justice education, community based health care (including HIV and AIDS) and diaconal leadership training and development.

EMAIL:  cenns@crwrc.org

Blog: TENNSania