Avoiding malaria with nets

Some people say that the worst time for mosquito bites is the evening but there’s a risk at any time of night. Now at last there has been a big effort to give nets for protection to all boarding school students. Masasi Girls High School and Ndanda High School are two which have received nets for all students and you can see information and photos at www.against malaria.com

Farmers boost exports

Mtwara port performance triples

By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 14th October 2011 @ 12:55

THE Port of Mtwara has tripled its performance after several years of a grim record of poor performance.

The record that saw the port handling some 223,264 tons during the 2010/11 season against 84,354 tons handled during the 2009/10 season, is writing

off the history of Mtwara as ‘a seasonal port’.

The Director General for TPA, Mr Ephraim Mgawe, revealed the information in his speech read on his behalf by the Director of Marketing, Mr Flavian

Kinunda, at the Port Users Meeting held in Mtwara on Friday.

According to Mr Mgawe, the grand performance was attributable to a good cashewnut season which witnessed bumper harvests and exports.

“There has also been a significant increase in a cargo project as a result of ongoing off shore Oil and Gas exploration activities in the Indian Ocean,”

added the TPA Director General.

New interest from Finland

Finnish Delegation to tour Mtwara, Lindi

By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 30th October 2011 @ 12:25,

A NINETEEN-member delegation of the Finnish Government is set to begin a four-day official tour of Lindi and Mtwara regions.

A statement issued in Dar es Salaam by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, states that the tour aims at evaluating economic and social projects supported by the Finnish government.

The Finnish government is supporting a number of projects in Mtwara and Lindi, including a Masasi high quality cashew semi-processing factory, a factory set up by the Dutch and received support from Finnish development project.

The delegation, which includes Finnish members of parliament, ministry of foreign affairs officers, officers from the ministry of finance and some representatives from the private sectors, will also get an opportunity to see the life led by people in the local community.

Cashew nut trading.

Trading is so much better these days.  Old government rules restricted trade badly, then with some liberalising of the rules there was an annual influx of traders from India who bought raw nuts for very low prices. Then after noticing that farmers got too little money from this trade the government encouraged producers to add value by processing nuts before selling them. An export duty was put on raw nuts and a big warehouse and processing factory has been built just outside Masasi. An international organisation has started in-country processing and farmers get better prices for their nuts.

Several of these maize mills were made at Ndanda in 2011 for sale to farmers who had received money for cashew nuts. this was a wise investment to generate more income from their profits.

Jiamini, helping schools and students

The Jiamini organisation was started by some young people who volunteered in Newala District with the Peace Corps.  In a few years they have achieved a great deal and their effective working methods have gained generous donations in the USA where they are based. I won’t tell their story because they have a website for that. I’d like to add my thanks for their fine work but it takes a bit of patience to scroll through the photos and find details, for example the Chidya Boys Secondary School Library.

Use this link to see Jiamini at work;    http://www.jiamini.org/about.php

Denmark offer for Mtwara town

The authorities in Mtwara now have a chance to receive aid from Denmark. They must provide the donors with information and open co-operation. Some critics say “aid doesn’t work” but I would say “sometimes aid doesn’t work in the ways we expect”.

People of Mtwara please make the most of this chance 

This is the news from The Danish Embassy in Dar es Salaam;

STRATEGIC CITIES IN TANZANIA GET SUPPORT FROM DENMARK AND THE WORLD BANK Tanzania Strategic Cities Project was launched in Dodoma on September 27. The project, funded jointly by Denmark and the World Bank, aims to boost sustainable development of seven urban centres throughout Tanzania. The Tanzania Strategic Cities Project (TSCP) will make sustainable development in the seven cities Arusha, Dodoma, Kigoma, Mbeya, Mtwara, Mwanza and Tanga. This will happen through development of capacity in the city administrations and investments in roads, storm water drainage, solid waste collection, street lighting and other strategic investments. The TSCP is the result of a harmonized approach between Denmark’s support to Urban Development and Environmental Management Program (UDEM) with a total support of DKK 100 million and a World Bank loan of USD 160 million. The Government of Tanzania together with Denmark and the World Bank hope to reduce urban poverty through development of sustainable urban centers. The ambassador of Denmark to Tanzania, Bjarne H. Sørensen underlines the importance of urban development: - Economic growth in urban areas is significant and hence, urban development is important for development of the country. More people than ever before now live in urban areas and more are coming every day. This puts high demands on how a city is managed and how infrastructure is planned and the environment handled, he said at the launching in Dodoma. The TSCP is expected to generate significant social and economic benefits through improvements in basic urban infrastructure and services. Overall, the project is expected to contribute to employment and livelihood opportunities, and provide a better environment for the expansion of local economic activities. The Danish ambassador, Bjarne H. Sørensen, has great expectations for the project’s impact: - Development of urban areas is key to address urban poverty. Denmark’s support to strategic cities in Tanzania will assist in creating well-functioning, more livable and environmental friendly cities, he said in Dodoma. Denmark has supported urban development in Tanzania over the past 15 years, latest the support to the Sustainable Cities Program concluded in June 2008.   <!– Edited March 7, 2011 –>
Edited March 7, 2011

 

Kambaa; plaited cord made with palm leaves

Kambaa hank close-up

Kambaa is made in Masasi District from thin strips of the leaves which grow on the dwarf palm. This plant normally grows no more than a metre high and survives in  miombo woodland where it is less dense. Kambaa is plaited by women during the dry season when there’s not much work on the land and  when it’s made for sale each hank is about 125 metres in length. The width is always very constant throughout the length but different hanks vary between about 8mm and 12 mm in width.

Dwarf Palm, hyphaene species

In Tanzania kambaa is used for making beds. It can be woven diagonally or parallel with the sides and ends of a wooden bed-frame. The Tanzania village life museum in Dar es Salaam has several examples in houses of different regions.

a traditional bed with kambaa

In Britain a new use for kambaa has been gaining acceptance steadily. It was first imported here in the year 2000 and shown to people who make chairs. It was immediately recognized as a useful and attractive material for making chair seats in place of rushes, sea grass or hemp string.  A big advantage is the width of kambaa, so that a chair seat can be made with a shorter length of cord than with the usual narrow materials. Enquiries for sample or purchase to Graham Cole, tel 0114 255 7861.

Chair seat, made in England, 1

Chair seat made in England,3

 

Chair seat made in England,2

Old news about solar energy

In 2007, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) asked SELF to bring solar power to four rural health centres in the Masasi District of Tanzania: in Chiwale, Mangaka, Michiga and Nanyumbu; and additionally a dispensary at Masuguru. As part of the implementation, SELF trained a cadre of local men and women as solar technicians, equipping the project for long-term sustainability.
SELF is the Solar Electric Light Fund.
Are the installations all working well after 4 years in use?

Solar power for Health Centres

To see more lovely photos of this project search  www.flickr.com for Masasi and find the photos taken by “d” who was the solar electricity engineer (fromCanada but resident in  Australia). Or use this link;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/undertoad/372977995/in/set-72157594463574697/

Photos by Darren C. Anderson, all rights reserved.

The team who installed the solar electricity systems

Talk of a big investment

Artumas was the company which got gas out of the seabed near Mtwara so that electricity is now generated without using imported oil. The gas is always there so Mtwara Region can expect to have a continuous supply of electricity. Great news but it seems there aren’t enough customers to justify the expense of running the power station. 

 Artumas was taken over by another international company called Wentworth Resources Ltd and this organisation has experience of putting natural gas to use for commercial gain. People in the region heard rumours of  a cement factory being considered but the possible industry now proposed by Wentworth is for chemical processing to make fertilizer and  methanol. The Daily News reported; 

“By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 26th February 2011
WENTWORTH Resources Limited has expressed its intention to invest in Tanzania, by establishing a fertilizer plant and production of methanol.

This plan was revealed yesterday by the company’s Board Chairman Mr Bob McBean when he met and held talks with President Jakaya Kikwete in Dar es Salaam’s state house.

Members of the Board told the president that the company was ready to invest 2b USD (about 3trl/-) in major economic projects and that last week the company held a successful meeting to raise such money.

The company has bought Artumas company and will produce methanol and fertilizer (urea) using natural gas from Mtwara.

The company will have headquarters in Dar es Salaam. The company’s delegation also told President Kikwete that in the next 18 months it planned to drill new gas wells in order to ensure availability of enough gas for developing such projects.

They noted that Tanzania was in a good position to make major and quick development like Qatar due to huge gas deposits discovered in Mtwara, Lindi and Coast regions.”

Japan helping in Masasi District

The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) has been helping in Tanzania in many ways for over 30 years. The most obvious help now is the continuing road building between Masasi and Mangaka which they are paying for. This looked very efficient when we drove by in November 2010 and plenty of Tanzanian professionals are employed as well as local people building and labouring on strengthening embankments. Reinforced concrete bridges looked as if they would survive all floods. It’s a better road than usual because there are side lanes for cyclists to ride in without worrying about dodgy drivers. There’s a photo of the road on the blog below.

http://yanayotokea.blogspot.com/