Tag Archive for: Tanzania

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Tanzania’s Struggle for Potable Water

As the largest country in East Africa, about one-third of the land in Tanzania is waterless. A little under 50 percent of Tanzania’s citizens do not have access to clean water, totaling around 21.6 million people.

Although there are three lakes that surround Tanzania, it is extremely difficult for individuals to find access to potable water if they do not live near one of these bodies of water.

While there have been attempts to address the situation, there has not been much success. In 1971, the Rural Supply Program was introduced in the hopes that the government would be able to provide free, clean water to the citizens of Tanzania. A lack of donors and technology have led to the low success rate of this project.

In 2002, Tanzania began major reforms in the water sector, and still insists that by 2025, it will have more comprehensive access to safe, clean water. Reforming the water sector has recently made the country a target for foreign donor support. Germany’s state aid agency is one donor that has been extremely involved in providing Tanzania’s water sector with aid.

Private sector donations are also coming from various types of companies. H&M, a Swedish retailer, has created a three-year program that will pair with Wateraid to “improve water provision and sanitation facilities in 36 schools in the rural Manyara district. As well as immediate assistance, H&M hopes the intervention will influence government thinking about water-related issues in schools.”

Wateraid is also working to solve the sewerage issues in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city. The initiative is a for-profit one that removes waste from latrine pits for a small charge in order to reduce disease and improve quality of life in the city.

As a country, Tanzania has become a guinea pig for “water stewardship approaches that involve the wider business community.” The Water Futures Partnership (WFP) has been instrumental in this endeavor.

Although many attempts have been made to rectify the water situation, public awareness still remains a pressing issue. People are accustomed to disposing their waste in the river and unfortunately still fail to recognize that they are not only contributing to the lack of potable water but are also facilitating the spread of water-borne diseases.

In order to make sure the program has a chance of success, there needs to be more open communication and collaboration between the organizations trying to improve access to potable water and the individuals in the populations they are trying to help.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: The Water Project, allAfrica
Photo: Wikimedia

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Education in Tanzania: 10 Important Facts

Tanzania has seen tremendous growth and progress in the education sector over the last decade. However, despite rapid expansion in primary and secondary school enrollment, the country’s education system continues to struggle to deliver quality education and to keep its children in school. Below are some facts about education in Tanzania:

1. Growth in Education

According to a census report, 94 percent of children aged 7 to 13 were enrolled in primary school in 2011. Only 59 percent of children were enrolled in primary school in 2000.

2. No Fees

This incredible jump in enrollment is due in part to Tanzania’s abolition of primary school fees in 2001.

3. MDGs

Today, Tanzania is said to be on track for meeting the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal for male and female enrollment in primary and secondary schools.

4. Class Size

Due to rapid enrollment numbers, Tanzania faces extreme overcrowding within its classrooms. The average government primary school classroom holds 66 pupils. In some areas of the country, there can be as many as 200 pupils in a single classroom.

5. Student:Teacher Ratio

While the number of enrolled students continues to grow, a corresponding increase in qualified teachers does not. The pupil to qualified teacher ratio remains 49:1 in Tanzania.

6. Student:Latrine Ratio

The pupil to latrine ratio is an even larger culprit when it comes to factors that hinder Tanzanian children’s education—for girls, especially. On average, there is 1 toilet for a collective 54 boys and 51 girls. This ratio — far below the normal pupil:latrine ration of 25:1 — affects not only attendance but also performance in Tanzanian schools.

7. Special Education

There is no system today in Tanzania for the identification of, assessment of, or support for children with mental or physical disabilities within government schools.

8. Drop Out Rates

In 2010, 68,000 children dropped out of primary school, and 66,000 children left secondary school early.

9. Pregnancy

Also in 2010, 7000 girls dropped out of primary and secondary schools due to pregnancy.

10. Exams

Only half (53.5 percent) of students passed the primary school’s leaving examination in 2010; the majority of children who passed the examination were boys.

Though the statistics that reflect the enrollment growth are impressive, the system supporting education in Tanzania is decrepit, if not dysfunctional. With one of the highest net enrollment ratios in Africa, there is much potential to empower Tanzanian children and adolescents, helping them to attain the education necessary to break the cycle of poverty. For the thousands of children who begin, but never finish, their schooling, education reform must remain at the forefront of the Tanzanian government’s agenda.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: UNICEF, USAID
Photo: HNKC News

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Tujijenge Tanzania Helps ‘Build Africa’ through Microfinance

tujijenge_tanzania_microfinance
Tujijenge Tanzania is a microfinance company based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Founded in 2006, the organization is both the largest and fastest growing microfinance institution (MFI) in Tanzania. Broadly speaking, MFIs are companies that provide financial services to low-income individuals, or that provide services in areas without access to “typical” banking. They operate off of the idea that poverty-stricken individuals can remedy their own situation if given access to financial services.

Today, Tujijenge Tanzania is part of the larger, not-for-profit company Tujijenge Afrika, a Swahili name that roughly translates to mean “let’s build ourselves, Africa.” The company was founded by six microfinance practitioners, who now serve on its board of directors. The founders sought to remedy a problem that they observed in African society by employing their own skills. That is, 90 percent of the country does not have access to financial services. They saw that few MFIs existed, forcing residents to rely on expensive banking alternatives that perpetuated a lifestyle of poverty.

Tujijenge Tanzania aims to provide financial help to individuals, both men and women, who are engaged in all manner of small businesses, ranging from stationery shops to restaurants. The company operates by sending Loan Officers into local communities to give presentations about their services. Interested individuals then form groups of up to 35 members and receive four weeks of training from the Loan Officers. This includes instruction on lending methodology and creating viable business plans. During this period, the group must satisfy several requirements, including electing leaders and opening an account with a commercial bank (the company partners with both Bank of America and Kenya Commercial Bank).

Furthermore, every member is required to save 20 percent of the expected amount of the loan during this training period. This serves the dual purpose of teaching the discipline of making weekly payments, as well as demonstrating that the individual is engaged in a serious, capital-generating business. Upon completion of the training period, if all requirements have been met, the group can make a formal application for a loan. After receiving the money, the group will continue to meet every week, both to make repayments and to discuss general business issues and practices.

Beyond making loans to small business owners, the company is also engaged in a wide variety of product development. Currently, Tujijenge Tanzania is in the process of developing a mobile banking solution for their clients to help serve those in less accessible areas.

In the past, they have developed both solar loan and agricultural loan models in collaboration with organizations such as Oxfam. They have also engaged in market research in the promotion of medical and life insurance all around Africa.

– Rebecca Beyer
Feature Writer

Sources: Tujijenge Afrika, KIVA

Global Cycle Solutions

Global Cycle SolutionsGlobal Cycle Solutions is a social enterprise that aims to improve the lives of rural and poor Tanzanians with quality technology. By working with rural villagers, the organization is able to understand the needs of its customers and provide the appropriate technology.

It first opened in Tanzania in 2009 as a technology company. At the time, it was selling bicycle parts to smallholder farmers. Soon enough, the company realized that it could have an even bigger impact on communities by focusing on villages. Tanzanian villages often lacked basic amenities such as electricity and light. Understanding this, Global Cycle Solutions shifted gears to improving village life. From then on, Global Cycle Solutions became more than just a company selling technology, it became a collaborative and innovative organization designed to uplift the poor.

The enterprise works primarily in two ways. If a need can be fulfilled with existing technology than Global Cycle Solutions will build and develop a network of entrepreneurs through what they call their Rafiki Network. One product that is currently being distributed through the network is the SunKing Pro Solar Light and Phone Charger. Both the light and charger provide incredibly efficient and long-lasting power and light sources.

If a need cannot be fulfilled with pre-existing products than Global Cycle Solutions develops technology by partnering with universities, villages and other innovators. Currently, a bike-powered maize sheller, bicycle phone charge, and a multi-crop thresher are being developed by the organization for distribution.

How can you get involved with Global Cycle Solutions? One way is by contributing a micro-loan. A micro-loan of just $100 is enough to jumpstart one individual’s entrepreneurial career as well as help them begin the climb out of poverty. For a more hands-on approach, the enterprise also offers various positions on its project teams. Student opportunities to get involved can come in the form of collaboration with universities. For intern April Zhu, her involvement with Global Cycle Solutions began in the spring of 2012 with her work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s D-lab. Now as a member of the product development team, April works on testing prototypes of the multi-crop thresher before the harvest season is over.

Through this highly innovative and collaborative work, Global Cycle Solutions has impacted over 3,000 families over the last two years. Now the organization aims to create a sustainable network within villages to increase the availability of technology for all. By improving the standard of living for local Tanzanian villagers, Global Cycle Solutions is bringing empowerment to all within its network.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: Global Cycle Solutions
Photo: Flickr

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Obama Pledges $6.5 Billion for Electricity in Africa

Obama Electrify Africa
According to the International Energy Agency, all developing nations lack adequate access to electricity. This amounts to 1.3 billion people living in the dark worldwide. According to the same source, an investment of $1 trillion USD would be needed to remedy this. Currently, poverty and hunger take center stage. Food is of more use to a starving child than is a night light, but Westerners often take for granted how valuable the power of light can be to a community in poverty.

Not only does electricity make lives easier on a personal level, it helps to mechanize farming operations, which can be a great boost to a company’s agricultural productivity. Natural disasters often become less deadly when people are warned about them ahead of time, which can be accomplished with electric monitoring systems. Socially, populations are less marginalized with improved means of communication and information.

President Barack Obama said during his recent trip to South Africa, “Access to electricity is fundamental to opportunity in this age. It’s the light that children study by, the energy that allows an idea to be transformed into a real business. It’s the lifeline for families to meet their most basic needs, and it’s the connection that’s needed to plug Africa into the grid of the global economy.” President Obama then pledged almost $7 billion USD to help provide electricity for Africa.

The White House stated that The Export-Import Bank will carry most of the financial weight of the program, donating $5 billion, and the U.S. Oversees Private Investment Corporation will provide another $1.5 billion.

The funds will go toward preventing the frequent blackouts that plague the Sub-Saharan part of the continent, as well as helping the 85% percent of people in the region without electricity gain access to it. Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique will be the first countries to benefit from the program as it is developed at preliminary stages.

The investment is a great step toward solving the problem, but in all, Africa alone will need $300 billion to achieve universal electricity by 2030. The Alliance for Rural Electrification, a non-government organization, is another ally in combating this issue. As champions of universal electrification, ARE focuses on renewable energy such as solar, which much of Africa is a strong candidate for. This is especially relevant for areas that are geographically isolated where extending the reach of an existing power grid is not feasible.

– Samantha Mauney

Source: ARE, Scientific American, CNN
Photo: Business Insider

Can China Overcome Its Counterfeiting Reputation?

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China’s reputation as a producer and exporter of low-quality, counterfeit goods like shoes, clothing and jewelry make it a likely target for global medical experts looking to assign blame for the tremendous increase in counterfeit medications in Africa. 

Doctors, pharmaceutical companies and NGOs with an eye on Africa rejoiced when China came out with a cure for malaria in the form of artemisinin a few years ago, believing this medical marvel would be instrumental in alleviating the woes of global poverty and high mortality rates in the developing world.

After the initial excitement died down, however, disparaged global medical experts began to realize the obstacles that still lay before them in the form of global drug counterfeiting. Maverick manufacturers around the world have begun to view the African malaria problem as a free-for-all chance to make some money by selling placebo pills labeled as artemisinin to suffering patients who are unable to tell the difference.

In Uganda and Tanzania, the two countries with the highest malaria death rates in the world, the widespread, faulty drug regulation and corrupted business practices have allowed an influx of counterfeit drugs to enter the market alongside the true, lifesaving doses of artemisinin. Oxford University’s Wellcome Trust, a group that researches and spreads awareness about the counterfeit malaria drug problem, estimates that one-third of malaria drugs in Uganda are fake or of poor quality.

This alarmingly high rate is cause for concern, especially since medical workers in Uganda and Tanzania are often aware that they may be selling counterfeit drugs but can “do little to tell which are real and which won’t work.” Fake pills can even bear the same inscriptions as the drugs they counterfeit but contain no real medication, thus duping even the local pharmacists that are dispensing them.

So, whose job is it to make sure those suffering from malaria in Africa are getting the drugs they need? Many are looking towards global aid organizations to step in and make sure that the billions of dollars they are putting into malaria pills are being spent on authentic drugs.

Others are looking to China itself to fix what it may have started, and to use this as a chance to redeem themselves in spite of their reputation as a global counterfeiting hub. Discovering the cure for malaria has been one of the country’s crowning medical achievements, and malaria-focused aid groups around the world lament that “the intriguing tale of the drug’s invention in China and its eventual emergence as a first-line treatment is getting lost in the deadly battle against fakes and counterfeits.”

Deciding to take action against the counterfeit market could be China’s chance to reverse its reputation and settle into a role as a key global player.

– Alexandra Bruschi

Sources: The Atlantic, The Guardian
Photo: Study in China

The Maasai Brand: Fighting for Cultural Heritage

The Maasai Brand: Fighting for Cultural Heritage

For consumers in the Western world, buying unique jewelry or clothing with distinctly foreign influences may seem a natural part of the quest for personal style. For many communities in developing countries, however, these items or designs are a part of cultural heritage. A recent BBC spotlight on one such culture — the Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania — explores why some forward thinkers in Africa are partnering with intellectual property groups to protect their heritage.

Tourist practices have long been questioned as exploitation, such as taking photographs of natives without permission or in return for money, or disrupting natives’ daily lives by gawking. For the Maasai, these tourist practices also violate deeply ingrained cultural superstitions. In an interview with BBC, Maasai leader Isaac ole Tialolo shared that twenty years ago a tourist took a photo of him without permission. “We believed that if somebody takes your photograph, he has already taken your blood,” Isaac explained. Angered, Isaac destroyed the tourist’s camera.

More than exploitative tourist practices, what concerns Isaac is “use and abuse” of the Maasai culture. 80 companies worldwide use the name or the image of the Maasai, whether for Land Rover accessories, athletic and orthopedic shoes, or Louis Vuitton’s Masai line.

The fight against exploitation of cultural trademarks is not a new one. For example, in the mid-1970’s the Navajo Nation unsuccessfully tried to copyright the word “Navajo” to restrict who could apply the term to products; this resistance against outside use has continued, notably in a 2011 lawsuit the Navajo Nation brought against the clothing chain Urban Outfitters for using the term “Navajo.”

In some respects, the quality and representation of the items carrying cultural brands is a concern. “Tacky is a good word,” Navajo Times contributor Bill Donovan said of the Urban Outfitter items in an interview with NPR. “The Navajo Nation has been very sensitive about people using their name to promote tacky products.” For the Maasai name to be attached to orthopedic trainers or beach towels — items that do not even represent their namesake — is similar abuse.

Today, many Maasai leaders are attempting to stand for their cultural heritage. But Isaac ole Tialolo understands the entire Maasai nation must agree to this. He hopes they will be successful in uniting the Maasai for intellectual property rights. The NGO Light Years IP works alongside Maasai leaders — as it has in a number of developing countries — to educate the Maasai in what they are aiming to do.

The Maasai have a strong sense of ownership of their culture, says Isaac. As the Maasai become educated and the rest of the world becomes informed on the matter, branding consultant Bruce Webster says “they’ll win the PR battle absolutely.”

– Naomi Doraisamy

Source: BBC,Guardian,NPR
Photo: BBC

NIU Engineers Without Borders Tackle Mexico and Tanzania

NIU-Engineers-Without-Borders                            

For almost a decade, universities from across the United States have participated in thousands of trips to locations around the world to help improve low-income communities, whether it be through development, medical and health, or social advocacy.

Northern Illinois University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter has been in partnership with two organizations in both Mexico and Nyegina, Tanzania building sustainable and easy-to-manage appliances.

NIU’s EWB is entering its last year in a 5 year contract with Nyegina Secondary School, located in a village about an hour from the Kenya Tanzania border. Here, their first project was to install a solar lighting system to help supply cheap electricity to 6 classrooms and the library.

Their next project is focused on the kitchen. It includes designing a ‘lion stove’ which will use wood more efficiently to lower costs for the school as well as a solar water heater. These three additions to the school are important not only because they utilize a renewable energy source but because they allow the school to keep their expenses down. The less money they have to spend on basic lighting and cooking, the less children will have to pay to attend.

In Mexico, with support and guidance from iCatis (International Centers for Appropriate Technology and Indigenous Sustainability), students have been working to improve the water filtration system in remote villages.

Throughout their experimentation, these young engineers must keep in mind who they are designing these systems for. What works in the developed world cannot be sustained with the limited resources in developing countries. The villagers must be well trained and educated before students leave so that they understand how to repair appliances if they break and make improvements themselves if necessary.

– Deena Dulgerian

Source:NIU Today

2 Seeds Network: An Innovative Partnership to Fight Poverty

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2Seeds Network pairs recent university graduates with African village communities in order to develop and implement small, sustainable, and efficient agricultural projects designed to meet the needs of each village. The projects aim to support and enhance food and income security by training rural farmers in effective agricultural practices. 2Seeds trains its young project coordinators in leadership, accountability, and cooperation for the betterment of local African communities.

2Seeds Network seeks a partnership between Africa and America for the improvement of both continents. It fosters globally engaged and empathetic leadership on the American side, while improving basic living conditions for those on the African side. African community leaders and farmers benefit from the energy, passion, and creativity of young Americans, who in turn will engage others in global, humanitarian action.

The ultimate goals of the 2Seeds Network are to:

  • promote self-directed initiative and ownership in African agricultural production and trade
  • initiate sustainable change in local and national African economies
  • develop critically-needed transformative leaders in America

2Seeds Network uses the metrics of food security and income security to measure its programs’ effectiveness  Though each project is tailored to the needs of its partner community, Project Coordinators work to achieve two primary goals: that every family grows enough food to eat throughout the year, and that each family increases its income to more than $1 per day.

Stay tuned for an interview with a 2Seeds Network Project Coordinator working on the Lutindi Project in Tanzania. For more information about the organization, visit the 2Seeds Network website.

– Kat Henrichs
Source: 2Seeds Nework
Photo:Agra Soils Research Group

Scientists Use iPhone Microscope to Diagnose Parasites

Scientists Use iPhone Microscope to Diagnose Parasites
Consider the public health benefits of having the ability to use an electronic device the size of a mobile phone to diagnose diseases usually requiring expensive lab equipment and logistical support. Well thanks to a group of innovative scientists operating in a remote area of Tanzania, the iPhone microscope could usher in the future of a technologically driven global health policy.

Using nothing more than an iPhone, a flashlight, tape, and a camera lens; scientists were able to use their iPhone microscope to detect parasitic worms in a group of 200 students located on the Tanzanian island of Pemba. Isaac Bogoch, a Toronto-based physician remarked, “To our knowledge, this is the first time the mobile phone microscope had been used in the field to diagnose intestinal parasitic infections.”

Parasitic worms – clinically regarded as Helminth infections – affect nearly 1.5 billion people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). By utilizing the iPhone microscope, health care workers will be able to analyze samples quickly and in close proximity to the patient, allowing for immediate parasitic identification and treatment. Thus far, the iPhone microscope diagnoses have been 70 percent accurate, and with greater zoom capabilities and higher resolution, is expected to improve in the near future.

The potential benefits of the iPhone microscope in alleviating global health outbreaks is promising due to its portability and ergonomic efficiency. By utilizing readily available technology such as the iPhone microscope to combat disease, aid workers have found an indispensable ally in the mobile phone market.

– Brian Turner

Source: CNN