Last summer I was introduced to Father Jovin Bampabula,
who was visiting from Tanzania, Africa. As we talked about his county and its people, he shared with me
his dream that one day the people of his country would live with dignity, would be educated, have good
health, and prosperity. I told Father Bampabula about Mir Pace, and that perhaps with the help of our
supporters and volunteers, we could help him to work toward realizing his dream. As the evening came to a
close, we said our farewells, and the following day, Father Bampabula returned home to Tanzania.
As the months passed, I thought often of Father Bampabula and about the difficult and complex lives of the
people he had described. Then, unexpectedly, Father contacted me. He wrote, "Please come and see for
yourself the plight of our people." Last month, I did just that.
After traveling for more than 22 hours, I arrived in the city of Mwanza, located on the southern rim of
Lake Victoria. As I stepped off the plane, I heard someone shout, "KARIBU!" "Karibu" is a Swahili word
meaning "welcome" and is the one word that was instilled in my memory by the end of the first day. Always
spoken with a smile as an accompaniment reflects how friendly, warm, and hospitable the people are.
Father Bampabula greeted me with an enormous smile, and our journey began.
Over the next five days, we would cover more than 1,200 miles of northwestern Tanzania, which included the
Kagera region that borders Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Living conditions were simple, but primitive. Each night was spent in a different location, and I lived
without running water, telephones, plumbing, or electricity - conditions that required more effort than I
had anticipated. Even trivial matters like bathing or going to the "water closet" at night presented
challenges. The bathing ritual involved: taking a deep breath; soaping up a washcloth from a bucket of
cold water; then while reassuring myself that probably no one ever died from a bucket of cold water, pouring
it over my head while suppressing what would otherwise be a deafening scream. The night visits to the water
closet (which Tanzanians call "short calls") involved having to first pause and run through a mental
checklist: "Tissue? Check; Torch? Check; Soap? Check; Shoes? Check." Then I would assure myself that
mosquitoes, spiders, and any other roaming creatures sleep at night, right?
While I considered our facilities primitive, not a moment passed that I didn't think about the people I had
met who are without basic necessities every day of their lives and was reminded of the things I so very
often take for granted.
Routinely, our time was spent touring hospitals, homes, primary and secondary schools, and speaking to
educators, doctors, students, and many families. I learned that Tanzanians are a people of great hope, and
they are working very hard to improve their life situation. However, they face severe challenges.
The Family and Domestic Responsibilities
Without resources to secure their futures, families can rely only on one another. While hunger and lack of
basic health care is the cause of excessively high infant and under five mortality rates, families faced
with abject poverty need many children to help with domestic work. For those living at the margin of
survival, children provide labor, whether it be caring for infants while their mothers work in the fields,
or working the fields themselves, to augment meager family income. I met many children, some as young as
six years old, who are unable to attend school because their families cannot afford the cost, and the
survival of their families depends on their domestic participation.
Bananas and plantains grow naturally and in abundance throughout the country. The task of harvesting bananas
falls primarily to children, and requires cutting bushels from the trees, and then separating or bundling
them according to their intended purpose. Bananas and plantains are an important food source, provide
income when sold in local markets, and the palms from the banana and plantain trees are an essential material
used for the construction of homes. Another material used for the construction of homes is the natural soil,
which is the perfect ingredient for brick making. In addition, wood is plentiful and is used for making
charcoal. Because charcoal burns long, hot, and steady, it is the primary fuel source for cooking throughout
Tanzania. Clean water, however, is not plentiful. Young children are given the task of collecting water,
and more often than not, necessitates walking very long distances (typically more than two hours and often
down very steep hills) to the nearest water station. The jugs are then filled and carried atop their heads
for the long and difficult trek home. Understandably, the use of water is intensely guarded.
