Hoe down the nfareji

Every week, or every other week, or once a month (don’t know if there is a schedule) 50-70 of Engo Sengiu's men get their pangas and hoes and spend half a day tidying up a section of the nfareji.

The nfareji is the traditional irrigation system, which is a network of trenches varying from 50cm to two metres wide into which the water from Mt Meru flows (via Arusha town before reaching us). To irrigate your farm you dig a connecting trench from the main line into your own network of trenches in your farm. I’m guessing there must be some etiquette surrounding its use because it would be too easy for someone upstream to hog all the water. The nfareji is also used as a rubbish bin (rubbish floats away - out of sight out of mind) and a toilet. Many of the illnesses around are a result of people drinking or being exposed to the typhoid and cholera laced nfareji water. The town water, which is on for about 30 minutes each morning is also pretty dodgy, and it is often too expensive for people to boil their water. This is particularly a problem now that coal burning for cooking has just been outlawed. The old Masai women who carry bags of coal on their donkeys to sell, have had their coal confiscated by the government. And no policies for alternative fuel sources appear to exist.

So, one recent Saturday morning, Corky and myself headed off to the meeting point for this round of nfareji work. We’d been warned that this week was going to be ‘nfareji kubwa’ (big nfareji). So, armed with a panga I found myself in the front group preparing to launch myself, boots and all, into the swiftly flowing water. For the following 3 hours, I and 30 other men waded upstream hacking the grass, plants and branches away from the sides of the nfareji. The murky grey-brown water littered with rubbish and excrement would splash up into my eyes, mouth and gradually increasing number of cuts in my arms and legs. Mightn’t sound like much fun and it no doubt put my vaccinations to the test, but the scenery we passed on our (roughly 2km) wade up the nfareji was like something out of an Indiana Jones or Tarzan movie. Dense banana trees (and a thousand other types of plant) overhanging the nfareji, the steep slopes of the hill we traversed overlooking the shambas (farms) in our village and surrounding areas. When we reached our end point we stood in a line in the water and gathered the rocks off the bottom and piled them on the edges (we only did this for about 10 minutes before everyone got bored). We then strolled back down to the village and sat under a large shady Acacia for the nfareji meeting. The meeting discusses who didn't show up and what to do with the fine (for not showing up) money - they decided to build 4 mini-weirs around the area to better manage the water flows.

We are probably one of the first mzungu to ever have helped work on the nfareji and the appreciation it earns us goes towards the security of our accommodation. The more people we can have on 'our side' then it is less likely that any organised raid of our house and land will happen. Which would be a good score for anyone successful in doing so given the number of laptops in this house and wealth that surrounds a group of wazungu.

Some words from Darren....

My son, Robby and his girlifriend Allyce have been here a fortnight now and are really enjoying themselves. Robbie has been helping me with the roof and Allyce is helping training the mammas who will be our carers and their kids with their lessons.
She wants to be a primary teacher so this is a good opportunity for her.

I finally got the plywood I needed to build the roof for the children's village so I started that 2 weeks ago. The ply's pretty crap quality here so the engineer and architect have given me a fixing technique that will help it from de-laminating and it is working well. Plywood beams go off they are crazy strong even with this inferior product.

The trusses I'm making are 15 mtrs long and it takes 15 men minimum to place them
It is by far the most epic thing I have built, especially 'cause there are no cranes and everything needs to be done by hand. Not to add that I don't have any carpenters or builders to help me! But Corky, Nick and Robby are seriously capable and have been making a huge difference to progress. The locals are really spinning out now at the super-structure we are building. After we lifted the first beams the other day
they told me that I had "diamonds in my brain" to be able to think of all of this and make it work (now that they can finally see how big the roof is and how much water it will catch.)

I couldn't take all the glory so I explained to them that the architect and engineer are the ones who design it an make it work ,we are just building it off their design ,and they are the ones with the "diamonds in their heads"
Although it was still nice for them to be able to see now how it will all work and have a bit of faith in what we are doing.
When I first started working with them, 6 months ago and I was setting out all the 600 diameter holes for the piers They thought I was mad. Then when I started setting out the 2 meter round holes for the tanks one of them said " they sure do build stuff different in Europe "

This cracked me up but also made me realise they haven't seen anything like what we are doing… they’re going to be so proud of what they’ve helped build, when it’s all finished.

Volunteer Blogs! (Warren and Clare Hopley)

Warren says:

Everyday is full of surprises and there are always millions of things to do. As Purchasing Officer I drop into town (Arusha) most days for picking up building supplies and everyday shopping items. It has been very rewarding to free up the two builders in order for them to do what they do best. AND their best is astounding! Most morning I drop off the builder and water supplies to our Children’s Village and in the afternoon pick up the teachers and our nurse from the Village.

The trip into Arusha is only 7 Km but it takes 25 minutes. First and second gear can only be used because the road is full of pot holes and is very dusty. It is used more as a pedestrian area than a road. The trip consists of lots of greetings and giving locals a lift.
In between running around with the ute this week, I also helped to move one of the mamas and her 3 children from a very poor one room home to a newly built 2 bedroom house on a small farm. Other odd jobs included :reconstruct the chook pen, paint window grates, build a gravel path, help build a B-B-Q, make two blackboards, spread soil and spent a few hours with the children’s education sessions.


Clare says:


“You put your arm in, you put your arm out, you put your arm in and you shake it all about. You do the ………….” Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be singing the ‘Hokey Pokey’ on a Tanzanian plateau, with beautiful children under a warm afternoon sun.

The Mamas program consists of me, along with 2 other volunteers, Lily and Janelle, the Tanzanian interpreter, Lucas and sometimes my husband, Warren teaching and playing games with the children while, the nurse, Heather, who is here for 12 months, takes the Mamas into a nearby Lutheran church for their health classes – they cover topics such as ‘washing hands minimizes disease’ and ’our skeleton’. It is held from 2pm to 5 pm each Monday to Thursday.

As a break in the health class, the Mamas join the children in a game. The aim is to help develop the Mama’s skills in English and provide opportunities for them to interact and play with their children.

For the afternoon break at 3.45pm everyone washes their hands, is given a drink of water and a serving of salad (usually cabbage, capsicum, tomato, mango). It is served on a cleaned banana leaf. Over the afternoon, several children join us from surrounding homes. They thoroughly enjoy the food that is served and join in our activities. It has been satisfying to see how many activities we have come up with despite very limited resources.

Life is an amazing journey. I am privileged to have had this turn in the road.