Earlier this week, twenty seven children each received a brand new, green "Kimberton Whole Foods" sweatshirt with a huge smile on his or her face. This was the last of the supplies that I brought from our community to Kao La Amani. This post is overdue, but I want to thank everyone who contributed to the Kimberton 'Supplies for Kids' collection. When I had the idea to start a collection I didn't know how thoughtful and generous donations would be. Thanks to you I was able to bring to Tanzania fifty pounds worth of school supplies, clothing, children's shoes, and toys, the majority of which were brand new. The gratitude that Mama Tukai showed for these much needed items warmed my heart knowing that they will really help the children. Furthermore, both Traveling Mercies and a few individuals gave substantial monetary support that I will be able to spend on important projects throughout the fall. With intentional redundancy I want to send another huge thanks out to the contributers.
This brings me to the topic of need. It is difficult to portray the scope of the need in Tanzania except to say that there is need everywhere. Undoubtedly this translates to most of Africa on a much larger scale. It is a different type of need than I have ever seen as poverty is simply a part of daily life. Homes are small, food is simple, and luxuries are limited. Some people have cars, but the low fuel light is always on, and the cars are so beaten up that they only run when serviced every few days. Most people have cell phones but don't have credit to make calls. Many people have televisions but can't always pay the electric bill. It is a constant contrast between having something and having nothing where any income quickly pays off unpaid bills, feeds the children, or allows the car to drive a few more kilometers.
All of this is actually quite frustrating to watch and it would be easy to spend everything I have trying to help these people. However, a friend who worked in Kenya gave me a very good piece of advice a few days before I departed. He said that while almost everyone needs everything, they will survive with or without my help. Given that I have a limited amount of capital to contribute, I want to maximize the benefit from my investments. I want to help, but I want to do so intelligently and I want to make sure I am helping the right people.
Shortly after I arrived I did invest a small amount of the money that I raised in the orphanage. The car that I use to drive the kids to school in is falling apart and could use several hundred dollars worth of maintenance. I couldn't in good conscience sink the donations that I raised into this money pit, but I was very willing to spend about twenty dollars fixing the breaks. I figured that while the car will definitely continue to break down (and it has not failed to disappoint), in the short term the children's safety is very important.
The second investment I made with the donations concerned food. While Tanzanians eat beef, chicken, and fish when they can afford to, corn is the staple of their diet. The orphanage was very fortunate this year to raise a very productive crop of corn. However, when I arrived, the corn was sitting in a pile outside unprotected. Here it remained because the orphanage lacked the funds to store the corn. If even a short rain came, the corn would rot and this valuable food would be lost. For 220,000 TZS (about 147 USD) we hired a tractor to grind the corn off the husks and purchased string and sacks to preserve forty five 50 kg bags of corn. While I probably acted somewhat out of frustration, I was once again thinking about the welfare of the children. If all else fails, the orphanage has a store of corn that will last them for the next two to three years.
Over the past few weeks I have thought very deeply about Kao La Amani, trying to determine the degree to which I should try to financially assist the orphanage. I have really gotten a feel for the people here and when it comes down to basics, they are good people with good hearts. I believe in what they are doing and think that they are making a real difference in children's lives. Without Kao La Amani, these children would be living on the street or in unhealthy homes with distant relatives. Furthermore, I've learned about many of their sad backgrounds and without going into the truly horrifying details, I can honestly say that without Kao La Amani many of the children would not be alive today. Here, they are learning to become mature, intelligent kids with good values. To understand this you don't have to go farther than the children themselves. While at some orphanages you might find children climbing on the walls, breaking toys, and running around in a disheveled state, the Kao La Amani children are clean, polite, and well behaved.
Kao La Amani treats the children as members of a big family rather than as orphans. Apparently the Tanzanian government is shutting down many orphanages because they do not have the same mentality. Often, Tanzanian orphanages give children a place to stay until they are old enough to live on their own and then cut them loose because of the high cost of raising children. Many people with this upbringing get into trouble with the law and are unstable people. Kao La Amani on the other hand makes a long term commitment to the children. They want to see the children through primary and secondary school and help many of the children go to college. The children will always have a family to return to and rely on. While this is very important, it is a big financial commitment and the cost of feeding, housing and educating the children increases every year as the children grow. Every week, Mama and Pastor's budget falls short of the orphanage's need. They often must cut expensive foods from the children's diet, limit the use of the car, and borrow money to cover costs.
As a result of the value of their positive work and their great need, I want to help Kao La Amani on a larger scale. It would be easy for me to throw thousands of dollars at the problems that they have, trying to improve conditions in the present. It would make a difference and I would return home feeling good about myself. However, one year down the road would the orphanage be any better off than it is today? My best guess is that it would not and it would likely be worse off as they will have six more primary school fees to pay starting in January. While I am glad to contribute a few dollars a day of my own money towards food, kerosine for cooking and fuel for the car to lessen any burden that feeding and housing me might place on the orphanage, I have a bigger plan for the money that I raised.
The orphanage has no substantial, consistent revenue stream. When I first arrived I found myself getting both frustrated and confused as I tried to figure out how the orphanage makes enough income to sustain itself. I have since learned that while the church and the nursery school that they run contribute marginally to their income, they rely almost entirely on donations. Both Pastor and Mama understand that in the long run this is not sustainable and hope to be able to become more financially independent in the future. Pastor Tukai and I have come up with one way for the orphanage to earn substantial revenue on its own to begin this transition.
In Tanzania, raising pigs is a very profitable venture. When a pig is three months old a farmer can sell it to the sausage companies for between 100,000 and 200,000 Tanzanian Shillings (About 66-133 USD). Based on the costs of food, pumping water, and vaccinations, I estimate that one pig costs between about 50,000 and 60,000 TZS to raise (about 33 to 40 USD). Considering that day laborers earn about 4,000 TZS per day, porters climbing Kilimanjaro earn between about 6,000 and 8,000 TZS per day, and Kilimanjaro guides earn about 10,000 TZS per day, even the minimum estimated profit of 40,000 TZS is a substantial amount of money in Tanzania.
As I mentioned previously, the orphanage has a small structure at the farm that houses animals. Their small scale pig operation is not very profitable, but with 19 piglets and two pregnant females the potential for expansion is substantial. I want to help build a large scale pig barn with 94 rooms that will be able to house over 200 pigs. I am very excited about this contribution for two reasons. First, the project will continue to impact the orphanage for years to come. Second, the project helps the orphanage help itself. It helps the orphanage work towards a sustainable future where they do not have to rely on hand outs. Kao La Amani has a long term plan to build a large primary school that will bring in substantial revenue and hopes to be entirely financially self sustained. However, as the Tanzanian phrase which is somewhat of a national motto goes: "pole pole" (slowly slowly). We move forward one step at a time and this pigs project is a feasible first step.
The structure that we have designed is a 50 meter by 13 meter concrete brick barn with four rows of rooms and a water storage tank. Based on estimated costs of materials and labor, which fluctuate frustratingly frequently, I believe that we can build the entire project for about 10,000 dollars. While I am optimistic, I am also realistic, so I have set attainable goals for the time I am here. For about 3,000 dollars we can build the first stage of the project which includes 24 rooms and a water tank to hold water for the pigs. I intend to complete this first stage before December 21st so that I can leave something substantial behind. While, I do have faith that the orphanage can continue construction after I am gone, I do not have faith that Pastor Tukai could scrape together the funds for the building materials. Therefore, my second goal is to raise a substantial portion of the 10,000 dollars needed to build the structure so that I can purchase the building materials and store them at the farm. We broke ground on the project this week and have made good progress on the foundation. We will go as far as money will allow.
If you like this idea, I hope that you will consider donating to the project. This is a chance to donate directly to people in need. Rather than contributing to a large non-profit profit organization where you may not know who the money benefits or how much good will come of it, I am offering you a way to see your contribution in action. I maintain the same philosophy of Traveling Mercies that contributions should directly help the people. Nothing will be wasted on operations costs and I will put 100% of the contributions towards the project.
You can donate in one of two ways. You can mail a check written to Joshua McLane to PO Box 280, Birchrunville, PA 19421. This is the quickest way to put the money into action, but the contribution is not tax deductible as I am not a non-profit organization. The second way to donate is to click here: http://travelingmercies.org/10657.html and make a tax deductible contribution through Traveling Mercies. You can write a check or pay through PayPal, but please indicate that your contribution is for "Josh McLane's Tanzania Project." Traveling Mercies is a fantastic organization and I suggest you explore what they are doing. Aldo Magazzeni, the founder of Traveling Mercies, is a great mentor of mine and has been very helpful throughout this project.
Thank you all for following this blog. I appreciate the feedback and the positive support that I have received from back home. Some days I just shake my head at how little everything makes sense over here and other days I stand back and admire the beauty. This is truly an incredible experience, and I am glad that I can, in whatever small way, share it with you.
