Then To Pommerini

After leaving Kitowo we took a right turn and continued down the road.  Pommerini is about 30 minutes down the road from Kitowo.  It is an old village with several old German buildings lying on the fringes.  We have been to Pommerini a number of times and always enjoy the people here.  This is an active, energetic group. 

The Pommerini SACCOS has 98 members.  It has hovered around 100 for 2 years now.  Last year this SACCOS made 87 loans to members.  They had 100% on time repayment (they always do!).  They have a waiting list of 10 members and could have more if they had more capital. 

Last year an AMCOS was started here.  The AMCOS has a membership of 79 people.  Not all of the members belong to both the AMCOS and SACCOS, but most do.  Their SACCOS runs a shop that is open 7 days a week, 8 hours per day.  In their first year they paid all of their bills (including a full time sales lady) and earned enough money that, together with their shares, they bought a small building!

The AMCOS sells fertilizer, garden seeds, insecticides for gardens, and some basic farming supplies.  Everyone here said how great it was to have fertilizer sold here last year.  Before this they had difficulty getting the right fertilizer at the right time.  Last year for the first time this was not a problem.

We were met by the SACCOS chair who asked if we could go right into the meeting.  There was a death in the village and many people had gone to the funeral. Normally Pommerini has a very large turn out for these meetings.  It is clear that the funeral has had a large effect. 

The chair of the AMCOS is waiting with the others.  She wants to be sure to tell us about their first year of operations.  In their first full year of operations this AMCOS managed to have a store open 8 hours a day seven days a week (with paid staff) and still earn a profit.  The chairman is uncertain of the exact amount of profit and the treasurer has gone to the funeral, but putting their profit together with their share sales they have bought a small building for their store.

Peter gave a brief class, after which the two chairmen showed the members a new product they have found. They recently went to a government seminar about a new, low cost grain storage bag.  This bag is made in Tanzania from recycled plastic.  It can hold over 200 pounds of maize and be reused several times.  The storage loss in the bag is at most a few percent (versus 15% or more using the traditional method) and the bag sells for $2.50.  They hope to supply the bags at their store, but currently they are short on capital.  We were happy to donate the cost of 20 bags to get things going.  We were aware of this product, but so far hadn’t introduced it to any of our groups.  It is great to see our new AMCOS has already found it and is making it available to the members without any help.

The SACCOS members (the women, that is) have prepared a very good lunch for everyone.  After we ate, the two chairmen walked with us to their new store.

It is very bright and hot out today.  Peter offered Sandy his umbrella for shade.  Interesting, it is a broken one that she gave to Peter last year.  He has fixed it and now lent it back.

At the store we looked over the inventory.  The shop seems a bit bare, but it offers the basics in garden supplies, fertilizer, and some sprays.  While Tom looked over the building Sandy was standing on the step talking to one of the ladies when a little boy came over and took her hand.  This is very unusual since most of the young children are afraid of us white folks.  The boy looked at Sandy and seemed surprised; he clearly thought he was reaching for his mother’s hand.  Still, he was brave and did not cry or fuss.

The AMCOS is renting one half of the building to a hardware dealer.  They say that the income from this pays for the saleslady in their shop.  All in all we are impressed with this group.  They seem to be doing very well.

We left Pommerini and headed back to Iringa.  Itiweni has been at an all-Tanzania co-op meeting.  There were over 300 participants at the meeting.  At the close of the meeting our network was cited as the “best in the country.”  Too bad they don’t award a cash prize!

The SACCOS chair at Pommerini is a very active, strong leader.  This SACCOS continues to do very well.

The chair of the new AMCOS at Pommerini is a woman.  She is quick and brings a lot of experience to the AMCOS.

The leaders had been to a seminar to learn how to use these new storage bags.  They can keep the maize for up to five years, are reusable, and are low in cost.  They represent a major improvement over other choices for storing crops.

Sandy donated funds to buy 20 bags to start stocking the AMCOS store.  We feel certain that these will be a "hot" item.

The cooks had prepared an excellent lunch.  As soon as we are done all of the members will go to a funeral that will last the rest of the day.

The sun was very hot as we walked to the AMCOS store.  Peter lent Sandy his umbrella for shade.  It turned out it is one she gave him last year when we left.  It had had a broken spoke, but he has fixed it.

Although small the store has all of the basics needed for now.

This small boy reached out and took Sandy's hand then looked at her in surprise.  We think he was expecting his mother instead!

Between selling shares in the AMCOS and earning some profit from their store the AMCOS was able to buy this small building.  They rent the part where Tom is standing and use the other area.  There are a number of empty buildings in this area making it cheaper to buy than to build.

First To Kitowo

Monday was a double header.  We went first to Kitowo and then to Pommerini.  Both of these villages lie along the cratered road south from Iringa towards Mwatasi (we’ll go there on Wednesday).  The road has never been good, but with the rains that just ended, it has gotten deeply rutted.  Driving along Sandy and Peter kept telling Tom he was going too fast.  “How fast do you think I am going?” Tom asked them.  “Too fast,” was the reply.  We were driving 20-25 mph!

After an hour of being alternately airborne, shaken, and smashed into our seats we arrived at Kitowo.  Driving these roads makes it easy to understand why cars need so much maintenance.  Tom has driven through swamps, down logging trails, over handmade bridges, etc. when he has gone hunting and fishing; but, he says, for shaking and rattling these roads are unmatched!

Arriving at Kitowo we went to have chai before the meeting. The officers met with us there to go over the statistics for Kitowo, which now has 86 members – 35 men and 51 women.  This is up a lot in the last year.  The chairman tells us that our fertilizer program was a major benefit to our members that did not go unnoticed. 

Last year they lent $16,000 to 47 members.  Even though there was a minor drought here and prices were very low, they had 100% on-time repayment.  This year they are hoping to be able to borrow more from Iringa Hope.  We are adding capital to our loan pool as fast as we are able, but they will be lucky to receive the same amount; there are so many members needing loans that we can’t keep up with the demand.

 When we went over to meet with the members Peter gave a class on the importance of buying shares.  He and Itiweni have been emphasizing this since the SACCOS members are not buying shares at the rate they think that they should (buying shares is one way to build savings and loan funds). 

When the class was finished one of the members asked some questions about having an AMCOS.  This year we are working on starting AMCOS where we have strong SACCOS.  An AMCOS is basically a Farmers co-op.  It will sell seeds, fertilizer, and spray and will help market crops.  We think that this is the natural thing to add to a SACCOS (which is basically a cooperative savings and loan).  We were thinking of working on starting one here, but not just yet.  

Apparently, this group has been talking with members of the Pommerini AMCOS, which was started last year, and has started collecting funds for their own. 

Peter explained how to start an AMCOS and what the rules are.  We promised that Peter and Itiweni will come back and work with them some more.  We think that Kitowo will be another strong site.

Sandy and Peter decided to talk with the lady who had been asking so many questions.  Her name was Rehema Nyasi, 54 and married with 3 children and 6 grandchildren.  She tells us that she has 2 of her grandchildren and 2 of her brother’s children living with her and her husband.  She has taken out 2 loans from this SACCOS.  Her first loan was for $650.  She used this loan to plant her 5 acres with maize.  The yield here was not too bad last year (she got 11 bags per acre.  A normal year would yield 15 bags per acre), but the prices were very low running about $13/bag (in a normal year she would earn $25/bag).  As a result she only earned $100 after paying off her loan and all of her expenses.  So she took what she earned and bought some shares and increased her savings.

This year she borrowed $400 to fertilize her field and apply herbicide.  She tells us that the herbicide was hard to get, but it is so much cheaper than hiring help.  She used to hire 4 people to hoe her fields.  With the herbicide she has hired no one – a big savings.  She hasn’t used it before because it just became available this year.  She learned about it, and where to get it, from a training course she attended.  This year her crop looks very good.  If good weather continues she will harvest about 75 bags of maize.  With prices back to normal this crop should sell for about $1,800 – a very good profit.

We said good bye and headed down the road to Pommerini.  We will be posting that story tomorrow.

The officers met us when we arrived.  We went over to the pastor's home for chai and to discuss last year's results.

It is interesting that normally the men sit on one side of the room and the women on the other.  Sometimes a mama or papa will not follow this and sit where they please.

Peter decided to sit for his class.  He is still tired from his "little bit of malaria."  (At Pommerini we will find people gone to a funeral.  That person died from a "little bit of malaria.")

This little boy kept peeking around his mother to look at Tom.

This lady wanted to know how to start an AMCOS.

Sandy decided to interview her.

Rehema Nyasi is 54 and married with 3 children and 6 grandchildren.  She tells us that she has 2 of her grandchildren and 2 of her brother’s children living with her and her husband.  She has taken out 2 loans from this SACCOS.

Magubike

On Saturday we went to Magubike, a village that lies along the road to Ruaha National Park and the village of Tungamalinga.  Just a few days ago this road was nearly impassible from the rains.  Now, although it is badly pitted and very rough, it is dry and drivable.   

The Parish where the SACCOS is located is just outside of the town of Magubike.  This small town is dominated by a few large tobacco farms.  The town has a SACCOS, but it is not open to anyone who lives outside of the town limits.  It also has a number of restrictions that make many people unable to join.  This is why we were first asked to come here and start a SACCOS.

As we drove out to Magubike Tom asked why we were going.  After we first came here and started a “group” (an early step towards a SACCOS) we discovered that the pastor wanted to make money from the SACCOS.  He had told people that the SACCOS belonged to the church and they needed to pay him a fee for it.  This scared many people and dropped the membership from 63 to 24.  This pastor was moved and another pastor was sent here, unfortunately it turned out that the new pastor was Mchungaji Chaula, a pastor we have met many times before.  He was one of the people who stole money from the SACCOS at Nyanzwa several years ago.  As we were arresting people for this someone quietly paid back what he had stolen before we got to him.  He was then sent to Isimani where he stole money from the secondary school.  From there he was sent to Mlowa, where he discouraged a SACCOS from forming.   When we visited there during his tenure he told us that the people didn’t want to “work” in a SACCOS; they were only interested in free handouts.  He hadn’t announced our visit so no one came to see us.    From there he was sent to Magubike.  We didn’t know about his appointment to Magubike until we were on our way there, and when we heard we thought there was no point in visiting as long as he was there. 

  

As it turned out, Chaula is gone and a new pastor had arrived just yesterday!  Pastor Letson Chusi greeted us upon our arrival.  He is truly a breath of fresh air!  He has come from Idunda, a small village in the mountains, where he helped them form a borrowing group.  That group has grown to 91 members.  He told us that the group has been a real blessing to the members, but he really wanted to get a SACCOS going there.  “They need training, structure, and access to savings.  They also need to get more capital and ways to grow.” 

In the one day that he has been at Magubike he has talked with a few members of this SACCOS.  They have told him that their SACCOS has been very important for them and they would like to see it grow.  He would like to see it as well, “All over the diocese I find people who are waiting to get things for free,” he told us.  “People say why should they work and get clean water?  Someone will come and give it to them for free.  Why should they work and save to send their children to school.  Someone will come and send them for free.  Everyone wants to wait to get it for free.  This is not good.  Here in a SACCOS everyone wants to work and do better and better.  This is good.”  (This quote was translated into English by Peter.)  With encouragement from Pastor Chusi this SACCOS now has a chance to flourish.

At the general meeting Peter gave a class focusing on developing and growing a successful SACCOS.  The group was attentive and raised many questions that Peter answered for them. 

After the meeting Sandy and Peter spoke with Jorim Mgunda, 36 and single with no children.  He has taken out 3 loans so far.  For his second loan he borrowed $100 to farm tomatoes (1/2 acre) and corn (1/2 acre).  His tomatoes did very well but his corn failed due to the drought, yielding only enough for his own consumption.  From his successful tomato crop he earned $125 after paying back his loan and deducting all of his expenses.  He has now borrowed $150 to plant this year.  He increased acreage for his tomatoes to one acre, and again planted ½ acre of maize.  His crops look good this year, so he’s hopeful that he will have a good harvest.  He has purchased land on which to build a house with his profits.

Our second interview was with Edina Matagi, a 46 year old widow with 6 children and 5 grandchildren.  She too has taken out 3 loans.   Her second loan was for $150.  She used that loan to plant 1 acre each of beans, corn, and tomatoes.  Her children came home to help her with field work.  She also hired 1 man to work part time with her.  Her land is near water so she did not suffer from the drought.  As a result she earned a profit of $1,600 from her crops!  She proudly told Sandy, “Without this SACCOS I would not have earned this much.” She was able to pay all of the school fees for her children, save some money, and help one of her grown children go to college.   This year she has again borrowed for her farm and expects a good harvest.

Despite having pastors who wanted to get money from the SACCOS and one who tried to disrupt the operations, the members have steadily given loans, collected 100% of all sums, and grown their capital. They may not have been able to recruit new members, but it seems that the ones they have are well informed, dedicated and reliable. 

On Sunday we are off to Ihemi, our partner parish and a place we have been to many times.  We have been going there for 15 years so we look forward to seeing many old friends.  

Pastor Letson Chusi greeted us upon our arrival.  He is truly a breath of fresh air!

The pastor's son came to see us and got a candy.

Pastor Chusi came from the village of Idunda.  His last congregation has formed a group of 91 people who would like to have a SACCOS.

Peter had lots of good questions today.  This is a new member who wanted to know how loans worked.

After the meeting Sandy and Peter spoke with Jorim Mgunda, 36 and single with no children.  He has taken out 3 loans so far. 

Sandy also talked with Edina Matagi, a 46 year old widow with 6 children and 5 grandchildren.

She has taken out 3 loans.  With her latest profits she was able to send all of her children to school including one grown child in college.

So This Is Ihemi

Our second stop yesterday was Ihemi, which lies along the road we took to Kitasengwa.  Ihemi was the first Iringa Hope SACCOS that was started using our constitution, training materials, etc.  This SACCOS has really done well for its members and the community.  Last year we had a study done on the many effects of the SACCOS on this parish.  The results were truly amazing!  We will email you a copy of the results if you send your request to tomsandy1@frontiernet.net with the heading “study.”

Today we are meeting in one of the village community buildings.  In the past we have often met in the church but it was suggested that some of the non-Christian members would rather meet elsewhere.  When we arrived we saw many people we know from other visits.  The village chairman was also here to greet us and attend the meeting. 

One thing we discussed today was the new AMCOS (Farmer’s co-ops) that we are starting.  The members of the Ihemi SACCOS are not sure they want to start one of these.  They are doing so well with their SACCOS that they are not sure they need an AMCOS.  Ihemi lies directly on the tar mac at a truck stop.  They have not had trouble selling their crops to passing trucks and getting seed and fertilizer is not a problem.  The group here is split.  About half of them feel they really need an AMCOS and half are not sure.  We quickly see that those who are saying they need one are those who live in one of the outlying villages while those who do not see the need live near the tar mac.  They will need to decide this on their own and let us know how they want to proceed.

This SACCOS is fairly large (over 110 families – or over 700 people), but has stayed relatively constant in size for many years.  They always have a waiting list to join but only seem to admit enough new members to replace those who die or move.  When we commented on this the chairman told us, “When we started this SACCOS we all agreed that we would not grow the membership until we had enough capital to support the needs of 90% of the members.  We have grown our capital a lot, but we still are not there.”  Ihemi was started with a gift of $15,000.  They have now grown their capital to $25,000.  In addition, Iringa Hope loans them $20,000 – making a total of $45,000.  Still, with an average farmer looking to borrow $400-$500 and 114 members, they are only at about 75%. 

We talked a little about any problems they might be having.  Last year for the first time there were 5 late loans.  These loans have now been repaid, but still this was a first for them.  Why were they late?  Maize prices fell from the normal 60,000 TZS per bag ($30) to about 23,000 TZS ($12).  At the same time it was dry here and their harvest also fell.  People still made a profit, but some held out selling their crops until the prices rose.  Most of those who did this still found ways to pay their loans on time, but 5 did not.  The officers and loan committee went to these members and worked out an agreement for them to pay.  They all paid a fine and interest.

This group is very aggressive in collecting loans.  They post everyone’s loan status on their board and check that people are using their loans as they say they will.  The members of this SACCOS have created 237 jobs in their community.  They have built many houses, donated heavily to their church and made many improvements here.

Sandy interviewed two members after the meeting.  The first was Daud Mwilongo, 59 and married with 5 children.  Daud has been a member here since it started and has taken out many loans.  Last year he borrowed $250 to plant potatoes on some land.  With the very dry weather much of this crop was lost.  He only managed to save $300 worth of potatoes.  Considering the interest he paid and the cash he invested (about $75 or so) he estimates he lost $100 on this loan.  In the 8 years he has taken out loans he has had 2 years he made very little, last year he lost some, but during 5 years he made a profit.  So how much has he made in the good years?  He smiles and tells us he has made A LOT.  Daud is an excellent example of how to use a SACCOS.  The chairman tells me that he saves money when he does well and, like last year, uses his savings when he does not.  Over the years he has made enough to send all of his children to school, build a house, and now he has bought a motorcycle. 

The second interview was with Medelina Makeo, 52 and widowed with 5 children who lives in the nearby town of Tanengozi.  She too has been a member since the SACCOS began.  Medelina’s fields are in better soil than Daud’s.  Although she has had poor results some years, she has never lost money on her maize. (The chairman told us that while potatoes may make a lot some years and not much the next, maize is a steadier crop to raise in Ihemi.).  Last year she borrowed $500 to plant maize on her 8 acres.  Sandy asks her how she got this much land?  She told us that she inherited four acres, and earned enough to buy the other four.  To farm her land she hires four people part time.  She also owns oxen and hires a small tractor for plowing. 

Medelina is a very successful farmer.  She proudly told us that an agricultural agent who visited her farm told her that “for a woman she had done very well.”  Sandy told her that some of our most successful SACCOS members are women and that she hadn’t done so well “for a woman” – she had done so very well “as a farmer.”

We enjoyed reminiscing about our first visit when we came to Ihemi with a group from our church, Christiania.  At that time Tanengozi was a preaching point of Ihemi and Medelina was one of their church leaders.  It’s always fun to meet people that we met long ago; a pleasant reminder of “relationship” that our partnership with the Iringa Diocese strives to achieve. 

At Ihemi we met in this community building.  We normally meet in the church, but they felt that the non Christian members of the SACCOS (about 15%) would feel more comfortable here.

About 40% of the members were at the meeting.  Pretty good for a field day in growing season.  We saw many, many old friends.

The Ihemi pastor Luci Fweni is a member of this SACCOS.  She is a great fan of Iringa Hope.

Peter and Sandy talked with two members after the meeting.

Daud Mwilongo is 59 and married with 5 children.  Daud has been a member here since it started and has taken out many loans.

Medelina Makeo is 52 and widowed with 5 children who lives in the nearby town of Tanengozi.  She too has been a member since the SACCOS began.  

You may recall that Tom always carries candy to give to the children.  Earlier in the week it seemed that he was losing this job to Itiweni.  Today Itiweni is not with us, but it still seems like Tom has lost his job since mama brought candy today!

Today We Are At Kitasengwa

Today was a double header.  Our first stop was Kitasengwa which was followed by Ihemi.  They are both located just off the highway southwest of Iringa. 

We arrived at Kitasengwa about 10 and had chai.  The pastor greeted us when we arrived, and then caught a bus to his home village in the Njombe region.  His elderly mother lives there on the 15 acre family farm.  Since her children have moved away, and their father is dead she only farms a few acres.  Recently some squatters showed up and claimed part of the farm.  He and his brother are now going to get them thrown off.  The law here seems strange to us.  If you own land but don’t use it for 3 years someone can claim it as a squatter. 

Kitasengwa started with a large group (63) then quickly dwindled to 34 because many people thought that we were going to offer them “free money” and so they signed up.  

Villagers here have often signed up with government SACCOS which then go broke when no one repays their loans and the government does nothing.  When they found out that they needed to save, have plans, repay their loans, etc. they left.  Since then this group has not added any new members.  A discussion followed regarding reasons for this.  We learned that there are several things happening here.

First a new SACCOS came to town promising easy money for loans for anything.  Right now their loans are running 60-70% per year but all you need is to sign up with your land, etc. and they will give you a loan.  This has attracted a lot of people – but we expect it will go bust (just like all the others) and everyone will lose money to the “businessman” who owns it in a few years. 

There is also a new bank that is offering loans of fertilizer and seed.  The problem is they do not tell you the interest rate nor the cost, but will bill you at the end of the season.  We are expecting that people who go this way will also wind up with a very large bill at the end of the season – something we have seen elsewhere.  The problem with all of this is of course that many, many people are convinced that these are great deals, even though they have been cheated before (think Nigerian scams in the US – how do those guys keep making money?)

Perhaps the reason that these things are popular now is that the last year was very hard here.  Many people make and sell bricks in this village.  Unfortunately the area where they make bricks was flooded last fall and many of the bricks were ruined while others just could not be reached and thus could not be sold.  Locally the crops also suffered from a drought and yields were down.  If you did not use fertilizer and proper seed you probably got almost nothing. 

There is however a second issue here.  The SACCOS leadership has been reluctant to recruit more members because they are having trouble collecting.  It turns out that one of the members was given a large loan and decided that the money was really “Tom’s money” and so he did not need to repay it.  When he did not repay 7 other members decided they would hold off on paying too and see what happens.  The chairman and the Treasurer did get these 8 to agree to a delayed repayment plan, but everyone thinks that this will not be paid either.

At the heart of this issue is a problem we have been working to avoid all along.  This SACCOS elected an Evangelist as the chairman.  At Iringa Hope we have a rule that NO church officials can be officers.  We do this for a number of reasons.  One of these reasons is that when someone is late you need to take prompt, forceful action.  In this case when they held elections they did not count the Evangelist as a church official and elected him.  By the time we realized the error they had already made some loans so we decided we better wait and work with them.

As we talked about the collection issue with the chairman he said, “How can a churchman force someone to pay.  I have tried and tried to appeal to him but he just makes excuses, lies to me, and ignores me.  What can I do?”  

Peter told him that since he took the job of chairman he needs to push to collect.  Since they have done a work out plan and he ignored it, it is time to go to the village elder and write a letter to him informing him he pays or he will be arrested and his property seized.  After sending this letter he can go to the police and have him arrested.  The chairman is clearly troubled.  He delays and delays.  Later on, during our meeting, he decides that we are right and tells the man that he is greatly sadden that he has to do this, but he will act if he does not pay within the week.  We will see, but it may be best if the chairman were to stand down after this is collected.

Our meeting was pretty much the same as our others.  The main difference came at the end when the delinquent borrower got up and offered excuses for not repaying his loan, followed by a complaint that he hadn't been given any fertilizer this year.  Peter explained that the reason he didn't get any fertilizer this year was because he hadn't repaid his loan.  Then the chairman stood up and informed the man that he was going to send him a letter and then have him arrested if he did not repay his loan.  We could all see the strain this placed on the chairman, but he took on this responsibility when he was elected.

We were running short on time and needed to get to Ihemi so we only interviewed one SACCOS member here.  The woman’s name is Fausta Msisi, who is 34 and married with 4 children.  She has been a member since the SACCOS started and will be glad to see the late borrower thrown out of the SACCOS.  She thinks that when he is gone and the other members realize how much they are paying at the other places the membership will grow.

Fausta has taken out two loans.   The first loan was for 200,000 TZS ($100), which she used for making bricks.  When she sold the bricks she earned a profit of 800,000 TZS ($400).  She used her profit to increase her savings and to buy a pig.  The pig had piglets which she later sold. 

Her second loan was for 400,000 TZS ($200).  She used this loan to make bricks and bought 3 more pigs.  She now has 4 pigs and 10 piglets.  She was fortunate that the flood that destroyed the bricks of some of the SACCOS members didn’t affect her bricks.  The price of bricks is down this time of year so she plans to wait until May to sell them.  That is the season of the year when people are more likely to buy bricks for house construction.  At that time of year, when she sells all of her bricks, and then sells the pigs, she expects to earn a 2,000,000 TZS profit ($1,000).  Fausta clearly understands how to make the SACCOS work for her.   

We will post the Ihemi report tomorrow (after we get back from Magubike).

The pastor waited to greet us before he left.  He is an old friend of ours.

Peter sat down with the chairman.  He is a part time evangelist here and is struggling with how you collect a debt.  He realizes he agreed to do this when elected but the reality of this did not hit him until now.

This SACCOS meets in a village community building.

The main meeting ran as usual with Sandy and Tom giving greetings followed by Peter giving a class and answering questions.

This member told the chairman that he did not have to pay his loan back because, "It is Tom's money."  He was promptly told that it is the SACCOS money and he knows this.

The chairman slowly rose and informed the member that he would be getting a letter from the village.  If he does not pay after this he will be arrested and his property seized.  It was clearly a painful thing for the chairman to do.

Sandy sat down with Fausta Msisi, who is 34 and married with 4 children.  She said that she and many others would be glad when they collected on the trouble loan.  They intend to throw him out of the SACCOS.

Fausta has taken out two loans.   The first loan was for 200,000 TZS ($100), which she used for making bricks. She is now on her second loan and expects to earn over 2,000,000 TZS ($1,000).  She clearly knows how to make her SACCOS work for her.

At Mbeya

On Wednesday afternoon we did something different.  As you know we are working in our villages on micro finance (using SACCOS).  This keeps us running most days.  However, on Wednesday we went to the University’s Mbeya campus with the VC of Academic Affairs, Gracieux Mbuzuko.  We first met Gracieux last year when he started as the VCAA.  The University was (and still is) having a hard time financially and Gracieux has the job of fixing things.  He and Tom have been in discussion, both in person and through email, exchanging ideas about where to go from here.  Since last year Gracieux has followed through on many of these items.  He has cut the cost of instruction by 25%+.  He has improved collections of fees from 70% to 99%.  He has increased the enrollment giving the school more resources to work with.  Now, he has another list of things to discuss and wanted us to take a look at the Mbeya campus and offer suggestions regarding his course of action there.  With his strong track record how could we say no?

We left for Mbeya about 3 PM.  It took us about six hours to reach Mbeya.  When we got there we were all very tired, but a good tired.  Along the way we talked about issues with the university’s science building, staffing issues, budget issues, curriculum, and a wide variety of things that Gracieux has to deal with. 

We also talked about what the University’s options at Mbeya might be. 

In the morning we met for breakfast and then went over to the Mbeya campus to look around and see what is up.  The Mbeya campus used to be a “cash cow” for the University.  Two years ago they had 300+ students there and were making money from the program there.  When costs were being cut the University cut faculty, advertising, and support.  The enrollment dropped to the present level of 88 and Mbeya started losing money.  The problems here seem quickly solvable. 

Some of the cuts were made since the University used to send staff back and forth.  Other cuts were made since there was no one in Iringa really watching what was going on in Mbeya and so did not understand the budget.  We quickly calculated that they need only raise the enrollment to 95-100 to start making money!  We talked about promotion and advertising, the possibility and cost of local staff, etc.  Tom estimated that getting back to the 300 student level would generate 60-70,000,000 TZS per year for the main campus (about $35,000) – a good start.  All that is really needed is to put a little advertising and recruiting in place and let the Mbeya location be run as a unit.  Gracieux agreed with us that the woman currently in charge was more than capable and should be given a goal and set to work. 

We then talked about a new and larger issue in this area.  The government is making all primary and secondary education free starting this year.  Public school enrollment is doubling and tripling around the country.  At the same time as doing this they are requiring all teachers to earn at least a diploma in education.  This may not seem like an issue; however MOST of the current teachers in this area will no longer qualify to teach, leaving thousands of teaching positions open.  The net result is that there will be tens of thousands of children here who want to go to school, but cannot because there are no teachers.

One solution to this is to offer evening and weekend diploma programs to upgrade the current teachers.  So far however only the University has gotten permission for this type of program, and their permission is dependent on making some upgrades to this campus.

We looked over the campus, visited all of the rooms and looked at the facilities and what needs to happen here.  The problem is not simple.  The current building is leased.  The owner has tried to cheat the University on various items and is unlikely to make the needed upgrades.  The faculty here has located a nearby property for sale they would like to buy, but after walking over to the proposed site, we knew immediately that this would not be a solution. The compound is a former guest house.  It clearly has been empty for a while and would cost much more to fix the old buildings than to build a new one. 

Going back to the existing leased space we make a list of what needs to be done.  They would need to add a small building for offices, a library, and a better computer room.  They would need to fix some of the leaks and do a few repairs.  If these things and a few other small items were done they could most likely handle 250-350 diplomas students here.  If they graduated 300 a year this would provide teachers for almost 10,000 children!  A rough estimate by Tom says that they would need to invest 100,000,000 TZS (about $50,000) to do this.  

Assuming that they get at least 200 students, which seems very likely given the large number of teachers needing to do this, they would generate 240,000,000 TZS in tuition.  This would mean that they could pay for everything and earn thousands of dollars the first year.

Gracieux pointed out a problem here with the owner.  He has tried to cheat the University out of tens of millions of schillings before; can they work with him on this?  Good question.

Another approach would be to find an empty government warehouse and build out class rooms.  We have seen this done before and it has worked well.  There are probably empty spaces in town.  Gracieux knows the governor here and will ask.  Once again we do a few numbers.  We estimate it will take about 120,000,000 TZS to do a basic “fit out.”  They will also need some funds to move and money for more desks for students.  We think that perhaps 160-180,000,000 (about $90,000) would do this.  This is a little more expensive, but really a better solution that will surely meet all of the conditions for permission to offer a diploma program.   This approach would also allow them to begin offering classes this fall.  Once again they could provide enough teachers for at least 10,000 children while earning money for the main campus.

We discussed several other options, but these two seemed the lowest cost and most likely to succeed in a short while.  While it is great that the University can earn money here to help the main campus, the major thing we all agree is that unless someone does something soon there will be a real crisis here.  As the parents enroll their children for school, the schools will be closing or limiting enrollments due a lack of teachers.  Even if the government relaxes their requirements, a big problem will remain for a long time.

We marvel that for $9 or $10 per student the University can ensure that tens of thousands of students are able to get their education – but frankly the University is broke and has no funds for this.  Gracieux is determined.  “We just cannot let this happen,” he told us.  “If we all believe that these children are our future we must find a way to make this happen; we just must.”  We admire his determination and spirit. It is hard to see how a better investment can be made for the children in this area.

The drive to Mbeya was very pretty but about 6-7 hours long.  It was dark when we got there.

The main building is attractive and in a good location.

This classroom was busy when we visited.  Still, by better utilization of their space they can accommodate many more students.

It needs repairs, the roof leaks, and the computer room is too small and in a bad location.  These and a few other issues would need ot be addressed to get permission to hold diploma classes for teachers.

We went over various numbers and options with the staff.  The woman managing this location seems very competent and a little frustrated that she does not have enough control and information to do a better job.  We suggested she get a budget for promotion and advertising.

We looked over the building they had found to purchase.  We quickly decided that it would sot more to fix this than to build a new one.

There is an empty lot near the building.  Maybe NSF (the Tanzanian pension fund) might build a building to lease?  This is a good option, but harder to get done.

It is hard to believe that for want of $9 or $10 per student thousands of children will not be able to go to school.  There will simply not be enough teachers in this region!

It is pretty here in Mbeya but we need to get back.  Tomorrow is a busy day with 2 villages to visit.