A village meeting in Makaa, Tanzania
The road has dried up so after picking up the Village Secretary we are able to drive to the meeting location. It will be held in a new school building, not yet finished but already in use. The remains of an arithmetic lesson are still on the blackboard. It is on the side of a hill, beneath a cliff from which building stones are being cut, looking out across the lowlands of Kilimanjaro. The mountain behind is lost in cloud. It must be wet up there, but it is dry down here on the plains.
Village people start to arrive as we do. A few bring stools and benches, but the rest carry in building stones to sit on. They segregate themselves, women on one side and men on the other. They are all ages. The children do not come in, but climb up to the windows to watch what is happening.
The meeting is opened by the Village Secretary asking one of the women to say a prayer. All stand. The Village Chairman makes a brief speech, which includes a shout of "Makaa hoye (Hurrah!)", to which the people respond with the same shout and raised arms. Then business starts.
The meeting goes smoothly as the facilitators are well prepared. Nearly one hundred people in the room are paying carefully attention, more arriving all the time. Women and men give accounts of their visit to Makanya to learn about rainwater harvesting, irrigation and working in groups. They are animated, enthusiastic and hold the attention of their audience. All have extensive notes, some follow them, others get carried away with descriptions of what they have seen. One is a bit long-winded, but the village stays, sitting on their hard stones, listening and asking questions.
The room is now full. More people are looking in the windows and crowding around the door way. I am glad it is a cloudy day, or this crowded room with its iron roof would be getting rather warm by now.
A facilitator writes on a poster the key questions of the meeting. Silence while he does so, then a buzz of conversation as they think of answers. One or two leave, but then come back again. Just a call of nature, or a stretch of the legs. These stones they squat on are hard and lumpy.
The meeting gets more lively when the people are asked for ideas. One stands to make a case. There are nods of approval, but then a challenge, and an eruption of discussion. The Secretary calls for order and the next villager makes a proposal.
After three hours a Committee is selected and its chair elected. She is a strong woman who has made many contributions to the meeting. She accepts the position with dignity and closes the meeting with a prayer.
A hundred village people spent three hours here. There was no immediate attraction - it is crowded and uncomfortable, no refreshments were offered, they go home from the meeting with nothing in their hands that they did not come with. And everyone has other things to do. The women particularly lead very busy lives, keeping house and home, raising children and working the farm. Why do they come? Maybe it is social, a chance to meet neighbours, but they see them often anyway. Maybe it is expected of them, though there is no sign of any coercion.
I think the real reason is that these people are looking for ways to improve their lives, in some cases are desperate to do so. They will look and listen carefully to any opportunity, and work at those that make sense to them.
The final outcome of the project, and its impact on poor people, is years away. But there is every sign that the project really addresses a priority for these people. And, as it is based on proven principles and designs, there is every reason to expect positive results.
Ric Coe 5 January 2007
