8/25/2018 Hello again from Tanzania. It has been quite a while since my last blog so I have a lot to tell you about. First off, we are right in the middle of the dry season. I thought it was dry when I first arrived, imagine my surprise when I found out it was actually the rainy season. The struggle for water is an everyday occurrence here. The river is nearly dry, there are very few wells, and there are no other sources of water. They do find water by digging into the riverbeds. When the dry season began they had to dig only a few inches, now the holes are so deep you can barely see the person. My host and I buy water from a man with a wheel barrow who delivers weekly. As you can guess it is quite soupy and requires boiling and filtering. The local people do not have that luxury and as I learned from my survey, diarrhea is a fact of life in nearly every household.
At the end of my last blog I think I mentioned a project. The Peace Corps places us in our villages with the expectation that we will work with the community to identify needs that we can work together on with the possibility of getting grants for monetary support. Obviously the needs are significant in many areas, but the two areas I have chosen to begin focusing on are nutrition and health. My survey showed me that most families do not have enough food throughout the year leading to poor health, and they are dealing with a wide variety of injuries and lots of diseases with little medical support.
So here's the plan: my counterpart and I will begin going to each sub village teaching about diseases, injuries, and sanitation. Each sub village (there are six) will select two volunteers who we will train as something like first responders. Their job will be to communicate with their respective villagers in order to identify sicknesses and injuries which they will then be communicated to the local doctor through a network that we will develop. These volunteers will also help educate and support the people who are most in need, such as those with mental disabilities. I hope to set up a daycare of some type to help provide some of these poor souls a place to go at least once in a while.
The next project is Chickens and Bees believe it or not. My second counterpart is a teacher at the local secondary school. We have permission to build a chicken coop and bee apiary on school property. The students will help build and maintain both projects (would never happen in America). Since this grant has a gender orientation most of the work will be completed by girls. Here's the plan: the girls will learn organizational and business skills at the same time they are learning about chickens and bees. Some of the profits will go into providing scholarships for girls and helping the school get things like water and electricity. Additionally, there is a community component where we will get the women from the villages to help build and maintain the project. In return they will get reduced prices for chickens, eggs, and honey, as well as support for the construction of their own chicken coops. Not unlike a co-op at home. This one will be overseen by a committee that we are just now creating.
Sooo plenty to do. In addition to this I am teaching a few classes at the primary and secondary levels, and still taking my Swahili lessons every week. There are a few other things that are on hold for now until I can get these projects rolling.
I hope everyone back home is enjoying the last of the summer. Fall is coming, and I know I'm going to miss it a lot. Hey, maybe it's time for Halloween in Tanzania!I
Tutaonana baadaye,
Brian or Mwana Kanywa (my village name)

Photos: How dry can it get? We have another month in the dry season
We traveled to Morogoro by bus for 14 hours for training in grant writing and chickens and bees.
In the graduation photo on the left is Clement, the trainer and Daudi, my counterpart. Hopefully you can still recognize me, although I think I might have changed a little in the last six months.

Couple of photos taken on my way to church this morning. They have dug deep into the riverbed. Don't know how deep it will get before the dry season is over.