BTS NEWSLETTER January 2013 Volume 11, Issue 1

www.btsociety.org www.tanzdevtrust.org ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BTS WELCOMES THE NEW BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER TO TANZANIA

Ms Dianna Patricia

Melrose has been

appointed British High

Commissioner to the

United Republic of

Tanzania.

She will succeed Ms Diane Corner who will be

transferring to another Diplomatic Service

appointment. Ms Melrose will take up her

appointment during February or March 2013 and

will also be UK representative to the East African

Community.

Ms Melrose was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to

Cuba until July this year. She joined the FCO in

1999 and has since worked as Head of the FCO

Policy Planning Staff and as Head of EU

Enlargement.

She has extensive international development

experience and a long standing interest in

working closely with African partners to achieve

positive change, including as Head of

International Trade at DFID, and previously as

Oxfam GB Policy Director.

On her appointment Ms Melrose said: “I am

honoured and delighted to have been appointed

British High Commissioner to the United Republic

of Tanzania. It is a country with great potential,

with which the UK has a strong partnership. I am

greatly looking forward to working in Tanzania to

further strengthen our political and economic

relations and achieve our shared prosperity and

security objectives, including in the wider region.”

Ms Melrose has already been in touch with our

Chairman, Willie Fulton, and hopes to meet

before her departure for Tanzania next year to

learn more from and about the Society.

RON FENNELL, VP At the 2012 AGM, Ronald

Fennell was elected Vice-

President of the Society.

He writes,

Dear Friends,

I am very honoured by

the vote at the Annual

General meeting appointing me as a Vice

President of the Society. Thank you!

I have always felt it a great privilege to be among

a deeply committed group who give so much of

their time to the affairs of the Society and the

welfare of the people of that great country.

My four years in Dar es Salaam in the Eighties as

the World Bank Resident Representative and my

frequent travels within the country since have

convinced me that Tanzania is one of the leaders

in Africa and has a great future.

The Society has done much to raise the profile of

the country. I will continue to make every effort to

serve the Society and the country.

Asante Sana

BTS MEMBERSHIP FEES Our membership fees have remained unchanged

for about 18 years. Following a spirited discussion

at the AGM, it was unanimously agreed that, from

2013, the annual fee should rise to £25 per

household, with students paying £5. This reduced

rate will also apply to pensioners, on the

understanding that nobody should actually pay

less than in previous years. Revolt averted.

NEWSLETTER APOLOGY The editor regrets that this issue is shorter than

usual owing to time constraints of various people

involved in compiling and distributing the

Newsletter.

CURRENCY CONVERTER

In mid-December, there were TSh. 2575 to £1 UKP

PAGE 2 - 3 News

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AGM: Saturday 9 November, 2013 Committee Meetings (BTS & TDT) will be held in London on Tuesdays: 27th November, 2012; 22nd January, 2013 7th May, 2013; 17th September, 2013

BTS SCOTTISH GROUP 16

th February 2013 - Next meeting: talk by Martyn

Edelsten on “A veterinary perspective on

development in East Africa”. If you are in

Edinburgh you are very welcome to join us.

Details from Ann Burgess

annpatriciaburgess@yahoo.co.uk.

The BTS Scottish Group hosted a lively meeting of

the Tanzania Scotland Network on 1st December

2012. At this the future direction of the Network

and Group was discussed; the many suggestions

will inform future activities –so watch this space.

During 2013 we expect to contribute to the

events marking the bicentenary

of the birth of Dr David Livingstone (see below

and www.davidlivingstone200.org/).

SOAS COURSES, Spring 2013 2 Feb: Young African Diaspora Entrepreneurs -

Exploiting your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

Certificated course.

8 March: Women Mean Business

Conference for companies working in Africa

8 May: One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the

World? Presented by Sir Gordon Conway

These are open conferences/courses with fees of

£25/£30 including refreshments. For further

details and to register, contact: cas@soas.ac.uk

GOVERNANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT

IN AFRICA INITIATIVE Current opportunities with SOAS, University of

London, funded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Scholarships. One PhD Scholarship and three MSc

Scholarships in Governance and Development

related subjects are offered for next year.

Application deadline, 30 April 2013. Details to be

found on www.soas.ac.uk/cas/gdai

Residential school. The next school will take place

in Accra, Ghana, on 6-10 May 2013. Application

deadline, 15 Jan 2013.

Dr LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

A new exhibition on the life and achievements of

one of Scotland’s most famous explorers (born

1813), continues until Sunday 7 April 2013.

The exhibition draws together a wide range of

artefacts, documents and artworks with a

personal connection to Livingstone. This

exhibition traces his life story from humble

beginnings to national hero. From his early

working-life in a cotton mill to studying medicine

and divinity and becoming a missionary in Africa,

as well as the legacy which has led to strong

modern-day links between Scotland and Malawi.

Livingstone had a vision to end the slave trade

and to open up Africa to Christianity and lawful

commerce. He was the first European to cross

Africa from west to east and whilst he made few

converts to Christianity, his success as an explorer

and his work as an abolitionist secured for him a

lasting reputation.

Livingstone himself collected material for what is

now National Museums Scotland. These include a

weaving loom, mineral samples and African

artefacts. Highlights include the hats reputedly

worn on the occasion of the famous meeting

between Livingstone and the American journalist

Henry Morton Stanley who tracked across Africa

in pursuit of the missing Scot and uttered the

immortal phrase which gives the exhibition its

title. There will also be the tools of his trades,

both as a missionary and an explorer. Collars and

chains that he himself removed from African

slaves provide poignant evidence of Livingstone’s

first-hand observation of the slave trade.

BTS SEMINARS, 2013 At the time of going to press, Dr Andrew Coulson,

BTS Vice-Chairman with responsibility for training,

is planning two seminars for the spring, both

interesting and currently relevant topics.

• The impact of gas exporting on the SE coast

• The Masterplan for Dar es Salaam.

[Final titles to be confirmed]. Dates may be

available by the time you read this. To contact

Andrew, email: a.c.coulson@bham.ac.uk or tel:

0121 475 4615.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: An Evening with Dr. Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall gave a brilliant talk on

Monday 3 December to a large

audience including BTS members at

the Royal Institution. We were

enthralled by her knowledge and

empathy with the natural world.

She recounted her childhood interest in animals

and how it had led her as a young woman to work

with Dr Louis Leakey in Kenya. With his

encouragement she started her pioneering

research in Gombe over 50 years ago. She was

the first to see that chimpanzees used tools.

Working for years in the remote forest gave her a

grasp of environmental issues and the importance

of communities – both animal and human. In the

past ten years her Roots and Shoots network has

expanded world wide, involving schools in

support of conservation and preservation of

animal habitats. As Jane said “How can we even

try to save chimps and forests if people are so

obviously struggling to survive?” She established

TACARE [pronounced take care] programme and a

powerful force for conservation was born.

TACARE seeks to preserve and restore the

environment while helping villagers’ most basic

needs such as clean water, health education and

arable farming. The programme has helped

hundreds of families around Gombe.

Despite the spread of forest destruction and the

pollution of the environment, Jane quietly but

firmly insists that humankind can restore the

planet. The evening certainly made a difference to

our thinking about the world and its people.

The evening was sponsored by Steppes Travel.

See www.janegoodall.org.uk

Thanks to Liz and Ron Fennell for this report

REPORT: GETTING MORE FROM

AGRICULTURE, 23 October 2012 “Feeding a growing population: The essential

contribution of agriculture in Tanzania” was the

topic for this seminar in the Palace of

Westminster arranged jointly by the All Party

Parliamentary Groups on Tanzania, and on

Agriculture and Food for Development, and BTS.

The topic was introduced by Andrew Coulson,

who summarised the debate between the

proponents of large farms and those of small, and

made the case that small farmers usually know

what they are doing, use techniques that

can be scientifically validated, and can

produce much more if they are sure of

being paid good prices for their crops and if

good seeds and agricultural supplies are

available.

He was followed by Monique Mikhail from

Oxfam who made a strong case that women

are “female food heroes” (the title of a

reality TV show where thousands voted by mobile

phone to choose the winner), and not necessarily

victims or unimaginative. But small-scale farming

is threatened by large-scale investments in land,

many by foreigners. There is need to implement

the Village Land Act of 1999 which promised title

deeds for villagers, including women.

Daniel Hulls, of AdDevCo, helped to prepare the

investment blueprint for SAGCOT, the Southern

Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania,

launched with a fanfare by the President at the

World Economic Forum in Davos in 2010. This

project will be anchored around very large farms,

but also relate to and provide access to markets

for large numbers of small farmers.

Professor Andrew Westby of Greenwich

University spoke about the need to think in terms

of whole value chains: transport, storage,

processing and manufacturing

and not just production. His

special interest is in cassava,

where products based on the

crop have the potential to

replace products based on wheat

and other imports, but this will

only happen if processing capacity, reliable

markets and manufacturing are developed

together, alongside improved agricultural

practices. Andrew Coulson

PAGES 4 - 5 TDT News

TANZANIA THANKS

CHRISTINE LAWRENCE Christine Lawrence, who

died in 2011, was one of

a remarkable group of

people who came to

know and love Tanzania

through the influence of

Bishop Trevor

Huddleston, who with

others founded The

Britain-Tanzania Society

and the Tanzania

Development Trust.

Huddleston, who had gained fame from his

principled opposition to

apartheid in South Africa,

was the Anglican Bishop

of Masasi in Mtwara

region and a close friend

of Mwalimu Nyerere.

Huddleston invited

Christine Lawrence to

become the

Administrator of the

Mahiwa Young Farmers’ Training Centre in 1965

and her experiences there gave her a lifelong

commitment to Tanzania and its people.

Following a brief return visit in 1972 to Tanzania

at a farm school on the slopes of Mount

Kilimanjaro, Christine became Treasurer of the

Britain-Tanzania Society and wrote articles and

book reviews for our journal, Tanzanian Affairs.

THE WONDERFUL EFFECT OF

LEGACIES In her will, Christine left the Tanzania

Development Trust not only £5,000 but a share in

the sale of her house. To date, the Trust has

received £55,000 from her estate. The result is

smiling faces all over Western Tanzania and adults

and children who will be saying ‘Asante sana, Bibi

Christine, Tunamshukuru Mungu kwa wema

wako!’

LEGACY GOES FISHING In the Karagwe District of Kagera Region, in

Tanzania’s far north-west, the local Credit Union

will be blessing Bibi Christine. Her legacy has

enabled TDT to

make a grant of

nearly £3,500 to a

very efficient

group to develop

three fish ponds

with plans

approved by the

local agriculture

and fisheries officer. This is going to be an

excellently managed scheme which will have no

detrimental effects on the environment, and

greatly increase the protein available to the

community involved and strengthen the finances

of the Credit Union and with it local prosperity.

LEGACY GETS READING

There are going to be 350 smiling faces at Kibeta

Secondary School near Bukoba in Kagera Region

and delight on the face of the Headmistress,

Mama Lydia Bwahama, when she tells her pupils

that Christine Lawrence’s legacy will mean that

for the first time in Kibeta’s history there will be

textbooks for every pupil.

Like many of Tanzania’s new Community Schools,

resources are very inadequate. Through READ

International TDT has helped the school get a

library, but now a grant of £3,500 will transform

the young people’s learning and improve their life

chances.

LEGACY POWERS UP COMPUTERS

For the 1000 youngsters and staff of Bulyakashaju

and Kibanga Secondary Schools in remote

countryside in Kagera’s Muleba District,

Christine’s legacy will turn the power on. Lots of

children travel considerable distances to the

schools but no evening study is possible because

there is no electricity. These schools are far from

the National Grid, so an excellent local NGO,

KADETA, is working with TDT to provide an

extensive solar array for the schools. Muleba

Council has promised each school computers.

This project is costing £11,000 over two years

LEGACY LIGHTS BABIES INTO THE

WORLD Sunuka Dispensary is 120 Km south of Kigoma

and beyond the River Malagarisi Delta.

Mwamgongo Health Centre is 60 km north of

Kigoma near

Gombe

National park,

accessible only

by boat.

Neither of

these crucial

rural health

facilities has

electricity -

but in both many babies are delivered, often at

night. Christine’s legacy will enable TDT to provide

solar installations to provide lighting in the wards

and operating theatre and power for refrigeration

of medicines and specimens. This is a 2 stage

programme costing about £7,000.

LEGACY LAYS GOLDEN EGGS The Ebeneza Group in Shinyanga has a special

programme to support orphans, widows and

people living with HIV/AIDS through helping them

set up in poultry farming and with dairy cattle.

Christine’s legacy will support them with £4,000

to help them buy cattle and chickens, build sheds

and have veterinary assistance - and the aim is to

make the members self-supporting and to

increase their livelihoods.

These are just 5 examples (and there will be

more) of how one woman’s legacy will benefit

the lives of thousands of Tanzanians in different

ways. TDT and all the beneficiaries in Tanzania

will remember Christine and bless her for

generosity.

TDT has a Legacy Leaflet. If you would like to

include TDT in your will, just ask Vice Chair, Dan

Cook: dantdt@btinternet.com

TDT Chair, Julian Marcus and his wife Ann will be

visiting 35 of the Trust’s projects in Tanzania in

January 2013. Arriving in Dar on Jan 6th, they immediately fly to

Mwanza and from there go to Shinyanga, then

Tabora and Kahama. Key visits in Shinyanga and

Tabora will be to the Ebeneza Group projects for

orphans and widows (see the article about the

Christine Lawrence legacy), the Tabora Albino

Society and the Goodness Association of Women

Bee-keepers. The next region is Mara where they

will be visiting mainly agricultural projects

including maize mills and goat rearing. After that,

it’s across Lake Victoria to Bukoba. Kagera region

has the largest number of TDT projects including

3 schools where there is a 3 year support

programme largely sponsored by the Hilden

Charitable Fund. In Kagera visits will also include a

mango tree growing project and a village water

project which TDT may aid. The last major centre

of the tour is Kigoma where key visits will be to

two Vocational Training Programmes which are

also supported jointly with Hilden. There will also

be visits to dispensaries and schools and to a

group TDT has sponsored to deliver anti-malaria

bed-nets in the villages.

The Marcuses travel round with a large bag

containing gifts for the projects, especially

footballs and netballs for schools - these are

hastily blown up in the car before they arrive at

each project! After that the Julian and Ann go to

Dar for meetings with colleagues in the Britain-

Tanzania Society (Tanzania section). They come

back via South Africa, where Julian has relatives

including the famous ‘blade-runner’ athlete,

Oscar Pistorius. There will be reports of the visit in

future issues.

PAGE 6 Technology

MOBILE ‘PHONES –

VITAL FOR THE POOR Ron Fennell sends a copy of a report from Kenya

which describes the sacrifices made by the poor

there to buy and keep a mobile phone.

AFRICA’S “mobile decade”, when telephones

reached most corners of the continent, has meant

a huge improvement in the lives of the poor. But

quantifying it is hard. How useful can a mobile

phone be to someone living on less than $2.50 a

day, the World Bank’s standard benchmark of

poverty? Researchers in Kenya have given a

partial answer. They find that people will skip a

meal or choose to walk instead of paying for a bus

fare so that they can keep their phone in credit.

The weekly value of these sacrifices averages just

over 72 Kenyan shillings (84 American cents)—not

a trivial amount, seeing that the daily wage of a

Kenyan labourer can be as little as a dollar. The

report by iHub, an incubator for Kenyan tech

start-ups, suggests that discretionary spending by

the poor is now influenced greatly by their

expenditure on mobile phones. Interviews

conducted at half a dozen spots around the

country showed how fine the margins in the

decisions made by the poor are. Some would, for

instance, forgo meat at meal time, in the hope of

making a call or sending an SMS that would

enable them to put more food on the table later.

Almost half of those surveyed in Kenya were using

internet-enabled smart or “feature” phones.

Scratch re-charge cards have begun to advertise

their value in terms of data rather than talk time

and entice customers with free access to sites

such as Wikipedia.

Still, only 16% of respondents said they were

using their phones to browse the internet. The

real breakthrough in the Kenyan market has been

in people’s ability to send and receive money,

with more than two-thirds doing so by phone.

East Africa’s biggest success has been M-Pesa, a

mobile-based money-transfer system pioneered

by Safaricom, a leading Kenyan operator. Its

simple interface, which works on any phone, has

brought financial services to Kenya’s poor

majority, enabling the movement of some $8.6

billion in the first half of this year.

Pedal-powered mobile charger. In Kenya it sells

better than the Nokia official product!

M-PESA in Tanzania. In developing countries, the rates of financial

exclusion are astounding. Tanzania is no

exception; less than 13% of the adult population

have access to formal financial services (FinScope

survey, 2009). But Tanzania may be an exception

when it comes to innovative solutions to address

financial exclusion. In recent years, the increased

penetration of mobile services across the country

have made it a fertile ground for “mobile money”,

and in particular for M-Pesa.

Tanzania is now one of the most dynamic mobile

money markets. In an environment dominated by

cash, a service like M-Pesa represents

convenience and safety. Its affordability and

simplicity also explain its uptake. By enabling

electronic transactions across the country, it helps

individuals and communities manage their

financial lives more efficiently. It also connects

them to a wider range of financial service

providers, including from the semi-formal or

informal sector. The potential for businesses,

small or large, whether payers or payees, is

significant too.

WATTS UP ON THE LAMP FRONT ? Here’s another

innovative idea

from across the

border – how to

make a kerosene

lamp…..

out of a LIGHT

BULB!

PAGE 7 Meetings

Meeting with SEIF SHARIF HAMAD,

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF ZANZIBAR

At 24 hours notice, the High Commissioner invited

BTS members to an informal meeting with Seif

Sharif Hamad on 13 September at the High

Commission. Six members of the Executive

Committee - David Brewin, Dan Cook, Andrew

Coulson, Ron and Liz Fennell, and Valerie Leach

were able to make it.

Seif Sharif Hamad gave a brief outline of the

process by which the current coalition had been

established after a referendum. The distribution

of ministerial posts between the two according to

the number of seats held in the legislature was

working well. There was a much more peaceful

atmosphere in Zanzibar. Backbenchers were

active in holding the government accountable.

The timetable for the consultation process

and revision of the Union Constitution was a tight

one with the end of April 2014 being the target

date for a draft document to be followed by a

referendum.

He spoke of the concern about unemployment,

and the government development priorities in

tourism, agriculture and deep sea fishing. The

issue of Zanzibar rights in the oil and gas sectors

was raised, but his view was that a way forward

could be found to satisfy both Zanzibar and the

Mainland.

Seif Sharif Hamad welcomed the opportunity to

meet BTS again and hoped that members would

call at his office when they were in Zanzibar. RF

Dr HARRISON MWAKYEMBE

ADDRESSES THE BTS AGM On Saturday 10th November, many members and

members of the Tanzanian diaspora gathered at

the Central Hall Westminster, to listen to a talk

from the Hon. Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, Minister

of Transport in the Union Government and MP for

Kyela.

Dr Mwakyembe, a constitutional lawyer by

background, began his talk by giving members an

update on the current review of the Constitution.

However, he then moved into a very frank talk

about the problems that he was facing within his

ministry. He stressed the importance of improved

transport facilities for assisting development, not

only within Tanzania, but in the surrounding land-

locked countries, which relay on Tanzania for

gaining access to world markets.

He told us that a recent world Bank report had

highlighted the Port of Dar es Salaam as one of

the worst ports in the world. He has therefore

sacked the Board of Directors of the Port

Authority and appointed a new board, which

includes former BTS Executive Committee

member, Hildebrand Shayo.

He also told us about the opening of the two new

commuter train services into the centre of Dar

and his plans to really shake up the railway

network.

Dr Mwakyembe was happy to deal with many

questions from the floor and stayed on

afterwards to chat with all those attending. WF

TANZANIA BLOGS At a very informative discussion on the media in

Tanzania at SOAS on 6th December, Ben Taylor

listed a number of Tanzanian blog sites, which

may be of interest to members:

Jamii Forums - www.jamiiforums.com

Ben Taylor’s blog – www.mtega.com

Freddy Macha’s – www.freddymacha.com/blogs

Francis Godwin –

www.francisgodwin.blogspot.co.uk

Mjengwa - www.mjengwablog.com

Michuzi - www.issamichuzi.blogspot.co.uk

Bongo Celebrity – www.bongocelebrity.com

Jestina George - www.jestina-george.com/

Mwanamke wa Nyumba –

www.rosemarymizizi.blogspot.co.uk

[also www.mikochenireport.blogspot.co.uk - Ed.]

PAGE 8 Reports

KIKUKWE BOOK PROJECT On October 4th, 2012, Kikukwe Secondary School

took delivery of 327 textbooks as part of a project

to try to improve the disappointing examination

results they have been experiencing. TDT

coordinated this project which was proposed by

KDCI, a local NGO operating in this impoverished

ward north of Bukoba. The funds were kindly

provided by Food for Thought (East Africa), a

small UK based family Trust.

The handing over ceremony was attended by

headmaster, TDT representative for Kagera

region, Mr Elias Mashasi, as well as student

leaders, teachers, the ward executive officer, and

the KCDI management. The students have

'promised to honor the assistance by performing

better in the 2013 national form 2 and form 4

examinations, and further more have promised to

avoid poor handling of the books and guarantee

that they will be sustained for a longer period'.

MALAIKA KIDS On 20 November, Trevor Jaggar attended a

reception in Moorgate given by Malaika Kids, a

group which runs a project for orphans about

20km. south of Dar es Salaam. There was a very

interesting illustrated presentation during the

course of the evening during which, incidentally,

thanks were expressed for the help provided by

the TDT in paying for some of the beds in the

children's village. As a result of some of his

conversations, he is hopeful that a number of the

people present will join the Society. Some of

them, of course, already are members.

NGO MEMBERS CHALLENGE Dan Cook writes, The BTS committee asked me to

conduct a survey of UK based NGOs working in

Tanzania to try to find ways of attracting them to

become members of BTS. Whilst this is an

ongoing project, the results I have back so far

from over 40 NGOs reveal a few interesting

trends. Every NGO that has so far responded has

either attended a BTS seminar or would like to be

on the mailing list for future seminars, thus the

hard work that Andrew Coulson is doing

organising these events is clearly much

appreciated by those interested in Tanzania. We

would hope to be able to turn this enthusiasm

into increased membership of BTS. There was also

a lot of support for opportunities to network with

other NGOs working in Tanzania with BTS acting

in a facilitating role. This could well fit in well with

BTS efforts to set up interest groups, the first

being on Education which will be coordinated by

Dr. Anne Samson.

READ: A Tanzanian Summer Our summer programme is now over and our

amazing UK student volunteers have returned to

the grey of the UK. This year we shipped over

156,000 books to Tanzania and 34 UK student

volunteers made the trip to Tanzania for 6 weeks,

working alongside our 3 Tanzania Project Co-

ordinators, our Volunteer Manager Francesca and

our outgoing Country Director Rose. Our

volunteers travelled to 8 different regions in

Tanzania including Dar es Salaam, Morogoro,

Lindi, Mtwara, Shinyanga, Singida, Mbeya and

Tabora. It was the first year we have worked in

Dar es Salaam, and were able to do so due to

support from BG Tanzania and the Rotary Club of

Bahari.

Our volunteers renovated 15 libraries across the

country, taking an unused space, cleaning it up,

making refurbishments, getting furniture, and

using our books to create a fantastic library. While

renovating the libraries our volunteers work with

school students to form a Library Committee who

will monitor the library and ensure students make

the most of the books. Amazingly we have seen a

14% increase in examination results with the

schools we have worked with, just showing that

we are making a direct impact on the lives of

Tanzanian students!

PAGE 9 Letters

NOREEN IBBOTT, R.I.P. Members will be sad to hear of the death in

September of long-time BTS member Noreen

Ibbott, a stalwart of our BTS Scotland branch,

whose commitment made a deep impression on

all who met and worked with her.

Apollo Temu writes: “The GRAND work Noreen

was part of in Southern Tanzania during the early

days of the formation of our Young Nation will

inspire scholars for many years to come. You will

be terribly missed Noreen!”

Ralph Ibott writes, “My darling wife Noreen, after

several years of ill health, died suddenly on 24th

September. In 1962 we moved to Tanzania into

two grass huts in the Ruvuma Region with our

three children, then aged 8, 6 and 3 years old.

This was in support of 15 young men and their

wives who, following the call of Julius Nyerere,

were setting out to build a modern farm working

on a communal basis. By the end of the decade

there had developed fifteen other communal

villages, all working together in their Ruvuma

Development Association (RDA) spread over an

area much the size of Switzerland, the Ujamaa

project strongly supported by Nyerere.

Noreen was very interested in keeping a watch on

the babies in the village and was able to help

mothers who were having difficulties. She

suggested a scheme where some women came

home early to prepare food for all the children.

This led to the setting up of a children’s nursery,

later copied by other RDA communal villages.

In those days a very large number of children

never reached adulthood. One of the big killers

was measles. In Litowa, Noreen worked with the

mothers to set up a mini clinic for affected

children, concentrating on special feeding. No

children died.

In Litowa, women usually went to the mission

hospital some nine miles away to have babies.

Once, when the transport was away, one of the

women in labour was brought to Noreen. Her only

experience was having her own babies, but she

had a useful medical book. At that time, the

women only used the local tribal language. Our

daughter Clare, by then 6 years old, had friends

her own age and had become proficient in Ngoni.

During the birth, Clare sat in the corner and acted

as interpreter for her mum. After that, Noreen

always kept a bundle of clean sheets and other

necessities ready. She successfully delivered 7

babies. At one time a nearby government project

included a flock of sheep for wool; Noreen had

taught herself to spin when we were in Rhodesia,

and now she was able to teach the children in the

RDA school to prepare the wool, spin it, dye it and

later knit it. She even constructed a loom from

bamboo poles to weave woollen cloth. She also

experimented with making glazed pots using a

kiln brought by a visitor from overseas. Shortly

afterwards, we were forced to leave.”

Ralph IbbottRalph IbbottRalph IbbottRalph Ibbott _____________________________________________________________

DON BARTON Don Barton writes, “Re. Tom Unwin’s obituary.

I never met Tom Unwin, but know that he was

highly regarded in the Service. So it was good to

read the abbreviated version of his Daily

Telegraph obituary notice. However, this struck

one wrong note, and I mention this particularly

for the benefit of BTS members who have no

personal knowledge of Tanzania’s colonial period.

The notion of treating Africans as equals was not

“unfashionable at the time.” Of course it depends

on what you mean by equals; is an undergraduate

the equal of his professor, the private soldier of

the general? In this sense there were clear

inequalities, as in all societies. There were, of

course, some expatriates, official or otherwise,

who had little regard for Africans – as no doubt

there still are, but these were a small minority.

Most of us related to Africans on a man to man

basis and with mutual respect; we could probably

not have functioned otherwise. This was,

remember, a period when Colonial Office

Selection Boards were apt to ask the question

“How would you feel about working under an

African senior officer or minister?” – although

this did not appear to be an immediate prospect.

I was interested to read of the BTS / VSO

relationship. In the 1960s, VSO had no Field

Officers overseas, The British Council – I was a

member – acted as their overseas arm. In this

context I oversaw about 40 & 30 VSO projects and

volunteers in Nigeria & Malaysia respectively;

very rewarding it was too. I wish I’d had a few

VSOs (& / or Peace Corps volunteers) on my patch

when a District Commissioner! Don BaDon BaDon BaDon Bartonrtonrtonrton

Views expressed are personal, not those of BTS

PAGE 10 Chairman’s Page

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Our 2012 survey of members demonstrated a

desire for us to form groups on specific subjects

relating to Tanzania. There is interest in forming

groups relating to education, health, rural

development, women’s issues, history, Swahili,

agriculture and the environment. Also many

members came forward to offer hospitality to

students.

We have received three offers to start such

special interest groups, so we are now launching

groups for Education, Swahili and Hospitality.

Anne Samson (thesamsonsed@gmail.com ) has

agreed to chair the new education group. She has

set up a group on Linked-In, so if you have an

interest in Education in Tanzania, do please

contact Anne at the above address. She will be

delighted to hear from you.

Rachel Lindley (rachel.lindley@gmail.com) has

agreed to start a group to help people improve

their Swahili or just to converse in Swahili, via

Skype or Viber. Rachel is looking for help with this

group, but if you would like to get involved, do

please contact Rachel.

Phil Grant (philsgrant@btinternet.com ) has

offered to start a group offering hospitality to

students. Many members welcome Tanzanian

students into their homes. However, we are

currently looking for ways of finding out where

these students are studying, before we can really

get going with offering hospitality. If you know of

any Tanzanian students currently studying in the

UK, do please contact Phil.

We are very grateful to these noble three, but

wait for other members to come forward to offer

to start some of the other groups.

UK BORDER AGENCY A number of members have also raised

complaints about some ridiculous and very unfair

treatment of Tanzanian visitors applying for visas

to enter the UK. We are planning to take these

concerns up with the UK Border Agency. So, if you

have DIRECT experience of visitors being refused

visas on. Please contact me on

fultonw@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER BLUES At the “Tanzania @50” celebration at the Royal

Commonwealth Society in September, His

Excellency Peter Kallaghe invited members to

inform him of any problems that they or their

organizations may be experiencing in Tanzania.

The Balozi has asked the Society to co-ordinate

these responses. So, if you or your organization is

experiencing difficulties, do please contact me,

William Fulton, on fultonw@gmail.com.

So far, I received a very helpful statement from a

member in South Wales who highlights the

concerns of a number of NGOs in and around

Arusha about the inconsistent application of the

new Permit C visas for volunteers. If you have

similar experiences, please feed these into me

and I will arrange a meeting to discuss these

frankly with His Excellency.

BTS Chairman Willie Fulton pictured with HE Peter

Kallaghe at September’s Tanzania@50 gathering at

the Royal Commonwealth Club.

BUDGET FLIGHTS COME TO TZ Fastjet (www.fastjet.com/tz ) has started to

operate in Tanzania at VERY competitive prices. A

single flight to Mwanza is currently TZS 32,000,

with and additional TZS 8,000 for a checked-in

bag. This compares very favourably with the bus

fare! Currently, they are offering two flights a day

to Mwanza or Kilimanjaro ( TZS 32,000 + taxes

one-way), but they will be adding other

destinations soon.

At these prices, Fastjet will be giving Precision Air

and the smaller operators, like Coastal, Zanair,

Auric and Flightlink a run for their money. It will

be very interesting to watch how these

companies react to this new competition on their

patch.

PAGE 11 Feature

John Kilaka - Artist & Storyteller John Kilaka is a born storyteller. But he is also an

artist with a distinctive style of painting which he

has used to great effect to illustrate some of his

own stories now published in book form. He is

one of those people you never forget – at once

both diffident and warm-hearted, but always

with a cheeky smile and an endearing chuckle.

I first met John 12 years ago when he worked as a

freelance artist at the Village Museum in Dar es

Salaam. Along with Peter Martin and Jeremiah

Emmanuel, he was one of a group of artist friends

painting mainly in the Tingatinga style for the

tourist market. They were all what you might call

“real characters”, though John’s fluency in English

often made him the spokesperson for the craft

group. When I needed a break from the office (or

the power was down) I would often wander over

to the dusty veranda where they worked to

inspect their latest creations.

John was born in Sumbawanga in SW Tanzania in

1966, but did not enter primary school until he

was 11. He already showed signs of artistic talent,

though his first efforts were mere sketches in the

sand. At school he found paper, pencils and

coloured chalks, though his funny sketches on the

blackboard did not endear him to his teacher.

John was stripped of his role as class leader,

labelled “class noise maker” and punished for his

efforts. John left school in 1983 to help his family

hunt, fish and farm, but then in 1987 moved to

Dar es Salaam hoping to improve his art.

It was a good move. John met Damian Msagula

(who had been taught by Edward Said Tingatinga)

and Peter Martin and became their pupil. Through

Peter he was taken on as one of the resident

artists at The Village Museum, selling enough of

his work to visitors to support himself. Gradually,

John developed his own distinctive style of

painting. Through his pictures, he began to tell

some of the traditional stories he had grown up

with in his village back home. It was a chance

meeting with a Swiss publisher that led to John’s

first commission, to write and illustrate one of

these stories for children. The book, Frische Fische

(now also in English as Fresh Fish) featured at the

2001 won the Blue Cobra award at the Basel Book

festival. The publishers, Baobab Books, wanted

more, and in 2004 John’s story Gute Freunde

(True Friends) won the Bologna Ragazzi Award.

John’s third book The Amazing Tree also appeared

in German,

but was then

taken up by

New York

publishers

North-South

and published

in English in

2009.

John Kilaka’s gifts as a teller and illustrator of

traditional stories were nurtured in far-off

Sumbawanga, but now have an international

appeal. In 2002 he came to Britain to deliver a

week of children’s workshops at The Manchester

Museum during the Commonwealth Games. Since

then he has led storytelling sessions at book fairs

in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, and painted

illustrations for Penguin Books and animations for

a BBC / Walt Disney film. His paintings have been

exhibited in Botswana, Scandinavia, the Czech

Republic and even Reunion Island. He is a popular

visitor to schools in Tanzania, too, where three of

his story books have appeared in print.

Today, John lives in Dar where he undertakes

private commissions, and when not painting (or

telling tales), runs a chicken farm with his wife

and children. His greatest sadness is the

premature death of his great friend and teacher

Peter Martin who passed away in 1997 while

working on a major contract with a Japanese

publisher that might have finally him brought

much-deserved fame and fortune. Richard Barton-Wood

To find out more about John Kilaka, or contact

him, see his website at www.kilaka.org. All his

books are available on Amazon.

PAGE 12 BACK PAGE

BTS Who’s Who & Contacts President: HE Ali Hassan Mwinyi, former

President of the United Republic of Tanzania

Vice Presidents:

Sir Andy Chande, Derek Ingram, Esther

Mwaikambo, Ron and Liz Fennell, Trevor Jaggar

William Fulton (Chair) 01513 367393

fultonw@gmail.com

David Brewin (Editor, Tanzanian Affairs)

020 7727 1755 davidbrewin@btinternet.com

Ann Brumfit (Membership Sec)

24 Oakfield Drive, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9NR.

01737 210532 annbrumfit@yahoo.co.uk

Jill Bowden (BTS Treasurer) 020 8886 8141

17 The Green, London N14 7EH

jillbowde@btinternet.com

Dr Elizabeth Taylor, (Executive Secretary) Phone:

+44 (0)1869 243479

Julian Marcus (Chair, TDT)

02086 685230 TanzDevTrust@gmail.com

Robert Gibson (TDT Treasurer)

robert@dovedaledesign.co.uk

Tim Watkins-Idle (Web Editor)

timwatkinsidle@gmail.com

Richard Barton-Wood (Newsletter Editor)

abbeygarth@hotmail.com

BTS Tanzania Chapter contacts:

Enquiries & Membership

btstanzania@yahoo.com

Hon. Paul Rupia (Chair) +255 713 605151

amb.rupia@gmail.com

BTS (T) Hon Sec (post vacant) honsec@bts.or.tz

OR membership@bts.or.tz

BTS Scottish Group contacts:

Ann Burgess 07858 481038

annpatriciaburgess@yahoo.co.uk

Next Newsletter deadline:

1 April, 2013.

Send to: Richard Barton-Wood,

15 Church Street, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18

0PH. Tel: 01953 600800.

Email preferred: abbeygarth@hotmail.com

Sally Penman’s Kili climb has raised over £800 so

far. Members may engage with her via the

Facebook page.

Tanzania@50 Event. L to R: Mrs Nelly Nsemwa-Fungo, the wife of Tanzanian High Commissioner to UK, Hon. Joyce

Kallaghe, Ms Sheilamina Mallewo, Mrs Elly Njau Benichou.

“Women can be the rock on which a freer, safer,

more prosperous Africa is built. They just need

the opportunity.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton

KARIBUNI We welcome the following new members.

Dr Martin Pickett, Sevenoaks, Kent

Miss Molly Carter, Stockport, Cheshire

Mrs Hamza Hassan, London

Mr Jan Bell, London

Ms Anasia Maleko, Reading, Berks

Mr Navnit Davda, Bushey Heath, Herts

Miss Angela Mullens, Wimborne, Dorset

Mrs Samara Hammond, AMREF, London

Mr Ben Taylor, Manchester I worked in Tanzania between 1999 and 2012, on

various projects. I founded Daraja in 2009, in Njombe, working on local government accountability through media projects.

Below: seen on a wall at the Bagamoyo Mission

Roy Galbraith has stepped down from the BTS

Committee after 24 years’ service. Roy has strong

family links with Tanzania, where his daughter

Prudence Eliapenda is a Pastor in the Evangelical

Lutheran Church. We shall miss him.