Rice is nice

While in Arusha, I took a bit of time to better understand the rice market. After Madagascar, Tanzania is the second largest producer of rice in East Africa, and there seems to be a lot of potential to grow. So while in the northern part of the country, I began my quest for greater understanding in the local market, where I was swarmed by retailers, showcasing their bulk rice from Mbeya and Magugu, and only a couple other locales which were at lower prices. Mbeya is literally across the country, in the southwest corner, but this aromatic variety is so popular that it's shipped up to the northeast. Magugu is a couple hours south of town, but is sold at nearly the same price as Mbeya. At the wholesale market across town, I met with Mama Tatu, who was eager to sell me her 100kg bag she had brought from Magugu. Just across the street, but in a starkly different environment, I paced the clean-swept aisles of the supermarket to find Mbeya and Magugu rice, along with a number of South African packaged parboiled and specialty rices. And in this lovely globalized world, I found Thai rice packaged for a U.S. company, sold in Tanzania. Later the next day I traveled down to Magugu to meet with an agriculture extension officer who shared valuable insights about the local market. And on my ride back to Dar, I continued my observations, as we passed by some rice paddy fields. I'm still far from being an expert, but feel like I learned a lot about rice this week. Here's a bit of Swahili for you, too. Mchele is the uncooked rice, but when it's cooked, it's called wali. Go figure.

Visiting Danny's Family

On Sunday, Iris and I visited Danny's family. Danny has a rather unusual story, but to make a long story short, he's from Arusha but going to school down in Dar es Salaam. Since he's a neighbor to Iris, we figured we would go and bring greetings. We first joined them for church (see last picture), which was only about 4 hours long. Danny's mother is part of the worship team and is passionate about singing and praying. We returned with them to their one-room house (the left part of third picture), where we enjoyed a delicious meal of rice and meat and vegetables. Danny has two sisters, ages 8 and 1-1/2, and the older of the two is going to St. Jude's. This school is for bright students from low-income families, and she's getting a top-notch education and is doing quite well in English. I was so grateful for the chance to spend the day with this kind and generous family.

The SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY is mgeni, which means guest.

Lake Deluti

After the conference, my friend Iris and I decided to explore the beautiful outdoors around Arusha. Some of the national park and game reserve options in the surrounding area have pretty steep price tags attached, so we decided to set out on our own adventure that ended up being a spectacular day. I'll walk you through it, showing that it doesn't take much to have a great time [The exchange rate is about 1500 Tsh Tanzanian Shillings per dollar]:

Step 1: Board a dalla-dalla (local minibus) bound for TENGERU or USA. Don't be deceived, that second bus isn't headed to home sweet home, but instead to Usa River, just east of Arusha. While waiting for the dalla dalla to fill up way past capacity, buy popcorn and peanuts from a vendor who comes up to your window. [500Tsh for dalla-dalla, 500 for popcorn, 500 for peanuts]

Step 2: Arrive at Tengeru market, bustling with vendors with all kinds of fresh produce. Buy a bottle full of homemade mango-passion juice that's been poured into a used water bottle and hope that there aren't too many germs. Approach one of the women vendors to purchase a couple of bananas, and ask the best way to get to Deluti Lake, which is nearby. When you find out it's a 25-30 minute walk, ask her to help you find a good piki-piki (motorcycle) driver who can get you there faster. Jump on the back of the motorcycle and zoom down the dirt path. [500Tsh for bananas, 1000 for juice bottles, and 1000 for piki-piki ride]

Step 3: Arrive at the eco-tourism entrance gate with the hand-painted sign to "pay here first". After paying the foreigners price, proceed along the path around the lake. Admire the numerous species of birds and the beautiful trees. Gaze across the lake to Mt. Meru, Arusha's highest peak. After a long hike around the lake, treat yourself to a Fanta at the humble restaurant. [15000Tsh for foreigner's entrance fee, 1000 for Fanta]

Step 4: Get totally schooled by local kids who have invented a modified version of bowling or shuffleboard, using 7 used batteries. When they let you compete, set up 3 batteries on your side and roll the bowling battery towards the 3 that your opponent has set up. When you've knocked down some, he gets to use the bowling battery and the "pins" that have fallen down to try to knock down your batteries. First one to knock down all the opponent's batteries wins. [Priceless]

Step 5: Walk back to town, along the dusty dirt road, passing women who are returning from market with goods on their heads. Along the way, stop to notice the Livestock Training Institute (cool, ag stuff!) and the coffee plantations. At the market, haggle with the women to get a large ripe papaya. Board the dalla-dalla back to town. [1000Tsh for the papaya, 500 for the dalla-dalla]

Step 6: Learn the Swahili words for lake (ziwa), forest (msitu), and mountain (mlima).

ECHO conference in Arusha

Last week I got to have a crash course in agriculture in East Africa and meet some incredible people working in the field at the ECHO symposium in Arusha, Tanzania. Plenary and break-out sessions covered a wide range of issues from conservation agriculture to community animal health care to integrated pest management to sand dams to beekeeping. There was an appropriate technology fair, where I saw everything from water pumps to bicycle-powered cell phone rechargers. If the sessions themselves weren't packed enough with information, we also got to see some of the concepts put to work in the field - permaculture gardens, water harvesting techniques, and even a visit to the World Vegetable Center (the pictures featured here).

The second picture is of the moringa tree (mlonge in Swahili), which is refered to by some as the miracle tree. The leaves themselves are extremely nutritious and have been effective at boosting the nutrition and health of those living with HIV. The seeds can be crushed and used for purifying water. It's drought resistant. And so many other uses.

At the conference I met many people from a variety of backgrounds. Two men's determination and persistence
amazed and inspired me. They are leaders of a community-based organization who travelled two full days by bus to attend the symposium. They are passionate about improving the lives of people in their remote community, and wish to start up a farmer field school, a tree nursery, and possibly even a poultry farm. It was very interesting to talk with these Tanzanians who are offered some useful insights into the reality of rural life and agriculture in this country.

So the SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY is mkutano, which means symposium or conference.