Thank You

Dear Friends and Family,

I wanted to follow up with all of you with regards to the incredible impact your donations have had on the women I was working with in Tanzania. With your help we have started small businesses for 10 women and are on our way to giving all of them the opportunity to live a better life.


During my time with these women I was able to provide three small business training sessions that focused on purchasing, bookkeeping, stocktaking, and marketing. I was also able to follow up with them on a weekly basis for four weeks in order to help them get their businesses set up and running. Since my departure a month ago, we've had two very capable people who have filled in for me to maintain continuity.


The goal of our program is to have each woman’s business show a continuous increase in value over a six month period. For those who are able to successfully grow their business over this time frame, we then have a graduation ceremony to show others that it can be done and to share best practices. I must admit these graduation ceremonies were some of the most fulfilling moments of my volunteer work.


This is one of the women that your generous donation directly affected;

This is Lillian Judika. She’s 37 years old and a widow after losing her husband to AIDS. She lives in a small one bedroom mud brick room in the Pasua ward in Moshi, Tanzania. She has three children including Musaali who you can see in the picture. He is five years old and also suffers from HIV. When I visited Lillian to interview her for this program, Musaali was suffering from TB and to be quite honest, none of us were sure he was going to survive. When I went to let her know that she had been chosen for the program, the TB drugs he was taking had started to take affect and he looked much better which is when I took this picture. Several visits later I was distressed to find out he was suffering from a bout of Herpes’ which had spread from thigh to chest. Herpes’ can be extremely painful as it affects the nerves in the body. For this boy to suffer as much as he has before the age of six made me very sad.
We chose Lillian for our program not only because of her plight but because she showed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for the business she wanted to start and seemed very motivated to get started. Lillian decided that with the $100 dollar grant we were to give her that she wanted to open a kiosk (small store) outside her home which would sell basic foodstuffs like maize, beans, and rice. Here’s a picture of us buying her initial supplies;

With her grant we were able to buy 100kg of Maize and 50kg of beans. Within a week of doing business she had sold the entire bag of maize and ½ her inventory of beans. We pointed out to her that she was not making a huge profit on her maize by buying it for 75 cents a kilo and only selling it for 80 cents a kilo. However, she was making a 50 cent profit on each kilo of beans she sold which was fantastic. Maize is used to make Ugali which is similar to mashed potatoes and is a staple at almost every meal. Making a big profit from this item is difficult as it is sold on most street corners. However, what it does do is bring in customers who then buy a small portion of beans which costs a little more and is considered a slightly more luxury item. Her profit after one week had already reached $17 which was considerably higher than the $10 she was making prior to our program and your donation.

I can’t tell you how much these women appreciate what you have done for them and how it will affect their lives. TB and HIV drugs are free for all these women but one thing most people don’t know is that ARV’s which are the Anti –Retro Viral drugs people with HIV take to prevent full blown AIDS make you very hungry when taken. Since most of these women are so poor buying food to combat the side effects of ARV’s is very difficult. Your donation will help these women and their families live longer and healthier lives.

Thank you so much for your support!
David

Here are a few more photo's of the women and small business owners your donations are so generously supporting:

Departure

Dear Family and Friends,

My last few weeks working with the women of Pasua was extremely busy but without a doubt one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I want to apologize for not yet sending follow up emails to those of you who were able to sponsor us and unfortunately, I wont be able to do so until later this month. I did want to send a couple pic's from our buying session and to let you know that most of the women who I visited just over a week ago have already had lots of success with their businesses.












My time here in Africa has had many up's and down's with some crazy adventures in between. I'm tempted to write them here but think I would rather share them with you in person when I return.

Until then, enjoy your summer and I look forward to seeing you all in November.

Mt. Meru

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to quickly let you know that I finally got my chance to climb Mt. Meru after having to postpone several days due to bad weather. Mt. Meru is located in the middle of Arusha National Park and reaches just over 14,800 ft. The trail starts out as a casual walk thru grassy plains that are home to water buffalo, giraffe, zebra, and elephants. Most climbers opt to go with a guide, porters, cook, and park ranger offered thru safari companies but with me being so cheap, I just opted for the ranger. Also feels more satisfying to lug your own gear to the top of a mountain. Park rangers are required to accompany all climbing parties in case an animal decides they don't like you in their territory. Needless to say, the hike becomes a bit of a challenge when having to sidestep the biggest water buffalo droppings I've ever seen while keeping your eyes constantly peeled on the underbrush in case one decides to charge.

Luckily, the only wild animals we encounter were the mild mannered and beautiful giraffe who are more then happy to get out of the way.

From the grasslands we slowly ascend into the rain forest with huge moss covered trees and emerge at Mirakamba Hut (8500ft.) The huts are quite lavish and I make the most of it by getting a good nights sleep prior to attempting the summit the next day.



Once we leave the Hut the path climbs steeply through pleasant glades where magnificent views of the summit and the crater are visible. The path then continues thru some open grass clearings, over several stream beds, and then follows a very long and narrow ridge between the outer slopes of the mountain and the sheer cliffs of the inner crater.

The last 2000 ft of the trail then turns into bare rock and ash which has many people convinced that this trek is actually tougher then Kili. In rain and snow that might be true, however, I have absolutely perfect weather and the only thing I'm worried about is altitude sickness after having decided to ascend 6000ft in one day.

After 8 hours of climbing I finally reach the summit and am rewarded with some of the most amazing views I've seen to date in Tanzania. Ozzy, my trusty ranger, and I sit on the top for an hour just soaking up the sun and taking in the beautiful views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Kenya. After many pictures and moments of complete silence, its time to head back down to hut 2 for a much needed rest.


My trip up Mt. Meru was an absolutely fantastic experience and one I will not forget. I would like to thank all those who have sponsored me on this hike and more importantly the "Women of Pasua." In the next couple weeks I will be sending each of you an email with more information about the women you have decided to support. At this time, I'd like to ask that you stop making donations thru the justgiving.com web site as I no longer will be able to direct funds to this specific project.


A BIG THANK YOU once again to all of you who have helped me with this cause.

10 Lucky Women

A lot has happened since my last post but before I start, I want to say "Thank You" to those who have decided to sponsor me in my climb and more importantly the "Women of Pasua." I can't emphasize to you enough how big an impact your donation will make in each of these women's lives. Your generosity is much appreciated.

I started this project several months ago trying to learn more about the Pasua ward in Moshi, Tanzania, the people who live in it, the jobs and businesses they have, and most importantly trying to build a good relationship with the community volunteers who serve in it. Over the past several weeks, I along with the community volunteers have been meeting with the many women who wanted to be a part of our program. We interviewed all of them to get a better understanding of what their living situation was like, how many dependents they had, what types of businessess they wanted to start, and what types of skills and training might help them to succeed.

Each woman I visited literally lives in a one room shack which is built from mud brick or crumbling cement. Each woman has on average 4 children and often all under the age of 15. Every single woman is HIV + and have lost their spouse to AIDS. They now face the daunting challenge of having to raise their children on their own which although not unusual, is much more difficult with the loss of one of the breadwinners in the family. When these women do find the time to work they often earn less then 12,000Tsh a week (US$11.00) and have very few skills which might allow them to earn a better living. One of the more difficult parts of having to decide which women recevied a grant was ruling out ones who looked unhealthy. Although these are often the people who need our help the most, giving them a grant to start their own business most likely ends in failure as they are not healthy enough to work.

After some very difficult discussion on who was more deserving of being a part of the first round of grants, last week we narrowed the list down to 10 women who showed a high motivation to succeed and a good understanding of the business they wanted to start.
After a ceremony to congratulate them, we also got right into the required business training that each has to do before we purchase stock for them. The training has been going extremely well with all of them very excited to learn and to get going on this fantastic new opportunity. The money that has been given so far will help to buy stock for each of the women you see above. Tomorrow we head to the wholesale shops in town to get them started and I think I might be more excited then them.

If you would still like to sponsor the Women of Pasua and haven't yet, you still have time :) There are still 10 very un-lucky women who were not able to be a part of round 1 but are just as motivated and wanting to make a better life for themselves and their families. Your donation can and will make a difference. I've included the justgiving.com web site below.

With regards to my climb, I've had to delay it a little as the weather has been terrible here with the type of rain Seattle and Fiji get in their worst months. I'm going to make a go of it this weekend and hopefully it will clear when I'm on top :)

Once again a big thanks to those who have already sponsored us. It is very much appreciated!

To donate to the Women of Pasua with your credit card. http://www.justgiving.com/mondo/donate

Important:

1. The donation amounts on the web site are in English Pounds. 1 Pound = 2 US Dollars. So if you want to donate $40 US dollars, please select the 20 pound option.

2. In the box designated for "comments", please put my name in the box so Mondo Challenge will know which project your donation is for.

3. 100% of all donations received will go to the women of Pasua.

Thanks so much!
David

The Women of Pasua / Sponsorship

So where do you begin when you’re about to ask all your friends and family for money to support a few unlucky souls in Africa!?!

I started this post several days ago wanting to explain that with just over 10% of the world’s population, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 64% of HIV positive people resulting in 2 million deaths per year. That Sub-Saharan Africa has 90% of children under 15 living with the virus and that 12 million children here are orphans. Then I thought no, I don’t need to explain this to my friends and family as they are all quite aware how HIV and AIDS have ravaged this part of the world.

I then started to write about how fortunate we all should feel to live in the United States or other western countries where we don’t have to worry about unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, whether or not we can afford to go to primary or secondary school, or having access to proper health care when we get sick. No, I thought, my friends already know just how lucky we are to live where we do.

What I want to focus on are the women of the Pasua ward in Moshi, Tanzania. These are women who suffer from HIV, have several children to support, have most likely lost the breadwinner to AIDS, and have very little hope of making a better life for themselves. These are women who live on less then $2 a day and are classified as extremely poor. Extreme poverty is prevalent in 20% of the developing world and in 45% of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a reason for the many other problems which plague this part of the world including chronic hunger, child mortality, poor maternal health, and of course the high prevalence of HIV.

As you are all probably well aware by now, my time here in Africa has been focused in the area of micro-credit. I’ve come to see and realize the incredible difference that a small amount of capital can make for those who have the desire to make a better life for themselves but have no means to do so. My NGO http://www.mondochallengefoundation.org has taken a slightly different approach to helping the poor here in Tanzania. Our program through the help of donors provides a one time finanical grant to women living with HIV in order to help them start small businesses. Than volunteers like myself come to Africa to provide the business expertise and training which will help them begin and sustain a successful and thriving business. With access to antiretroviral drugs, the future for these women and their children is much brighter. Our hope is that the grant and business training will give these women the boost they need which will release them from the grip of extreme poverty.

Over the last couple months I’ve been helping 15 lucky women in Rau to start and maintain their own small business. The program has gone extremely well and is something I’m hoping to replicate with another 15 women in Pausa. My goal is to raise $2000 to fund the next round of potential business women in Pasua. I’d like to ask for your support in my goal to raise this money. Your sponsorship will be used to purchase the initial stock each woman will need to start their own small business.

In exchange for your support, I pledge to train and follow up with each woman as they start and run their own small businesses.

I pledge to train the Pasua community volunteers whom I now work with to maintain this project so that when I leave it will continue to function on its own.

To top it off I also pledge to climb Mt. Meru, Tanzania’s second highest mountain at 15,067ft (4566m) on one leg with no shoes blindfolded just to show you how serious I am about all of this. Actually, no chance but I will climb it and I am serious about all of this!

So, will you sponsor me on my climb and in doing so in my pledge to help the women of Pasua in their quest for a better life? Your donation will make an incredible difference in the lives of these women and they in turn will be forever grateful for your support.





To make a donation to this very worthy cause, please visit the following web site to donate with your credit card. http://www.justgiving.com/mondo/donate

Important: Please note three things.

1. The donation amounts on the web site are in English Pounds. 1 Pound = 2 US Dollars. So if you want to donate $40 US dollars, please select the 20 pound option.

2. In the box designated for "comments", please put my name in the box so Mondo Challenge will know which project your donation is for.

3. 100% of all donations received will go to the women of Pasua.

If you would like to make a pledge to the Women of Pasua but do not want to do it by credit card, you can send a check to my dad and he will be happy to deposit it on my behalf:

Ken Nelson
28540 State Hy 3 N.E.
Poulsbo, Wa. 98370

Thank you so much for your support!
David

(Pictures from around Pasua)















(Firewood anyone!?!)


(Pasua main street w/ Kilimanjaro in the background.)







(Pasua community volunteers)

Rough Week

Last week most of my time was spent in Pasua, which is the new ward I’ll be working in over the next couple months. After explaining the concept of our small grants business program to the ward officers and community volunteers (CV’s), I’ve spent the remainder of my time preparing a general survey of the ward. The survey includes drawing up maps, figuring out what people purchase locally, what they purchase in town, what types of businesses currently exist, what types of businesses might be successful, and really just trying to get an overall impression of whether or not our program will work. On my walking tour of the area the CV’s and I have stopped into several homes to meet with the people that might be eligible for our program.

The first woman we visited lived in a small one room mud shack with her two children. The room was no more then 8’x 8’in size, was terribly uneven from top to bottom, and the mud bricks which the walls are made from are literally breaking apart at the seams. With only one bed in the room I’m sure one of the kids has the unlucky duty of sleeping on the mud floor which as you can imagine cant be terribly comfortable. As I sat there and explained our program, I couldn’t help but notice how the family had done their best to cover up the unsightly mud bricks with every imaginable magazine and newspaper picture they could find. Prior to going inside I had suggested to the CV’s that we just talk outside so as not to take up too much of her time or force her to have to tidy up due to our unexpected visit. Mr. Ngomja, one of our CV’s, strongly suggested that we go inside so as not to attract the attention of the neighbors with our presence. So as we all packed into the one room, Mr. Ngomja explained to me that there was still quite a bit of stigma in this area towards those who have HIV and my presence alone would have been bad for the woman and her family. Even so, our host was happy to see us and to hear about the program. I walked away feeling that our program could really make a difference with this family.

Following that visit, we literally had to walk just 20 feet to get to the house of another potential candidate, once again a woman, and once again with HIV. I felt for awhile there that we could have gone into every other home on our walk and found someone with HIV. When we went into this house, the young lady had a five year old son, who was also HIV+ but also suffering from TB. The boy was lying on the bed and it was quite obvious he was very sick and that the mother was very concerned about him. As we sat there and talked about the program, I could hear the boy really struggling to breath and I couldn’t help feeling absolutely helpless at that moment. When we left, the CV’s informed me that the boy’s chance for survival was slim and they would be surprised if he lived much longer. I left feeling quite shaken by the whole experience and thinking how unfair life was for this little boy who by no doing of his own might die before he reaches the age of six.

After a few more visits and hearing and seeing similar stories, I had to make my way home as it was becoming more and more difficult to take. Unfortunately, even at home I can’t seem to escape the constant presence of death. Just last week, a neighbor who I had recently met, died of a stroke. As a result there’s been a constant stream of people coming up the road to pay their respects. In addition to that, my Baba’s sister who has been staying with us the past month is also very ill. She’s been diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer and since the discovery of the cancer three weeks ago she has not been able to get out of bed except for a handful of times. Her family has been here constantly the past several weeks which although comforting for her is also quite sad as I think everyone feels that time is not on her side. When I visit with her I can see the pain in her eyes and because of our language barrier, I’m once again feeling quite helpless.

Since being here, I’ve done my best to suppress the fact that many people die long before they should. The life expectancy of a Tanzanian averages around 46 years. Since the first case of AIDS was reported in 1983, HIV prevalence has been on the increase now reaching close to 15%. The number is closer to 30% here in northern Tanzania. One in seven children die before the age of five and most before the age of two. 2/3's of those under 2 have contracted HIV from their monthers. It’s really not unusual to talk to at least one person a week who isn’t going to or coming from a funeral and for people to brush it off like some sort of unfortunate circumstance.

Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a big downer of a post but I’ve just had a hard time with all of it this week. To hear about death is one thing but to be constantly surrounded by it has had me feeling quite sad and in disbelief at how unfair life is for some people in this world. The five year old boy deserves better care and more food to make him healthy again. Yet because his mother probably lives on less then $1 a day, he’s not going to get the care or the food he needs.

Those who live on less then $1 a day are considered extremely poor. Extreme poverty has no place in the civilized world and certainly no place in this 21st century. Pulling oneself out of the poverty trap that most find themselves in is near impossible without a little bit of help. One of the many ways we can help to eradicate extreme poverty is thru micro-credit. I’ve seen what a small amount of credit or a grant can do to help these women get a toe hold on the ladder to a slightly better life where ones basic needs are not compromised. With just a little bit of success the women I work with are able to buy a little more food, provide their families with slightly better healthcare, and maybe even send their children to school. An educated population is not only better for Tanzania; it’s better for the rest of the world.

With that said, in my next post I’m going to be talking about my plans to climb the second highest mountain in Tanzania, 15,000ft Mt. Meru, and asking you to sponsor me. The proceeds will go to our next round of funding for the women of Pasua. Not to worry, I promise not to break you. Your small contribution will go a long way here.

Thank you.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Just a quick update to let you all know how things are here. There really hasn't been a lot of excitement except for work. I'm enjoying it tremendously and truly feel like I'm starting to make a small difference here. The 20 women I work with are all such hard workers and are truly trying to improve their stead in this world. I'm trying to follow up with all of them on a weekly basis to provide support, hope, and small business advice as best as I can give it.


(The picture is of Mama Agnes, Beata Valeria, and Mama Martha. Beata has gone from a 75,000Tsh loan to 146,000Tsh at our last stock take on Monday. Getting to count her stock then watching her pull out 50,000Tsh in cash made so happy as it is very rare to see these women with so much money. She of course will be heading to market this week to increase her stock.)




This picture is of myself, the Mama's, Margaret, and her children. Margaret's business has improved very slightly over two weeks and our big advice to her was to keep track of her costs and to package up her rice in bags to make it look nicer in the stand she sells it from. It such simple advice but often not thought of. )




Besides work, I did get the chance to check out a nice little waterfall at the base of Kili on Saturday. I was invited by a some Norwegian folks of which three were nurses doing physical therapy on some sort of semester abroad program. It was a one hour trip out of town and a nice little break from the homestay.

(Sorry Guy's! The only picture I have is of the three local boys that guided us up to the falls. Aren't we a sight!?! :)

(Young man with his Chameleon.)

( Having some Banana Beer with the locals after the long hike. Yum!)







This month is a big month for soccer as well. My Baba and I have been watching Manchester United play their way to the finals in the Champions League and FA Cup as well as possibly winning the Premiership. All three trophies will be decided this month so there will be a lot of screaming in good ol' Shantytown every night. If you haven't seen Man U's. Christiano Ronaldo play yet, find your way to the nearest sports bar, he's awesome!

Talk soon -