Maji is life

Yesterday’s visit to the second village was sobering. The people were, as usual, friendly and full of joy. The women, full of songs and the youth did wonderful singing and dancing. Another 45 minute sermon, the reports and gifts, all the same. By the way, the goat that was tied up in the church was auctioned off for the benefit of the library at Matambulu, one of the Bible schools of the Diocese, where people go before they come to Msalato Theological College. The village is a new mission of the Diocese – not yet a parish, led by catechist named Eunice – who will most likely become a deacon then a priest in the next year or so.

This village is about 6 miles from Nagulo -- which is where, at least once everyday, the women of the village must walk to get their “maji” – water. They have to pay $200Tsh (about 20 cents) per twenty liters of water. Then they carry those 20 liters (equivalent to about 20 bottles of soda) on their heads back home. There is not enough water to do much beyond the cooking and watering of the animals – a few cattle, goats and chickens (and one dog that I saw).

To put it in very clear perspective, let me share the following experience. At the end of the service, we shook hands with every man, woman and child in the village. Many of the little children had faces that were covered with dirt – the dust of this place that we all struggle with. Their hands were caked with dirt. But this is not a case of their parents neglecting their care. Water is so precious and so hard to come by that they can’t afford to use it profligately. There is no water to spare for anything but the most essential things. Remember that priests make about $3 per month – and they are among the better paid of the community. So the rest of the people really struggle with the cost of water. The truth is that these beautiful children did not have access to enough water to wash their faces and hands –even for the visit of the Bishop. You all know how health conscious we are in the USA – and how often we are advised to wash our hands to prevent disease. Imagine the struggle with malaria, dengue fever, typhoid and cholera – without the ability to sanitize even your hands. .

My friends, the Begallas, who sponsored my flight here, have their own personal mission project in Kenya – to bring water to a village they regularly visit as tourists. I have heard them speak of this need often, but until this visit I did not really get it. A great many people all over the world live, not just without running water – but without access to any clean and affordable water. Some villages have what is called an “open well” – which is just a hole in the ground where water seeps up. I have seen several of these in villages – right in the city of Dodoma. Often these wells are contaminated by human and animal wastes.

The United Nations has developed a number of important goals which, if met, can change the face of the earth by 2015. These are called the Millennium Development Goals or MDG’s. Our Diocese, as well as the whole Episcopal Church, have adopted these goals – and there is a formula requested from each parish (I believe it is less than 1 tenth of one percent) to support these goals. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t know if we make our contribution from St. Luke’s – maybe someone on the Outreach Committee can let me know. The reason I mention them, is that these goals have become enfleshed for me during this trip to Africa. And water is essential to almost every one of the goals.


The MDG’s are as follows:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – most Tanzanians eat one meal per day – and it is a kind of hard cooked porridge made of some type of grain, called ugali. Even rice, and most certainly meat, are luxuries. Kwashiorkor, a nutritional deficiency disease, which has all been eradicated in the West, is a common problem here.
- Reduce child morality (Tanzania is among the nations with the highest infant mortality rate – just last month, the new godchild (a baby) of Sandy and Martin McCann died from a case of malaria)
- Improve maternal child health
- Achieve universal primary education for all children – primary education is free in TZ, but many families do not have the money for uniforms, shoes, books, paper or transportation. The little village school in Msalato has lost nearly a third of its pupils due to the hugely inflated cost of petrol (gas).
- Promote gender equality and empower women – I will need to write separately about this issue, there is so much to tell
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development

Maji, water, is life for all people in the world – and last summer we just got a little taste of what life can be like in a drought. I hope that one outcome of my trip will be to educate myself and our parish about the MDG’s and how, with just very few resources, we can be a part of making these kinds of goals reality – in Tanzania, in urban Atlanta, and other parts of the world.