Tanzania is a beautiful country rich in natural beauty and the people are just happy to be alive and wanting things to go back to normal with tourism, mountain climbing and safaris. We don't really know the status of COVID-19 in Tanzania as information is limited and the Internet is the only source, but the President has declared the virus is gone, vanquished by prayer, and so we shall cautiously resume our normal activities.
In Tanzania, life goes on much faster than here in the USA and KiliTech is back to building toilets and improving infrastructure at government schools. Although we wear our masks and wash our hands frequently, we are happy to resume our projects. Our new project is at Mringa primary school with 1,715 students. When I was last in Tanzania in February, we had an urgent call to come quickly as Mringa school pit latrine collapsed. You can see the amount of cement and debris of a dozen toilet stalls now buried! At least there were no students inside this time.
The 1,715 students at Mringa were in session, and this was before COVID-19, so to address the immediate need the community built temporary toilets and photographed below. There are no "port-o-potties" in Tanzania, and being resourceful they dug a long trench, placing boards with open holes for "use," and added shelter to the makeshift latrine.
As they were building the temporary latrines and we were just beginning to assess the project at Mringa, it was early March and COVID-19 was hitting the world. We put everything on hold while we helped the Arumeru district with a COVID-19 response delivering thousands of masks and hand-washing buckets, which were much appreciated by the community, and they say "Asante sana," thanking you for your kindness. It was a very special time and the people will forever be grateful.
Now that the government has declared that COVID-19 has been defeated in Tanzania, KiliTech is resuming our work at Mringa school and doing what we love doing the most, helping kids! Stay tuned for more photos of Mringa primary school!
Kuwa na afya na ujitunzi.
Be healthy and happy.
Gratefully,
Laurel