Sokon 1 Youth in Action

WIA introduced their Youth in Action program at Sokon 1 Primary School in the Sokon 1 Ward on Thursday.  The school administrators were very happy to have us and we were thrilled by their cooperation.

Thirty students were chosen by the school, which consists of 1,139 children, to sit in on the introduction to the program. Mama Mosha (Elizabeth Mosha), the director of Women in Action, led the discussion, explaining what would be expected of the students as members of Youth in Action and what topics the group would cover.

The 5 Peer Educators

The students seemed very excited to be a part of this organization and already had many questions they wanted answered. Five students were chosen as peer educators to lead the Youth in Action group. They will be trained by Women in Action to teach their peers about these extremely important topics.

We are ecstatic to see how professionally these students behaved and how interested and excited they already are to learn. WIA looks forward to continuing our work at Sokon 1 so all 1,139 students will eventually  be educated in life skills, gender issues, HIV/AIDS and other important information and, in turn, can go on to educate the world. 

Volunteers Creating Their Own Jewelry

WIA was happy to have 4 students all the way from Washington College in Maryland (USA) volunteer for the day on Wednesday. The volunteers helped our Mamas make the beaded jewelry we sell to benefit our many programs and visited the WIA preschool. In addition, we were able to show them a real Tanzanian experience by going to lunch at a local restaurant and sampling Tanzanian cuisine.

They were very impressed with our organization and two even expressed their desire to come back later in the summer to volunteer. Volunteers are extremely important at our organization and we are always grateful for their help. We look forward to their next visit!

Our Visitors With Director, Elizabeth Mosha

On May 30th, Women in Action was surprised with a visit from 3 municipal council members along with 3 mayors and 2o ward councilors from the district of Dar es Salaam. The group wanted to learn all about Women in Action and we were very happy to oblige them! They learned about how we got started, the development and implementation of our programs, and how we sustain ourselves as a grassroots Non-Governmental Organization. We stressed the importance of their support as we work to help the people of Tanzania – the Government’s people, not simply WIA’s people.

They were so impressed by what they learned that each person made a donation right then and there out of their own pockets! We collected 202,000 tsh (about $150 USD) total.

The group plans to bring back leaders of other NGO’s to learn from the success of WIA. Two of the group members even asked to be taught by Elizabeth Mosha (Mama Mosha), the Director of Women in Action, in Home Based Care and VICOBA.

The leader of the group told us that she was very impressed with all the work we do and even compared Mama Mosha to Mother Theresa! They are very happy to see that, at its founding, WIA supported young people and have continued to do so up to today. They know as well as we do that children are the leaders of tomorrow and we all must work together to make a better Tanzania for them.

The room was completely bare, aside from the old wooden benches lined up on either side. There was no power, or if there was there weren’t light bulbs in the sockets so power was unnecessary. A little boy played on the empty side of the room while 11 women sat quietly on the benches listening intently to the three leaders sitting at a table in the front. Two women bounced babies on their laps to try to keep them quiet. When I entered the room, one of the two WIA employees who had accompanied me proclaimed, “VICOBA!” The response was so succinct it sounded like the 14 voices were one, “VICOBA mkombozi wa jamii piga vita umaskini.” Roughly translated, this means “VICOBA redeems the community by waging war on poverty.” Strong words from strong women. This exchange of words was repeated throughout the meeting when a member wanted to speak and needed the attention of the group. It is a way to show the solidarity of the group, and its meaning is no doubt, powerful.

These women, who attend the weekly VICOBA meetings, take their group very seriously. One woman walked in late, and after she apologized to the group, my WIA counterparts assured me she would be punished later. Fines by the group are issued regularly for infractions like tardiness, cell phone use, or not paying back a loan on time. As I said, they take it very seriously. For many of these women, this is their first opportunity to have control of their own financial destiny – perhaps that means they can pay for a child’s education or simply provide enough food to have three meals a day. VICOBA gives them that opportunity and they realize how lucky they are. So each week, they come with their contribution to the cash box – however much they can afford – and after 12 weeks of attending meetings and contributing, they are finally permitted to take out a loan. They are then expected to pay the loan back in small increments. However, sometimes this does not go as smoothly as intended and the group must decide what to do with a member who has not paid back their loan – which I witnessed today. This particular group had a member who had taken out a loan back in December and still hadn’t paid it back. Even worse, she was employed as a teacher but still could not manage to pay. The other women were not amused. After much heated debate, which is in the nature of Tanzanian women, they decided to give her until the next week to start paying. I had no doubt that this would be her last chance. As I explained before, the group takes VICOBA very seriously.

In many respects, I think I would have an easier time trusting the VICOBA group than I would a bank in America. The women asked me if we had similar groups in America, and I had to explain that unfortunately most people only trust banks to keep our money. Everything within the VICOBA group is transparent. The group makes the decisions, the money is counted and recorded, the treasurer can be questioned if there are any discrepancies, and at the end of the meeting the box is locked, the keys are given out and the box remains closed and locked until the next meeting. What is so amazing about a group like this is that you don’t have to be wealthy to get a loan. There are no credit checks, no employment verification or proof that you are able to pay. You simply have to be trusted by the network of women within the group, and in this group, perhaps that isn’t too simple but it is totally worth it. VICOBA gives women the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. They can start businesses, make profits and be independent in a world that has long been dominated by men. They are empowered in ways that were not possible before which has many extremely positive consequences. VICOBA really does have the potential to redeem the community by waging war on poverty – and these women are well on their way to personal success as well as community improvement.

- Carrie Maldovan (USA)

In February, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), along with their partner organizations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, brought 40 visitors to WIA. They were given a presentation about VICOBA and heard success stories from members. They were also taken to see three VICOBA groups in the Babati region and were very impressed with the progress of the program. Because of this, the Director of NCA has agreed to continue to support Women in Action. NCA was able to give a generous donation of 118,000 tsh (about $80 USD) for the treatment of two HIV patients. We are very grateful for their kindness and generosity.

Back in December we were able to host a successful Christmas party for the Most Vulnerable Children and their foster parents. We were able to provide Christmas presents for the children as well as games and a delicious meal! The children loved the party and we look forward to continuing this tradition in the future.

We are extremely grateful for the generosity of Jenaya Rockman, from Global Service Corps in Arusha, who was able to donate two laptops to WIA’s Arusha headquarters! We are blessed by the kindness of generous people like Jenaya!

We are very proud to announce that WIA’s Deputy Director, Mrs. Regina Ntukafo, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in community social development on December 16th. She intends to begin working on her Master’s as soon as she is able to receive sponsorship which will hopefully be later this year. Congratulations Regina! You’ve made us very proud!

Finally, check out WIA’s updated Home Based Care webpage! Thank you to all our volunteers for making these improvements possible!

Our Village Community Banking (VICOBA) group number 39 from Arusha Ngarenaro Ward has grown to a total of 30 members, all of which are women. We are very excited to announce that the group has saved a total of 1,156,900 TZS (almost $800 USD). The group decided that some of the money will be put in a fund to be used only for education or health costs and three members have already borrowed a total of 250,000 TZS (around 160 USD to be used for educational purposes.

During the beginning of September, WIA successfully trained 50 VICOBA leaders on gender and culture issues, family planning and HIV/AIDS. The training was facilitated by Elizabeth Mosha, the Director of Women in Action.

In addition, Women in Action will be running a training during the first week of October for 15 leaders of NGO’s in the area. The topics will include good governance, NGO establishment and management and the use of Moringa, often called “the Miracle Tree.”

We were so sad to say goodbye to our volunteers today. “Sometimes making friends can be so hard when you have to say goodbye,” Mama Mosha, the director of WIA, said. We look forward to their return in the future and their fresh new ideas.

E-mail WIA at womeninaction2001@yahoo.com and be sure to check out our newly renovated website as we are updating it daily! You are warmly welcomed from all of us at Women in Action!