Bega Kwa Bega & Diocese Food Distribution

Monday, January 18

Don, Gary, Dennis, Pastor Msigwa and I went to Idete today for the food distribution. Idete is companion with Farmington and is 2 ½ hours from Iringa. The roads after an hour are another story, up and down and around the sides of the mountains. Sometimes you could see the road ahead and know that you were going to loop around to get there. Idete is south of Iringa and at about 7,500 ft. There isn’t a piece of flat land around – the crops go up and down the hillsides and it is hard to imagine climbing up to the top of some of the fields. The countryside is incredibly beautiful and majestic and one could just sit and stare at the terrain for hours. I’d probably end up in a stupor as I would be so relaxed!

We finally got to Idete about 1 pm. For those who have been here before, you know the routine – you need to visit, sign the guest book and have tea before anything can begin. The pastor and district pastor both needed us to sign their guest books, then have tea. The food was plantains with a gravy instead of the usual chapati or mdazi that we are used to having. Once we finished, we still needed to walk up another hill to get to the church and there were people sitting around everywhere. We were told that some had been there as early as 8 am, which means they had had nothing to drink or eat and obviously no bathroom opportunities and it was now 2 pm. We estimated somewhere between 300 and 400 people. We had been given a list of families in advance so we knew about how much maize to have delivered for distribution (55 bags with about 3 ½ bushels in a bag). Everyone was invited into the church and a short service, blessing was conducted as well as information on how the food would be distributed and of course, we all had to introduce ourselves. The people were told that it did not matter what their religion was or was not, that every family who had requested to be on the list would receive food and that nobody would have to pay for anything. Because there were so many people there and a concern that there were more than those listed, it was announced that 10-12 kilos of maize would be distributed to each family rather than the 15 kilos and if any food was left, there would be another distribution on another day. There are 4 preaching points for Idete and the people were asked to break into the 4 groups, their names would be called from the list and we would then put the maize (12 kilos is about the size of a small 5 gallon pail) in their bag. The people came forward calmly and very quietly and the distribution went along quite quickly. It was an incredible experience and I just couldn’t seem to believe that it could be so quiet and organized with nobody seeming to be stressed that they might not get anything or that they had had to wait for so long. Watching the women walk away with a small child on their back and the bag of maize on their head, waving their arms and smiling was something that will remain with me forever.

I asked the pastor, who just happened to be Richard Lubawa’s brother, how long the food would last and he said for a couple, possibly up to a month and for a family, probably a week. In our homes, it would be gone in a day or two. We also found out that the need had been the greatest in September, October as now they have some fruits,etc. that they can eat but as they said, late was better than not at all. We also found out that they plant their corn in July and harvest in February-March and that they have had rain so should have food for the upcoming months. Typically, the villages Roger is involved with plant the corn in December and harvest in May-June so they are on a different cycle.

We will be going to two more villages on Thursday and Friday and to three next week for food distribution.

We often hear “why is there a shortage of food when there has been rain this year?”. What we need to remember is that the crops for now won’t be available until late spring, early summer and the shortage is from lack of rain last season. The need is somewhat scattered and quite a distance from Iringa proper. When someone hears of famine in Tanzania, it is most often related to the northern parts where they have been hit the hardest this past year.

Wednesday, January 20

Today the food distribution was at Pawaga preaching point. Don, Gary, Dennis, Pastor Msigwa, General Secretary Chavalla, District Pastor Agnes Kalunga and I made the trip. We were on some pretty rough roads and once we were out of Iringa and headed down to the lower elevation, we were traveling through bush much like going to Ruaha. Many of the people in the Pawaga area are more nomadic, with Maasai and their cattle and goats. They also raise rice as there is a river, which we didn’t see nor did we see the rice fields as they are quite a ways from the road. The pastor’s house was very small and very sparse – Nduli’s parsonage looks like a castle in comparison even though it is in need of repair or replacement. It is very obvious that the people are also very poor – they were less clean, much older than the people we saw on Monday and even more quiet. One hundred ten bags of maize had been delivered for distribution( for more than 1,000 households) and when we arrived less than one hundred people were there as there had been a death in the village and many people were at the funeral. We had our tea which consisted of tea, chapatti and soup – pieces of chicken in broth. I did not have the soup but it was interesting to watch the Tanzanians. They put the broth in their bowl and then drank from the bowl. The chicken was legs and thighs and they just picked it up with their fingers and chewed! We were having a good chuckle about the gizzards and chicken legs when a chicken clucked and I discovered it was lying on the floor right next to the sofa where I was sitting. When we began to distribute the food, again the people lined up very quietly and as their name was called, came forward with their bag, bowed down, opened the bag and held it with both hands and one side with their teeth and we poured in the bucket of maize and they quickly walked away. It is hard to explain feelings as you just feel helpless that there isn’t more that you can do.

Another sight that got Gary’s and my attention - A little girl, we think about 7 or 8 years old, went to the local water faucet, washed out her 5 gal. pail and then filled it with water. Since the water was running, she turned around in it and got herself wet or I should say, got her dress wet. She then picked up the full bucket of water and put it on her head and walked away. I told Gary I would be lucky to lift that pail of water as high as my waist.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING