A captive fluxing dynasty

A captive fluxing dynasty.

It has been a while since we had a glance on this platform to ponder and scrutinize the hemisphere of wonders which keep on resonating to our community, it is my hope that you’re doing terrific at the juncture. Today lets ponder on our doings which in most cases are post-planned and means a lot to our life. Heading to the bus stand I met my colleague who had an arrangement of travelling for his business since I had no timetable so I accompanied him. But as I was in the car I remember the worlds provoked by priest on his homily that “If you don't set a baseline standard for what you will accept in your life, you will find it's easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that's far below what you deserve”. ooh! So it dawn in my mind that I was a captive of the dynasty of fluxing living style. Once Lord chesterfield “Men, as well as women, are much oftener led by their hearts than by their understandings.” In pharmaceuticals drugs use is in congruent with once belief in recovery this calls use for a change in our doings so that consequences can’t override our life. So we need to prove to ourselves that we have decided now to make a profound paradigm change in our life. Make one or two decisions that you've been putting off, one easy decision and one that's a bit more difficult. Show yourself what you can do right now, stop make at least one clear-cut decision that you've been putting off take the first action toward fulfilling it and stick to it! By doing this, you will be building that muscle that will give you the will to change your entire life. This enlighten us to have a focus and not have a hocus-pocus. We should bear a new level of thinking of which is portraying on principle-centered, character-based, "Inside-Out" (start first with self) approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self  with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. Since whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve. Don’t have excuses on the challenges you have cause the secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you. Because If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. Thanks ….Vita vivenda nano vitanda

MSABI PROJECT IN IFAKARA

MSABI PROJECT IN IFAKARA

Background
The Kilombero Valley is a large flat plain bordered by large mountain ranges.  Water falls on the mountains and flows above and below ground into the valley delta to a large river.  There is a large wet season that provides ample underground water sources throughout the valley region.  The region has some 450,000 mostly poor rural people who farm rice, sugar and maize.  There are also groups of marginalised Sukuma and Masai who graze cattle, sheep and goats.  The whole valley is rather isolated being located 500km SW of Dar es Salaam.  The last 200km is over rough dirt roads that do not pass onwards - only to the end of the valley.
Water Solutions

• Local Boreholes  and open wells- Auger hand drilling and open well digging has the limitation that you can only drill to the water table before the hole starts to collapse.  So these water points often become dry during the dry season or as a water table is drawn down.  Further, this shallow seasonal water is polluted and unsafe.  A major source of pollution from 0-10m is from pit latrine waste, animal pens, and rubbish pits.  Auger boreholes are typically 5-10m deep, sometime up to 15m deep.  A survey by MSABI last year determined 85% of 750 water points surveyed were open wells of an average depth of just 4.5m.
• Foreign pumps - There are good and bad designs.  The Tanira pump is a direct action piston pump - see pictures in below post.  They cost $1600 and it is difficult to find and afford spares.  All pumps break!  A good pump should be easy and quick to repair.  Piston pumps have rubber o-ring type seals that wear quickly due to the abrasive action of sand that often enters the borehole through the filter screen or by a poor seal at the surface and people's feet carrying sand onto the apron which falls down the borehole.
• High-Tech Solutions - Deep boreholes with piped water to villages is back in fashion.  Tanzanian politicians want western solutions now - jumping to the end game similar to how mobile phones have leaped forward communication in Africa.  Government officials in Dar funded by institutions such as the world bank are designing these systems without ever visiting the villages!  Piped water sounds like a great idea.  But how will the villages afford to operate and maintain these systems?  The latest trend I have seen are boreholes drilled to 100m (by contractor trucks from Dar that cost TZS 26 million (AUD$16,000) and then a solar system to pump water to a tank which feeds piped water to various points in a village.  This has been done for 5 villages in the Kilombero - well the boreholes have been drilled (back in March) but nothing more.  The project will not finalise until the community contributes money.  For the village of Idandu they must put-up TZS 7 million (AUD$4400) such that the TZS 300 million (AUD$187,500) system is installed.  That equates to around TZS 150,000 (AUD$95) per head for safe water.  This might seem a fair cost and fair community contribution - but my experience with this village and talking to our MSABI team they think it will be impossible for the village people to do so.  This is a very poor village - search Idandu in our blog - we worked with the community to put in a borehole for the school - it took them months to put up TZS 250,000 for their monetary contribution.  This sole water point now supplies the school and village.  We also helped out with a special project to buy books because the 1 teacher school for 200 students over 3 grades had a total of 5 texts!!!  Anyway I'm digressing, the village council may be able to raise the money by using TZS 7 million obtained from land lease payments made from a teak company and mobile phone tower to find the TZS7 million - which would take a few years to save.  Also this is really a proxy contribution from the community - hence no individual commitment or buy-in.  So the 100m boreholes will likely stay untouched for a few years...... but Ok lets say it gets built - the community then has TZS 300 million worth of infrastructure to operate and maintain.  Sure you may say solar should not need much maintenance, but after a year or so there will need to be maintenance and repairs of the pump, pipework and tap points.  This is where a communal system will fail.  Such a system was done in the nearby village Namwawala (search blog) in the 1980's for a diesel pump distribution system.  It lasted a few years and has been lying in waste since.  Swings and balances - water design trends come and go in reflection to political fashion.  Now the other sad kicker with a solar system is theft.  PLAN international recently in the last 2-3 years installed 5 borehole and solar pump systems in Ifakara for local schools.  Not one of them is in operation today.  Every system has been stolen - word is it was the same contractors who installed them came back a few months later and removed them.
• MSABI Approach - We drill boreholes to 20-30 metres deep and install a locally manufactured rope pump for a total cost of TZS 1.6 million (AUD$1000) or accounting for community contributions in the form of money, labour, materials, food/accommodation - the subsidy cost is between TZS 750,000 to TZS 1 million.  So the cost of a water point is around TZS 6600 (AUS$ 4.40) per person assuming 150 users per pump.   For the rope pump MSABI pays TZS 110,000 (AUD$ 70) to a local contractor to manufacture the pump.  This creates local business and keeps money locally (compared to Tanira pump which cost >15x more and adds no value to local business).  Our 2011 pump survey has found all 150 installed rope pumps are in working order (excluding two that we did a pump conversion on government boreholes that run dry in the dry season).  The pump is not sexy or hi-tech but it is reliable and is concreted into the apron.  We have yet to have a pump stolen.  Lastly, this approach is affordable for the community and the contributions are significant.  The pumps are privately owned by a group or family creating ownership.  Further, we promote water businesses.  Owners of MSABI water point sell water per bucket at an affordable rate (TZS 20-50, AUD$0.01-0.03) per 20L bucket.  Owners recoup capital outlay and have an income to repair/maintain the pump.  Parts are cheap and available locally and an owner making money from their pump is likely to fix it fast.
So in conclusion.  We would all love a sexy high-tech solution delivered to our doorstep.  Idealism does not always match with realism.  Realistically rural Africa is still a long way from being able to sustainably afford and manage piped water systems.
Cheers,
Dale.

New MSABI installation with two abandoned auger borholes in the background.
The above MSABI pump is the 4th pump at Kwiongwile Primary School in as many years.  In the background you have a yellow handpump and behind that is the mound remains of another borehole.  Both of those installations were using a hand auger that can only drill to the water table before collapsing problems stop drilling.  Hence, these water points do not produce water anymore as the water table has lowered.  Below is the 3rd water point installation - the remnants of a solar pump system for the school - with everything of value stolen.  The MSABI borehole and pump we believe will provide a longterm solution to providing water at this school.  These pictures are a good example of the failing water supply situation in Tanzanian and beyond.

PLAN solar pump installation for Kiongwile School.  The system lasted 3 months before the panels and pump were stolen.

Towards world environmental health day in Tanzania

Towards world environmental health day.

On 26^th September 2017 the whole world will join hand to celebrate the World environmental health day. Many of us we tend to commingle these two terms environmental health and environmental at large generally Environmental health encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health but environment is the totality of what surround a humanbeing biotic and abiotic matters. This year theme is Indoor and outdoor air quality choice of the theme is connoted to with the emphasis given by WHO director general who cemented on the necessity of  air quality march 2017,thus WHO stated that poor quality of air affects more than 80% of the worlds population and microbial pollution is a key element of indoor air pollution. It is caused by hundreds of species of bacteria and fungi, in particular filamentous fungi (mould),growing indoors when sufficient moisture is available. On the other side ambient (out door air quality) in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3 million premature death world wide (WHO 2012 fact sheet).According to thee WHO international agency for Research cancer (IARC) ambient air is marked to be carcinogenic if not well managed and controlled thus it is the air quality which may pose cardiovascular and respiratory perturbations risks.

In Tanzania Morogoro is the only municipality reporting to the WHO and has high levels of particulate matter contributing to poor air quality (WHO 2014 fact sheet) .The  require standard by WHO for particulate matter (PM) with diameter of 2.5 microns  should not exceed 10 micrometer/m3 and 20 micrometer/m3 for PM with 10 microns.

At this juncture with have seen the necessity of having this theme regarding air quality especially in Tanzania where we have the Environmental Management regulation for air quality standards of 2007 which is still not having much teeth to make it function better and we are also on a radar toward the medium economy country with a lot of industries which will also pollute our ambient air. Moreover the number of environmental law breaches will increase since there is no a landed description which has pinpointed the way to manage pollution in conjunction to the projection of middle economy country. Toward the environmental day Tanzania has to make sure that all the required standards for air quality standards are well informed and followed, with the increase of enforcers to the carrier I mean Environmental health officer (EH0).

Some countries like  Malawi vehicles pays pollution fee which is the polluter pay fee which evert the externality to some extent we have also to initiate some of the effective means which will make and ensure the air quality of  standard so that the health of the individuals is well protected  for better developed Tanzania as we move towards middle economy country. VITA VIVENDA

THE MAGIC OF RAUVOLFIA CAFFRA

THE MAGIC OF RAUVOLFIA CAFFRA

Rouvolfia is named after Leon hart Rauwolf who died in 1596 the other term which is Caffra comes from Arabic word Kafir meaning non-believer.In Tanzania this tree has been named in different ways such as Muveriveri in Hehe tribe ,oljabokaryan in Masai ,Quinine tree in English and Mkufi in Swahili.

The tree is most common in Ruaha but also it does occur in other variety locations which are pre-dominated with seasonally waterlogged conditions like wetlands.

Point of interest to this tree is that it the excellent indicator that the ground water table is very high. Also at a certain time in a year the tree becomes infested with froghoppers who excrete pure water which attracts variety of birds.

Humans uses. It contains various alkaloids which is called reserpine and has a tranquilizing effect and is used in the treatment of hypertension. The milky white latex was once thought to cure malaria hence it is named Quinine tree.

It is also said to be a magic plant since it refrain some individual who have bad intention not to affect you ,the powdered roots when carried are said to protect one from the evil intentions of witches also the pegs made from the branches of this tree are concealed in the thatch of ne home it will make the visiting witches forget their evil intentions.

The bark is used mostly by Hehe to increase the alcohol strength of the locally made “ulanzi” which is the wine made from the bamboo sap, this is the same even to home-brewed beer.

Medically  ,the sap from the pounded seeds is dropped into the ear. For hypertension constipation and abdominal pians a root decoction is drunk. For rashes the pulverized stem is mixed with butter and rubbed in skin. Epilepsy patients are told to inhale the vapors of a bark decoction and then bathe in the same liquid.

This shows how nature is of vital to our life as the authenticity indicated on the above description.VITA VIVENDA

In the end, we will conserve only what we love .we will only love what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught by Baba Dioum –Senegalese ecologist.