In late April, I traveled to Tanzania and Burundi to visit CARE’s programs, and meet with CARE staff, partners, government officials and the communities in which we work. I was accompanied by Jon Mitchell, CARE USA’s regional director for East Africa and Sherine Jayawickrama, my special assistant. I am pleased to share with you impressions from my visits.

TANZANIA

Tanzania, formed in 1964 by uniting the republics of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, is bordered by eight countries, including Rwanda and Burundi. Because of its location, Tanzania has received hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing neighboring countries over recent years. CARE’s operations in Tanzania began in 1994 in response to the massive outflow of refugees from Rwanda in the wake of the genocide.

In the span of eight years, CARE Tanzania has evolved from a refugee relief organization to one that has a diverse set of development programs. CARE now works in 13 of 25 provinces in Tanzania on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to basic education. Country Director Geoffrey Chege provides inspired leadership. A Kenyan who has worked for CARE in Kenya, Uganda and Egypt (among other countries), Geoffrey understands the challenges of poor communities intimately. The oldest of 12 children, Geoffrey started working as a small boy to pay school fees for himself and his siblings because his parents could not afford to send them to school. Despite the obstacles, Geoffrey maintained an unyielding determination to overcome poverty.

The Promise of Basic Education

The day after our arrival, we set off for Bunju, on the outskirts of Dar Es Salaam. Since it was the height of the rainy season, Geoffrey thoughtfully lent us rubber boots to slog through the mud! Our first stop was to a CARE-supported primary school. I sat in a sixth-grade mathematics classroom as eager students showed me how to use the slide rules that they had made with paper and paste.

The boys and girls were keen to further their education. They acknowledged sadly the reality that only a few of them would be able to go on to secondary school. Last year, 74 students took the examination for secondary school, and 12 were admitted. Only two were girls. I asked why. "Our parents don’t have confidence that girls can do well in school," said Christina. Girls had to help their mothers with household chores, she said, and had less time than boys to study. Early marriages were another obstacle. Christina was determined to do well in school and become a teacher. Overall, only 15 percent of primary school students in Tanzania advance to secondary school. With every student I met, I could not help but wonder how many were latter-day Geoffrey Cheges!

Bell and a young Tanzanian enjoy the Malaria Fair. ©CARE 2002/Geoffrey Chege.

CARE Tanzania is working to improve the quality of basic education and access to it, especially for girls. We do so by building the capacity of Tanzanian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to mobilize community support for education. We also work with local partners in training teachers, providing textbooks, building and renovating classrooms, and training committees to manage community schools. The communities face many constraints, but they are determined to overcome them. The school we visited had more than 750 students and only seven classrooms. The chairman of the school committee was enthusiastic and optimistic. Thanking me for CARE’s support, he assured me that I would not even recognize this school when I visited next — because it would be so advanced!

Malaria: The #1 Killer in Tanzania

Our next stop was a community fair organized by CARE’s Malaria Improvement Project. Operating in six wards in Dar Es Salaam, it seeks to prevent malaria and reduce malaria-related morbidity among pregnant women and children under 5 — two especially vulnerable groups. A CARE assessment of low-income households in Dar Es Salaam indicates a shocking 48 percent prevalence rate. In communities like Bunju, CARE promotes the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and enhances awareness about early signs and symptoms of malaria. I learned that convulsions brought on by malaria are often mistaken as a sign that a person has been bewitched. Such misdiagnoses can delay treatment and lead to death. By creatively raising awareness, the project fights such myths and equips communities to protect themselves from malaria.

The Malaria Fair was a lively way to mobilize people against the disease. The fair was packed with students, mothers, traditional healers, dancers — you name it, they were there! Student members of Malaria Clubs sang songs about preventing malaria. Women’s groups sold ITNs. I even met some members of the victorious Malaria Cup soccer team and admired their uniforms that bore the slogan "Shinda Malaria", or "Fight Malaria"! When peer educators go from house to house, the men and boys are often not at home. To get their attention, our staff organized a soccer tournament for the Malaria Cup. It drew large crowds of men and boys who were exposed to malaria prevention messages just before the games — a truly creative idea! The World Health Organization recently awarded this project a certificate of excellence for its innovative approach to advancing prevention, early detection and proper treatment of malaria.

Thanks in part to a CARE conservation project, the once-endangered Red Colobus monkey thrives today. ©CARE 1999/Tyler Hicks.

A Community Claims Access to Safe Water

Next, we visited a community in which CARE Tanzania’s Hujakwama project works. "Hujakwama" means "you are not stuck" in Swahili, conveying to project participants that they have the power to improve their situations. Members of the community had just built a water distribution point to bring in water from the town of Bunju. I was given the honor of turning the new spigot, filling a pail and placing it on the head of Rehema Kibengele, the spirited woman who serves as treasurer of the community water committee. Previously, women in the community had to walk three hours each way to fetch water. With CARE’s help, the community was able to invest some of its savings in water supply infrastructure and reach its goal of improved water access.

Rehema joked with me. "Before CARE helped us, we spent so much time fetching water that we did not even have time for our husbands," she said. "Now we have more time and there is more love!" Her neighbors laughed heartily at her irreverence. The water committee on which Rehema serves monitors water usage and charges people 20 shillings per bucket of water. The revenue that is collected enables the committee to maintain and manage the system.

Hujakwama does not only focus on water supply. It aims to enhance the livelihood security of low-income households by improving access to infrastructure, water, sanitation, health, education and income generation. All told, more than 1,200 women have been trained by the project in entrepreneurial skills.

Families need stability if they are to overcome poverty. That's why CARE is helping communities rebuild homes and livelihoods. ©CARE 2002.

The Heartbreaking Toll of HIV/AIDS

The next day, we visited one of CARE’s partner organizations in Tanzania. CCBRT is led by Geert Vanesse, a high-energy Dutchman who is intensely committed to providing care to Tanzanians with disabilities, especially those who cannot afford health services. We talked about CCBRT’s and CARE’s efforts to raise awareness among primary school children of HIV/AIDS. At first, this seemed like an odd audience to target, but I soon realized how strategic the choice was. One of every three children in Dar Es Salaam is sexually active or has been approached sexually by the time he/she completes primary school.

CARE supports CCBRT in conducting three-day HIV/AIDS awareness sessions in primary schools. A team of 25 "animators" and 20 teachers develop these sessions, which involve role-plays and performances. The illustrated booklets distributed to students are open about sexuality and explicit about how HIV/AIDS is contracted. In a country where one out of 10 people is HIV-positive, the need to convey the realities of HIV infection is urgent.

At CCBRT, I had the privilege of meeting with a group of youths whose parents had died from HIV/AIDS. They were just a handful of the 11 million AIDS orphans in Africa. In Tanzania, one in 10 children has lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS. Joseph Oda, 19, lost both his parents to AIDS in the early 1990s. Since his father did not write a will bequeathing what little assets he owned to his son, Joseph became penniless after his father’s death. As is custom in some Tanzanian ethnic groups, the father’s property went to his parents and siblings, who renounced Joseph, believing that he too might have AIDS. After a few years living on the street, Joseph was found by CCBRT, which now pays his fees for secondary school. He aspires to go all the way to university and become a minister in the Tanzanian government! Joseph’s determination and strength of personality were impressive. I have no doubt that he will make an exceptional contribution to his country.

It was apparent that this group of young people — even though they bore the stigma of being AIDS orphans — had great potential for leadership. They had been through tremendous hardships, but their courage and perseverance prevailed. Although each of them loved school, none had dared to divulge to their classmates that their parents had died of AIDS. Letting that slip might cause them to be ostracized. I asked them what the biggest challenge for Tanzania was. One replied: "By 2050, there will be so many people with AIDS — our whole country will be sick." His insight was bone-chilling.

Advancing Conservation and Development in Zanzibar

The rain paused and clouds parted to give us a beautiful view of our approach to Zanzibar. From the air, I could see the islands of Unguja and Pemba, which make up Zanzibar, and the coral reefs around them. Zanzibar has a largely Muslim population and, prior to unification with Tanganyika, was an independent country. It still has its own government and its own distinct identity. Even though we had not left Tanzania, we needed to clear immigration and get a "Zanzibar stamp" in our passports!

Zanzibar is rich with biodiversity. But its unique heritage of forests, mangroves and wildlife are threatened. Traditionally, people of the islands have lived in harmony with their natural environment. With population growth and increased urbanization, that balance is being lost. Villagers consume forest resources — particularly trees for timber and firewood — in ways that cannot be sustained. Wildlife is threatened by villagers who seek to protect their crops from foraging animals. For example, the Red Colobus monkey, which is native to Zanzibar’s Jozani Forest, was severely threatened when CARE began its integrated conservation and development program in Zanzibar in 1995. It is now thriving.

The value of Zanzibar’s biodiversity became apparent during a walk through the Jozani Forest. First, we saw a large group of Red Colobus monkeys in their natural habitat. They were as inquisitive about the group of humans before them as we were about them! Second, Shaaban, our guide, took us along a path that was lined with many species of medicinal plants. He showed us only a small sampling, but it was an impressive exposition! Shaaban’s grandfather had been a traditional healer, who passed on his knowledge of the forest’s medicinal plants to his grandson. There seemed to be a plant for every condition — from diabetes to gum disease, and from morning sickness to hypertension! Shaaban knew how each plant had to be prepared and administered. He was a veritable encyclopedia of healing!

Asha, who coordinates CARE’s work in conservation education in Zanzibar, told us how her team raises awareness through visits to homes, mass media, workshops and role-play. We watched a student group present a performance depicting the threats against forest resources. In the play, a villager helps poachers plan to fell trees from Jozani. At the same time, his wife tells him that their son has contracted malaria. The traditional healer prescribes a remedy prepared from medicinal plants from the forest. This poignantly demonstrates to the father that the well-being of his family depends on the same forest resources that he is helping deplete.

Bell shared in the community's excitement over the arrival of young goats as part of CARE's Small Livestock Project. ©CARE 2002.

Communities on the Frontline of Conservation

As a result of CARE’s work in Zanzibar, communities are more aware of the value of their natural resources, better organized to manage these resources, and better able to balance livelihood security with conservation. One of our goals has been to show that income generation and conservation can be mutually reinforcing. This was done, in part, by persuading the government to introduce a revenue retention system that transfers to communities one-eighth of the revenue from each tourist’s admission ticket to Jozani. In addition, CARE promotes income-generating activities that do not cause natural resource degradation. We help mobilize savings and loans among communities, and link community groups with the technical and market knowledge to increase earnings.

In the village of Peté, I met a savings and loan group that was a model of organization and enthusiasm. Aziz Abdallah, chair of the group of 10 men and 10 women, imposed a strict discipline. Members of the group who arrived late for meetings had to pay a fine that went into the group’s pot of savings! Established a year ago, the group has developed a set of by-laws for governance. In addition to setting out details such as the interest rate and the number of loans allowable, the by-laws clearly state that individuals who damage Zanzibar’s natural environment are not eligible for loans.

At the start of a savings and loan cycle, members contribute their savings in weekly installments. At the end of the savings period, CARE matches the group’s total savings. From the aggregate amount of capital available, money is loaned to members for income-generating activities. A management committee makes decisions on the viability of proposals. Cash is kept in a lockbox with three padlocks, each kept by a different person. At the end of the cycle, the CARE loan is repaid in full and members get their savings back with interest. The system benefits all parties: villagers are saving regularly; the repayment rate on loans is typically 100 percent; and alternative income generating enterprises are taking pressure off precious forest resources.

I asked the group how they benefit from this activity. "We see that we can earn a decent income without cutting forest products," said one member. Moreover, they learned that they could indeed save! One of the most debilitating myths of development is that poor people cannot save and will not pay back loans. The villagers themselves did not believe that they could save enough to build a base for loans. They are now delighted to have proven themselves wrong! Energized by their success in saving, borrowing and repaying, the group seeks to diversify its income generating activities. They have a strong sense of what they can accomplish when they pull together, and are hungry for training and new ideas to expand their horizons and tap new markets. They are an inspiring example of the power of effective community mobilization!

Parting Impressions

I regret that I was only able to stop over briefly in Mwanza en route to Burundi. The town — on the shore of Lake Victoria — serves as our base for programming in northern Tanzania. In little more than an hour, our staff gave me an intensive briefing and a delicious lunch of tilapia. CARE Tanzania’s Lake Zone programs are broad and diverse.

The rapid evolution of CARE Tanzania from an organization dealing with refugees to a multi-faceted development organization has been impressive. The dedication and effectiveness of our staff and strategic investment of resources have brought the country office a long way. CARE Tanzania is focusing on important areas in which CARE’s expertise can be leveraged. HIV/AIDS is an area in which we are gathering momentum, particularly with the $15 million USAID-funded Voluntary Sector Health Program launched in July 2001. Strengthening local governance is likely to be a central focus of CARE Tanzania’s upcoming strategic plan. Partnership is seen as key to building local institutional capacity and strengthening civil society. Building the capacity of small, Tanzanian NGOs has become one of CARE’s niches.

CARE supports peace and reconciliation projects with the hope that Burundi's next generation -- children like these -- will benefit. ©CARE 2002.

BURUNDI

Our flight to Burundi in a small single-engine plane took us over Lake Victoria, across the lush, green mountains of Western Tanzania and Eastern Burundi and into Bujumbura. Burundi’s picturesque capital is nestled between the mountains and Lake Tanganyika. On the other side of the lake is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite its serene façade, Bujumbura is virtually under seige; there is regular fighting on the outskirts of the city.

Torn by War, Poised for Peace

Burundi is a beautiful country torn by war. As in Rwanda, the 6.8 million people of Burundi identify primarily with two ethnic groups — 85 percent are Hutu and 14 percent are Tutsi. Burundi shares with Rwanda a bitter history of ethnic conflict. Even though Hutus are a large majority, they are historically disadvantaged — educationally, economically and politically. Tutsis have dominated the army and the government. In 1993, Melchior Ndayaye, a Hutu, won the nation’s first free presidential election and was assassinated in a coup attempt by extremist Tutsi soldiers. This convulsed Burundi into a bloody outburst of ethnic killings; violence has swept the country since then. More than 200,000 people have been killed, and more than a million are crowded into refugee camps in neighboring countries or are displaced within Burundi. With life expectancy reduced to 46 years and one in 10 people HIV-positive, hard-fought development gains have been wiped out. Few countries in the world are so forgotten or isolated.

Despite recent history, most people in Burundi want peace. The country is now poised, albeit precariously, on the threshold of peace. On the political front, a peace process initiated by late president Julius Nyerere of Tanzania — and negotiated by former president Nelson Mandela of South Africa — has resulted in all but two Hutu rebel groups signing the Arusha Peace Accord in August 2000. A transitional, power-sharing government was established in November 2001 and has tried to advance an inclusive peace. If all goes according to plan, free elections will take place in two years. On the military front, a cessation of hostilities — between the two major Hutu rebel groups and the Tutsi-dominated army — may be close. Ordinary Hutus and Tutsis are exhausted by war and yearn for peace.

CARE has worked in Burundi since 1994. Initial programming focused on assistance to Rwandan refugees and internally displaced Burundians. In 2000, lead membership for CARE Burundi switched from CARE Canada to CARE USA, and Alain Pillet, who is French, became country director. He has demonstrated strong, steady leadership in a complex and volatile situation. Under Alain’s watch, CARE Burundi is providing emergency assistance to vulnerable groups while also advancing programs that promote reconciliation and development.

Amahoro! A Cry for Peace

In Ngozi, a northern province on the border with Rwanda, we saw CARE’s efforts to help displaced people rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Although Ngozi was swept by ethnic violence in 1993 and 1994, it has been relatively calm for the past few years. Still, many people are too afraid to return to their land. They have lost their homes and livestock — and, all too often, their relatives — and live in "camps" set up by the government. En route to the commune of Tangara, our jeep slithered through the muddy roads. Children stood by the roadside and ran out of shacks to wave at us, excitedly shouting "Amahoro!" which means "peace" in Kirundi, the local language. Sadly, peace has been elusive in their lifetimes.

In Tangara, CARE is helping 750 displaced families build or rehabilitate their houses. When people first moved here, they lived in makeshift shacks with plastic sheeting as protection from the elements. CARE is helping communities make bricks for construction, providing iron sheeting for roofing, and training young people to help with reconstruction. I spoke with Andre Mbonabuca, an elderly man who arrived in Tangara in 1997. Eight of his children were killed in the ethnic conflict. Five children (including an orphan he has taken in) live in his tiny remnant of a house. His wife is physically handicapped. The family has little means to survive. Andre proudly showed me the foundation that had just been laid for his future home. "I am too old to work," he said, "so the younger, stronger people are helping me." Working together, members of the community will complete Andre’s house in two weeks.

CARE empowers communities to take control of the rehabilitation effort. Villagers elect representatives to committees that manage construction materials and identify beneficiaries, giving priority to vulnerable groups such as children, handicapped people, orphans, families affected by HIV/AIDS and the elderly.

Despite the traumatic memories of ethnic violence, people are remarkably resilient and hopeful. Manisha, a mother of two, told me how Hutus and Tutsis coexist peacefully in her community. She explained how they labor side-by-side to rebuild houses destroyed in the war. Manisha saw her husband’s parents die as a consequence of the fighting in 1993. There is nothing she wants more than a peaceful future for her children.

It was encouraging to see villagers working together diligently in the construction effort. We stopped to greet a group making bricks. They had a tough challenge on such a rainy day, but worked enthusiastically, cheered on by the ever-expanding group of villagers following us. When a strong gust of wind jerked the plastic sheet hanging above the brick makers, the rainwater that had collected in it splashed our "entourage." They squealed in surprise and laughed with delight — it was reassuring to see them express joy so easily, after all of their suffering.

Rebuilding Communities, Investing in Livestock

In Ruhororo, a sea of people turned out to greet us with chants, songs and dances. The commune administrator expressed his appreciation for CARE’s efforts and urged us to keep working with them. The crowd was particularly excited because it was a special day: the day when goats would be distributed. In Burundi, livestock are a vital asset. Families’ precious savings are frequently made in the form of livestock. As waves of ethnic violence have swept Burundi, the destruction of livestock has devastated families’ livelihoods.

ARE’s Small Livestock Project helps families to increase their income and to diversify their food supply. Each village receives a few male goats, and each vulnerable household receives one female goat. A community-elected committee is trained by CARE staff to manage the livestock and identify recipient households, which are most often headed by women. Recipients agree that, when their female goats have kids, the first one will be given back to the committee, which will in turn pass it on to another household. In this way, the community’s goat population is restocked, and households are able to enhance their livelihood security.

I had the honor of handing over the first of 35 goats being distributed that day. Representatives of households chosen by the community-elected committee strode up in eager anticipation to receive their goats. Bernadette Hatungimana, who received a female goat last year, told me how important livestock was to rebuilding a secure future for her family. "When my goat has kids, I will be able to sell one or two to send my children to school and buy seeds to plant," she said. In addition, manure from the goats will help fertilize her crops.

CARE's initial role in Burundi was to help Rwandan refugees. Today, food distribution remains an important element of CARE's mission to promote community development. ©Alan Gignoux 2001/CARE photo.

Providing Sustenance to Vulnerable Families

Throughout Burundi, CARE works with the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide food rations to vulnerable families. In 2001, CARE Burundi distributed more than 30,000 metric tons of food. Although this is, at face value, a "traditional" food aid program, CARE’s community-based approach is innovative. Rather than select beneficiaries ourselves or put this responsibility into the hands of the local authorities, CARE invites communities to set up committees that identify the most vulnerable families. This system rests on the belief that communities know best what their needs are, and have the capability to organize their own programs.

To ensure accountability, two days before each distribution, CARE staff randomly select a few families that the committee has identified and verify that they are indeed among the most vulnerable. Ten days after the distribution, CARE staff check with randomly selected families to ensure that they were able to get the food back to their homes safely. These types of safeguards are necessary in an environment as insecure as Burundi, where food can be stolen from families as they carry it back to their homes.

Laying a Foundation for Peace

Despite the immediacy of needs for sustenance and rebuilding, CARE Burundi also is focusing on a more forward-looking goal: building a strong foundation for peace at the grassroots level. CARE’s peace education work in northern Burundi, conducted in partnership with Search for Common Ground, is innovative and inspiring. The project seeks to facilitate dialogue among citizens and promote ideas for peace building. Radio programs and dramas presented by a local theater group convey to people that peace can be built from the ground up — within communities and households. These media open up fora in which ordinary people can share their concerns and ideas. CARE also provides special training for bashingataye, traditional leaders, to help resolve conflicts at the local level more effectively.

In Tangara, we watched part of a drama presented by a theater group. Tough issues regarding ethnic and social divisions were addressed in the frank dialogue between a husband and wife in the scene. Humor interspersed in the dialogue kept the atmosphere light, even as sensitive and traumatic issues surfaced. The large audience was captivated. The scene ended with the husband and wife joining three others around a large pot of banana beer. They drank from long straws in this Burundian tradition that symbolizes the coming together of ethnicities for a communal drink. The Administrator of the commune told me that our peace education work had come at the right time.

In the Busiga commune, I was able to talk to a group of 30 bashingataye who were attending the last day of a training program on conflict resolution. Bernard Nkundwa was pleased with what he had learned over three days. "The old way to resolve conflicts was for one side to win and the other side lose," he said. "Now, we know ways to seek solutions where both sides can win." Andre Nyabenda had an interesting insight. "I used to think that resolving conflict was my responsibility," he said, "but now I realize that I can help members of my community arrive at their own agreements." All the traditional leaders present urged CARE to broaden and deepen our work in peace education. I could not agree more on its importance, but am saddened by how difficult it is to get funding for activities like this in a country so isolated.

As we drove back to Bujumbura from Ngozi, we passed soldiers and young vigilantes bearing weapons. As we drove alongside the Kibira Forest, which is the sanctuary of the FDD, a Hutu rebel group, Alain told us that the road we were on changes hands every day. In a surreal daily routine, the army patrols the road during the day and returns to their barracks in the evening; at night, the road is controlled by the FDD. Innocent civilians are threatened by — and squeezed between — both sides.

Final Impressions

I left Burundi struck by the isolation of the country, sobered by the trauma Burundians are living through, and energized by the possibility of peace and reconciliation. More than any other country I have visited, Burundi feels completely forgotten by the world. It is all the more important, however, that the world not overlook Burundi now that peace really has a chance. Ordinary people from both ethnicities hope that a settlement can be brokered and that they can live side-by-side in peace. Western governments must not only support the peace process, but also invest in development to show the people of Burundi that peace will bring dividends. This must not remain "an African problem" that the rest of the world can ignore. What happened in Rwanda is a lesson we must never forget.

Despite very difficult circumstances, our staff in Burundi are doing innovative work with extraordinary dedication. Peace education activities and a community-based approach to food distribution — these are cutting edge. Moreover, all of this is done on a budget of less than $2 million and with careful investment of CARE USA’s unrestricted resources. There are many new challenges that CARE Burundi must take on in the coming years. HIV/AIDS is one of them. With one in 10 Burundians HIV-positive, high levels of migration, poor health infrastructure and little legal protection for families affected by HIV/AIDS, the disease could run rampant. With the prospect of a large refugee return on the horizon, resettlement and reintegration will be a huge challenge for the government and for NGOs like CARE.

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I returned to Atlanta energized by the commitment and perseverance of CARE’s staff in Tanzania and Burundi, and motivated by the determination of poor communities to overcome the difficulties they face. I am impressed with the creativity and professionalism of our staff there, and take great pride in their work. As in my prior visits to Africa, my visits to Tanzania and Burundi reaffirmed the importance of CARE’s commitment to sub-Saharan Africa and underscored the impact we have leveraged with the increased resources we have committed to Africa over the past few years. The Burundian children’s shout of "Amahoro!" still rings in my ears. We at CARE will do our best to heed that hopeful, resilient call.