Ng'irse Village

Despite the fact that the Tanzania Tourist Board closed at 1:00pm on Saturday and we did not make it there in time, we were able to arrange a “cultural tourism program.” We didn’t know much about it, except that we would visit a nearby village and have a walk around with a guide.

We were picked up from the hostel promptly at 9:00 am by our guide and drove an incredibly dusty, bumpy, rocky road about 15 minutes up into the mountains. The road was so bad, we had to get out twice because the car bottomed out and wouldn’t move. It is amazing that cars here last more than a few weeks! Our guide told us a bit about each village (about 3000 people) as we passed it before arriving in Ng’irse (Nnn gear say). The gardens as we drove in were incredible with Canna Lilies that were over eight feet tall and came in every color. In the front yard of the house we stopped at, four teenage boys were harvesting corn. They put dried, shucked corn in a giant potato sack and then beat it with a stick to remove the kernels from the cob. They then sorted all the kernels removing any bad ones and rocks and placed the good ones into more potato sacks for storage. It was really fun to watch and I was glad to be observing only as the work was hard.

Next, we had a cup of coffee with the village chairmen who told us about the cultural tourism program in his town. Long story short, they have allowed tourists to pay to visit the village and all the money goes to build a school for the village and four or five that surround it. The chairmen explained that all the accounting books were open for the community to see at any time, so they knew where each dollar was going. He was very proud of his program, his village, and the education the kids were getting from his school.

We left the chairmen’s house with our guide on a walk to see the school and hopefully stop in at a church service. It is predominantly Christian (Lutheran), but there are still a few people who practice traditional local religions. The school was fun to see and we were both surprised by how much it costs to build a VERY simple classroom that will house about 80 students. $15,000. A bag of cement is $15 (compared to a couple bucks in the US) and then the cost to transport to the remote village can be equally as much. One classroom will take years to build. Patience is a requirement, but I couldn’t help but compare to the US where a classroom like this would take less than two days to build and probably could be done for less than $1000. It is differences like these that are hard to account for when we wonder from afar why progress takes so long in third world countries.

Our next stop was at the local church where we joined about thirty very nicely dressed Tanzanians for singing, dancing, and praising. Our guide wrote the words to a couple of songs and we sang and danced along with them. It was something I will never forget. The faith that filled the room was palpable and everyone donated at the end despite the fact that most of them survive on less than $250 a year. It was moving to listen to the service in Swahili and see the passion with which the people worshipped. It was unlike any service I have ever seen in the US. I have video to share when I am home!

Our tour continued with a walk to a beautiful local waterfall, along the way every child wanted to come say hello and give us a flower. Ari had quite the bouquet by the end of our walk. The kids especially wanted to have their picture taken and then get to look at it on the camera. They looked at the camera with wonder- most of them will not use a computer in their lifetime! The landscape was lush and green with crops growing everywhere - bananas, coffee, corn, mangoes, avacados, beans, cabbage, and many more! The waterfall was an idyllic scene and reminded us of the rainforest we were in!

We headed back to the chairmen’s house for lunch and it was delicious! On our final walk, we visited a traditional round house where cattle and people lived together. That is how important cattle are! The women was widowed and relied on the tourism program dollars to help send her kids to school. We visited the local spring where people collect their water each day and walk it back to their home in 5 gallon buckets on their head! Finally we visited a local (very local) bar to have a banana beer which is what the locals drink because it is strong and cheap!

That’s it. It was an incredible day and we were thankful for this look at the local culture outside the tourist areas.