You can't save Tanzania

The hardest thing about being here is everything we have had to learn. The best thing about being here is everything that we have learned whether through experience or our discussions. 

While everybody has great intentions, there are very few things that actually are beneficial to Tanzania (or other African countries) in the long run. The US government built an entire factory, near Moshi, to produce mosquito nets for the community. Sound great? It actually does doesn't it? Building the factory gave people jobs, the factory itself gave people jobs. They made mosquito nets which are necessary here for malaria prevention, so that protected people. This entire project was funded by the US government, so unfortunately, as soon as the money ran out, the factory shut down. This ended the influx of money as well as the employment of everybody that worked there. 

The project had the best intentions, but was not sustainable. 

At home, we have so many extra clothes, and they either go to the goodwill or they get sent to Africa with someone going on a mission trip. Here, most of the clothing businesses are in selling used clothing. Most of the new clothing stores have been run out of business, because honestly, who wants to buy something at full price when you can buy it for a fraction of the cost and save the rest for their next meal. Through all of the clothes that we have sent over through the years, we have put a halt to their clothing development factories and stores. Through trying to help them, we hurt their economy in the long run. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are good orphanages here as well as bed ones. I truly feel that we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. The bad ones really are just playing on the fact that there is so much foreign aid poured into Tanzania. They get a bunch of street children, call it an orphanage and hope for funding. When they have gotten the funding, they use a minimal amount on the kids and use the rest on their own salaries. Seriously. Msamaria receives about $420,00 a year and only uses $80,00 on the kids. That is $340,000 to be used on the salaries of three people! (The average salary is $1,200 a year, the Msamaria people will be making $113,000 a year). 

As a service learning group we have seen a lot and we have learned a lot. My first tendency is to fix everything in one swoop, but as Mama Moshi and Dr. Whitney keep saying, "You can not save Tanzania". We can fix one problem at a time, but "You have to let Tanzania save itself". There is no project ever that will be sustainable enough to save an entire country or the entire Dark Continent. 

I have personally come to the conclusion that there are only a few things that are actually helpful when it comes to aid. Providing an education and providing health care. Both of these have to be done through the local people, teaching the children makes it possible for them to continue teaching and providing health care keeps the people healthy and makes jobs here. 

There is a lot more of all of this in my head and if I had a lot longer, I would edit this and make it more organized, but since I have to go to the orphanage, I hope you can follow my train of thought. 

Best wishes to you and yours!