Today, I finally am able to get a meeting with the Roche village council, also including the committees. The day begins a little rough as Rosie must work at RHC with it being a man short, but it works out well as I begin my work with Killian, the famous translator of SHED. Used and loved by all, I’m excited to get a full day with Killian. The Hilux drops us off at the village office (where the meeting was supposed to be held), but within minutes we realize that beside the two of us and Ongoro, one of the VLOP health committee members, no one is around (it’s 10:15 and the meeting was “supposed” to begin at 9). The village executive secretary shows up around 10:30 and informs us that it is at RHC, not the office. So we begin the hike to RHC. Although it was over an hour in the blazing sun, it was a great trek through the farms and fields of cassava, corn, and grass throughout Roche’s subvillages Darajani and Nyataya. I was shown the bore hole to provide water for the village (it provides enough water for about one subvillage) built by ESA, a Swedish NGO that used to do a lot of work in TZ but became frustrated with the response (or lack thereof) they were receiving. As Killian put it, Tanzanians are hard-headed and don’t like change once it’s given to them. I also was shown the foundation for the secondary school that was to be built on the now-VLOP property that will be used for expansion of RHC. Evidently the school had started construction when a wealthy man from Ratia (subvillage east of the property in Nyataya) paid for the school to be moved and built closer to him. Luckily for VLOP, the school was moved and so the land was given for RHC’s construction.
Around noon, the meeting finally gets underway (remember, African Standard Time, which actually goes well with my sometimes unpunctuality in the US) in the living room of a home just behind the health center. There are about twenty-five villagers present including the village chairman and executive secretary, Killian, and me. Those present were committee members or chairmen from all five subvillages representing health, education, and water interests, a meeting of the village minds, if you will. The meeting is begun just as any city council, school board, or official meeting in the US, with the typical formalities, welcomes, and quick news. I’m introduced and thanked for my presence and future work. As the meeting is handed over to me, I take the opportunity to introduce myself in Swahili (a repeat of my first meeting with the chairman), but as I haven’t practiced it in a week, it’s a little rough, and most smile or laugh at me – I think more in a cute, pitying, but appreciative way. The meeting in my mind went very well, as I received a lot of input, opinion, and stories from many of the present leaders. One major cultural aspect that I noticed and appreciated was that when someone spoke to give me their thoughts (whether positive or negative), they began by expressing how thankful they were that VLOP and SHED had helped them build the health center and provide lunch to their children and how important the projects have been to the community…everyone. The comments are also very redundant, but it appears to me that the purpose of this is not to be redundant as much as reinforcing. It seems they believe that by “seconding” and repeating what someone has previously said, they are showing how true and important the point is. I really respect this, especially from an evaluative perspective in that it’s always good for showing that one person’s comment is (or is not) the opinion of the whole. After three hours of discussion, questions, justifications, answers, and logistics, Jackson, the village chairman, ends the meeting by thanking me for my future work, my passion, and informs me that upon my departure in six weeks, we must reconvene so that they can show their happiness in giving to me (what, I do not know) as I am giving to them…very cool! Huts of Roche, here I come!
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