What I am going to write about now, has become something close to my heart. After living here for ten weeks, have I grown very fond of the projects we are working for. I get proud of telling others what I am contributing with and what SEMA has already managed to accomplish in the 20 years they have existed. I got extra proud Wednesday the 12th of December. When the girls finish the nine months long course Bonga, they have the opportunity to sign up for Bonga Forum. Here SEMA helps them and guides them in how to start up a business. We in ACTNOW share an office with the people from SEMA that works with helping these girls, and on Wednesday the 12th of December they brought us out in field. We were going to get an overview on what they have managed to create, and we were going to teach them about Waste Management. The first place we went to, I couldn’t believe that it was made by girls who had initially dropped out of school and used to be very shy. We sat down and talked to them, laughed at our communication problems and ate the food they made. It was by far the best Tanzanian breakfast I have eaten. Six bongagirls made this little charming eatery together some time back. Everyone wakes up every day at sunrise to start cooking, and work until the sun goes down 13 hours later. Even though the hourly wages for each and every one of them are not something to brag about, it was so amazing to see how proud they were of what they had managed to start up and it gave them great pleasure to make money on their own. This is what makes me so proud of what SEMA does, and that by supporting Strømme foundation we can really make lifechanging difference to the lives of others.
Iselin
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Last week SEMA had the pleasure of getting a visit from Sagavoll Folkehøgskole. The office got the opportunity to show the projects, and we got the opportunity to spend time with some Norwegians again, which we loved! The reason for their visit to Singida, was because they had a fundraise for Strømme Foundations Bonga project, and they were going to visit one of the projects to see what the money was spent on. They were 18 students, one teacher, and one “stip”. The “stip” is by the way Audny who was last years Act Now student in Singida. So, we enjoyed having an expertise about both Singida and SEMA here to answer some questions for us. The group arrived on Monday and got what was supposed to be a brief review of SEMA and the projects. On Tuesday we went to a field called Mtinko and visited the Bonga girls there and saw the different areas the girls a specializing in. They can choose sewing, saloning, decoration and food processing. We were divided into groups and spent most of the day with the girls. After this we were divided into smaller groups to join the girls for home visits. The reason for this was to see how the girls lived and the girls could show us their backyard gardens they made with the help of Bonga. We got a lot of good conversations, and the students from Sagavoll said that this was the most eye-opening experience when it came to realizing the importance of the project. They got to talk to the girls about how Bonga creates dreams for the girls and how they get to fulfill some of their dreams as well. On Wednesday, we went to another field, Uhamaka. Here we visited the Bonga center and got an amazing welcoming with dancing and singing. We got to hear about what the girls where specializing in and got to see the backyard garden they created nearby the center. Later we had sports and games with the girls and jumped rope, played cannonball, volleyball and basketball. With some audience from the primary school beside the field, we played for a couple of hours before we headed home again. Thursday, we spent in Singida town, and visited some of the companies the Bonga Forum girls has created. The Bonga Forum girls has already finished the Bonga program and are now a part of the continuing program where they help each other build companies. The rest of the day we spent relaxing, and some of the Bonga Forum came that evening to braid some of the students for Sagavoll.
On Friday it was a farewell party for Sagavoll, done the Tanzanian way. We witnessed local dancing from local people, and not so local dancing from the SEMA staff, including us three… The evening continued with a dance from Sagavoll, food, speeches and SEMA giving gifts to Sagavoll in appreciation of the visit and the fundraising. We got to say a proper good bye and thank you the same evening to our new friends, and felt thankful for experiences, conversations and of course, we were very happy for a refill of out oat-stock and the Christmas candy, decorations and calendars they brought from Norway. Have a blessed December! Kristine |
Kristine
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