Unite Scholars complete internship with Unite Food Program (Part 1)

Last month, over their school holiday, a number of Unite Scholars participated in internship programs at the newly constructed Unite Food Program (UFP) Headquarters in Dar es Salaam and at our Unite Food Program outpost in Nankanga village in southwest Tanzania. They learned about agro-business, customer service, teamwork, organic food processing and gardening, and so much more. This post features highlights from the scholars’ internship at HQ. The next post, Part II, will cover their experiences in Nankanga at the outpost.

“In order to save the society, we need to find problems and create solution. Unite Food program is the perfect example: buying grains from the poor to feed the poor.”

— Unite Scholar Ashura Amiry 

A number of Unite Scholars who completed Form 5 and a few who graduated Form 6 (A-levels, higher secondary school) spent two weeks at UFP headquarters in Dar this June working alongside UFP teammates. “I learned so much about achieving my dreams and that, no matter what, I always need to keep on dreaming. Without dreaming we become like birds without wings who will never be able to fly.” —Unite Scholar David Bitaho, rising Form 6 student at Tabora Boys Secondary School. 

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The internship at UPF HQ began with the receiving, unloading, and processing of more than 33,500 kilograms of organic maize purchased from small-scale farmers in the Iringa district. (To date more than 70,000 kilograms of organic maize have been purchased from small-scale farmers across Tanzania and delivered to UFP HQ).

Click HERE to see a one-minute video of the unloading process.

First, the maize is unloaded from the transport packages and laid out to dry in the sun to remove any last bits of moisture that could eventually lead to rot.

Next the maize is “winnowed,” which means that any unwanted dirt and/or debris is carefully and painstakingly removed by hand so that the final maize that is loaded into the air-tight Agro-Z storage bags is pure and clean.

Once packed in the hermetically-sealed, multi-layered, pest-resistant Agro-Z bags, the maize is arranged in the storeroom where it will remain safe and fresh for up to five years.

Click HERE to watch a one-minute video of the team sorting and cleaning the maize and preparing and packing the Agro-Z bags.

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In addition to sorting and packing the maize, our scholars worked alongside our UFP team to “beautify” the UFP campus. They prepared the land for fodder grasses, spent time weeding and harvesting the on-site Unite garden, and even crafted and painted personalized clay pots in which they planted decorative flowers to line the gates and the interior walkways.

UFP co-director and environmental scientist Clara Wilson Ngowi demonstrates to the team how to make clay pots, which will be used to decorate and enhance the HQ campus. Each scholar was able to make, paint, and personalize his/her own pot — leaving a personalized “stamp” on UFP HQ.

The team received truckloads of topsoil, which they used to level and prepare the campus grounds for the planting of the fodder grasses.

Unite Scholar Ashura Amiry, Unite Program Director Anty Marche, and Clara Wilson Ngowi demonstrate to the team how to separate and plant the fodder grasses.

Click HERE to watch a one-minute video of the team planting the fodder grasses.

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In addition to their hands-on labor at HQ, the scholars and team received two days of business training led by UFP advisor Romanus Mtunge (Tanzania Program Director for CUSO International) and local accountant and bookkeeper Mr Leo.

UFP Advisor Romanus Mtunge stressed to the scholars the importance of creativity, persistence, self discipline, commitment, staying true to one’s word, careful budgeting, risk taking, and the ability to learn from mistakes. 

Professional accountant Mr. Leo led the team on lessons in bookkeeping and budgeting.

Additional topics covered during the two-days of training included sales and marketing; staffing and logistics; customer service; compliance and tax laws; leadership; and more.

“Mr Romanus talked to us about how to be a successful entrepreneur. He highlighted three basic things: Being practical with your money; realizing that building a business is a huge commitment; and being precise and honest with your word.” - Unite Scholar Luther Kavishe

Following their in-class business trainings, our scholars were placed in small working groups with UFP teammates and sent out into the field to conduct market research. Each teammate was tasked with interviewing shopkeepers and restaurant owners to complete at least 10 questionnaires that addressed such topics as which types of flour the customers were currently using, what price they were paying for their flour, what they liked and disliked about their products, what they are needing and wanting, and what would motivate them to buy from UFP.  

The team at UFP HQ. June 2021

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On the final day of the internship, the team welcomed special visitors Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond (co-founder of Fannie Lou Hamer House, a retreat space for black artists in America) and Lawrence Mwantimwa (founder & CEO of Africa Young Leaders Connect, a Tanzanian NGO that provides youth with leadership empowerment solutions). Dr. Redmond and Mr. Mwantimwa shared stories with our Unite Scholars about their personal career paths, some of the challenges and successes they faced along the way, and about the importance of hard work, focused vision, collaboration, and serving one’s society at large.

And then, it came time to celebrate! Unite’s lead mentor Joan Mnzava (top left) presented each scholar with a personalized certificates and gifts of organic honey.

Following the awards ceremony the team danced, sang, and ate cake!

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Click HERE to see a video clip of the final organic maize flour product prepared for delivery.

Unite Passion Project WINS the Brewbike Future Fund Award

Founder and director of the Unite Passion Project Lila Wells (currently a rising junior at Northwestern University in Chicago) has been working part-time with the cold brew coffee company BrewBike since January 2020, first in campus operations and then in marketing and now with social media. BrewBike’s mission is “to empower the next generation of leaders through entrepreneurial experience.” Lila submitted her presentation (below) to the Brewbike Future Fund team of judges early this spring and was recently chosen as the winner of this student competition, which is designed to empower “the next generation of entrepreneurs to chase their dreams and do the good they are meant to do in this world.” The grand prize of $3,800 will be allocated towards growing The Passion Project through the launching of additional Unite Clubs in secondary schools across Tanzania. Congratulations Lila and thank you to the BrewBike Future Fund!

The AWARD-WINNING presentation

Hello and thank you for taking the time to listen to me talk about one of my passion projects today. Fittingly, its name is the Unite Passion Project – and venture has been a highlight of both my sophomore year and college career more broadly.

My name’s Lila. I’m a sophomore undergraduate at Northwestern University double-majoring in Sociology and Legal Studies. And that, I’m passionate about. But it took me a while to get there. First quarter freshman year, I was an aspiring Chemistry major who thought that the lab was my future. That, I believed, was my passion. Until I took my first college Chemistry Course and realized that my interests and talents most definitely lied elsewhere. This realization was something I thought had more to do with me than my access to career knowledge more broadly. It seemed like all of my peers around me knew what they wanted, what their futures would be. But as I began to converse with people I admired, I found that – as young people – choosing a course of study and future career path is something inherently mutable and subject to change. Frankly, it’s something we as 17, 18, 19, and 20 year olds often don’t talk enough about. Aren’t perhaps prepared enough for.

I’ve had the honor and pleasure of working with the international NGO Unite the World With Africa Foundation – which aims to empower extraordinary yet impoverished and marginalized Tanzanian youth and women with quality education, health, leadership, and business development programs – all aimed to foster independence and long-term success. I’mlucky to have been mentored by Unite’s incredible Tanzanian leadership team, and to call members of the organization’s flagship program – the Unite Scholars – my good friends. And as I was talking with one of them, Imani Faustine, this past June he brought up a question that brought me back to my freshman year dilemma. He asked the following – can you have more than one dream? The answer is, of course, yes, but its something that – especially in Tanzania – students often aren’t encouraged to do. Their school system, operating similarly to the British system, steadily hones in on one to three subjects throughout a student’s pre-university path. Once you’ve reached your A-Levels, your course is practically set. Or so we think, right?

Imani’s question and my dilemma, as well as ideas brought up by the remaining 41 Unite A-Level Scholars are ultimately what created this venture, the Unite Passion Project. The Unite Passion Project operates where other programs don’t: government A-Level schools in Tanzania. Through a comprehensive curriculum emphasizing soft skills as well as an open source library speaker videos, this program addresses challenges that are otherwise not discussed—career readiness and professional development. These skills are vital for students coming of age in a time where the traditional path (school, one career, retirement) is becoming less and less common. The Passion Project addresses an endemic lack of career exposure by showcasing the passions, career paths, and activities of students and professionals from around the world, as well as how they have leveraged their resources and strategies to attain their dreams. We focus on amplifying Tanzanian excellence, and currently have 107 speaker videos on the platform, reaching over 1,300 students in six Tanzanian upper secondary schools.

The Passion Project videos are viewed and discussed in depth in Unite Clubs within each school. The clubs have a tripartite focus, ecology, altruism, and intellect. The first, ecology, stresses environmental reforestation – and sidenote, our Kibaha Club planted over 400 trees this spring. The altruism tenet is all about giving back to each school’s surrounding communities, often through donating time to local projects. The last tenet, intellect, is where the Unite Passion Project videos – to encourage honest, strategic and thoughtful debate about the future.

Starting last summer, I began to build a Tanzanian and American team through my contacts at Unite as well as through my university to embark on this project. I have spoken about this venture on Work With Engaisi, a Kenyan podcast, as well as at Emory University. This project has also been featured in the Greens Farms Academy magazine, Westport News, the Audira Labs newsletter, and BBC’s Voice of America Swahili.

So, where are we now? The Unite Passion Project currently has 107 speaker videos on its platform (both on YouTube and offline through Tanzanian-mediated channels). Our six partner Unite Clubs have over 1,300 members in total, and we have added over 12 comprehensive modules emphasizing soft skill and pre professional development. This spring, I have built a team of five undergraduate students from Northwestern, DePaul University, and Brown, and together we reached out to over 200 potential speakers – garnering over 40 thus far to add to our collection. I revamped and relaunched our website and work collaboratively with Tanzanian Unite Club Coordinators to establish a feedback mechanism between our audience and speakers. This venture is my life, and it has been the opportunity of a lifetime to connect with professionals young and old from around the world through a simple question: what exactly is your passion?

I was accepted to the Winter 2020 cohort of Propel this past December through Northwestern University’s Garage Entrepreneurial Incubator. Propel seeks to empower female entrepreneurs, and in my time there I developed five partnerships for the Passion Project. I’ll describe a few of interest. The first is crisis training with Dr. Kenneth Wolf a cinical psychologist who consulted with the government in crisises like 9/11 and the Oklahoma City Bombings. Dr. Wolf will be training our Unite leadership cohort and a select group of Unite Club students on how to effectively identify, assess, and address traumatic situations in their communities at large.  

The second involves Winnie Nyato, a Tanzanian native and Evidence and Insights Manager at Girl Effect. She is working with us to bring a ‘Somo Session’ to our Kibaha Boys Unite Club, which will involve  intensive career training and talks from young Tanzanian professionals, who will demonstrate firsthand the opportunities, challenges, and obstacles faced when entering the job market. Another Tanzanian native, Adam Mkaka, has partnered with us to bring our comprehensive speaker series and career development program into Tanzanian refugee camps. We have also included Hussein Mussa’s Afrika Sihami videos in our club repertoire. Afrika Sihami – which in Swahili means ‘We Don’t Leave Afrika’ aims to inspire and educate through positive and empowering stories of East African history. These videos will be paramount in demonstrating Tanzanian and East African excellence. 

I’ll stop there because this is truly the important part. Where your funding would go. To the right is David Bitaho, a Unite Scholar and incredible leader who is currently studying at Tabora Boys School in Tanzania. He and his classmates have expressed interest in starting a Unite Club – and after many many many Whatsapp and email correspondences, we’re excited to embark on this new club launch. But we need some funding to do so. 

The price breakdown for the Tabora Boys club costs are as follows: 2000 USD for laptop screens, a projector modem, and microphone speaker to facilitate video viewing and discussion. 500 USD for club notebooks, pens, and academic materials for the year. 500 USD for all necessary materials for a Unite Garden, a factor of our ecology tenet which includes tree planting. And 600 to 800 USD for teacher coordinator stipends, phone bundle allowances (such as minutes), communication, and club events with the community.

With this funding, the Unite Passion Project could launch the Tabora Boys School club to reach over 300 additional students. This career exposure is paramount and, speaking from my experiences as a student, it truly makes a world of difference by broadening the scope of what is possible to achieve.

To shop Brewbike, get some truly awesome cold brew, and support the Future Fund, click HERE.

To make a tax-deductible donation to help us reach more students in need with

our Unite Passion project and unite Club student program, click HERE.

Lila on a Zoom call with David Bitaho to share the great news that his dream of starting a Unite Club at his school (Tabora Boys) will now come true!

Asante sana kwa muda wako, or thank you for your time.

Walking to Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Maasai Mountain of God

In the northern district of central Tanzania along the southern end of East Africa’s great Rift Valley, Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Maasai Mountain of God, rises as a near-perfectly symmetrical, majestically formed cone from the surrounding miles of vast low-lying savannah bushlands, reaching nearly 10,000 feet at its summit. Lengai, as it is called for short, is the only volcano on Earth where carbonatite magma (low-temperature lava that is black in color, moves quickly like water, and cools into a greyish-white powder-like substance) is currently erupting, and, in the past few years, it has emerged as an up-and-coming tourist destination for extreme adventure-traveler-types from around the world. I’d like to think that this evolution is -- even if only in the tiniest of ways – in part, because of me. 

Why? In June 1994, I walked to Lengai, from the nearest town, Arusha, about 100 kilometers through inhospitable, remote bushlands. I was 22 years old traveling solo across East Africa when I learned about a motley group of international explorers setting out to chart a walking safari trekking route for future clients. There I was enjoying a cup of kahawa na maziwa na sukari sana (coffee with lots of milk and sugar) at the declared halfway point between Cairo and Cape Town, The Arusha Hotel, built by the British in 1894, when I was invited by I-don’t-remember-who to join this pioneer trek. With nothing particular to do and nowhere specific to be, I said yes. 

A few months earlier, I had fled a stifling, predictable-yet-respectable job working in an investment banking firm in Boston, Massachusetts. In my windowless, climate-controlled cubicle, surrounded mostly by men in suits, I feared that my shriveling spirit would disappear altogether. So, one morning in January 1994, I put on my finest red dress and matching lipstick, gathered my courage, inhaled and exhaled, and handed my big boss in the corner office overlooking South Station a hand-typed resignation letter. And then, I booked a one-way ticket to Tanzania. 

Armed with a LL Bean backpack, a collapsible single-person tent, an all-weather down sleeping bag, an extensive first aid kit, and a heart overflowing with the timeless question “What am I meant to do with my life?,” I boarded my KLM flight and headed east. At the time, I had little money and even less of an idea of what I was getting myself into. The night before my flight, my mother told me that she had a dream that I would die if I left. But I believed that I would die if I stayed. So off I went, to the most far-away land I knew of, Tanzania, a country where I had spent a semester abroad a few years earlier studying “wildlife conservation and human cultural management” and the only place in Africa I knew a single number to call when I landed. 

I met up with my trekking group and the three camels who would be hauling our supplies in the dusty barren Maasai village of Mkuru, which sits in the northern foothills of Mt Meru facing the Kenyan border. (Meru is the second largest mountain in Tanzania next to Kilimanjaro). Our leader was a 20-something Brit named Jan who was intent on launching a new adventure travel company. Then there was me, a tall, blonde, naïve white girl from preppy New England; two expert snake-wranglers from South Africa; one up-and-coming American documentary filmmaker from Las Vegas (he was in Tanzania to film vultures); two other men whose names and faces I can no longer remember; and one other woman, Jan’s girlfriend, an American named Cara Cargill. 

From Mkuru, our group set out, steering always west, north-west. At first I was excited to walk in the company of camels. I had never before encountered beasts with such long legs and large-lipped snouts. I imagined befriending at least one of them, plodding along, side by side, sharing my stories of life as we crossed the sea of open bushlands. However, quickly I learned these “ships of the desert” are not playful or affectionate creatures, at least to the humans for whom they haul heavy loads. Camels may greet one another by blowing in each other’s faces, but they greet humans by spitting wads of regurgitated cud in our faces. And that’s not the most unpleasant thing. It’s the sounds they make when standing up, kneeling, or doing just about anything at all. Bees buzz, birds chirp, dogs bark, and elephants trumpet, but for the vocalizations of camels, there is no simple word. Cough, bellow, screech, snort, scream, groan, moan, rumble, roar…. Not one does a camel justice. 

The first day we set out about noon from Mkuru and walked until sunset, which, along the equator, occurs at about 6:00 pm sharp every day all year round. For 30 to 40 magnificent minutes after that round ball of fire descends below the horizon there remains a brilliant and vast yellow-, orange, and red-shaded glow. Basking in this fading light we unloaded the camels, pitched our tents, built a small fire over which to boil water, and enjoyed a granola bar, or two, for dinner. 

The next seven days were largely the same except for an ever-evolving landscape around us. Jan would wake us up at 3:00 am each morning. We would drink instant coffee, eat a few bites of oatmeal, and set off long before sunrise. Generally, the group would start off walking together or in pairs, and eventually, everyone, moving at his or her own pace, would spread out over several miles. Naturally a brisk walker, by mid-day, when the equatorial sun had reached its zenith, baking everything beneath its powerful gaze into blistering, dried out meat, I would find myself alone, as if in the middle of a desert-ocean, with the horizon looming 360-degrees around. Looking behind, I might be able to see in the faraway distance, the glimmering, ghost-like outline of a human, or two, and possibly that of a camel, but otherwise it was just me.

The camels were the slowest among us, perhaps innately aware of their needs and limitations in a way that we humans were not. The first day I made the mistake of leaving my water bottle in my pack carried on one of the camels and nearly fainted from dehydration. Another day I left my sunscreen on a camel’s back and scolded myself with every new blister I felt bubble up on the back of my bare legs. 

As the days went on, the threats we faced (besides those created by our own stupidity…sunburns, sunstroke, dehydration) changed only slightly. Where the grass cover was low and the shrubs stiff and thorny, we stayed focused on the ground directly beneath and around our feet to avoid stepping on the perfectly camouflaged, venomous, highly deadly puff adder. Where the grasses were high, we continuously scanned the landscape, listening carefully for the low-pitched grunt of the lion or the whooping cackle of the hyena. The truth is, for the entire eight-day journey, I never completely relaxed, my senses always on high alert, ready for predators and dangers of all kinds. In my mind, I ran countless “what if” scenarios, and in not one was my survival ever a remote option. Out there walking across the African tundra, my mind found the space and time to review all that had happened during my 22 years on earth and image all that I desired to happen during the years to come if I was lucky enough to survive. 

In the end, I made it, and without much issue. In a stroke of luck, the cheap leather pseudo-hiking boots I had purchased from a J-Crew catalog at home because I thought they looked cute, didn’t fall apart, completely, until we reached Lengai, the great Maasai Mountain of God. The documentary film guy from Vegas was not so lucky. He had chosen to wear fancy super-air-cushioned Nike sneakers instead of boots, and, unfortunately for him, by day three his feet were raw and covered in blisters. The sounds he made each evening in camp as he lowered his bloody feet into trays of iodine disinfectant made me wish for a camel symphony. I had never before, and never since, heard such agony. The camels were already too overloaded with supplies to bear the weight of a grown man, so the filmmaker had no choice but to walk on.

Eventually, as we moved towards the Great Rift escarpment, the Mountain of God appeared in the distance. With Lengai as our beacon, we trudged forward -- passing through vast herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles; meandering by families of giraffe and ostrich; ever on the lookout for ornery buffalo; and hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare (and quite shy) gerenuk, lesser kudu, and oryx. It was during these extraordinary moments that things became clear to me. I was able to separate from myself in a way I never had before and observe myself think. And what I noticed was that when I wasn’t daydreaming about drinking clean water or feasting on fresh fruits, I found myself thinking about words. While I carried my camera and took photographs to capture moments, what I knew as that only the perfectly chosen and artfully arranged assortment of precious words could ever begin to capture the enormity, the intensity, the beauty of what I was experiences. Only which words, I wondered obsessively, and in what order? 

The Maasai Mountain of God is situated due south of a 1,000-square mile soda lake called Natron. As we approached, the lake appeared outlined and overlaid by a pink sheen of varying saturations. Eventually, the color revealed itself to be a colony of hundreds of thousands of flamingos nesting on the shores, laying eggs in the muddy salt flats. The darker red color that emanated from the center of the shallow lake came from the unique bacteria that proliferate only in Natron’s super salty waters. Next to Lengai, Natron appears as an oasis in a desert, a source of water, and an abundance of life where, at least on the surface, there appears to be none. However, it is, in fact, the most inhospitable of lands. Its saline waters can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit and, like ammonia, quicky burns unadapted skin and eyes. One species of fish has evolved to thrive in Natron’s briny waters: the Natron Tilapia, a small fish about the length of your hand. And then there are the flamingos who thrive on Natron’s algae and bacteria. For them, the hostile environment of Natron offers protection from predators and makes for the perfect nesting and breeding ground. Today Lake Natron is considered the largest and most important breeding ground for flamingos in the world.  

Flamingos at Lake Natron.

Our original plan was that once we arrived at Lengai and Natron we would camp out for a few days and explore the area. But that didn’t happen. Shortly after we arrived, Jan received word on his VHF hand-held radio that a flatbed four-wheel-drive truck was coming to get us and bring us back to Arusha. There was a nearby threat that Jan’s support crew in Arusha didn’t want to tell us about until we had been safely evacuated. 

The threat, we later learned, was refugees. In neighboring Rwanda, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RFP), led by Paul Kagame (a man who served as the country’s vice president between 1994 and 2000 when he became Rwanda’s sixth president and still reigns today, 21 years later) had taken control of the country and brought an end to the 100-day genocide which had left approximately a million souls dead. Refugees were pouring into Tanzania, fleeing for lives, making their way farther east and in numbers greater than anyone anticipated. Jan’s support team in Arusha decided that it was best our little adventure-travel group avoid a face-to-face confrontation.

So, we left.  

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I have not stepped foot on or around Lengai or Natron since that day in late June 1994; however, I have flown over the area, at least a dozen times, on short aerial hopper flights in small Cessna turboprop airplanes. As the founder and director of an international charity that supports impoverished youth and marginalized women across Tanzania and of Unite Tours Service Safaris, I have taken countless safari clients, donors, friends, and guests from Arusha out to the Serengeti National Park for safari and back again. The route takes us directly over Lengai, and from the sky above, I have gazed down inside the volcano’s still active northern crater and marveled at the sight of the flowing dark black lava pits and the rapidly forming weathered carbonatite ash cones.  

An aerial view of the summit of Ol Doinyo Lengai, The Maasai Mountain of God.

I will return to Lengai and Natron in 2022 when I am 50 years old. Instead of walking there from Arusha, I will fly to a nearby earthen airstrip, which was constructed in 2016. Like the handful of other travelers who find their way to this far-flung corner of Earth, I will stay at the only lodging available, the Lake Natron Camp, an eco-tourism venture designed, in part, to provide jobs for many of the local Maasai and to educate the international community about the critical need for land and wildlife conservation in the area. From there, I will attempt the steep, precarious, five-hour-up, five-hour-down climb of Lengai, which is hailed as “the most dramatic hike in East Africa,” at least Lake Natron Camp’s marketing team. Once safely down, settled, and rested, I will walk a few miles along one of the many well-forged Maasai cattle paths from Lengai to the Rift for a refreshing swim under a waterfall that flows from a single fissure in the escarpment wall. All the while I will search for the Desert Rose, the single flower that has adapted to this other-worldly environment. And, if I’m lucky, I will, once again, separate from self long enough to discernibly observe life, nature, and thought.

Photo Credits: Rafiki Projects; From Africa With Love; Volcano Discovery; Tom Selke. Flamingos by Helene Wallaert and Remy Simon.

Sources:
Lake Natron Camp. 
World Wildlife Fund. 
Britannica.com.
Wikipedia, The Arusha Hotel. 
 Wikipedia, Paul Kagame.

Introducing The Unite Food Program: Buying from the poor to feed the poor

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Maria John Kwanga is a Unite Scholar. She is picture above (right) with her parents and two of her brothers working their family’s shamba (small farm). Maria and her family are why, in part, we are launching the Unite Food Program.

Whether it be her high-pitched, sweet, sing-song voice, her sparkling eyes and wide smile, her extraordinary faith (“I thank God I woke up this morning” is how she starts most conversations) or her huge heart (“I love you soooo very much” is how she ends most conversations), Maria John Kwanga, 21, is one of the brightest, most lovely and endearing young women anyone could ever have the pleasure of meeting. As a fully-sponsored Unite Scholar, Maria John is currently performing extremely well in Form 5 at the high-quality government Mtwara Girls Secondary School. She is a leader among her peers, guiding more than 100 students in the school’s Unite Club, through which Unite provides leadership training, career preparedness workshops, and exposure to a global network of powerful change agents through our Unite Passion Project. Maria John’s teachers report that she is highly motivated, empathetic, disciplined, and curious. Unite is challenging Maria John, and all of our 40 Unite Scholars, to work hard, dream big, think creatively, question the status quo, and do everything necessary to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Then Maria John goes home... to her large, loving, and extended family in the extremely rural and near inaccessible Makulu village in Dodoma, Tanzania, and the situation is dire. Her family lives in a hand-made earthen structure, which is currently eroding. (Unite is raising money to have it rebuilt.) Her parents, siblings, and many extended relatives survive in this harsh, arid environment by engaging in daily backbreaking labor -- preparing the earth, planting, tending, and harvesting-by-hand subsistence and cash crops. With no means to safely store food or protect their harvest from spoilage or pests, small-scale farmers like Maria John’s family have little choice but to sell at depressed market prices their only possession of value. Too often, what they earn is not enough to buy seeds for the next season, pay school fees, cover the cost of any kind of healthcare, or even prevent their families from going hungry before the next season, the most vulnerable time being between December and March when food prices skyrocket.

So, it is no surprise that when Maria is not in school, she spends her days hauling water and working in the shamba. There is little time for anything else. The situation is much the same for the near 30 million Tanzanians who survive on less than $1.9 a day.* This is a herculean problem with no quick or easy solution, but one that must be addressed in any and all ways possible. 

Our response to this crisis? The Unite Food Program.

For the past few months, our Unite teams in America and Tanzania have been working in partnership with Tanzanian entrepreneur Upendo Kiondo and environmental scientist Clara Wilson Ngowi to launch the new social enterprise Unite Food Program (UFP), which is designed to empower small-scale farmers with a means of storage and a secure market for their crops at fair market prices as well as to provide organic, healthy, tasty, and affordable staple food options to all Tanzanian people. We have secured a partnership with A to Z Textile Mills Limited to provide UFP partner farmers with advanced technology—multi-layered hermetically sealed, pest resistant grain storage bags—which allows UFP to safely store freshly harvested crops without spoilage for more than a year. Additionally, we have opened, to date, one UFP “Outpost” in the extremely remote village of Sumbawanga in western Tanzania not far from the Zambian border, and we will soon launch our second “UFP Outpost” in the Katavi region.

Will you help us?

An angel donor has generously provided a $25,000 matching grant to fund UFP Phase 1. Please consider a tax-deductible gift of any size to help us reach our $25,000 goal so that every dollar donated can be DOUBLED!

CLICK HERE TO GIVE

or send a check to Unite The World With Africa Foundation, 49 Whitney Street, Westport, CT  06880. 

Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche (with headscarf), UFP Director Upendo Kiondo (front in pink), Environmental Scientist Clara Wilson Ngowi (back right in pink), and Logistics Leader Gaudence Moshy (front left) traveled across large swaths of Tanzania in January 2021 meeting with small-scale farmers and Unite Scholars and their families to assess the quality of crops and establish key partnerships for UFP.

THE SECRET SAUCE:Hermetic Storage Technology (HST) AgroZ® Bag

Designed and manufactured by A to Z Textile Mills Limited in Arusha, Tanzania, the AgroZ® Bag are “multi-layered hermetic storage technology bags designed for the storage of maize, sorghum, rice, millet, and beans to protect against insects pests without using any pesticide dusts.” A single 100kg bag can safely store food items for more than a year and be reused up to three seasons, providing farmers with a secure, portable, and affordable option through which to store their harvests, for personal use and to use for cash crops. Unite is excited about UFP’s partnership with A to Z, which is one of the largest manufacturing companies in East Africa. In addition to providing the AgroZ® Bag, A to Z will also produce UFP’s packaging materials and provide agro-business training materials and expertise for our Unite Scholars and their families as well as all UFP partner farmers. A to Z is most widely known for its design and manufacturing of the Olyset®Net insecticide-treated mosquito net. Unite has worked with A to Z in past years to supply villages with these bed nets. A to Z also partners with such leading international organizations as the CDC, Acumen Fund, PSI, and USAID, among many others, in the global fight against malaria. 

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE UNITE FOOD PROGRAM?

Small-Scale Farmers

Receive a secure market for their organic crops at an above-market price; two extra AgroZ® Bag (gifted by Unite) to use to store their crops to provide food for their families and to serve as a “bank” for future needs and emergencies; and trainings in agrobusiness optimization techniques and approaches.

Unite Scholars & their Families

Receive, as possible, a market for their cash crops; access to UFP Outpost agro-business machinery (rice & maize mills, tillers, tractors) as possible; and real-world experience in agrobusiness by working with UFP in various capacities.

Entrepreneurial Tanzanian Women 

Unite Food Program is and owned and chiefly operated by Tanzanian women. And while we do have a few great men involved, UFP aims to employ and empower as many women as possible throughout the entire UFP supply chain... Farm to table.

Unite Brave Widows

Receive employment opportunities to assist with UFP food processing, packaging, and distribution. They will also sell UFP products in their Unite Brave Widow storefront.

Consumers

Receive organic, high quality & affordable UFP food items, all grown and stored with no chemicals or pesticides

Unite the World With Africa Foundation

Receives a percentage of UFP’s net profits through UFP’s corporate social responsibility campaign (CSR), empowering Unite to further our mission. 

Unite Scholar Pili Gabanza is pictured here working her family’s shamba (farm) in the Katavi region of Western Tanzania. The Unite Food Program (UFP) will soon provide a secure market for Pili’s family’s maize and rice harvest at a fair-market price. UFP will also provide them with air-tight, pest-resistant grain bags in which they can safely hold back and store a portion of their crops to feed themselves throughout the year and to serve as a “emergency” fund (food that can be held and later sold, when prices rise, to deal with any family needs or emergencies).  

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UNITE FOOD PROGRAM OUTPOST #1: Sumbawanga, Rukwa Region, Western Tanzania

In December 2019, 22-year-old orphan Baraka Sadam Saul applied for a spot in our Unite Scholars Program. Unfortunately, he scored Division 2 on his Form 4 leaving exam (Unite requires Division 1), so he was not chosen. However, Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche sensed great potential in this young man and, independent of Unite, she began investing in Baraka, little by little, over time. After receiving and repaying many multiple small loans (of $25-$50 each), Baraka was able to purchase a small maize mill machine to fill a huge need in his rural village of Sumbawanga where there was no mill to process the local crops and the local farmers were suffering. 

The UFP team visited Baraka and his young brother Uwezo in January 2021 (see their first in-person meeting here) to draw plans, clear the land, purchase supplies, and begin laying the foundation for UFP’s first official “Outpost” food processing plant, storage, and sales location. Inside the now completed structure (below), Baraka and Uwezo now operate their maize mill and a new UFP rice processing machine. The building also includes a bedroom for Baraka and Uwezo as well as a small kitchen and toilet. Baraka and Uwezo have provided full-time employment to three more young men and, to date, have served more than 600 customers from six surrounding villages. Currently we are in the process of purchasing a UFP power tiller machine that will “live” at this UFP Outpost to be used by Baraka and Uwezo as well as by Unite Scholars when they are home over school holidays. The tiller will facilitate more efficient farming of surrounding shambas as well as the transportation of crops, allowing the UFP team to “pull” in new customers and further grow this small-but-already-thriving business. 

UFP Outpost #1 in operation, February 27, 2021

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I extend my sincerest thanks to every person who has supported Unite The World With Africa Foundation over the years; to our team of advisors for their time, generosity, and expertise; to our Board of Directors for their remarkable commitment and for making it possible for 100% of every donor dollar to be allocated directly to our programs in Africa; and to the courageous souls I have met along the way who have given up everything to live and work on the frontlines. There are billions of people on Planet Earth in desperate need, and those we serve are most worthy and deserving. They—and you—fuel my passion and help me resist any occasional tug of fatigue or allure of apathy. 

May we continue with our individual and collective efforts to love, heal, and honor one another and ourselves. The stakes are high. All outcomes are possible. Thank you for your time and for your continued support of Unite. 

Yours in service,

Anne Wells

UNITE THE WORLD WITH AFRICA FOUNDATION, INC. IS A 501C3 TAX-EXEMPT PUBLIC CHARITY. EIN: 47-2329890. 
CONTACT: ANNE WELLS, FOUNDER & DIRECTOR ANNE@UNITEAFRICAFOUNDATION.ORG * 314.239.3997 USA

Souces: OPEC Fund for International Development & Borgen Project

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This Valentines Day we honor family, love, and loss

I am deeply saddened to share the news that our lovely Unite Scholar Pendo Chitulo lost her beloved mother Albina Chitulo this week to a sudden and unexpected illness.

Pendo, 21, lives with her five brothers and sisters — Anthony, Elibariki, Mary, Johnbosco and Laurent — in the Bihawana village of Dodoma Tanzania. Pendo’s father abandoned the family when Pendo was young, and her mother had since struggled to support their basic needs by making grain alcohol and selling it in the streets. It was, and continues to be, a difficult and dangerous life.

Pendo is the only one of her family to go to secondary school. In 2019, she was admitted into Unite’s highly competitive Unite Scholars’ Program. She is now in her second semester of Form 5 (11th grade) at the government Mtwara Girls Boarding School in Mtwara Region. Pendo is extremely bright, and her goal is to continue with her education to become a lawyer and fight for women’s rights, especially for those who are victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault.

For years Pendo has faced relentless unwanted sexual advances in her impoverished community where many believe she would be better off pregnant than in school. Albina was Pendo’s only protector and advocate for her education, and now Albina is gone. Unite is extremely concerned about Pendo and her siblings as they have no extended family to help provide for, feed, and care for them.

To that end, we are launching a campaign to try and raise $20 a day for the next two years (~$15,000) to provide the bare necessities for Anthony, Elibariki, Mary, Johnbosco and Laurent to allow Pendo herself to complete her A-levels, higher-secondary schooling.

Pendo and her mother outside their family home in January 2021. Click HERE to see their family home.

In the spirit of love, on this Valentines Day, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help Unite provide for Pendo and her siblings throughout this most traumatic and challenging time. In January, our Unite Program Director Anty Marche traveled to Tanzania and visited Pendo at her home. The family’s living conditions are extremely difficult. While on site, Anty purchased for beds, plates, cups, buckets, and cooking items for the family. The children are now orphans in extreme need. With your help, we will do everything possible to ensure their safety and survival.

Click on the links below to see a few short videos of Pendo:

Pendo’s New Year’s Message to Unite, January 2021

Pendo shows Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche her home, January 2021

Pendo introduces her lovely mother Albina, January 2021

Pendo says thank you for Unite’s gift of beds, mattresses, and supplies for her family, January 2021

Pendo with fellow Unite Scholar Loveness at a Unite leadership training event in Dar es Salaam, December 2020.

Pendo (pictured second from the left with Anne Wells and fellow Unite Scholars in February 2020) is a Unite Scholar whose education is being sponsored by the Kit Merriman Scholarship Fund for Girls.

Pendo with Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche in January 2021 during their shopping trip to purchase beds, mattresses, and supplies for Pendo’s family.

How Can I Do More?

One University Student’s Account of Global Change and Compassion During Covid-19

Written by Lila Wells, Co-Founder and Director of the Unite Passion Project.

Let me be clear: this story is not one in which I take a starring role. Rather, it celebrates those in my life I feel deserve recognition not only as global change agents, but as envoys of compassion in action. 

March 2020

A 19-year-old college freshman with less than five months of independent living under my belt, the world was my oyster and I was not yet ready to leave the comfort of its calcified shells. Towards the beginning of March, the influx of the COVID-19 pandemic into the U.S. downsized my universe from that of a college campus—where adventure was inevitable—to my childhood bedroom where, for 10 hours a day, I sat at my desk attending Zoom lectures and contemplating a question for which I direly needed an answer: How can I do more? 

This question was one made easier when sitting a room away from a global change agent and my own personal hero: Anne Wells, my mom. At 19, she journeyed a world away and spent four months in a country which assumed a permanent fixture in her heart—Tanzania. Many adventures and decades later, she founded Unite The World With Africa Foundation in 2014. Unite is an international NGO empowering extraordinary-yet-impoverished and marginalized youth and women with quality education, health, leadership and business development programs to foster independence and long-term success. 

In 2018, my mom and Unite embarked on a new venture to sponsor the A-Level education of uniquely-talented-yet-impoverished Tanzanian scholars through the Unite Scholars Program. Working in tandem with the NGO’s Tanzanian team and Program Director, Anty Marche, 42 scholars have been chosen to date through a highly-rigorous selection process based on academic excellence, personal advocacy, leadership, and extreme financial need. 

Yet while I was able to manage my education in quarantine through Zoom courses, our scholars faced a vastly different reality at the height of the pandemic. Hailing from remote and under-resourced parts of the country, they lacked the infrastructure for online learning and slipped into a sort of educational purgatory; school was suspended, and our scholars had little resources with which to continue learning. [Cick HERE to see the home of one of our Unite Scholars Maria John Kwanga.]

Education is key in surmounting cyclical poverty and, as less than 3% of Tanzanian students enroll in A-Level education, our scholars had already beaten the odds in their schooling advancement. Continuing education during the pandemic was and is crucial for their success. With that in mind, I devised a scheme for educational enrichment using the most powerful resource we each had at our disposal: each other. 

This, this, is how I can do more. 

May 2020

I called on teammates I didn’t know I had—high school acquaintances, college friends, extended family, strangers, and my best friend from down the hall of my freshman dorm. Together we did what I first felt was impossible: uniting youth from opposite sides of the planet in a mission for self and communal growth. The Unite Youth Ambassador Program was born with the mission to cultivate connection, camaraderie, and compassion in the time of COVID-19. First only an idea I dreamt up in a walk around my neighborhood, friends (who soon became family) from universities across the U.S. graciously signed onto my passion project and pledged to donate their time to Tanzanian scholars they had yet to meet. 

For eight weeks, I worked alongside these 11 American college students and 23 Tanzanian scholars as they built powerful bonds, explored the intricacies of physiology, debated philosophy, assembled resumes, called and texted daily via Whatsapp, sang together, reenacted comedy skits, and exchanged I love you’s.

Six Unite Ambassador-Scholar groups that participated in the program.

My singular Northwestern quarter of Kiswahili hardly prepared me for daily communications with multilingual Tanzanian students, widows, and the Unite leadership team. But they were patient teachers, not only to me but also to my fellow ambassadors, who eagerly exchanged their English, Spanish, and French for new Kiswahili terms from their Tanzanian friends.

The first time I cried was when listening to a Whatsapp audio exchange between my friend CJ and Tanzanian scholar Loveness Apaeli. The two came from vastly different circumstances: CJ an environmental engineering major at Northwestern University and Loveness a high-achieving scholar whose family only recently built their first pit latrine, with a Unite grant. Yet all differences disappeared as they exchanged messages discussing vulnerability, self-confidence and self-love in a world seemingly devoid of it. Their mutual support and outpouring of love after less than two weeks of knowing each other was both overwhelming and an affirmation of what the Unite team and I had already begun to observe; this program, this team was love in action. 

July 2020

This vignette came many happy-cries later, and emerged as a key component in my next collaborative Unite venture: The Unite Passion Project. 

The Unite Ambassador Program quickly drew to a close as July began and the Tanzanian government sent our scholars back to school. The familiar question—How can I do more?—began to creep back into my consciousness. Yet one Whatsapp conversation in particular caught my eye. My friend and peer, Danny, was discussing aspirational identities and his passions with Unite Scholar, Imani Faustine. As Danny raced between different potential career paths and outlined his passions for his friend, Imani asked the following: “Dan, you can have more than one dream?” 

Imani touched on a question that most, if not all, youth and young adults ask themselves daily; What is my passion? Can I have more than one? Am I on the right path? Yet it especially resonates with our Unite Scholars who, when asked what they want to do with their lives, often deliver the same set of responses: “to be a doctor, pilot or engineer.” 

This may be, in part, because their passions for medicine, aviation, and science is what drives them. But more often than not it is because these young people, most of whom come from remote and under resourced communities, know of nothing else to dream. As someone who began her collegiate career as a steadfast Chemistry major, before switching to Computer Science and finally landing on Sociology, Imani’s comment struck a chord in me, prompting me to reevaluate my own relationship with passion, career paths, and self-exploration. 

This is how the Unite Passion Project was born.

With joint goals of career exposure and self-reflection, I launched the Passion Project alongside a handful of my Ambassador peers and the Unite leadership team as an international guest speaker platform. I spent the summer emailing strangers, titans of industry, professors, and my peers asking them to respond to a deceptively simple question—What is your passion?—in video form. And, to my surprise, they responded. En masse. 

The YouTube-based platform grew from five, to 10, to 20, and, to date, 92 guest speaker videos from all over the world. Each submission was not only an act of kindness, but also one of compassion, in which strangers, understanding the uncertainties of young adulthood, detailed their life’s story for the world to hear. And the world did. 

A few of the ~100 professionals from around the world who have contributed Passion videos to our program since its inception in August 2020. Click HERE to watch their videos, and more, on our YouTube platform.

Unite instituted seven Unite Clubs in secondary schools throughout Tanzania, where approximately 1,000 students and faculty viewed and discussed Passion Project videos, approaching each with the same intention and honestly the speakers did in making them.

And, in its inception and journey thereafter, a quote from my mom remained evermore true:

“In this time of widespread turmoil, fear, and suffering, we can—and must—focus on what brings joy. We must share what feeds our spirits and ignites our minds, bodies, and souls. Because what opens minds and hearts will ultimately be what unites us as human beings.”

– Anne Wells

November 2020

Unite’s approach has always been holistic. That’s why, when approached by Program Director Anty Marche’s sister, Upendo, with a new opportunity to support our scholars and their families, we were ready and willing to execute it. I say “we,” but this project was and is wholly due to the work of Upendo, her husband Romanos, Anty Marche, Clara Ngowi, and my mom. 

Dubbed ‘Operation Chakula,’ this venture buys from small-scale farmers across Tanzania, holds the harvest, and repackages food supplies in smaller quantities to sell at affordable retail prices to communities in need. 

In buying from the poor during harvest season, using advanced technology to safely store and protect the food, and reselling to those in need later on, Operation Chakula circumvents a market which inherently disadvantages the Tanzanian poor. In harvest season, market oversaturation plummets crop prices, yet most small-scale farmers have no opportunity nor the technology to safely store their food to sell later on. In the off-season, a few choice, wealthier farmers, sell their stored crops at an expensive price to consumers, but a virtually unattainable price to the poor. 

On a mission to buy from the poor to feed the poor, Operation Chakula addresses regional and nationwide hunger while supporting the very demographic we seek to uplift. As most of the Unite Scholars come from extremely impoverished, small-scale farming families, they often return home on holiday to the stresses of poverty, food shortages, and hunger. To change this is non-negotiable. Operation Chakula, to me, is not only strategic, creative, and empowering, but it is also an act of compassion, in which powerful minds from the U.S. and Tanzania collaborate to address a core human issue: hunger. 

January 2021 

2020 has run its course and while its suffering has been immense, it has also offered us an opportunity for compassion and advocacy unlike any other. A year ago, I would’ve never imagined a Unite Youth Ambassador Program, a Passion Project, or an Operation Chakula, nor would I have had the confidence to assemble a joint collegiate taskforce-for-change on opposite sides of the world.

Yet in times of turmoil, we are granted the rare opportunity to rise above and work collaboratively towards the greater good. We can, we have, and we will continue to practice compassion, camaraderie, and vulnerability. We will continue to make authentic connections with those we admire both domestically and abroad. We will practice compassion because, in a world so divided, it is needed now more than ever. 

Compassion is CJ and Loveness. Compassion is Danny and Imani. Compassion is Upendo, Romanos, Anty, Clara, and my mother. Compassion is love in action. And may this year bring so much more.

Lila Wells (pictured above in 2015 visiting a government primary school in Tanzania) is now a sophomore at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, studying Sociology and Legal Studies (intended). She has traveled to Tanzania in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018 to help support Unite programs. Since 2014, Lila has served as Unite’s volunteer as well as Unite’s social media intern. In 2019, Lila took on the role as a Unite’s Collegiate Youth Ambassador Manager and founded and directed the UNITE Youth Ambassador Program in the summer of 2020. Lila then moved on to found and co-direct the UNITE Passion Project. Lila currently serves as the project's Videographer, Executive Youth Outreach Coordinator, and Webmaster. 

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To make a tax-deductible donation to support the programs of Unite The World With Africa, please click HERE.

Unite Scholars attend a STEM Boot Camp in Tanzania

Over the New Year’s holiday, 10 of our Unite Scholars participated in a highly competitive and selective five-day-long STEM Boot Camp sponsored by Projekt Inspire in Tanga, Tanzania. More than 70 students came together from schools across the country for an intense study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

“We host annual STEM youth boot camps for secondary students as a way to encourage and steer critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation in the world of rapidly evolving science and technology, particularly for the Tanzanian industrial economy,” said Projekt Inspire Director Dr. Lwidiko Mhamilawa, whose boot camps challenge talented youth to apply their STEM educations to the fields of agriculture and fisheries, renewable energies, and water management.*

“We learned about how to identify and tackle real-life problems in our communities,” says Unite Scholar Elina Green, who enjoyed the opportunity to apply theories to the practical world in hands-on and interactive manners.

With their fellow Projekt Inspire teammates, our Unite Scholars developed a computer program to assess and measure water quality, and they presented inventions and projects to the group for feedback to support further development.

Unite Scholars Stella and Elina participated in Projekt Inspire’s technology class and were introduced to Arduino, an open source language used to design electrical equipment. Elina presented a pilot program for Menstrual Hygiene Management for women and girls and was chosen as the second winner in Pilot project out of 30 competitors.

Unite Scholar Ashura (center in white) participated in Projekt Inspire’s Science Group, which focused on food production and preservation and the “transportation system” within the human body.

Unite Scholar John John (second from the far right) attends a science class with Projekt Inspire students from across Tanzania.

Unite Scholar Michael works on his invention in the technology group.

Unite Scholars Stella, Neema, Elina, and Ashura. Girl Power!

Unite Scholar David Bitaho at work in Projekt Inspire’s Engineering class.

(Left to Right) Unite Scholars Luther, Winson, John John, Neema, Stella, Michael, Ashura, Lazaro, Elina and David at the Projekt Inspire STEM Boot Camp in Tanzania. January 1, 2021.

*Article from The Guadian by Gertrude Mbogo published on January 2, 2021.

Introducing Operation Chakula: Buying From the Poor to Feed the Poor

THE CHALLENGE

Unite is educating some of the best and brightest teenagers and young adults in Tanzania. We are ensuring their quality A-level educations as well as providing them advanced international mentorship; leadership, life-skills, business, and soft-skills of professionalism trainings; environmental education programming; access to the arts, music, and all kinds of creative endeavors and advanced STEM trainings; and so much more. 

However, since most of our Unite Scholars come from extremely impoverished families who eke out meager livings as small-scale farmers, when our Unite Scholars return to their homes over school holidays they are often faced with the intense stress of extreme poverty, food shortages, and hunger. 

UNITE’S RESPONSE

To address this challenge, in partnership with Tanzanian business-woman Upendo Kiondo and environmental scientist Clara Ngowi, we are launching a new program called Unite Operation Chakula (“chakula” means “food” in Kiswahili). Here is how it works:

1. Our team purchases maize, rice, beans, and ground nuts from our Unite Scholars and their families as well as from other small-scale farmers in need across Tanzania to provide them a market and income;

2. We hold the harvest in air-tight, pest-resistant 150kgs-AgroZ bags in secure central locations (the food can be held safely in these bags for months and even years);
   3. Our team repackages the food supplies into smaller-sized quantities and sells the product at affordable retail prices to communities in need.

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   We are buying from the poor during harvest time, using advanced technology to safely store and protect the food,
   and re-selling food to those in need. 

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Click on the hyperlinks below to see the reality of life for small-scale farmers in Tanzania:

Unite Scholar Loyce shows us the work of harvesting rice by hand.

Unite Scholar Loyce shows us how she cleans and packages her rice. 

Unite Scholar Maria John shows us how she harvests ground nuts.

Unite Scholar Maria John shows us how she harvests maize.

Unite Scholar Maria John shows us her family eating “ugali” (a staple meal for Tanzanians made from maize/corn flour).

To learn more about Unite’s Operation Chakula, email anne@uniteafricafoundation.org.
To make a tax-deductible donation in support of our work, click HERE.

May 2021 bring peace, health, joy, nourishment, and prosperity for all.

Merry Christmas from Unite

This week a few of our Unite Scholars, Unite “Brave Widows,” Unite team members, and Unite Passion Project speakers gathered in Dar es Salaam to celebrate and give thanks for our Unite family around the world. Here, a few fun photos for your enjoyment and links to two short videos that really should make you smile. Thank you for making the miracles of Unite possible with your love, kindness, and generous support.

Together all things are possible. Cheers to 2021!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR UNITE SCHOLARS CHRISTMAS SONG & DANCE

CLICK HERE TO SEE A FEW OF OUR UNITE BOYS PERFORM ON THE BEACH FOR YOU ALL

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To make a tax-deductible donation in support of our work, CLICK HERE

or send a check to Unite The World With Africa Foundation, 49 Whitney Street, Westport, CT 06880.

Asante sana! Thank you!

The Anatomy of Resilience: A Different Kind of Post

Over the course of the past few months I have had the great pleasure of spending extensive time with my dear friend Kristin Hocker to research and write this article “The Anatomy of Resilience” (shared below). Kristin has been an important member of our Unite family over the years as she co-led our Strides for Strength walk-a-thon in 2015, which enabled the purchasing of prosthetics and medical devices for dozens of amputees and people living with disabilities in Tanzania. Kristin, after losing her leg to a necrotizing fasciitis bacteria in 2013, has launched her own social media campaign on Instagram @kristinpcan to share, motivate, inspire and encourage other amputees (and all of us humans who face unexpected hardships and setbacks) to embrace vitality, love, beauty, strength, health, friendship, faith, and community and to live their best lives. Thank you Kristin for allowing me to share your inspirational story. And a very special thanks to photographer Harriett Wells (Instagram @harriettwellsphotography) for these stunning images.

This holiday season may we celebrate strong, powerful, resilient, courageous women ALL over the world!

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Photo by Harriett Wells.

The Anatomy of Resilience

By Anne Wells

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With just a thin pink yoga mat as a cushion from the hardwood of her front porch in Bell Island, Rowayton, Connecticut, Kristin Hocker lay on her right side with her left arm stretched up to the warm breezy October sky. The deep voice of her trainer Sean Mageau coached her through her iPhone, which was balanced on a table against an oversized orange Halloween candle. “Ok Kristin,” said Mageau, “now try to lift up into a side plank. Let me see the air between your hip and the mat.” Kneeling behind her, physical therapist Maureen Meehan supported Kristin’s pelvis. Kristin’s face winced as she strained with effort to activate her remaining muscles. “Good job,” said Meehan. “We didn’t catch any air, but I could feel muscles firing.” Kristin collapsed and pulled off her right leg whose seal had broken with the movement. “Next time let’s do this exercise without the leg on,” Kristin said, catching her breath.  

Seven years ago, Kristin Hocker, a 54-year-old, divorced, working mother of four lost her leg, and nearly her life, to a misdiagnosed Strep-A-bacterial-infection-turned-necrotizing-fasciitis (a.k.a. “flesh-eating disease”) following what doctors, friends, and family thought was merely a sprained ankle. Kristin was left with a two-and-a-half-inch-long right femur; she is what is known in the world of amputees as an above-the-knee “short.” Having such a small residual limb makes mastering the world of prosthetics and movement of any kind uniquely challenging. But, true to her nature, Kristin flashes a wide smile. “I've got this,” she says.

Kristin stands 5’7” and weighs a mere 107 pounds without her prosthetic. Her leg weighed 19 pounds before it was amputated and disposed of in an incinerator at the Connecticut Stamford Hospital; her prosthetic weighs 10 pounds. Kristin’s long, straight dark hair is densely highlighted with streaks of blonde, and chin-length wisps frame her perfectly-symmetrical cheekbones. When Kristin doesn’t need to travel far (just a few feet), she hops on her left foot. When managing any kind of distance without her prosthetic, Kristin uses crutches. With her prosthetic on, Kristin can walk unassisted with a gait that is, at least for now, uneven and compensatory. 

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The odds of a perfectly healthy, fit woman living in one of the most affluent counties in America losing a limb from necrotizing fasciitis are less than getting struck by lightning. The Center for Disease Control estimates 700 to 1,200 cases of necrotizing fasciitis infections in the United States each year; however, nearly all serious cases afflict people living with diabetes, weakened immune systems, or other underlying health conditions. Yet Kristin doesn’t see herself as unlucky. Instead, she sees her life as full of miracles and love. And, she says, she wouldn’t change a thing. “I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Living with one leg keeps me grounded and present,” she says. “I have no choice but to pay close attention to the ground beneath my feet and the world around me.” Today, Kristin is determined to help others who may be labeled as disabled, disfigured, or even just unlucky, see their lives the same way.

Kristin Hocker, Founder of Instagram @kristinpcan. By Harriett Wells. Instagram @harriettwellsphotography.

“Mirror mirror on the wall, I’ll always get up after I fall. And whether I run, walk, or have to crawl, I’ll set my goals and achieve them all.”

— A quote posted on Instagram @kristinpcan, September 22, 2019.

 On September 20, 2019, six years to the day she lost her leg, Kristin launched her “Kristin P. Can” social media campaign on Instagram @kristinpcan. “I am ready to share my story,” she wrote. Over a year later, nearly 1,500 followers are tuning in. Kristin’s feed features inspirational quotes alongside photos and videos of Kristin walking up and down stairs, stretching in yoga poses, riding bikes, kayaking, shopping in stores, cooking, traveling with family, enjoying the beauty of nature with friends.

“I do what most people do; the only difference is that I do it with one leg,” says Kristin, who tattooed a wave on the inside of her left arm to remind herself to “surf and stay above the storms of life.”  Kristin’s allure to those who know her, and now to those who don’t, stems from her “extraordinary attitude” and “exceptional resilience,” says her long-time friend and former neighbor Keiley Fuller. “Nearly everything we do and take for granted is harder for Kristin, but she never says it. She never complains, ever.”

Kristin lost her leg on Friday, September 20, 2013. The week before, she went to a local restaurant to meet a friend for dinner. Kristin and Corby, her husband of 18 years, had just filed for divorce, and Kristin was looking forward to a girls’ night out. As Kristin jostled through the restaurant’s crowded bar area to reach her table, she rolled her ankle. “I didn’t think much of it,’ she remembers. Yet the next morning, Kristin was in enough pain that she went to see an orthopedic doctor who she knew through her work as the Outreach Director for Maplewood Senior Living headquartered in Westport, Connecticut. The doctor diagnosed a second-degree sprain and torn tendon. His RX? Rest, ice, and elevate. 

By Monday, Kristin could hardly move. She called her doctor and asked for pain medicine. He prescribed Vicodin. She sent him many photos of the black and purple blisters that were forming and growing over her swollen, tightened, and stretched skin. He wasn’t alarmed. When Kristin asked to return to the doctor that Wednesday for a re-check, she recalls that he “sliced the skin and casted my foot.” The doctor lanced the blisters and tightly wrapped Kristin’s foot and ankle up to her knee, assumedly to alleviate pressure and provide some kind of support. 

By Thursday morning Kristin felt her “body shutting down inside, bit by bit,” and, in a moment of lucidity, she asked her soon-to-be-ex-husband to please call 911. By the time the paramedics arrived, Kristin’s blood pressure was 74 over 50.“Somewhere during that ride to the hospital I just went away,” says Kristin. 

Inside Kristin’s body a Strep A bacteria had taken hold in her ankle and developed into necrotizing fasciitis or what is often referred to as “flesh-eating disease.” Treatment for necrotizing fasciitis requires opening muscle fascia, excising infected tissue, and removing enough surrounding tissue to ensure the infection is completely eliminated. “It was like chasing a car going 100 miles per hour up interstate I-95,” said Dr. Kevin Miller, a surgeon at Stamford Hospital who oversaw Kristin’s care. “We administered broad-range antibiotics to try and save Kristin’s ankle. Hours later the team was amputating her leg to try and save her life.” Kristin’s surgeons removed her leg six inches above the visible bacteria line. Yet by that time she was in full-blown organ failure due to widespread sepsis. Kristin’s heart stopped, twice; her kidneys lost function; and her lungs filled with fluid. The team at Stamford Hospital called Corby and told him to come in with his and Kristin’s four children, who were then ages 6, 9, 11, and 14, to say goodbye. 

At some point during the time she was unconscious, Kristin experienced what is widely known as an NDE (a near-death experience). “I saw an explosion of white light that was so intensely bright it should have hurt my eyes, but it didn’t. My heart was beating strong and fast. I felt excited and full of anticipation. My senses were electric, and I was overcome by this incredible sense of love.”

What brought her back?

“The faces of my four children flashed in my mind’s eye, one by one, from oldest to youngest—Carey, Caitlyn, Ryan, Chloe—and immediately I was pulled back,” recalls Kristin.

Meanwhile, Kristin’s friends and community rallied. Phones rang, texts pinged, and the hospital’s waiting room filled. Kristin’s pastor and friend, Reverend Brandi Drake of Noroton Presbyterian Church in Darien, Connecticut, organized a last-minute community prayer vigil. “There must have been more than 150 people packed in that little sanctuary,” remembers Rev. Drake. “We held the image that we were all storming heaven with picket signs that read: ‘We want Kristin.’ And then we sang Amazing Grace.”

On Tuesday, September 24th, five days after being taken from her home by ambulance, Kristin woke up. When it became clear that Kristin would live, her friends and family sighed a breath of relief. “Their trauma was over, and mine was just beginning,” remembers Kristin. After two weeks in Stamford Hospital, Kristin was transferred to a rehab center. Friends arranged daily lunches for Kristin and her many visitors during her six-week-stay and filled her room with flowers, photos, books, and get-well cards. “My family and friends did everything for me,” remembers Kristin. “They washed my hair, dressed me in soft pajamas with matching single flip flops, fed my family, drove my children, walked my dog, made me playlists of amazing music.”

This outpouring of compassion and support is, Kristin says, what helped her through the waves of despair that came during those first few weeks. “I was grateful to be alive but not 100% sure I would ever roll over again without feeling like a knife was slicing through me, never mind be able to get up and walk again.”

A malpractice case was filed against the doctor who misdiagnosed Kristin’s ankle, and Kristin, and her lawyers, would spend the next five long years in a heated battle with that doctor’s insurance company. In September 2018, two days before the trial was set to begin, the insurance company capitulated, and Kristin was awarded an undisclosed settlement. 

Kristin with her daughter Caitlyn. Photo by Harriett Wells.

Today, Kristin is busy balancing the demands of motherhood; her career as Director of the Maplewood Heart Foundation, a 501(c) (3) public charity organization that supports senior caregivers and related organizations; staying fit; and training to walk with a smooth and balanced gait. “Experts say it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill, but I have the added challenge of being so short,” Kristin says. 

Since her amputation in 2013, Kristin has used three different prosthetic legs. Getting insurance to approve payment for each more technologically-advanced leg has been another ongoing battle for Kristin and her team. “Part of our job is to fight the insurance companies,” explains prosthetist Sal Martella, whose team at Progressive Orthopedics and Prosthetics in Albertson, New York, petitioned for well over a year to get Kristin the most cutting edge technologyavailable on the prosthetic market today—the Ottobock leg with the first fully waterproof X3 microprocessor knee, which was developed in collaboration with the U.S. military and is currently made in Vienna, Austria. They had to prove that Kristin was healthy enough to benefit from the bionic knee’s advanced activity settings, which can adjust the swing angle for running, biking, golfing, and driving. Dan Bastian, Sal’s partner and Progressive’s co-founder, is an above-the-knee amputee who has been using Ottobock technology for years. Both Bastian and Martella say that the X3 should enable Kristin less gait deviation and a more complete lifestyle (she can swim with the leg on and do water sports) all the while with less worry about falling (the knee senses uneven ground and adjusts accordingly). They just need to get the fit right, and this is proving challenging.

Most amputees have enough residual limb to essentially “sit” into the prosthetic. But since Kristin’s residual limb is uniquely short, the socket presses into her groin, which can cause discomfort and pain. To secure her leg for any length of time, Kristin has to do what is called a “skin fit,” which entails covering Kristin’s remaining flesh with a nylon liner that is then placed into the socket and pulled slowly through an air hole at the bottom of the carbon mold, gripping Kristin’s skin and pulling it downwards into a suction fit. It is Martella, not Kristin, who admits how painful it is. “The first few times someone tries a skin fit, at least until their skin calluses, they will see stars,” says Martella, who has worked in the field of prosthetics for 27 years. “Kristin is borderline hip disarticulation; she is one of the shortest amputees I have ever worked with. I know the physics of what she is up against, and it’s remarkable how well she is getting around.”

Bastian, who was 15 years old when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, and 25 when his leg was amputated (after 18 surgeries to try and save it), regularly counsels amputees and their families. Bastiancredits Kristin’s success to her mental outlook. “It’s all in the mind,” says Bastian, a 30+-year specialist in prosthetic feet, knees, legs, liners, hands, and arms. “Learning to walk again is mostly a matter of will and desire.”

Having a positive role model like Bastian in Kristin’s life is a critical element of resilience post-trauma, according to Dennis Charney, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York. “Finding a role model who went through the same thing and knows the process of recovery both psychologically and physically is very important,” writes Charney in his article “Decades of Research Lead to ‘Prescription’ for Resilience,” which was published in Psychiatric News on June 27, 2019. On Instagram @kristinpcan, Kristin posts a photo of her standing between Martella and Bastian. She wears ashort black tube skirt, a red T-shirt, and Converse sneakers on both her foot and the prosthetic. Behind them is a wall of framed images of Bastian water-skiing, biking, hiking, golfing, and fishing. Her caption reads: “I can aspire but only to half the activities this man does.”

Photo by Harriett Wells.

Kristin spent most of her childhood in Haddonfield, New Jersey, a 2.8-square-mile Quaker town located 15-minutes from Philadelphia, with her parents, Charlotte and Tom Price, and her two younger sisters, Heather and Laurel. Charlotte worked as a teacher at a local elementary school and Tom was a bacteriologist and Director with the Food and Drug Administration. Kristin grew up like most kids during the 70s—watching The Brady Bunch and The Bionic Woman; listening to Sonny & Cher and The Monkees; reading Nancy Drew and Judy Blume. Hers was a normal, happy family.

Or so she thought. 

In January 1977, Kristin’s father moved out, and it would be years before Kristin would learn why. Tom had presented Charlotte, his wife of 16 ½ years, with a letter confirming her nagging suspicions and deepest fears. He had been living a double life as a homosexual man actively engaging in serial out-of-wedlock relationships. “I didn’t want to get divorced,” remembers Charlotte, whose face at 82 looks decades younger with nearly-wrinkle-free skin, “so I said I would forgive him if he would give up his other life. But he said no—that he wouldn’t, he couldn’t.”

After Tom moved out, Charlotte was left alone with her three girls, who were then 4, 7, and 11, and to make ends meet, she picked up tutoring jobs in the afternoons and evenings. “I cried every day for months,” remembers Charlotte, whose dark brown eyes are mirrored in Kristin’s. “And then, as time went on, I would just cry when I cooked or vacuumed, and, of course, every time I heard the heating oil delivery truck. It was always another bill I couldn’t afford.” 

Kristin assumed more and more parenting responsibilities for her younger sisters. She would cook dinners and help her sisters with their homework. For years Kristin and her sisters visited their father every other weekend at his apartment in Philadelphia. However, their visits became less frequent after Tom met a composer and moved with him into a house in Westchester, PA, where “they had a dog, an English garden, and flamboyant pool activities,” remembers Kristin.

In 1984, Kristin graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School with honors. She was voted homecoming queen. She went on to Clemson University to study engineering but soon switched her focus to marketing. During Kristin’s sophomore year in university, she received a letter from Tom saying “I’m HIV positive.” Knowing what that meant, Kristin transferred to the University of Delaware to be closer to home and to help care for her father. In June of 1986, Tom Price died of AIDS. He was 47 years old. In his obituary, the cause of death was cited as pneumonia. “Everyone was so afraid of HIV/AIDS,” remembers Kristin. “No one in our family ever discussed it.” It would be many years before Charlotte, Heather, Laurel, or Kristin would admit the truth.

Reverend Drake, who first started working with Kristin during her divorce counseling in 2012, credits Kristin’s optimism in the face of adversity, in part, to her childhood experiences. “Kristin has had to surrender many times throughout her life,” says Drake over a Zoom call from her book-lined home office in Darien, CT. “Many people become brittle and protected, but not Kristin. She is open to new experiences and extremely receptive to learning and growing.”

“Even in Kristin’s darkest days she never asked, ‘Why me?’” said Charlotte, who remarried in 1990, became widowed, again, in 2004, and retired in 2006 with six adult children and 15 grandchildren. “I am very proud of her for that.” Resilience expert and researcher Dr. Lucy Hone of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience reminds us in her Ted Talk “3 secrets of resilient people” given at the Tedx Christchurch August 2019 event that “adversity doesn’t discriminate,” and that resilient people “know that suffering is part of every human’s existence.” They don’t ask “Why me?’ but instead they ask “Why not me?” says Hone.

Where exactly Kristin’s resilience comes from no one will ever know for sure. It is likely a combination of her mental fortitude, her devotion to her four children and loving (albeit unconventional) family, her extremely supportive community and social network, and her feeling of living a purpose-driven life.

Photo by Harriett Wells.

Back on the porch in Rowayton, Meehan, Kristin, and Mageau (through Zoom) start the last exercise of the day. Meehan, who has worked for more than 30 years with amputees and patients with neurological disorders, positions Kristin for a series of single-legged squats. She and Mageau, who served in the Navy for years before becoming a personal trainer for elite athletes, feel no pity for Kristin. And this is exactly what Kristin wants, and needs. “Maureen and Sean believe in me. They push me to be the best version of me that I can be. They are part of my ‘Kristin P. Can Team Vitality,’” says Kristin with a smile as Meehan hands her a long 10-pound black tool called the ViPR®, which Mageau has Kristin use to improve her balance, stability, and core strength. Meehan continues to adjust Kristin’s form as Sean commands the movements. 

Mageau and Meehan are now focused on helping Kristin reach her latest goal, which is to walk unaided, wearing her new Ottobuck X3, down the stone staircase at the end of her road to the town beach, where, weather permitting, she will take a dip in the Long Island Sound. “Kristin finally has a leg that has the mechanics and technology to do this,” says Mageau. “The challenge is,” says Meehan, “that Kristin’s brain has shifted its midline to the left, so we need to train it to adjust back to center, above the belly button, and trust that the prosthetic leg will support her.”

For Kristin, every day is a choice. “There are days that I don’t feel like ‘I’ve got this,’ and there are times when I look down at my leg—at the titanium and the computer—and am in complete disbelief. But then I hear the voice inside that says—almost like a friend would—to love myself, and it reminds me how far I’ve come, how much I’ve learned, and that really, it’s this leg’s job to keep up with me.”

For those who want to follow Kristin’s journey, every step of the way, visit Instagram @kristinpcan. 

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Banana Blessings & The Unite Herald

International journalist, podcaster, and communications expert Engaisi Peter has joined our Unite team in Tanzania. With this article “Banana Blessings” she launches The Unite Herald with the tagline: “We are spreading smiles, and here's where you can see and read about them.” Engaisi will soon be profiling our Unite Scholars, Unite Brave Widows, and our Unite teammates, and we will share her writings with you here through our blog. Welcome to the Unite family Engaisi! We are thrilled to have you with us on this grand adventure of love and service.

THE UNITE HERALD: BANANA BLESSINGS

Unite Environmental Scientist Clara Ngowi and Unite Brave Widow Program Manager Rhoda Lugazia presenting Unite Brave Widow Lina Sikombe with the gift of bananas from our Unite garden.

On November 23, 2020, Lina Sikombe made her way to Kunduchi, a growing neighborhood in the fast disappearing outskirts of Dar es Salaam. Waiting for her at the Unite Garden in Kunduchi were environmental scientist Clara Wilson, Unite’s Special Project and Volunteer Coordinator, and Rhoda Rugazia, Unite’s Brave Widow “Mjane Jasiri” program manager. In tow with Rhoda and Clara was a hand of bananas -- a rather versatile raw food ingredient with which one can make fried bananas for breakfast and a banana and beef stew meal for lunch or dinner.

Lina, the recipient of this “zawadi kidogo,” small gift, is a 68-year-old member of Unite’s Brave Widow “Mjane Jasiri” program who looks like she could run a marathon in a heartbeat.

Behind this little moment of exchange between Clara, Rhoda, and Lina was a satisfying fitting of puzzle pieces between the different parts of the Unite family. They say kindness begins at home and this was an instance where that rang true at Unite. Clara runs the Unite Garden, which saw its first seeds and seedlings planted last December by Unite Scholars. A year and buckets of sweat later, the Unite Garden harvested some of those delicious bananas gifted to Lina. Rhoda coordinates Unite Brave Widows programs which supports Lina and other widows with business grants, loans, and training programs. 

Lina, on the other side of the story, is a widow who has been part of Unite’s Brave Widow “Mjane Jasiri” program since August 2019. She sang in the choir in her local church and the pastor recommended her to the Unite Team, which was scouting for widows at the time. When he heard about the program, he thought Lina would be a perfect candidate because she was kind, disciplined, and hard-working. The scouting team listened to the pastor and got to know Lina more, visited her home in Mbezi, and eventually on-boarded her unto the Unite Mjane Jasiri program. The string that ties these two sides of the story together is the Unite Blessings project, which began as a response to COVID-19 challenges to members of the Unite family.

Before COVID-19, Unite Scholars and Brave widows were granted capital to start small businesses and they had their foot in the door before the COVID-19 pandemic closed it shut--throwing sales off the ledge. It became a challenge to sell stock and that was when a lightbulb went off for Unite.

Our overseas donors pulled together to raise funds to support these small businesses by purchasing stock and choosing to give it as a “blessing” to those who need it. We did not have to go far to find them because right within our community were people in need. In response to the gift Lina says:

“God bless you abundantly. The bananas will feed my whole family for weeks. I cannot believe I get to take them all. Thank you!”

---

About Engaisi Peter:

Engaisi is a huge fan and proponent of questions and curiosity in the process of learning; strongly believing that any meaningful progress or change begins with asking questions to unearth insights. 

For that reason, she’s the number one fan of the Unite Passion Project and she works with the Unite Family to tell the stories of those who have felt the warmth of the Unite mission in communities Unite works with.

Engaisi is also the host of the @Work with Engaisi Podcast where she speaks with East African professionals about how we work, how we can do it better, and uncover insights that allow us to shape the future of our careers, businesses, and workplaces.

Her motto is "stay curious."

---

About Lina Sikombe:

Lina, 68, is from Mbezi Mpiji Magohe, Dar es Salaam. Her husband died and left her with retail shops that she rented to business owners. She was well cared for with this income. However, a few years later, the houses were demolished following an order from the government, and Lina received no compensation. Lina became fully dependent on her oldest daughter, who sadly died shortly thereafter. As a Unite Brave Widow, Lina has launched a vitenge and batik business and plans to start a chicken farm. She is also an active participant in the Unite Mjane Jasiri (Brave Widow) brick and mortar storefront in Dar where the women are making and selling their products to the public. Additionally, Lina has been making (with the entire widow group) face masks and handbags for Unite The World With Africa Foundation.

To make a tax-deductible gift in support of Unite’s work,
please click HERE.

The Unite Passion Project, Why it Matters

Today on #GivingTuesday, The Unite Passion Project is featured on the international podcast @WORK WITH ENGAISI. Please CLICK HERE to listen to the interview between Unite Passion Project Founder Lila Wells and Tanzanian journalist Engaisi Peter. Read below the introduction by Engaisi:

***

“Who do you want to be when you grow up?” This was the cute little question adults in our lives asked us when we had no idea that bills existed and that who we wanted to be would essentially mean where we would spend 40+ hours a week to earn an income to pay those bills.

Fast forward to the high school years and the question became “What do you want to do with your life?” If you grew up in East Africa you probably learned pretty quickly that the good answers were generally a pilot or a doctor or a nurse or an engineer, and, more recently, a computer specialist or a computer scientist.

So then came high school, a time to make one of the biggest decisions of our lives, and we still thought that these were the careers that we were limited to pursuing. And let’s just take a moment to think about the fact that we were seriously considering choosing these majors without having any real idea of what the careers entailed.

How limiting is this for a youngster who is full of energy and curiosity to be limited to a few career options simply because they have been seen as historically safe or and to have a high financial reward?

In today’s episode we talk about a project that is aiming straight at those preconceived notions of what a successful career is and exposing Tanzanian youths to careers beyond those few… a project that seeks to present as many career options as possible to high school students as well as providing insider perspectives on what those careers look like.

Lila Wells speaks about finding inspiration in her own process of choosing a major (at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, USA) and in establishing The Unite Passion Project, a project that is empowering high school students to take charge and determine their own career paths that are more oriented to the 21st century landscape where CHANGE IS QUEEN and THE ABILITY TO PIVOT ITS RIGHT HAND WOMAN.

Here’s Lila Wells… CLICK TO LISTEN.

Tanzanian journalist and founder of Engaisi Talks international podcast, Engaisi Peter.

Unite Passion Project Founder, Co-Coordinator, & Videographer Lila Wells.

To make a tax-deductible donation in support of Unite’s work, please click HERE.

The Kit Girls in Africa, One Year Later

Happy Thanksgiving!

One year ago, my mother Katharine “Kit” Merriman died of metastatic breast cancer. While she is deeply missed by all (and time doesn’t seem to change a thing), we are so very grateful to share here some good news about what was created in her honor. As a result of the generosity of so many of her friends and family, 12 teenage girls in Tanzania have been fully sponsored as Unite Scholars for their entire A-Level educations (which is about the equivalent of senior year in high school and the first year of university here in America). 

In THIS REPORT you will see each one of these "Kit Girls" and learn a bit more about them and their progress since they joined Unite's program. Additionally, you will find information about new programs we created to further support them, and all of our scholars, which include the Unite Blessing Campaign, the Unite Youth Ambassador Program, The Unite Passion Project, and the Unite Club Program.

This holiday season my father, my sister, my extended family, and I – along with our 12 Kit Girls in Tanzania and our Unite team around the world – give thanks for the life of our beautiful ”Gogo” and for each of you who have supported our work and your kind and generous hearts. 

Please know that there are many hyperlinks in the attached document that will take you to videos and articles that will shed more light on our work. Please, if you have the time, take a moment to click through and surf around. I am here and would love to answer any questions or field any comments you may have. My cell is 314.239.3997.

Please stay healthy and happy as we await a safe and effective vaccine. 
With love, gratitude, and many blessings to all...

 Anne Merriman Wells

A Story for World Toilet Day

Today is World Toilet Day, an official United Nations international observance day to raise awareness about the 4.2 billion people who still lack access to proper sanitation.*

Unite works hard to find the brightest, and most impoverished, students to enroll in our highly competitive Unite Scholars Program. Each and every one of them come from extremely challenged backgrounds and most lack even the most basic necessities. Part of Unite’s mission, and joy, is to assist our scholars’ families in all ways possible to help ensure our scholars have what they need to succeed and thrive.

Last winter we accepted a new class of 30 scholars. One of them, Loveness Apaeli Urio, 18, is from the Kitefu village in the Arusha district of Northern Tanzania. Loveness lives in tiny two-room house made of mud with her mother and father (who is an alcoholic) and two brothers. Her oldest brother died years ago. Loveness’ mother farms maize and beans and keeps goats and chickens, but there is not enough money to sustain the family. Loveness’ brothers have dropped from school — the older one searches for day labor and the younger one is home helping Loveness’ mother manage the house and farm.

 When we met Loveness, their family toilet and washroom was a hole dug in the dirt, covered with a thin wood plank for balance, and surrounded by canvas held up with tree branches. There was no roofing, which made it the space especially slippery and dangerous when it rained. Also, there was no running water to provide any hygiene or sanitation. Instead, Loveness and her young brother would regularly fetch buckets of water from a far-away stream.

Click HERE to see Loveness’ home.
Click HERE to meet Loveness and hear her speak about her family.
Click HERE to see a one-minute video of Loveness’ family taking apart the old toilet structure.
Click HERE to see Loveness’ younger brother moving earth to help build the new toilet/bathing structure.Click HERE to see Loveness and her family friend in front of the new toilet block.

Loveness’ toilet before. It was unsanitary, unsafe, and shameful to the family. They were too embarrassed to have visitors to their home due to their lack of facilities.

The new toilet block. On the left is a pit latrine lined with cement and outfitted with a cess pool that can be emptied by a local company. On the right is a shower/bathing cubby. Unite had water piped to the block as well to ensure proper hygiene and sanitation for Loveness and her family.

Some of the building supplies for the new toilet.

A drawing of the toilet system.

* Forbes.com

The total cost for all the supplies and to build the proper toilet/bathing block
for Loveness and her family?

$350

(Note: Loveness and her family did as much of the physical labor as they could. Experts were hired to complete the project.)

To make a tax-deductible contribution to Unite’s work, DONATE here.

AMAZON SMILE - You shop, Amazon gives... Will you give to Unite, for FREE?

Dear friends,

Did you know that when you purchase an item on Amazon.com, Amazon will make a small contribution to Unite The World With Africa Foundation IF you link to our 501(c)(3) non-profit to your account through Amazon Smile? It’s quick and easy (see tutorial video and outline below) and it’s 100% free.

So, please consider taking a few moments to link your Amazon account to Unite The World With Africa Foundation, Inc. We are all shopping more online now (due to COVID-19), and this is a way to give without actually being out of pocket even $1! Isn’t that fantastic!

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR OUR VIDEO TUTORIAL AS TO HOW TO LINK YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT TO UNITE.

Here below please find a step-by-step guide to linking your Amazon.com account to Unite for charitable contributions.

1)    Open a browser on your device 

2)    Type smile.amazon.com in the search bar on top

3)    Click “get started”

4)    Sign into your Amazon Account

5)    After logging in, select the” pancake stack” on top left

6)    Scroll down until you see “your account” and select it

7)    Scroll down until you find “Other Programs” and select “change your Amazon Smile charity”

8)    Type” Unite the World with Africa Foundation” in the lower search bar

9)    Select our foundation

10) Wait for the confirmation pop up message

11) Once you have set up Unite as your charity of choice, it is important to remember to shop on smile.amazon.com in the future if you are using a browser. We recommend bookmarking the site. Please keep in mind shopping on Amazon Smile won’t affect your Prime/Amazon membership benefits. 

12)  Once you have done all the steps, log into your mobile app then open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone. 

***

Thank you so much for taking the time to link your Amazon shopping to Amazon Smile to benefit Unite. During this time of COVID-19 fundraising is extremely challenged, as you can imagine, and we know that the need everywhere is dire. We are grateful for your support of Unite in this way. May you be forever blessed.

Asante sana! Thank you for our Unite team in America and in Africa.

Pictured above (top left to bottom right): Gracia, Neema, Loyce, Aneth, Pili, and Ashura. These girls are all Form 5 Unite Scholars in Tanzania. Funds raised will help support them, the rest of our 42 Unite Scholars, and more than 1,000 other students in need through the growth and expansion of our Unite Club program.

What would love do?

On the eve of this historic election, I wanted to share an op-ed I wrote recently in the hopes that it may help promote peace.

 ***

Six years ago Unite The World With Africa Foundation was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public charity to create “a world in which people unite in service, crossing borders seen and unseen, so that every human may live with health, hope, opportunity, and dignity.”[1] What seemed as a lofty vision at the time could now become a reality, thanks to COVID-19.

Why? Today, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, nearly all 7.82 billion[2] of us living on Planet Earth find ourselves facing a common enemy—an invisible-yet-potentially-deadly-airborne pathogen—and we are experiencing first-hand how the actions of a few can affect the lives of many, even from thousands of miles away. No amount of wealth, influence, or resources has proven, yet, to render anyone immune.

“So many people who live a comfortable, easy, safe life in the western world, who have never had to deal with malaria, typhoid, dengue fever, cholera, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and all the other deadly diseases that so many less privileged countries deal with on a daily basis, are now saying ‘one life lost to COVID-19 is one too many,” writes conservationist Stephanie Fuchs, a German-born woman now living with the Maasai tribespeople in Tanzania, on her Instagram @masai_story. She goes on to ask, “Where have they been?!”[3]

Like it or not, Ms. Fuchs has a point. Here in Fairfield County, Connecticut, people lament their kids having to take classes from home via zoom, understocked markets, extended wait times, and being stuck at home. Elsewhere (and here at home), millions have no access to quality education, safe housing, medical care, clean water, or adequate nutrition. In October 2020 my town’s printed glossy magazine ran a feature article about the importance of cloth napkins. It’s time for the privileged to shift focus.

For nearly 30 years I have studied, worked, and traveled in and out of East Africa. In response to the extreme poverty and human suffering I witnessed, I found an amazing team (bless them!) and together we launched Unite with the mission of “providing opportunities for impoverished youth and women to thrive and prosper by investing in and developing quality education, health, and business development programs.”[4] This work has taken me to the side of a Hadza hunter-gatherer woman and her two-hour-old daughter as they lay in dirt in their upside down, hand-built bird’s nest of a home; a 28-week-old newborn who was being kept alive by a heated water-balloon-style baby-warmer donated by an international charity; an 18-year-old girl who, after her baby died during childbirth, lay leaking feces and urine while waiting for an international doctor to perform her fistula surgery. I have met families who lost children and loved ones to all kinds of preventable and treatable diseases (from diarrhea and pneumonia to respiratory illness and untreated infections); diabetics with no access to insulin or glucose monitoring devices; early-stage cancer patients who go on to die because they could not afford, or access, proper treatment; men and women who lost legs to road accidents (in places where there are no orthopedic specialists, broken limbs are often amputated). And the list goes on.

Last summer when most of the world shut down to curb the spread of COVID-19, Tanzania’s President John Magufuli declared Tanzania covid-free. Within two months of the virus officially arriving in the country on March 16, 2020,[5] Magufuli called upon the Tanzanian people to engage in three days of prayer to destroy the coronavirus. “God will do a miracle in our country,” he said.[6] Soon thereafter Covid testing centers closed; the reporting of cases, and deaths, stopped; students returned to school; sporting events resumed; and the small businesses that had popped up to manufacture and provide face-masks and hand-sanitizers shut down. Coronavirus in Tanzania was over.

While Tanzania’s course of action may be questionable, I do wonder what viable choices are available in one of the world’s least developed countries where approximately 70 percent of the population (~60 million people) live on less than $2 a day[7] and where there are no safety nets, beyond extended family. In such an environment, quarantine and lock down would result in economic catastrophe and mass hunger. And while it appears that COVID-19 is not, in fact, ravaging Tanzania, as widely predicted (experts speculate this may be in part because of the young population—nearly half are under 16[8]—and the predominantly outdoor lifestyle), what the future holds, no one knows. However, what we do know, is that the Tanzanian people are intimately familiar with vulnerability and uncertainty. They live with the same diseases that Ms. Fuchs cites – everyday. So, coronavirus or no coronavirus, life goes on. 

I am a natural optimist and believe the day will come that COVID-19 is behind us all. And I am hopeful that this experience will influence, positively, the decisions we choose to make over coming days, months, and years. According to a study published in Lancet, COVID-19 has “triggered enormous displays of pro-social behavior with neighbors coming to the aid of (the) isolated…”  Let’s hope that this compassion; desire to use one’s time, talent, and treasure in service to those in need; and humility that comes from knowing “it could be me” will continue long after the pandemic is history.

 COVID-19 has made what has always been a stark reality impossible to ignore:
Ours is one world; our lives interconnected, our health interlinked.

***

When faced with the challenges of the day, we must ask ourselves…
“What would love do?” And then, we must act.

~Anne Wells, Founder & Director, Unite The World With Africa Foundation

***

[1] Vision Statement. Unite The World With Africa Foundation. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.uniteafricafoundation.org/our-mission-and-goals

[2] Worldometer. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

[3] Stephanie Fuchs, Instagram @Masai_story. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://www.instagram.com/masai_story/

[4] Mission Statement. Unite The World With Africa Foundation. Retrieved October 29, 2020https://www.uniteafricafoundation.org/our-mission-and-goals

[5] COVID-19 Pandemic in Tanzania. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 29, 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Tanzania

[6] Nyaguthie, Racheal (March 23, 2020). “President Magufuli says coronavirus cannot survive the body of Christ.” MSN.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020 from https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/president-magufuli-says-coronavirus-cannot-survive-in-body-of-christ-it-will-burn/ar-BB11Aa80

[7] “Tanzania Mainland Poverty Assessment: A New Picture of Growth for Tanzania Emerges.” The World Bank. Retrieved October 29, 2020 from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/tanzania/publication/tanzania-mainland-poverty-assessment-a-new-picture-of-growth-for-tanzania-emerges

[8] World Fact Book. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved October 30, 2020, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tz.html

Unite Clubs are launching at secondary schools across Tanzania

Our goal here at Unite is to empower youth across Tanzania with quality education and the skills necessary for them to achieve independence and professional success post graduation. To this end, we are launching Unite Student Clubs in six government secondary schools to reach more than 1,000 students by the year end.

Specific Unite club activities include studying the Unite Curriculum, which includes modules about such essential “soft skills” of professionalism as personal branding and self awareness, verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, leadership, time management, networking, social media, feedback vs. criticism, and more.

Students also spend time each week watching one to three Unite Passion Videos and discussing in break-out small groups what they have learned and how they have been inspired. The mission of our Unite Passion Project is expose the Unite Scholars and Unite Club members to a wide array of career options, activities, and perspectives by sharing the stories of people around the world—who come with a wide range of talents and backgrounds—who have found their passions and translated those passions into successful careers.

Unite provides each school club with a laptop, projector, screen, smart phone, printer, speakers, and modem along with notebooks, pens, Unite pins, and all necessary supplies for each club participant. We also provide tree seedlings — the size and species depends on the local environment and access to water — to reforest areas in need and help combat desertification. Additionally, we supply everything necessary to build and maintain school gardens (fencing, seeds, training, etc.) to help ensure the students and faculty have access to nutritious food while on campus.

Unite’s Environmental Scientist Clara Ngowi working with the girls at Mtwara Technical to plant trees around the school.

Each Unite Club is assigned a faculty leader who receives a small stipend to cover phone air-time and student club leaders, many of whom are Unite Scholars, who help manage and direct the clubs. Click HERE to hear Isaac, one of our Unite Scholars, speak about his work as a Unite Club team leader at Same Boys School. Click to see club members Ngemi, Sasani, and Bakari speak about their experiences with Unite.

(Left) Unite Scholar Neema showcases her fashion designs as a runway model at the Mtwara Girls Unite Club launch. (Right) Students from Same Boys display their soil-enriching invention.

At the Unite Club launch events, which will continue through mid-October across the country, scholars celebrate with our Unite team leaders by putting on unique performances (songs, dances, skits) and by sharing their many passions and talents. While our team of Unite Mentors are based in Dar es Salaam, they visit partner schools for launch events, remain in regular contact with Unite Club faculty leaders via phone and email/text, and conduct on-site visits as needed to facilitate the clubs’ growth and development and maximize impact. Click HERE to see Unite Club students at Mtwara Technical School dance during their recent celebration.

Unite Scholar Michael (center with glasses) with his Dream Chaser team at a Unite Club meeting at Same Boys School, September 2020.

Click HERE to see an e-flip book images from recent Unite Club launches at schools across Tanzania.

To learn more about our work with Unite Student Clubs, email anne@uniteafricafoundation.org. To make a donation in support of our Unite Clubs and help us reach thousands more students in need across Tanzania, click DONATE. Thank you!

Introducing the Unite Passion Project

As part of Unite’s commitment to educating and empowering marginalized, at-risk youth, we recently launched a guest-speaker platform called The Unite Passion Project. The goals of the project are to expose our Unite Scholars and young people across East Africa to a wide array of perspectives and activities and to showcase ways that various ideas and talents can be translated into meaningful, impactful, and rewarding work and careers.

To date we have received more than 50 video submissions (and are awaiting dozens more) from professionals, students, and change makers around the world covering a wide range of topics from medicine, music, education, leadership, finance and the arts to acting, branding, business, science, entrepreneurship, and more. To watch any one of these passion videos and learn more about what makes these extraordinary people tick, visit Unitepassionproject.org and subscribe to our Unite Passion Project Youtube channel.

Above, a few of our recent Passion Project contributors who include ambassadors, doctors, artists, heads of school, teachers and professors, scientists, film makers, writers, editors, entrepreneurs, and others from around the world who have personal passions to discuss and share. We are most grateful for their participation and support.

Why?

Oftentimes when you ask Unite Scholars or teenagers in rural under-resourced towns or villages what they would like to do with their lives, their response will be the same: “To become a doctor, pilot, or engineer.”  This may be, in part, because they are driven by a love of medicine, aviation, and science. However, oftentimes, it is because they know of nothing else to dream.

THIS IS WHERE THE UNITE PASSION PROJECT COMES IN.

***

Unite is now partnering with a number of higher secondary schools across Tanzania to launch Unite Student Clubs, which are focusing, in part, on watching and discussing our Unite Passion Project videos. Each club will watch one to three videos per week and then spend time in break-out group sharing insights and ideas.

We will reach more than 1,000 students through our Unite Clubs by the end of 2020.

Students in our Unite Club at Same Boys School gather for the club’s kick-off event on September 1, 2020.

Unite Club students at Same Boys watch a passion video by Dr. Morton Shapiro, President of Northwestern University, on September 1, 2020.

To learn more or to contribute a passion video, email Lila@unitepssionproject.org.

In this time of widespread turmoil, fear, and suffering, we can—and must—focus on what brings joy. By sharing what feeds our spirits and ignites our minds, bodies, and souls, we can authentically connect with one another — across borders seen and unseen. And when we can unite as human beings on Planet Earth, we can and will create a more compassionate, equitable, just, and balanced world. 

LEARN MORE AT Unitepassionproject.org.

Subscribe to our Unite Passion Project Youtube Channel HERE.

The Unite Youth Ambassador Program was a huge success!

Cultivating connection, camaraderie, and compassion in the time of COVID-19

We are thrilled to report that our pilot Unite Youth Ambassador Program, which ran from mid-May through early July 2020, was a huge success. Led by Lila Wells, 12 American ambassadors from colleges and universities across America were paired with 23 Unite A-Level Scholars in Tanzania, and together they forged deep and lasting friendships and explored academic, cross-cultural, and creative topics of shared interest.

Click here to see the Unite Ambassador-Scholar “RAP,” an original song by Stella Calista Mosha.

Below, a few highlights, video links & testimonials:

Maria John with her Unite Ambassador Lila Wells.

From my ambassador Lila I learned the importance of respect, empathy, curiosity, and always being charming and friendly. She has taught me about time management and how to improve my self confidence and accountability. I loved making our group videos about BLACK LIVES MATTER and for INTERNATIONAL ALBINISM AWARENESS DAY. May the good Lord find the best way to bless Unite.

~Unite Scholar Maria John Kwanga

Click here to see a short video of Maria John, Lila, and fellow scholars Zainabu Seiph and Furaha Ngowi.

Click HERE to see their self-created PLAY performed from America all across Tanzania!

Zaituni with her twin sister (and fellow Unite Scholar) Zainabu Ally and their Unite Ambassador Maddie Banish.

From my ambassador Maddie, I learned about confidence. She always made me feel very comfortable and I was able to ask her many questions. I also grew my talents in dancing, since my ambassador loves to dance. I also learned a lot about leadership, time management, and how to earn and save money.

~Unite Scholar Zaituni Ally Mjanja

Click here to see Zaituni and her twin sister Zainabu dance a tic tok video with Maddie, Tanzania to America!

Loveness with fellow Unite Scholar Winson Mahenge and their Unite Ambassador CJ Johnson.

“My ambassador CJ studies very hard and takes excellent care of his health. He taught me about engineering and how to keep my body fit by doing push-ups and running. He showed me the importance of having a courageous heart, always encouraging me with my dreams and pursuits. Also he made us so happy by sharing so many funny stories and even dancing. He showed me that happiness is key to success.”

~Unite Scholar Loveness Apaeli

Click here to see a short video of Loveness and CJ.

Lazaro with fellow Unite Scholar Andia Rubai and their Unite Ambassador Mahfouz Soumare.

From my ambassador Mahfouz I learned the importance of working hard, believing in myself, and always aiming higher. I am empowered now to speak up and contribute my opinions. I also learned that Americans are hospitable people who have a culture of cooperation.

~Unite Scholar Lazaro Frederick

Click here to see a video of Lazaro, Mahfouz & Andia.

Michael with fellow Unite Scholar Neema Paul and their Unite Ambassador Jake Turner.

My ambassador Jake is a very kind and charming person. He taught me a lot about self determination and self awareness. He also showed me ways to apply what I study in school to “real life.” I learned that in America people are encouraged to love to other people — even total strangers — and that in America gender inequality is not like it is in Africa.

~Unite Scholar Michael Charles

Click here to see a video of Michael, Jake, and Neema.

John John with his Unite Ambassador Quinn Boyd and Unite Program Leader Lila Wells.

From my ambassador Quinn, I learned the importance of sharing ideas openly and being honest and creative. We discussed a lot about beekeeping and raising goats. My favorite part of the program was our video calls.

~Unite Scholar John John Mashimba

Click here to see a video of John John & Quinn on their farms.

Imani with fellow Unite Scholar Loyce Cheja and their Unite Ambassador Danny Mares.

I learned from my ambassador Danny to believe in myself and be confident when sharing my opinions. He has taught be about the importance of hospitality, cooperation, and being on time. I especially liked discussing leadership, how to empower women in our societies, and how we must fulfill our responsibility to help people in need and change our communities for the better.

-Unite Scholar Imani Faustine

Click here to see a short video clip of Danny & Imani’s conversations.

Stella with fellow Unite Scholar Luther Kavishe and their Unite Ambassador Celine Bitegeko.

My ambassador Celine taught me to compose poems, and I have since written dozens. Since she is an American citizen with Tanzanian parents living in the USA, she has also taught me a lot about the differences between cultures, specifically that Americans like to express emotions and listen to other perspectives. I have been empowered through this program to assist my fellow scholars in many ways, like giving them advice, hope, and encouragement.

~Unite Scholar Stella Calista Mosha

Click here to see a video of Stella, Luther, and Celine.

David with his Unite Ambassador Ramzy Issa.

From my ambassador Ramzy, I have learned many things… three of the best are: faithfulness, responsibility, and humility. Ramzy has a clean heart. I also liked learning about American culture. It is so pleasant. American people are kind, and they like to be healthy and follow routines. They also like to do what is right, like uniting to fight oppression against the black race in the Black Lives Matter movement.

~Unite Scholar David Sichone

Click here to see a video “day in the life” for Ramzy and David.

Elina with fellow Unite Scholar Khadija Mkopi and their Unite Ambassador Caroline Crosby.

My ambassador Caroline is a caring and a very kind girl, even to people she has never met before. She has a commitment to service, which means she is passionate about helping society. Through this program I have learned how to develop friendships and build healthy relationships. Moreover, I have learned that I too am able to explore to the world and share my experiences with others.

~Unite Scholar Elina Green

Click here for a short video highlighting Caroline and Elina.

Ephraim with fellow Unite Scholar Witness Mbise and their Unite Ambassador Nathan Lopinto.

From my ambassador Nathan I learned about time management — making time for school, business, chores, and doing my favorite things. Americans make time for all kinds of things that are important to them. I also learned that Americans like to have pets. Nathan even has a snake that he lives with, and he even gave it a name.

~Unite Scholar Ephraim Thomas

Click here to see a video of Ephraim, Nathan, and Unite Scholar Witness.

Ashura with her Unite Ambassador Shaunmei.

My ambassador Shaunmei taught me the importance of time management, listening to and respecting other people’s opinions, and being committed to my goals, no matter what. Through this program, I increased my confidence and can now speak in public without being afraid. I really like how the American culture values peace, love, and joy for all people.

~Unite Scholar Ashura Amiri

The Hadza: Evolving Footprints

There in the Lake Eyasi Basin of Northern Tanzania, on June 25, 2013, I crouched as low as my 5'10" self could to avoid getting my frizzy blonde hair caught in the thorny roof of that little hut that reminded me of an upside-down birds’ nest. My eyes struggled to adjust. Moments before I was surveying the vast scrub forests and acacia bushlands of this harsh, arid landscape from a look-out point atop a massive rock kjope, squinting my eyes against the blinding light of the midday African sun. However, once inside the structure, the darkness was near complete. Constructed by skilled hands following an ancient art of bending, weaving, and manipulating soft tree limbs, twigs, and short and long grasses, not even a ray of sun, nor a drop of rain, should one come, could penetrate the walls of this traditional Hadza home. 

Newborn baby Raheli.

In time, the blackness turned to shadows and finally to figures. And there, just inches from my knee, a teenage girl lay stretched out on the dried skin of a large gazelle or maybe a zebra. I guessed that she was about four feet tall, small even for a young female Hadza, a hunter-gather tribespeople believed to be related to the pygmies and San bushmen. Next to one of her exposed breasts was a tiny bundle of fabric with the head of an infant poking out. This Hadza baby girl, who I later learned was named Raheli, was born in the night. Someone from the camp had used the group’s cell phone, which was purchased for emergencies by the charity Unite The World With Africa (Unite) for which I am the founder and director, to contact Ruth Matiyas, a skilled local Tanzanian nurse. Unite had been providing funds to support Ruth’s work with her Milagro Hadza Health Program to conduct regular HIV/AIDS and STD screenings and provide medical care, basic health education, and food relief.

The Hadza women wanted Ruth’s help with this delivery because the young mama was uniquely small, and this was her first baby. However, because this particular family group was situated in such a remote rocky area dozens of kilometers from Ruth’s home in the village of Mangola, Ruth could never have reached them by foot nor by motorcycle. (Unite had purchased a motorcycle for Ruth’s transport.) So instead Ruth coached the attending women and laboring mama as best she could through the night by phone, and when I arrived to pick her up at dawn with my two rented four-wheel-drive land rovers and 12 teammates, she told us that Raheli had been born just hours earlier. To help celebrate this new life, we stopped at a small village market to purchase blankets in addition to our pre-ordered boxes of medicines and kilos of rice, maize, and beans before venturing out of town, off-road, across deep gulleys, and over jagged sandy paths to meet these Hadza people ourselves.

“Tulikuletea zawadi ndogo. We brought you a small gift,” I said softly to the exhausted young mama in Swahili as I placed the fresh new blankets on the ground by her side. I wasn’t sure if she spoke Swahili, but I certainly didn’t speak her native click language of Hadzane, so it was the best I could do. “Mtoto wako ni mrembo. Hongera. Your baby is beautiful. Congratulations.” After sitting there a bit longer feeling deeply honored to be invited into this sacred space, wishing there was more I could do for this mother and child, and deeply worried about their uncertain future, I slowly backed my way out on my hands and knees. 

I knew that the chances of baby Raheli surviving weren’t great. For the Hadza, who are some of the last hunter-gatherer people on planet Earth today living primarily as we all did before the advent of agriculture more than 12,000 years ago, life is truly Darwin’s survival of the fittest. One of five babies dies before their first birthday and nearly half of all children perish before the age of 15, often from such preventable and treatable diseases as measles, malaria, and diarrhea.[1]

Kids at the first Hadza camp visited in Lake Eyasi.

But if Raheli did survive, she would be lovingly held, cared for, and carried by many women in her mother’s family network while they foraged for wild berries, dug with sharpened sticks for tubers (edible roots similar to sweet potatoes), and pounded the thick coating of nutritious Baobab tree fruits into powders for porridge using rounded rocks. As soon as Raheli was old enough to walk on her own, she would toddle along beside her mother and these women with small bells tied around her ankles so that any one of them could find her if she wandered off. 

Hadza women pounding baobab fruits.

A Hadza baby with ankle bells.

As Raheli grew, she would feast on honey provided by the Hadza men and boys who follow the calls of the honeyguide bird to locate hives hidden high in the Baobab and Acacia trees. Skilled climbers amongst them ascend the trunks and smoke out the bees before extracting the honeycomb by hand. And Raheli would eat bush meat provided by the male hunters who take down wild game using bows crafted out of the malleable branches of the kongoroko tree, bowstrings made from stretched animal ligaments softened by human saliva, and hand-carved metal-headed arrows covered with lethal poison blended from the pulp of the desert rose (Peterson, Hadzabe. p.65).

In the old days, long before Raheli’s birth, the Hadza’s land was plentiful—untouched and unrestricted by outsiders. However, in the last 50 years or so, the Hadza have lost an estimated 90 percent of their land to encroaching pastoralists and agriculturalists, who have themselves been pushed further and further afield due to population growth, climate change, land feuds, and urban sprawl. With this influx of farms, forests of trees have been razed and an incalculable number of wildlife displaced. Land that was once teeming with such large animals as giraffe, buffalo, eland, and zebra for the Hadza to hunt, can now only support such small mammals as the dik dik (the smallest East African gazelle), warthog, bush pig, baboon, vervet monkey, and rock hyrax (Peterson, Hadzabe. p.65). However, no matter how large or small their kill may be, in accordance with the governing paradigms of the Hadza’s egalitarian culture, the meat must be shared. 

A Hadza hunter.

Hadza men starting a fire.

If Raheli is alive today, she would be seven years old, and according to Tanzanian law, she must go to school. Chances are, her mother, unlike previous generations of Hadza, will support this decision. 

“Decades ago, when Hadza children were taken by the government to boarding schools, many would run away to find their families back in the bush,” says Alyssa Crittenden, a research scientist and anthropologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has been working with the Hadza for the past 16 years. “They didn’t understand what school was or the importance of education. However, things have changed, and the Hadza elders now know their children need to learn to read and write to be able to advocate for themselves and their people with and against both predatory and well-meaning groups.” 

In July 2020, Crittenden, who is an American, co-founded the Olanakwe Community Fund with her long-time friend Shani Msafiri Mangola, a Hadza who grew up in the Lake Eyasi district. Olanakwe, which means “children” in Hadzane, is “a direct response to the Hadza people asking for a community-based non-profit that would be run primarily by the Hadza for the Hadza and would work to meet the expressed needs of the community.” Shani was one of the first Hadza to be sent to primary school by his progressive grandfather who realized that the Hadza people would never truly have rights or resources if they didn’t send their children to school. With the support of Crittenden and dozens of others around the world, Shani was fully sponsored throughout his education beyond government primary school, and he now holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Tumaini University Makumira in Tanzania, and, as of June 2020, a Master of Law degree in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona in America. 

The Hadza’s first request to Shani, Crittenden, and the team at Olanakwe, which includes Ruth Matiyas, was for uniforms and school supplies so they can send 193 of their children to the Mangola district government Endamaghay primary-level boarding school. However, like so many other rural government schools across Tanzania, Endamaghay is woefully under-resourced. According to Crittenden, they have 10 teachers serving more than 600 children and few, if any, basic supplies. “Last time I was there I saw with my own eyes children lining up for a meal. They would get a scoop of beans in one hand and rice in the other. They did not even have plates to eat off of,” says Crittenden.  

While Hadza parents miss their children when they are away at school and do not agree with the widespread practice of corporal punishment in the classrooms, they know their children need to learn and have asked Olanakwe to do all they can to improve the school and the quality of education it provides. And when their children return to their bush homes over school holidays, parents and elders can continue to impart their traditional Hadza knowledge to these younger generations, as they have for millennia, through stories shared around slow smoldering fires.

Perhaps the most widely recognized expert and most committed advocate for the Hadza people today is Daudi Peterson, an American who grew up in Tanzania and is the founder of Dorobo Safaris and The Dorobo Fund. Peterson is also the author and editor of a book that is “believed to be the most participatory account of Hadza culture available today” (Peterson, Hadzabe. p. 11), HADZABE, By The Light of A Million Fires. When I asked Peterson how many Hadza still live exclusively as hunter-gatherers, his response was, “None. They can’t. They are not isolated anymore and traditional resources are not enough.” However, more than 90 percent, says Peterson, still forage to enhance their diets to a varying degree with some depending directly on the land for the bulk of their livelihoods.

So if the Hadza have lost too much of their land and wildlife to live solely as they once did, what are they doing now? According to Peterson, some farm, some keep cattle, some find jobs in villages or towns, and many others look to earn money through tourism.

“For the Hadza, tourism is both a blessing and curse,” says Crittenden. “They need the income as there is not enough wild game left in their condensed land area on which they can survive; however, tourism, as it is today, isn’t equitable or sustainable.” 

According to Crittenden, more than 300 safari companies are now bringing tourists to “hunt with the Hadza” in the Mangola – Lake Eyasi area. “Last summer I saw eight to 10 loaded vehicles of tourists visiting each Hadza camp every day,” says Crittenden.  

***

My experience in 2012 bringing American tourists to visit the Hadza was an utter failure. Earlier that morning, before I met baby Raheli and her mama, Ruth and I had taken my 12-year-old daughter Lila, my sister Kim, and two American families, ages eight to 48, to a visit another Hadza group for whom Ruth was providing food relief, medical screenings, and health care funded by Unite.

Within moments of arriving, one American girl nearly fainted when she saw a Hadza child bite into the head of a bird that was not-quite-yet-dead, still flapping about. Later, while sitting with the larger Hadza group around an open fire, one American mother whispered in my ear that she and her family needed to leave after she realized the pipe being passed around and smoked by the Hadza men, women, and children was full of marijuana. I did my best to coax and soothe her. “This is a very different culture. Just try to relax and observe.” I succeeded in getting them to stay, for a while, and shoot bow and arrows alongside the Hadza men. However, things took another turn for the worse when a few women took our hands and walked us through thick bush to a clearing where they had laid out their “shop” of hand-made beaded jewelry and bags made of animal skins, zebra manes, and bird feathers. These were not items any of us would wear or use at home in America, but we were happy to buy to provide a bit of financial support to people who, quite literally, had nothing.

A Hadza hunter walking in the Lake Eyasi Basin of Northern, Tanzania.

Everyone chose something, and I went to pay. However, I didn’t enough small bills to give each woman the exact change, so I asked Ruth to manage the payment. From there, harsh-sounding Swahili words were tossed about in alternating quiet-and-aggressive voices, and finally, Ruth told me to hand the money to one Hadza woman who would be responsible for its distribution. As soon as the shillings transferred from my hand to hers, the group descended upon the woman like vultures. The cries and screams were sickening. “Don’t worry,” said Ruth. “They will figure it out. I just hope the men don’t take all the money and spend it on gongo, their local homebrew."

That was the final straw for my American visitors. Lila, Kim, and I went on with Ruth to meet baby Raheli and visit a few more camps, while the others headed back to our Western-styled tented camp that was comfortably outfitted with sit toilets, beds with mosquito nets, and bottled water. 

When I asked Peterson how, in a society famous for sharing, women could be so verbally abusive to each other over a few shillings, he explained. “The Hadza are people just like you and me who have traditionally been governed by different paradigms. And as people who have had to survive day-to-day, they are natural opportunists. So when you introduce outside things (like individual money) it complicates things, and it takes time for them to figure out how to reconcile this with their traditional paradigms.”

Peterson’s advice? The same as Ruth’s. “Let them deal with it.”

 ***

What can we learn from the Hadza people of Tanzania’s Lake Eyasi whose elders hold the wisdom of some of the most self-sufficient people living on planet Earth today? Who once existed in total harmony with one another and their environment? Whose woodlands once provided all the game, honey, berries, and natural materials they needed to survive? Whose footprints were once invisible to the eyes of their neighbors who came and conquered because they thought the land was uninhabited?

“For thousands of years, Hadza culture worked,” says Peterson, whose Dorobo Fund continues its work to protect Hadza land rights and thereby provide this marginalized, at-risk culture some degree of choice and dignity. “Historically, they are an example of what is possible when the paradigms of equality and sustainability govern a society.” 

“The Hadza remind us of the critical importance of staying connected to our food sources and networks as well as the power of community childrearing, cooperation, and collaboration,” says Crittenden. “Empathy scores are declining in American and European children because we are teaching them only to look out for number one. And what people don’t realize is, by ignoring certain wisdom of such cultures as the Hadza, we are doing our children, and our planet, a terrible disservice.”

Lila and Hadza children drawing pictures in the sand.

 ***

In the end, Unite could not continue funding Ruth’s work with the Milagro Hadza Health Fund. Western donors tend to prefer an ROI, return on investment, that is far more logical, clear, and straight forward. That said, I am deeply grateful to Peterson, Crittenden, Shani, Ruth, and the countless others who continue to work in support of the Hadza – whether by campaigning for their land rights or by providing access to health care, education, professional training, and more. Their shared dream is, I believe, the same as mine (now as an interested and compassionate bystander), which is to find and nurture Hadza leaders “who will lead forcefully but from behind and by consensus for the good of all” (Peterson. Hadzabe. p.193).

If Raheli is alive today, if she can attend the Endamaghay school and get the necessary uniforms, books, and school supplies; if she can secure sponsorship for continued education beyond primary and still somehow retain the wisdom of the generations that came before her; perhaps then one day she will become like Shani, a pioneer for her people, forging new hybrid norms and paradigms to support, govern, preserve, and grow their ever-evolving Hadza culture. 

Raheli’s extended family in Mongola.

With Ruth and the Hadza at the first Hadza camp.

With my daughter Lila at the second Hadza camp.

SOURCES

·      Daudi Peterson (2012). HADZABE, By The Light of A Million Fires. Dar Es Salaam. Mkuki na Nyota,

·      Brian Wood (2020). Hadza Fund. Video retried from https://vimeo.com/404352873.

·      National Geographic. Encyclopedia Resource Library. Hadza. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/hadza/

·      Olanakwe Community Fund. Retrieved from https://www.olanakwe.org

·      Phone interview with Alyssa Crittenden, August 12, 2020.

·      Phone interview with Daudi Peterson, August 12, 2020.

[1] Brian Wood (2020). Hadza Fund. Video retried from https://vimeo.com/404352873.