Kamanga

Mushrooms are the answer to…. EVERYTHING!

Poverty alleviation, better nutrition, job creation, equality, health, climate change, sustainability, and long-term funding of al our projects!

It can’t get much better than that, can it?

Please listen to Tzippora explain here:

How does it work?

We are currently teaching the skills of mushroom farming in the rural communities in which we work. Collecting 2 tonnes of harvest waste from the surrounding fields that would otherwise have been burnt. This creates the basis of our substrate in which the mushrooms will grow.

Our mushrooms grows in buckets in which we have drilled holes in sides. We are using a couple of rooms in our newly refurbished community centre to house the mushroom farm.

Once the mushroom are ready, our participants will learn the right technique to harvest the mushrooms.

Fresh mushrooms have a relatively short shelf life and needs to be sold quickly. To help with this potential issue, we are adding a drying process at the end. Custom built driers not using electricity but only the heat from the sun has been developed and will enable us to make a product ready for local distribution and export.

How can mushrooms help fund other projects?

Once we start selling our crop the income will be used to sustain the mushroom farm and any surplus will support any of our other projects like Kamanga Health Centre and our Outreach Team.

Oystermushrooms

How does the participants benefit?

Each participant learns a skill. Mushroom farming is very new in Tanzania and as such we are pioneers in this area.

The participants can use this skill to set up a small scale farm at home for own consumption, or they can set up a collaborative farm producing mushrooms in larger scale.

Any surplus of produce can be sold to us where we dry the mushrooms and package them to international standards and export the end product.

How can YOU help?

Even though we have provided the training for our participants free of charge, and we will provide continuous support to those who chose to continue to grow mushrooms, there is a small initial cost for the participant to get things needed to starting growing.

You can help by sponsoring one of our conveniently packaged bundles that will enable our participants to start growing mushrooms right away.

“Home Growing Kit” consists of everything needed for a participant to take home to start growing for own use, or maybe sell any little extra at the local market. A kit costs AUD $15 (USD $10).

“Farm Bundle” consist of everything needed for a 30 bucket farm. This is a small scale collaborative farm that can produce for own consumption, the local market or for drying and export. A farm bundle has the value of AUD $110 (USD $77).

Want to know more?

You can read more about this project on our website here

Regular updates are also on our social media platforms - click one of the Social Media buttons below and make sure to follow us!

Or contact Nina, our Founding Director and CEO, directly here

Can you combine a holiday with volunteering?

Hi, I’m Sarah! I come from London, in the UK, and I’m currently having a sabbatical, volunteering and travelling across the world. I’ve volunteered in Bangladesh, Ukraine and now Tanzania. I’ve also done some volunteering in the UK with people who are homeless and people with disabilities.

Sarah, what is your role at Cedar Tanzania?

I’m a short-term volunteer in the office, helping out with various office tasks, such as proof-reading the annual report, organising the photo database and creating spreadsheets. It might not sound very glamorous, but it’s very important! I think no organisation can run without this type of support.

What inspired you to take a position at Cedar Tanzania?

I’ve been friends with Claire Michelotti, [then] Cedar Tanzania’s Executive Director, since we were at university together, and so that’s how I found out about Cedar Tanzania and the work they do. One of the things I really like about Cedar Tanzania is how they tackle issues holistically. This is something I learnt while I was volunteering in Bangladesh; attempts to tackle just one issue on its own would often fail. For example, it’s easier to help people set up businesses if they are well-educated; literate people can read health advice; it’s no use running a campaign to encourage people to wash their hands if they don’t have access to clean water. 

How long is your volunteer placement?

Just one month, but I hope to continue after I return home to finish a few of my projects.

What things have you found surprising?

The number of girls in the village who drop out of school because of pregnancy and other reasons. I read the baseline survey about Kamanga, which was commissioned by Cedar Tanzania in 2015. In Nyamatongo Ward, 10 girls in primary school (which runs up until the age of 13) became pregnant and stayed in school, but the report stated that it is difficult to get data on the number of girls who get pregnant and drop out of school, because the families sometimes do not disclose this. The drop-out rate at primary school for girls may be as high as 40%.

What things have you enjoyed?

One of the things that I enjoyed the most was going to visit Kamanga village with Abduli, one of Cedar Tanzania’s Field Officers. In the morning, we went to the port to catch the ferry from Mwanza to Kamanga. I was clutching a take-away coffee, but buying it had made me a little late, so we had to rush to get the boat. I loved the ferry ride: the sunshine, the beautiful scenery, the light reflecting off the water, the huge birds flying overhead, the cooling breeze. It was all very different to my commute when I was living in London, which was an hour and a quarter on an underground train, which offers no views whatsoever. I put on my kanga (local cloth wrapped round the body on top of your clothes, for extra modesty) and we got off the ferry, alongside trucks and people and the occasional chicken.

Abduli and I first went to Kamanga Health Centre, and he kindly showed me round. I was very impressed with how lovely the grounds looked and the high standards to which the health centre had been built. As we were looking round, patients were coming in to take advantage of all the facilities; for example, seeing a doctor, getting medicines, having post-natal check-ups. It was great to see, since I knew that before the Kamanga Health Centre was built, local people had had difficulty accessing healthcare. I had read about it in the annual report, but to see it in person really brought home to me the importance of Cedar Tanzania’s work.

In Kamanga village, Abduli was meeting with the Community Activists, who are local people trained to run sessions on SASA!. It was inspiring to meet people who give up their time to improve their communities. One of them worked in the cluster of restaurants that’s by the ferry port, another in a little market, a third we visited at home. Then for lunch we went back to the local restaurants by the ferry port and had grilled goat meat and ugali (a local staple, a cooked cassava and corn flour dough) with lemon juice, salt and chili. It was delicious!

At the end of the day, we got the ferry back. It was a tiring and hot day, so on the way back I just sat quietly in my seat, rather than running all over the ferry exclaiming as I had done on the journey out. Even though I was sweaty and exhausted, it was my best day at Cedar because it reminded me of what we are working for.

What things have challenged you so far?

I come from a cold country, so the heat can be a bit challenging at times!

Would you recommend this volunteer scheme to others?

Absolutely! It has been an amazing experience, and Cedar Tanzania is a great organisation.

What would you say to anyone who said that they could not volunteer because they do not have a skill to offer?

Volunteering can be intensely rewarding; it is the best thing I have done with my life. So I would say, don’t let negative thoughts like that put you off! Firstly, you almost certainly have more skills than you think. For example, I was really worried when I started at Cedar Tanzania about my lack of skills. But it turned out that my ten years working in a job in the civil service had furnished me with all kinds of skills that I hadn’t previously valued, but that turned out to be unexpectedly useful. For example, my computer skills, and the fact that I have worked on a database project before. Secondly, sometimes larger organisations will provide training. And finally, things that you might not think of as skills, like the ability to listen compassionately to those in trouble, might be just what an organisation needs. So don’t delay, look for a volunteering opportunity today! I promise you won’t regret it.

Can a Tanzanian Law student volunteer?

My name is Kapwani Kavenuke, but I’m more  commonly known as Jasmine. I am 21 years old and have currently finished a Diploma in Law at St. Augustine University, Tanzania and am looking forward to commencing a bachelor’s law degree in November 2018.


What inspired you to volunteer with Cedar Tanzania?

After hearing about what Cedar Tanzania is all about from a friend, I was inspired to volunteer with them because I wanted to be a part of such a good cause. The passion that Cedar Tanzania shows towards achieving their goals in helping out the citizens of Kamanga, is absolutely inspiring and I just thought it would be nice to think about other people other than oneself for a while!


What is your role at Cedar Tanzania?

I am volunteering as an assistant project manager; this means I help out in a few projects, for example in the Clean Kamanga project. Right now I am helping out with the planning of Global Hand Washing day which will be on the 15th of October 2018.


How long is your volunteer placement?

I started volunteering with Cedar Tanzania in August 2018 and I shall be with them until the end of October 2018.


What things have you found surprising?

One of the things that really surprised me is the lack of water stations in the village of Kamanga and the fact that around 30 children suffer from diarrhea every month. To me this is a clear indication for the need to help the community in the area of WASH and safe waste management, which hopefully the development of the Clean Kamanga Project will help towards addressing these issues.


What things have you enjoyed?

I have enjoyed a lot of things whilst volunteering with Cedar Tanzania. One of my highlights is getting onto the ferry to Kamanga. If it wasn’t for Cedar Tanzania I guess I would have never got onto the ferry. It was frightening at first but absolutely fun later on. Secondly, I enjoyed my tour of Kamanga village with field officer Abduli. I have enjoyed working with the rest of the Cedar Tanzania team too, they are really friendly and welcoming and ready to help whenever I’ve needed it.


What things have challenged you so far?

I have had some challenges but they were not anything that I couldn’t handle; mostly just trying to remember certain formalities and protocols in the village or in the office was a problem in the beginning, but I soon got used to the new procedures.


Would you recommend this volunteer scheme to others?

I would strongly recommend other people to volunteer with Cedar Tanzania because in my experience I have learnt a lot of things, seen a lot of things and life is all about learning. I have become more competent in skills I already had and I have developed new skills too.


What would you say to anyone who said that they could not volunteer because they didn’t have a skill to offer?

I would say that it shouldn’t really stop anyone from volunteering because when you are a volunteer you become open to any work that might come your way therefore at the end of the process you end up having more skills than you came with. I can say that you will gain much more than you think you will give; which is a win-win for everyone I think!

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Can a teacher be a volunteer?

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Teachers, in government school, rely on the government to pay their salaries. When there is a teacher shortage at a school, they have to wait for the local authority to allocate them the relevant teacher; if or when governmental funds become available. “Volunteer teachers” are a common feature in schools. These are teachers whose salaries are paid by the monetary contributions of parents from the school community. Often this is the only way that teachers can be secured for such specialty subjects such as the sciences and mathematics. This is why Dylan Parkin’s volunteering at the Nyamatongo Secondary Schools, for free, means so much - because for the first time this year [2020], the secondary students are being taught biology on a regular basis. Dylan’s interactive approach contrasts starkly with the lecture style of teaching and rote learning that is prevalent in most of the other classrooms. Cedar Tanzania is proud to partner with Nyamatongo Secondary School in this way. Here Dylan tells us more about his experience of teaching in a Tanzanian school.

What motivated you to get involved at the local school?

As background information, I was previously teaching biology at a government secondary school in Tanzania for two years.  Upon arriving in Kamanga and visiting Nyamatongo Secondary School, it became obvious to me that volunteering some of my time at the school would be beneficial for all parties involved. First and foremost, the school is understaffed, without me volunteering it would be very likely that the first year students would not be taught biology. Secondly, by me spending time at the school I can help to build up relations between Cedar Tanzania and the local education system. It is my hope to identify a few dedicated educators, and start up some type of collaboration with them to improve the quality of education being offered at Nyamatongo Secondary School. By working along side the teachers, I also believe they may see the techniques I use in the classroom, ask me questions, startup dialogs, and possibly implement new methods of teaching into their own lesson plans. Lastly, I have really missed being in the classroom. I am very happy to be back teaching at a school. So really my motivation was threefold, for the school/students, for Cedar Tanzania, and for myself.

What are the challenges of teaching in a local school?

Whether it be a Westerner or a Tanzanian, the first thing everyone thinks or asks about is the language, and yes, the language barrier does create a challenge. Even though I am fluent in Swahili, there are times when it is difficult to find a good translation (especially in biology class). Also, many people don’t realise, but the medium of communication in secondary school in Tanzania is English. This creates a totally different challenge, when do I use Swahili and when do I refrain from using it. The students need to learn English, but if I only use English they will not understand and if I translate into Swahili, the translation might be the only thing students are capable of remembering two weeks later. I have to talk slow, be wise in my word choice, and make sure when new words are introduced all students understand. Outside of language, the biggest challenge is defiantly the class size. My classes currently range between 50-60 students. As with any class, all of the students have different abilities, personalities, and learning styles. This makes it very difficult to keep everyone focused and learning throughout the entire 80-minute double period.

What do you enjoy most about teaching there?

As cliché as it may sound I really enjoy teaching and seeing people learn. Whether I am teaching a student directly or working with a fellow teacher to help them better their craft, I love to see it when that light-bulb goes off in someone’s head, and they do not just know what has been taught to them, but they understand it. For me personally, I love biology and it is very simple, but I know that is only because I had a very good teacher in high school. The challenge of trying to figure out how to teach the students so they can see and understand the simplicity of biology is the other thing I enjoy the most. Biology was not meant to be learnt as facts being presented in a classroom. It was meant to be seen and understood through many simple observations in our daily lives. Trying to put together a lesson plan which will best help the students to understand a topic is very similar to putting together a puzzle.

What is Cedar Tanzania’s future plans in regards to their collaboration with the school?

This question is very difficult to answer at this point in time as I have only been volunteering at the school for a month now. As with any community development work, it is crucial you find the point when your interests and skills intersect with the community’s interests and needs. This is exactly how I became involved with the school in the first place. They had an interest and a need of getting more biology teachers, and I was both trained and interested in teaching biology at the secondary school. As of now it is too soon to know exactly how Cedar Tanzania will collaborate with the school in the future, because many of these variables are still unknown. Currently there are ideas of what could happen in the future. For example, there is already a dormitory under construction at the school, when completed it could reduce some students’ travel time to and from school by as much as 4 hours. Or maybe teachers would like to receive some refresher training on modern teaching techniques with an emphasis on English being taught as a second language within other subject lessons. Again, this will all depend on what the school and its staff need and are interested in pursuing. There are still more discussions that are needed to be had before Cedar Tanzania will know the best way forward in their collaboration with the Nyamatongo Secondary School. 



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Can a nurse be a volunteer?

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Hello Everyone!

My name is Lucia Melloni, I’m 26 years old and I’m originally from Italy. I studied nursing in Italy and after graduation, I moved to England to work. I have been living and working in the UK for four years now.  


How long was your volunteer placement?

I worked at Kamanga health Centre for nearly 3 months. From mid-January 2020 till the end of March 2020.


What was your volunteer role at Cedar Tanzania?

I was the first volunteer nurse at Kamanga Health Centre, before me only doctors had volunteered for Cedar Tanzania. During my time at Kamanga Health Centre, I mostly worked side by side with the nurses in the health centre helping improve their everyday practice. 

Please mention a couple of highlights of some of the activities that you were involved in whilst you worked for Cedar?

For three months, I have been working with the staff at Kamanga Health Centre and everyday was a highlight in my opinion.  What I most liked though, was that everyone in Kamanga was grateful for my efforts and time spent to help improving the running of the health centre. 

What things did you find challenging either in your work or living cross culturally?

Work and living within another culture can be challenging in many ways. What I found the most challenging was the language barrier. Working in healthcare and being able to communicate with your patient is essential. Not being able to communicate properly with my patients and particularly with the little ones was very frustrating.

What things have you found enjoyable or surprising about Tanzanian culture either socially or at work?

What I like the most of Tanzanian culture is the community living. Since the very first day I was in Tanzania, I felt welcomed. Same thing at the health centre, since the very beginning I have been welcomed as part of their family. I really felt home in Tanzania. 

What would you say to anyone considering a medical volunteer post with Cedar Tanzania?

I think it is a very good experience and a good starting point if you are interested in humanitarian medicine. It is also a chance for professional and personal growth.

How did the corona virus outbreak affect your time at Kamanga Health Centre?

The corona virus outbreak did not affect me that much to be honest because I was meant to come back home anyway. Two of my flights to come back to the UK were cancelled, but I managed to come back home in the end!


Find out more about volunteering with Australia for Cedar Tanzania here

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How a deaf and mute young man learned a trade in 6 months and now supports his mother and 3 siblings.

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Today I am going to tell you about Fred and how our Entrepreneur Program has changed his life.

Despite Fred being both deaf and mute from birth, and growing up in a very poor household, he has been determined to learn a trade and become able to provide for his family. 

In this case study I will show you how our Entrepreneur Program makes a real difference for people just like Fred and his family.

Meeting Fred

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Fred is a 21-year old young man living in rural Tanzania. Throughout his life Fred has had to rely on his mother for support. Going to school has been particularly hard for Fred as there are not any special education or help available in this poverty-stricken community. Only with the help of his mother he has learned to write and communicate with some simple gestures.

Fred grew up with his single mother and three siblings. It has always been his dream to be able to contribute to the household and to be able to look after his family. Although societies in Tanzania often disregard people with disabilities Fred and his mother never gave up hope.

 

Reaching Out

Our Outreach Team met Fred and his family on one of their daily rounds in the Nyamatongo Ward where we work. The Outreach Team provide medical healthcare services to people in their own homes for those of the 30,000 residents who are unable to visit our hospital, Kamanga Health Centre. 

Often the team stops and talks to families about life and the problems they are experiencing. They will share knowledge on a variety of healthcare topics such as nutrition, and treatments and services available. Sharing their own stories and speaking to people on a daily basis has made this team a trusted part of our community service.

After meeting Fred and his family our team instantly offered him a spot in our Entrepreneur Program. They couldn’t help but feel Fred’s determination and eagerness to be given a chance to learn a trade and finally give something back to his family and community.

 

Earning a living

Fred joined our Entrepreneur Program in October 2020 and now 6 months later he is well on his way to opening his own tailoring business. 

The trainer and Fred’s fellow trainees have publicly acknowledged his passion and commitment to the project and his untiring support of others.

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With only a limited number of sewing machines available in our program our students must take turns to practice. This means it takes even longer to gain the practical skills needed to finally be able to live independent lives. Fred is now advocating for more support and funding which could allow us to buy more sewing machines so more people with disabilities can join in the future. 

Apart from the practical tailoring skills our program is also teaching the participants simple bookkeeping skills, market research, project planning, and we offer support and help throughout the program.

  

Living with a disability in Tanzania

In Tanzania, living with a disability has a significant impact on health, education and work possibilities. More than 50% of children suffering from a disability never gets to go to school.

In Tanzania, having a member of the household living with any kind of disability presents a double burden. Just 3% of people with disabilities earn an income from paid employment which means they are extremely vulnerable to abuse and poverty.

This project provides an opportunity for the participants to gain the skills to reach independence and the chance to get a job or to open their own businesses. 

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It also demonstrates, both to the people living with a disability themselves and to the community, that a disability is a barrier that can and should be challenged.

It provides people living with a disability with an important and valued role within the society showing they are equal members of their communities.

 

Tanzania in numbers:

  •  There are about 57M people – 68% or nearly 40M people are living in rural areas and most of these are living in poverty. Life expectancy is 65 years.

  • In fact, 49% of Tanzanians (26M people) are living on less than $1.90 a day. This is the international definition of severe poverty.

  • Most people, 90%, is living on less than $5 a day. That’s about the amount you spent on that take-away coffee earlier today.  

Can you help people like Fred?

Will you give a tax-deductible gift to help more people like Fred to become agents of change in their communities? 

Your gift can pay for training, material and sewing machines to help people with disabilities learn income-generating skills and challenge social stigma.

Visit from Australia

My name is Nina Hjortlund, although most people in Mwanza know me as Mama Nina; a combination of a surname that is next to impossible for non-Danish people to pronounce and cultural respect in Tanzania. I lived in Tanzania for 13 years and Tanzania still has a part of my heart and soul. I am a mother of four children and a crazy puppy.

I was born in Denmark but have always enjoyed traveling and besides Tanzania, I have also lived in Egypt for a number of years. I now live in Perth, Australia, since August 2018, which is where I founded Australia for Cedar Tanzania, ACT!

Australia for Cedar Tanzania is working to raise funds, awareness and attract volunteers for Cedar Tanzania. Our aim is to enable Cedar Tanzania to continue current projects, and potentially expand into new areas as well.

We do this through grant applications, social media, fundraising campaigns, events, communications, networking and partnerships.

In the short time we have existed, we have achieved quite a few milestones: We have conducted three crowdfunding campaigns securing lifesaving medical equipment for Kamanga Health Centre, secured partly funding for our TackleAfrica project and we are able to provide funds for our upcoming Clean Water project.

We have also received a grant in social media marketing and been shortlisted to UK Aid Directs Community Grant – we are holding our breaths as results are coming out any day now.

Currently, we are developing a partnership with Western Australia’s Department of Health to conduct an up-skilling training programme for our midwives and nurses. The project is called GHAWA (Global Health Alliance Western Australia) and was formed as part of a partnership with World Health Organisation (WHO).

GHAWA will provide Australian midwives to teach a midwifery programme that is tailored to the needs of Kamanga Health Centre’s staff. This will ensure that the health centre is able to provide the highest level of service and care to its patients.

Many new projects and events are on the schedule for 2020 – make sure you are signed up to our newsletter to be the first to know.

What are your main roles as Director of Australia for Cedar Tanzania!

Australia for Cedar Tanzania is still a small entity and I am the only employee so far.

This means I get to wear all the hats! – CEO, bookkeeper, marketing, report writing, fundraiser, writing grant applications, secretary, stall holder, web designer, and everything else in between.

As a Founding Director, I am ultimately responsible for ensuring that the company adheres to the laws of Australia and that all reporting is done in a timely manner. It is also my responsibility to ensure Australia for Cedar Tanzania is financially sound, and that all taxes and fees are being paid.

Australia for Cedar Tanzania is a not-for-profit, which means all profits we make goes straight into Cedar Tanzania.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Although it can sometimes be stressful, I enjoy wearing all the hats and the diversity that comes along with it.

In one day, I can be keeping books and attending a webinar in the morning, updating social media and our web page in the afternoon, and meeting politicians and stakeholders by the evening.

I find much satisfaction in knowing every little thing I do has the aim of helping the Nyamatongo community to be stronger and more self-sufficient, and that they will gain more opportunities and improve their overall living standards.

I enjoy being my own boss, setting my goals high and aiming for the stars. I work alone, which takes lots of self-discipline and organisation but it also has many benefits. One of them is that I can move my hours around my children’s schedule. This often means that many of my work hours occur in the evenings after my children have gone to bed.

What do you find most challenging about your role?

Working alone. As I mentioned above it has its benefits,but it also has its downfalls. Being well aware of them makes me able to counter them before they become a problem.

Luckily thanks to today’s technology I can stay in daily contact with our team in Tanzania – WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime and Messenger make communicating easy and accessible.

Linking with other similar businesses here in Australia is another important aspect of my tasks, which helps to know how to go about running a business here. Meeting with like-minded people for inspiration and collaboration on a regular basis is vital for growth and overcoming challenges.

Oh, and bookkeeping is just not my favourite thing to do…

Tell us about your most recent visit to Cedar Tanzania

I have just returned from a three weeks visit to Tanzania. Needless to say it was AMAZING!

I loved being able to see the Cedar Tanzania team face to face and it was a pleasure to spend the first week both in the office in Mwanza and with the team in Nyamatongo Ward.

All our projects look fantastic and I am so proud of all the achievements our staff has accomplished. I am humbled and impressed with the dedication and passion every single member of the Cedar Tanzania team shows every single day. It truly warmed my heart to see.

The project manager for the GHAWA project, Sally Dawit, came from Dar es Salaam to inspect Kamanga Health Centre and was highly impressed with the level of standards we deliver every day.

I also met with a couple of our long-term Corporate Social Responsibility partners such as Sandvik Mining and Construction Tanzania and Bamboo Rock Drilling. We are proud to have a well-functioning and positive CSR approach where all involved benefit from the partnership.

I miss Tanzania every day – and I feel very lucky being able to have both Australia and Tanzania in my life all at once.

How can people take action?

There are many ways you can be part of our journey.

First and foremost, sign up to our newsletter to know about our projects, the amazing people we meet on a daily basis and learn how changing lives happens every day.

We have a donation option on our website – in Australia all donations over $2 are tax deductible.

You can volunteer with us – send me a mail and hear how.

Does your company have a CSR or workplace giving programme? Contact us and hear how we can collaborate.

And something as simple as commenting and sharing our posts on social media (find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter) helps us enormously. So next time you see a post: give us a shout and share it on!