Facing the pandemic with formation: Association Marafika wa Afrika reports on the corona situation in Tanzania

Corona has changed the work of the Freising association “Marafiki wa Afrika - Friends for Africa”.

The pandemic is particularly hard on the club's partners in Tanzania.

Freising

- The corona pandemic has also steered the work of the Freising association “Marafiki wa Afrika - Friends for Africa” on a new path.

The last attendance general assembly took place in January 2020, writes board member Christine Albrecht in the annual report.

Since then, the board has been exchanging ideas every three weeks: “More often and intensely than ever in its more than 25-year history,” reports Albrecht.

The closings

On March 17, 2020, all schools and kindergartens in Tanzania were closed, including those of the association partners: the Montessori Kindergarten by Aprofi, the Baramba Girls Secondary School by Marafiki wa Afrika Tansania (MAT) and the Mavuno Girls Secondary School.

The closure was initially ordered for 30 days.

The three volunteers from Freising, Theresa Lösch, Rosina Engert and Moritz Wander, broke off their stay at this time and some of them came back to Germany on the last plane.

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The volunteers from Freising, Moritz Wander, Rosina Engert and Theresa Lösch, broke off their stay in Tanzania and came back to Germany safe and sound.

© Marafiki wa Africa

The situation in Tanzania

At the end of March 2020 there were 14 cases of corona infection in Tanzania, at the end of April there were 320. The infections were concentrated in the large cities of Dar es Salam, Arusha and Mwanza.

How high the number of unreported cases was could not even be guessed.

There were hardly any test options.

Knowledge of the virus, the route of infection and the symptoms of the disease were still relatively diffuse.

Since January 2021, the association has received more and more news that people in the villages are falling ill and will also die due to a lack of medical facilities.

The economy

The economic impact on people is enormous.

If there was little money in circulation before the pandemic, it is even less now.

Many people have lost their jobs.

The prices for food have risen drastically and the common people can hardly afford them anymore.

In addition, all children were at home during the lockdown period and had to be provided with food or clothing outside of the school uniform.

The heavy rain of the last rainy season ruined the bean harvest at the beginning of 2020.

The corn harvest was good, but many traders from Uganda and Rwanda entered the market and raised the price.

Albrecht: "The economic situation in the country is very difficult."

Well-known ways

Contact to Tanzania has been digital for years - except through volunteers and visits.

Christine Albrecht describes: "These channels continued to be used hard and even more intensively in 2020." The "Aprofi" project, which has been supported for many years, built a maize dryer in 2020.

Financial support for this project was decided at the general assembly in January.

In 2020, the farmers' maize could now be stored with optimal storage humidity.

Now you can start selling.

The “Aprofi” preschool kindergarten was again supported in 2020 by the Santa Claus sales campaign (successfully carried out at the school despite Corona) at the St. Lantbert partner school.

Albrecht: “The money is to be used for the new construction of the kindergarten kitchen.” Thanks to the generous grant from the online general assembly in February, construction can now begin soon.

The self-help organization Mavuno was also able to complete the construction of the orphanage.

The construction was funded by Marafiki wa Afrika and by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

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In 2020, Mavuno was intensively involved in educational work and imparting hygiene measures.

This included the purchase of a water tank.

© Marafiki wa Africa

Hygiene concepts

In 2020, Mavuno was very intensively involved in awareness-raising and teaching hygiene measures.

This included securing the water supply.

According to Christine Albrecht, a water tank applied for through the “Hand in Hand Fund” helped with the implementation: “The pupils at the Mavuno School were able to continue their lessons and also passed their graduation with good results.”

Falling numbers

At the Baramba Girls Secondary School - the sponsor is Marafiki wa Afrika Tanzania (MAT) - all students have graduated.

Nevertheless, according to Christine Albrecht, this school is struggling with falling numbers, because the parents can hardly afford the boarding school.

"Thanks to the cooperation with the Erbacherstiftung and Faire Welt Rastatt, MAT was able to start an agricultural project in Tanzania, where innovative cultivation methods are now to be taught and tested."

The financial problem

The big problem, however, remains: In the lockdown, salaries could no longer be paid, and so Marafiki successfully set up a salary support for the teachers with its own members and the extended Marafiki family with the program "teachers for teachers" .

So the staff could be kept in the schools.

The parents of the pupils were supported from Christmas with the program “A Piece of the Future” in order to be able to pay the school fees.

After these effects will drag on well into 2021, both programs have now been combined in the “Two Pieces Future” campaign.

Here too, donations are still being asked for.

Christine Albrecht: "The effects of the Corona crisis cannot yet be fully assessed in the countries of the global south, but will become even more serious if countermeasures are not taken through education."

The educational sponsors

The educational sponsorship program continues.

There Marafiki mainly supports children and young people, who are often half-orphans or orphans, so that they can finish school.

"In addition, we have an educational sponsorship pot into which donations are paid on a monthly basis and from which a whole group of children in need is supported on site with exercise books, fees and school uniforms, for example."

The art project

The association Marafiki wa Afrika would like to show the pictures by artist Marian Kretschmer again in an exhibition.

Albrecht writes: “In 2020 they hung in the city café until the end of January - after that everything was canceled.

For this year we can - hopefully - look forward to an action in connection with the long night of democracy. ”The exhibition of photo prints and the exhibition“ Strong Women ”can be borrowed from Christine Albrecht.

Contact at vorstand@marafiki.de.  

The birthday

There was also something to celebrate: The chairman of the partner association “Marafiki wa Afrika Tanzania”, Isajas Bambara, who is well known in Freising, celebrated his 70th birthday in 2020.  

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Good to know

If you want to become an educational sponsor and regularly support this project, you can donate to the following account:

■ Account  

number: 21 972

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Bank code: 700 310 00

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IBAN: DE95 700310000000021972

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BIC: BHLSDEM1XXX

Sperrer Bank Freising

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