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Pictured: Jenny Peck has helped the evolution of the Organization's Community Outreach Program from the ground up |
It was a quick exchange, and I have to admit, it didn’t
stand out as anything out of the ordinary in a day full of meetings packed in
the middle of a week full of meetings as the New Year arrived. We were all so
busy with end of the year things, as well as two new kids being entered into
the Igoda Children's Village, half a dozen building projects underway, a
tutoring program involving all of the students at the Children’s Village, and
meeting after meeting taking place as we initiated the new program of
departments for better operational efficiency. Stacey Droll, our Peace Corps
extender volunteer came into the office, and apologized for interrupting the
meeting, and told Jenny that she was about to leave to Mlevelwa village to talk
to a family about possibly entering their child into the Children’s Village.
The government had asked us to take in the child, who was suffering from
neglect and malnutrition, but the family was from an area of that village that
was not very educated, and they had a history of reluctance towards following
conventional wisdom. After Stacey explained what she was about to do, Jenny
began giving instructions.
JENNY: Make sure you
meet Kibuga Fute and take him with you to the family, and take Maria as well if
you can, they’re both Home Based Care Volunteers and will be able to help
explain the situation.
STACEY: I can’t get a
hold of Maria; she’s been hapatikana (unreachable) all day.
JENNY: Ok, well you
can take Kibuga by himself, and that will work well, as he’s with Tunajali.
Thinking back on it, I think this was the point where my
brain told me to pay attention. The simple fact that we have people to connect
with in each of the surrounding villages- people who have been trained either
by us, or by others (Tunajali) - who now are trained in the work of Orphan Care
is an invaluable resource that saves lives everyday in this rural area. This
has been a development at least four years in the making.
When Jenny joined the NGO after completing 2 years of Peace
Corps Service in a neighboring village, she was given a position with the
laborious-sounding job title of Orphanage Manager, and Community Outreach
Coordinator. Essentially she would be the face of the NGO, explaining what we
are here for, and she would be working with local leadership to decide which
families were most in need, and which children would be coming to the
children’s village. She began in 2008 by visiting families in the village
house-by-house and listening to their stories. She would meet with village
leaders- either the local government executive, a pastor at a church, a teacher
at the school, or just a concerned neighbor, and they would lead her to the
families most in need. Back in 2008 there was very little formalized care of
Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, or OVCs as they are oft labeled. In just four
years the difference is striking. Each village now has a committee for Most
Vulnerable Children, a committee for People Living with HIV/AIDS, and thanks to
training seminars funded by donors to our NGO, there are now multiple Home Based Care
Volunteers in each village that are streamlining the work done by the NGO and
the committees. An overall sense of community has come to this area; one that
had been devastated by HIV. This community had become overwhelmed by the
enormity of this pandemic and was unable to care for their neighbor as before.
In fact taking care of one’s self had become a daily struggle, as treatment was
unavailable in a community that essentially had an HIV positive person living
in each of its households. Now things are different, and the battle against the
disease is turning.
Jenny continued with instructions, this time regarding what
to do upon meeting with the families’ inevitable reluctance to adhere to the local
government’s advice. The one and a half year old baby was suffering from a form
of malnutrition called Kwashiorkor that stems from a lack of protein, and Jenny
wanted the health risks parlayed.
JENNY: When you get to
their house, you have to explain to the Mother how serious it is that her child
has Kwashiorkor, and in the Hospital in this area 33% of all cases that arrive
there end in death.
If they agree to have
the child come here (to Igoda Children’s Village) then you will have to pass
the government office to get a letter of approval or agreement saying the child
has permission to stay here. If the family refuses, you have to then report
that to the Para-social worker. His name is Stefano. Kibuga knows who he is and
how to get in touch with him.
STACEY: OK
JENNY: Alright, you
can call us if there’re any issues.
After hearing these last instructions, I couldn’t help but
think about all the progress the NGO has made in the past four years. I thought
about our first visit from Dr. Leena Pasanen almost exactly four years ago in
January 2009, and all that she has brought to this community. With her 30+
years of experience working in rural Tanzania, she has brought a calming
professional health service to the community that has already saved countless
lives through her diagnostics and treatment over the years at clinics and home
visits. Dr. Leena told us about the 33% factor at her Hospital in Illembula
village, and she has given countless people advice and guidance on better
health practices that has improved the health education of the area enabling
the community to make strides towards better development.
I thought about the progress we’ve made, that could not have
happened without the help and cooperation of local government. I remembered a
meeting in that same village of Mlevelwa where the leaders of the village met
with several families when we arrived one day to talk about what was best for
their children. Each village leader was visibly concerned primarily and
compassionately with the children. I remembered one day in another very remote
village named Isipii when the chairman of the village and the head teacher of
the school were so excited to hear we were coming to survey the Orphaned and
Vulnerable Children of their village that they called all of the most needy
cases to come to the school to wait for us there so we wouldn’t have to visit
each home. We had never seen such concern for children in a village before. We
still visited the homes of the children most in need from that group, and after
the proper processes two girls from that group we saw that day came to stay at
Igoda Children’s Village. Three and half years later, both girls from Isipii
are thriving at Igoda Children’s Village. Datrai spent her last two years of
primary school as head prefect, and this year enters Form two (her second year
of Secondary School). The second girl, Kandida, finished with the best grades
in her class last year in Standard 5.
As Jenny mentioned the para-social worker who reports to the
district, I also thought about the help from the district government that has
helped us, and this community, develop so quickly in such a short time. The
district social welfare officer has become a good friend of ours, and the
regional officer has visited us as well. With their help, and their backing, we
have been able to do right by these children. The District Commissioner as well
for Mufindi District this year helped us by allowing us to open a kindergarten
at the Children’s Village this year, and helping us jump through the necessary
bureaucratic hoops to get the service to the community.
In just a thirty second exchange Jenny had brought to mind the amazing
progress the NGO has made in just a few short years. Things will only move
faster over the next three to five years. Strategies are in place, as well as
local leadership, and as the children from the Children’s Village grow older,
they will be the leaders of their own community. It is exciting to think about
the real tangible change that can be made in this community through the
partnerships and cooperation with everyone involved. It such an honour to be
working in this community, and witnessing this change first-hand.
