Journalist Joanna Martin blogs from Tanzania  

As a freelance video journalist I made an ‘off the media beaten track’ decision to spend three months filming a number of news reports in Tanzania. Kenya has featured in the news with reported conflict over the recent election, but little is known about its relatively laid-back and peaceful neighbour Tanzania.

Tanzania is jam-packed full of superlatives: It has Africa’s largest concentration of animals in the Serengeti safari park, and the continent’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. The country also boasts the world’s largest intact crater, Ngorongoro which teems with wildlife. Tanzanians are a friendly bunch and incredibly hospitable. My aim was to put this gem of a country on the map.

On arrival I had a meeting with a local journalist in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. I wanted good stories with links to Britain. He told me where the Masaai who ran the Flora London Marathon live. I got in contact with London based adventure specialists, Greenforce who work closely with the Masaai, and they helped coordinate a filming day.

Armed with five kilos of sugar and six boxes of tea bags I travelled eight hundred kilometres by road to the northern town of Arusha and then a further forty five kilometres to the remote village of Elaui. My point of contact was Greenforce expedition leader, Jonathan Lloyd who has been working in a nearby Masaai village for three months. His hot tip of the day was, ‘If you are offered blood to drink, swallow it quickly as it can clot in your throat and be hard to wash down.’ I didn’t get the chance to partake in the Masaai ritual, and was secretly glad.

Access to clean drinking water is something we take for granted in the UK. However, in some rural areas in Tanzania it can be thin on the ground. Tribes like the Masaai are forced to walk up to three days in the dry season to locate it. In the long rainy season, which runs from February to April, the Masaai in Elaui have enough water to drink, drawn from a nearby lake. However, when this runs dry they are forced to search further afield.

Contaminated water is linked to extremely high child mortality rates among Masaai tribes; two thirds of children die before the age of five. With the help of Greenforce, six Masaai warriors from the village of Elaui in northern Tanzania ran the Flora London Marathon this year and raised over sixty thousand pounds. This means they will have a water pump installed, bringing clean drinking water directly to their village for the very first time. A location has been earmarked and the plan is to have a European company drill a single bore hole and install a water pump within the next couple of months.

The first thing that struck me about Elaui village was how harsh the environment is. Elaui is named after the indigenous tree grown in the area which is known for its medicinal qualities. I had the pleasure of interviewing Isaya, the group leader who spoke really good English along with his brother Nguvu. They showed me around their part of the village which consisted of two mud huts known as bomas and a cattle pen. Then it was off to meet the village chief. As I greeted him outside his boma I glanced up and saw a rather large church with a cross dominating the skyline.  On further questioning I found out that this formal place of worship, funded by a Christian charity is practically derelict. I remember thinking how indifferent but tolerant the Masaai are to western influences. Despite a modern world, fast developing around them, the tribe prefer a simplistic way of life, living in their bomas surrounded by a close- knit family and prized cattle.

I found the villagers to be really friendly and welcoming. My camera equipment was a source of amusement. The biggest challenge was keeping the villagers quiet in order to conduct interviews. Semi-naked children clung to my legs, laughing and poking fun at this strange foreign woman asking lots of questions in their village.  Adults touched the camera and messed with the mic out of curiosity. They chattered away endlessly about me with mild amusement.

The Masaai who ran the marathon told me they had felt very cold during their stay in the UK but drinking copious cups of tea at a B&B in Kent had kept them warm. Traditionally they use snuff but were not allowed to take it to England. They consequently gave snuff a try in the UK only to find it had a chemical taste that they disliked.

In the future the Masaai want to run more marathons to raise even more funds to build a hospital. Currently they have to travel long distances to get medical aid.

If you would like to find out more about my news reports in Tanzania you can contact me at joanna@pobox.com

Watch Joanna’s Masaai warrior Meridian report here.Watch more of Joanna’s Tales from Tanzania below. Click on the link to view the report:

 

Trade Aid helps Tanzanian locals set up small businesses through micro finance

Water Aid maps contaminated water vital for survival

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