Tanzania: The Survey

From Tanzania 2010 Photos

Day 6 & 7

One of the expectations of SCAW volunteers is to survey parents and children who are receiving bedkits about the quality and usefulness of the items included. Recipients are asked for feedback about what is included in the bedkit and also encouraged to make suggestions about additional items that would be useful to them.

This helps the team and Mama Wandoa make decisions about bedkit items for future distributions and gives us important insights into the lives of the families.

From Tanzania 2010 Photos

Heather, Cathy, and Beth have been conducting surveys this week with the help of teacher/translators who have interpreted the questions and answers for short interviews with children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and other caregivers.

Hearing firsthand the struggles these families face reinforces the importance and value of SCAW’s mission. Talking with children and caregivers has highlighted that malaria, HIV, as well as many dental and skin ailments are part of the daily hardships these families have to deal with. With distance and financial obstacles in their way, many of these people will never see a doctor in their lifetime. Because of this limited access to medical treatment, early death has a profound impact on the family unit – many households share a roof with extended families, including orphaned relatives with numerous branches of the family sharing the same home.

From Tanzania 2010 Photos

Undugu is a Swahili term for brotherhood but also a Tanzanian philosophy that describes the community spirit of supporting friends and extended family with generosity, consideration, and compassion. This is evident to us every morning, when we are greeted by crowds who have gathered to watch the distribution, whether or not their children have been selected to receive bedkits. One mother expressed her appreciation that SCAW travels directly to these villages to deliver the bedkits personally.

From Tanzania 2010 Photos

This ensures that the bedkits get into the right hands, and also allows recipients to meet with Canadian volunteers. Murray Dryden’s vision of a volunteer-run, relationship organization reflects the philosophy of undugu and as volunteers we are humbled by the chance to witness this community spirit in action in Tanzania.

Team Tanzania 2010

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