The Bigger Picture

Christmas is magical.

The lights. The smells. The people. The food.

It is one of my favourite times of the year. I love returning to childhood fantasies with the Elf on Shelf doing his naughty things and each family having their own specific traditions.

In the later years another feeling has entered my Christmas too: The Bigger Picture. I am not sure what else to call it. I still want Christmas to be magical time for my children, my family and my friends. But at the same time, I am very much aware of the impact this over-indulgence and over-consumerism has on our planet and its people.

Therefore, I try to be conscientious about the presents I buy, and ask myself a few questions before purchasing an item:

• Will the present be appreciated for days, months, years to come?

• Will it last a long time? (unless it is a box of chocolate or a bottle of wine)

• Will it be used over and over again?

I know, some of the best, and most memorable presents I have received has been of the homemade kind. A jar of homemade chilli-mango sauce. Carefully spiced bath salt. A selection of seeds to grow my own herbs.

Of course, some presents and decorations are bought. But when we buy, why not buy something that really matters?

All our stock at ARTEFACTZ is handmade by artisans in Tanzania. The textiles are woven on large handlooms and hand dyed with natural colours. The baskets are handwoven by a large collaboration of women, although the straws used are traditionally cut by the men. Our bibs a cross stitched with safari motives by young HIV positive single mums to create a living for themselves and their children. Every single item has its story.

By purchasing one (or more!!!) of any ARTEFACTZ item, you are directly supporting the maker. You are directly making sure their children gets fed and gets to go to school.

On top of this, as we are a not-for-profit, all surplus is funding the healthcare services we currently are providing to 35,000 people.

And it gets even better (it’s Christmas after all)! Through our partnership with Action on Poverty we receive an additional 5% on every $$ we raise.

Head over and make this Christmas one to remember.

Neema defies paralysis thanks to Cedar Tanzania

What would you do?

Have you ever imagined what your life would look like if an accident was going to happen to you? Would you have the strength to keep going on?

Neema surely has. Seven years ago, Neema went to one of the larger regional hospitals to get treatment for typhoid. Unfortunately, Neema experienced nerve damage during her treatment and lost most of the mobility in her legs.

Neema is now 31 years old and lives with her parents. She relies on their help for all her basic needs. Neema also has three younger siblings who all still go to school.

Being dependent of her parents has had a huge impact on Neema’s mental health. She has been struggling with depression and feelings of being a burden to her family. As the family already lives in poverty having a member of the family not able to contribute financially is a huge strain. On top of that, there are all Neema’s extra medical bills.

Finding Neema

Our Outreach Team met Neema in 2019 and has since been working in close partnership with her and her family. This free service has provided Neema with a variety of treatment options for both her physical and mental health. 

With the help of our team, Neema has regained some movement in her legs and has literally taken her first few steps towards independence.

It is Neema’s desire to get to a point where she can support herself and contribute to her family. She is grateful to her family, particularly her parents, for the support they have given her through the difficulty times she has encountered. She hopes she one day will be able to return the kindness she has received.

A new beginning

Neema is excited to start our entrepreneurial training.

She says “I have some basic knowledge on sewing. I learnt a while ago before I suffered from paralysis, and I am confident that I can regain some skills if I will get the opportunity to practice again. It is something am interested about and something I am capable of doing”.

According to Neema’s physiotherapist, the tailoring training will help Neema to re-gain her sewing skills and hopefully help her to earn an income. It will empower and strengthen her emotionally, mentally, and physically. Sewing provides an opportunity to rebuild physical strength and this project also provides her with an opportunity to be surrounded by others who are facing similar challenges. 

What is typhoid?

Typhoid is a bacterial disease spread through dirty water and can be life-threatening if not treated. 

The residents of Nyamatongo Ward do not have access to treated water. The only water source is water collected from the lake. With no sewage systems in place, long-drops or open defecation is the norm and is naturally led to the water. Typhoid, and other waterborne diseases are very common in the area.

In fact, diarrhea, which is often caused by typhoid, is the biggest cause of death for children under five.

Can you help Neema and people like her?

Will you give a tax-deductible gift to help Neema and others like her 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.

Changing Lives begins with you. We can’t do it without you.

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

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

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.

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. 

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.

"Supporting Globally Impacting Locally" - Nina Hjortlund featured on Wellthy Living

A real and unedited chat between Nina Hjortlund, Founding Director and CEO of Australia for Cedar Tanzania & ARTEFACTZ and Lisa Entwisle, Host and Founder of Wellthy Living.

Lisa and Nina met on Clubhouse, the audio-only platform, and from there the conversation grew. This conversation takes us through large parts of Nina’s journey, why she’s so passionate about Global Development and Tanzania but also talks about her personal life juggling CEO-life with being a single mum.

You can read more about Nina and her journey here: “Going on a 13-year long holiday” and here: “Am I an imposter”

If you want to contact Nina for an interview or as a speaker you can contact her here

Going On A 13-Year Long Holiday

It takes passion, perseverance and pertinacity to change the lives of more than 30,000 people.

Changing Lives Begins With You

This part of my journey started back in 2005. I was turning 30, and like many other women, I felt a need to reflect on my life. All the big existential questions: Am I living my life to the fullest? Is this what I want my life to look like the next 30 years? Am I happy in my life?

A big loud “NO!” to all three questions was bobbling up inside me.

I felt like I was trapped. I felt like I was living someone else’s life. I felt like I was screaming but no one could hear me. Something had to change.

It all started with a holiday. A holiday that took me to Tanzania – a country I had barely heard about. Little did I know it was going to be the beginning to the rest of my life.

What was meant to be a two-week holiday became my home for the next 13 years. I didn’t speak the language, I didn’t know the culture, I had no official education. What could possibly go wrong?

Of course, a lot of things did. It is probably the steepest and harshest learning curve I have ever experienced, but I have learned so much not only about running a business but also about myself.

My many years in Tanzania saw me through a variety of businesses and industries – none of which I had ANY previous experience in. 

I started off buying a restaurant and bar. Only letdown was it actually didn’t have a kitchen. It had to be built. 

Then there was a draught and electricity were rationed. First a few days here and there, then we only had power on Fridays and Sundays, and in the end only on Sundays. The thing is, when there is no power, there is also no water as the pumps needs power. I ended up buying buckets of water from a man on a bicycle. The water came from…. the brewery! This went on for almost a year.

The following year I sold the bar and bought a nightclub and concert venue. This was really interesting! Everything from having crocodiles entering my space, to hosting the presidential wife, driving wealthy and powerful youth home, being arrested, all the while trying to provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere in the nightlife.

Taking a new turn in my ‘career’ I got a job as a lodge manager for a rundown fishing lodge (no, I have no idea how to catch a fish) on an uninhabited island. The only people on the island were me, my staff, and a couple of rangers.

Again, no power and no running water. We ran kerosene fridges (when we didn’t run out of kerosene) and had a very very old generator. It had a screwdriver wedged in as the ‘start button’.

Elephants, hippos and crocodiles came to our camp near daily and we had resident colubus monkeys, bushbuck and lots of other animals. It was spectacular.

Coming back to the mainland I found myself in first junior exploration and then on the mines. A very different world to where I had been so far.

By a few more turns I landed in the not-for-profit sector.

All these twists and turns has formed my knowledge and expertise but also shown me how it is in everyone’s power to change a life.

The Australian Connection

I met the man that became father to our two girls in Tanzania. An Aussie guy working in the mines. Although Emily and Sofia were both born here in Australia, they grew up in Tanzania until they were 5 and 7 years old. They were only a few weeks old when they went on their first long haul flight and on their first trips to Serengeti.

In August 2018 we decided time had come to make the move across the ocean and settle in Fremantle. 

The move hasn’t been entirely smooth and since our arrival we have learned that both our girls are living with ADHD, and the oldest also has severe anxiety and OCD tendencies. In fact, she was ‘suicidal without a plan’ at age 7. That was incredibly hard to witness.

My relationship with the girl’s father ended last year and the following month he returned to his work in Africa. 

I am now solo parenting 24/7 while also working full time as Founding Director and CEO. 

Some days it is a tough gig, but we are finding our groove. Eating dinner together at the dining table every evening is sacred to me. This is the time we check in with each other, solve problems and make plans. Walks on the beach are good for the soul and we go as often as possible.

I had no doubts about what I was going to do when I came here to Australia. Two months later, on October 5th 2018, Australia for Cedar Tanzania was a reality and I was ready to continue the work we had started in Tanzania.

‘Cedar Tanzania’ is our registered on-the-ground organisation in Tanzania, and we have a well-established and dedicated local team carrying out our day-to-day activities in the field.

We pride ourselves of taking a holistic approach to create positive sustainable change.

My daily work, even before the pandemic, included a lot of meetings on Skype and Zoom. Leading the team in Tanzania – nearly 10,000km away and with a 5-hour time difference – means I often work evenings after the kids are in bed. I am grateful for being able to work from home. I can flex my time around my children’s schedule and take them to all their activities without having to miss out.

When the pandemic hit last year, it was clear international aid (especially to Africa) was going to take a blow.

ARTEFACTZ, a new retail part of Australia for Cedar Tanzania, launched in March 2020 to ensure a sustainable income to support our projects.

Every carefully curated item supports and sustains the culture and livelihood of artisans across East Africa – many of whom are women who has lost the opportunity to sell their high-quality crafts as tourism has come to standstill.

You don’t need to go on a 13-year holiday or work across three continents to start Changing Lives. 

I cannot achieve my goals alone. Please join me.

This is how Changing Lives Begins with You.

Featured in Business Chicks March 2021

FACTZ & ACTz

FACTZ

Seeing poverty on a daily basis cannot but leave an impact. 

Of Tanzania’s 57 million people, 49% (26 million people – the same as Australia’s population) are living on less than $1.90 a day. This is the international definition of severe poverty.

Most Tanzanians, 90% of the population (more than 51 million people), are living on less than $5 a day. 

That’s about the amount you spend on a take-away coffee.

When you are poor, education is an expensive investment. Research shows us that often families chose to focus that investment into one child.

That one child is most often a boy. Since he is the one you have betted on, he is likely to be the one who gets to eat first. This is an important fact as 38% of children under 5 in rural areas are stunted[1] due to malnutrition, prolonged and repeated infections, and untreated worms and parasites. Children, who doesn’t get enough food to grow, and who has to share this scarce nutrition with worms and parasites, are not likely to be able to focus on learning and schoolwork.

More than 90% of Tanzanians rely on ‘unimproved sanitation facilities’. That means no access to a bathroom or a toilet but a hole in the ground or nothing at all. ‘Doing your business’ behind a bush or in a lake is therefore not uncommon. This is the main reason we see continuous infections of worms, parasites and other waterborne diseases such as typhoid. In fact, something as simple as diarrhea is the biggest killer of children under 5.

Tanzania has a law banning teenage girls from continuing education should she fall pregnant. This rule remains also after she has given birth. Teachers will lose their jobs if they are found teaching pregnant girls leading to compulsory pregnancy tests at school. 

Abortion is also illegal and therefore not an option. Even so, 42% of girls aged 15-19 living in poverty have already had a live birth or are currently pregnant.

On top of that, 11,000 Tanzanian mothers die during childbirth every year. That is one woman every 50 minutes.

ACTz

Australia for Cedar Tanzania is creating sustainable positive change for the residents of Nyamatongo Ward.

We built a hospital from scratch. 

We bought the land, we constructed the buildings, we sourced the medical equipment needed and now we run the day-to-day management and quality assurance. 

We service 30,000 residents and tend to over 1,200 patients every month. Every month we vaccinate and give free health checks to 200 children and babies under 5. A baby is born at our hospital every day.

To be able to deliver healthcare to every single person in our area we taught a group of medical professionals to ride off-road motorbikes. Our mobile medical team are focusing on people with disabilities, children and community education.

Through educating and engaging community activists speaking to fellow residents about the benefits of equality and equity we have seen a decrease in violence against women and in new HIV cases in married women.

We teach local members of the community to deliver our youth project. Through soccer we are giving teenagers, both girls and boys, a space where they can discuss subjects like sex, puberty and gender roles freely. At the same time provide education on HIV prevention and offer free voluntary testing.

As I mentioned before, young women who fall pregnant can no longer go to school. They are caught in a poverty trap and often also ostracized by their families. We are providing them with basic skills such as sewing, basic business management and market research. This gives them an opportunity to earn a living and to have a social network in each other.

Actually, “we” didn’t do all of this.

YOU did. YOU made all of this possible. YOU changed lives. YOU built a hospital. YOU are delivering mobile healthcare. YOU are making sure women are safe in their own homes. YOU are teaching teens about HIV/AIDS. YOU are helping young women to support themselves.

YOU can make sure these projects continue and getting many more projects off the ground in 2021.

This is how Changing Lives Begins with You.

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[1] Stunting is when a child has a low height for their age, usually due to malnutrition, repeated infections, and/or poor social stimulation. The World Health Organization categorizes children who are stunted as those whose height is lower than average for their age, and at least two standard deviations below the WHO’s Child Growth Standards Median. 

The real-world impacts of stunting ripple well beyond linear growth. A stunted child may also have a poorer immune system, brain function, and organ development. Performing below average in these areas may also limit their future productivity and threaten the health of their future children.

Stunting cannot be reversed but can be prevented! 

https://www.concernusa.org/story/what-is-stunting/

The Story Of A Basket

Many people may recognize these handwoven Iringa baskets. They originate from Southern highlands of Tanzania, Iringa, which has given them their name.

Traditionally, they are woven by women of the Hehe and Bena tribes from Milulu grass, a reed-like swamp grass growing in this area.

This extraordinary skill is passed down from woman to woman through generations, and today it is an important empowering skill enabling Tanzanian women to gain independence and ability to sustain her own, and her children’s, lives. 

The baskets has played a big role in the heritage of especially the Hehe and Bena tribes and has through the times been used for numerous purposes.

Even now with their contemporary and multi-usage design they are decorative and useful in any home. Use them for your indoor plants, blankets, magazines, toys, paper basket in your office - you name it!

You can purchase your own through ARTEACTZ here

The New Man Holding The Reins...

…is Amani George, Cedar Tanzania’s new Project Manager.

We asked him to introduce himself:

Am I an imposter?

I have just written an article for Women and Leadership Australia but since it is behind a membership wall I want to share it with you here.

Seeing myself as a leader didn’t come easy to me.

I still clearly remember the day I felt confident enough to sign my email with “Founding Director and CEO”. With my heart in my throat and fingers shaking I pressed send. Of course, no one noticed, and no one commented on it. They already saw me as the leader I am, and it was only a natural addition to my signature.

How come it was so hard for me to realise I was a leader? Had I fallen victim to the infamous imposter syndrome?

To feel like an imposter, you must first believe you are in a position you are not qualified for or that you haven’t earned (whether it is true or not). I never felt like an imposter; I never felt I was pretending to be something that I wasn’t.

That same week I had been at a gathering hosted by a very dear friend of mine. A rather relaxed affair and although I knew most of the people there were a few people I hadn’t met before. As I am an extrovert with a capital E and find no better way to soak up some energy, I was in my element.

My friend was introducing me to one of the other guests - and suddenly something clicked! He was using words that I had never thought of using to describe myself. Like “Entrepreneur”, “Leader” and “Founding Director”. Only then did I realise 'that is was what I am.'

Through this experience, I am now taking my leadership skills much more seriously. Evaluating my skills, identifying my strengths and weaknesses, becoming much clearer in my leadership.

To really extend my knowledge and to sharpen my skill set as a leader I have chosen to take a MicroMasters through the University of Queensland in Leadership in Global Development.

To continue to expand my knowledge and to actively participate in continued learning is important to drive and grow my business.

Doing business across continents and in developing countries definitely has its challenges but one of my greatest strengths is that I see it as just that: challenges. Challenges can be overcome and there is always a solution to be found.

My definition of success is when all the parts fits the puzzle.

When we see positive changes in the lives of our beneficiaries, when our team is performing at their best and is happy to come to work every day, and when our CSR partnerships benefit everyone involved.

That is also what drives my passion and why I wake up excited to work. This is what brings me joy. It also makes me happy to be a positive role model for my children. To show them that women can be leaders and entrepreneurs too.

Nina Hjortlund delivers with great insight and knowledge, the reasons why Africa matters and why Global Development has an impact on you and your business. Dedication, passion and enthusiasm drive her entrepreneurial personality, and she is a firm believer in creating opportunities rather than waiting for them.

Through her many years in Africa, and in Tanzania in particular, she has developed an understanding of the multifaceted issues people are facing on a daily basis in the developing world. Believing in continuous learning she is currently undertaking a MicroMasters at Queensland University in Leadership in Global Development. Nina is mother to four children of which two still are living at home. Her two eldest children are currently studying in Denmark.

Powerful Young Women Expanding Business During COVID-19

The aim of our Girl Power Project (Nguvu ya Binti) is to teach a group of young girls to set up and run their own business, based around sewing as a skillset.

Since the start of Girl Power in 2019, the girls have been taught how to use the sewing machines they have received through the project, how to grow their business and refine their skills. Unfortunately, due to the global coronavirus pandemic we were forced to suspend the Girl Power Project. This was a necessary step in order to protect not only our field team but also the powerful young women.

Young women in Tanzania often experience gender inequality early in life when they deprived of the chance of an education in favour of their brothers. Without a good education, many girls and young women will remain financially dependent on parents, partners or husbands. 

Further, should a young girl fall pregnant during her years at school she will be expelled and not able to return to any public education again.

Even so, these young powerful women showed us their resilience and strength when they approached us and asked if we could teach them how to sew face masks which they could sell at Kamanga Health Centre. What a brilliant idea!

Our sewing teacher, Mussa, and our senior field officer, Jacqui, were more than happy to carry out this training, and created a COVID-19 protocol making sure safety measures where in place to ensure the girls and facilitators were protected from contracting the virus during the sessions (e.g. use of sanitiser, social distancing, small group teaching). 

The first session took place in May and has continued with weekly sessions. Capital to buy materials where taken from their own savings made previously through this project. They are now aware this capital has to be repaid before profit is made.

In order to guarantee that the masks are used safely and correctly, each mask will be accompanied by an instructional leaflet.

The Girl Power Project has embedded an entrepreneurial mindset in these powerful young women who are now playing a vital role in contributing to the COVID-19 response and having a real impact on the community.

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The dangers of not knowing

Ayo*, a local fisherman living in Nyamatongo Ward, never knew he had high blood pressure. He recently suffered a stroke that has left him with loss of motor skills on his left side as well as issues with his balance. This means he can no longer work to support his wife and four children. In Tanzania, there are no social services or payments to access when you are unable to work. To avoid the devastating consequences of this family falling further into severe poverty it is of utmost urgency Ayo regains his ability to earn money as quickly as possible.

Life after a stroke is never easy. That becomes even more apparent when you are living in a rural setting without many of the services and aids many of us take for granted.

Cedar Tanzania’s outreach team was introduced to Ayo in April this year, and has since worked closely with both him and the rest of his family. It was only during their initial assessment Ayo found out he has high blood pressure which is likely to have caused his stroke. Ayo now receives treatment in form of regular occupational therapy and medication. To make sure Ayo recovers, it is important everyone in the family understands the importance of the exercises Ayo needs to do as well as the importance of the medication to lower his blood pressure.

Dr Daniel Ndamo, Cedar Tanzania’s Occupational Therapist, has developed a programme for Ayo to follow and regularly checks in on him to see how he is progressing and if any adjustments are needed. Dr Ndamo has also created occupational therapy aids from recycled materials to make sure they are affordable and easily accessible for residents like Ayo.

Living in a rural setting creates many problems in situations like those Ayo is facing. One of them is using the toilet. Only squatting toilets are available throughout the Nyamatongo Ward and Ayo has difficulties using these without assistance and in privacy. Dr Ndamo has been able to provide aids and advice to the family on how best to support Ayo enabling him to perform personal hygiene independently and with decency.

* Name changed for privacy

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Thinking Outside the (Cardboard) Box

When we talk about our community based rehabilitation outreach programme  for people with disabilities, we often mention the provision of Occupational Therapy services alongside medical services.

But what is Occupational Therapy exactly? In the words of our Occupational Therapist, Daniel: “Occupational Therapy is a client-centred approach which is focused on the promotion of the health and well-being through meaningful and purposeful activities that are age and gender appropriate as well as culturally accepted”.

Even in most Western countries, Occupational Therapy is not something that is widely known. Here in Tanzania, where many people don’t even have access to very basic healthcare services, you hardly find a person who has heard of Occupational Therapy let alone is familiar with the practice.

There is only one university in the whole country that offers studies to become an Occupational Therapist and in 2019, Daniel’s graduation year, there were only 30 students.

Apart from the service and its health benefits being rather unknown, another challenge Tanzanian Occupational Therapists struggle with is the procurement of specialised equipment. Not only is it hard to find, but once sourced, it can also be really expensive.

To bridge this gap, Daniel got creative! It is really impressive what you can do with a little cardboard and a utility knife – but see for yourself what he has crafted!

Occupational Therapist Daniel explains below his innovative use of everyday materials to aid patients regain movement.

The Puzzle

The beloved children’s game can function as OT equipment. Daniel is presenting us a puzzle made out of cardboard for his youngest patients. It improves the children’s shape identification and problem-solving skills and further enhances their motor and coordination skills.

The Range of motion Arc

This interesting looking therapeutic equipment uses a bio-mechanical approach. It promotes and improves the range of motion of the patient’s shoulder, elbow, wrist and joint and is used in all cases where the range of motion of the upper extremities is limited, for example due to a stroke, burn or head injury.

Lid Activity

The lids are used to practice and improve grasping skills, hand-eye coordination and range of motion by opening and closing the lid. It is used for all cases in which the patient shows a limited hand function and, with practice, helps them to perform activities of the daily life such as opening and closing windows and doors or – you guessed it – bottles.

In case you got curious and want to see more of the equipment Daniel and the team have crafted, check out how he created a device for mirror therapy .

Act now to support us further.

Thank you.

What Abduli Does

Abduli, Cedar Tanzania’s Field Officer, shares his important role in the village of Kamanga. He is part of the SASA! team that works to address the sensitive issues of gender based violence in communities and he leads our TackleAfrica project, which strives to educate young people about the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and sexual health.

Changing Lives One Mask at the Time

With COVID-19 getting more prevalent on the African continent and therefore also in Tanzania we are in urgent need of personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep our medical staff safe at Kamanga Health Centre and to continue to provide quality care to the people of Nyamatongo Ward. Most of which have no access to running water or electricity and is experiencing severe poverty.

We do not have the ability to test for COVID-19, nor do we have ventilators, but we will treat people according to their symptoms and refer patients to larger regional hospitals if it is needed.

With the urgently needed Personal Protective Equipment we will be able to safely continue to conduct quality care and lifesaving treatments to the population of Nyamatongo Ward. We will be able to continue to provide a safe environment for women to give birth and for children under five to receive their regular check-ups and vaccinations even during the time of a pandemic.

This will minimise the risks of an uncontrollable spread of COVID-19 in Nymatongo Ward where essential measures as handwashing and social distancing isn’t feasible along with establishing new sanitising routines and an opportunity for us to inform the population about the importance and benefits of sanitation and hygiene. 

It will also assist us in further minimising risk of spreading other waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid. With a minimised risk factor, we will experience fewer overall COVID-19 cases and fewer severe cases needing transfer to larger hospitals. Transfers in itself poses an added risk factor which is desired to avoid. Pneumonia is one of the most common diseases we see also prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.

You can see a breakdown of the needs on our appeal presented on Australian Communities Foundation website.

By Nina Hjortlund
Founding Director/CEO
Australia for Cedar Tanzania

Three Months of Caring in Numbers

In January, Kamanga Health Centre celebrated its second birthday and we are proud to say that we continue to provide quality medical service to the people of Nyamatongo Ward. To give you an idea of the scope of work of Kamanga Health Centre here are some numbers and insights:

• On average, Kamanga Health Centre sees more than 1,200 patients each month. The most common diseases are pneumonia, upper respiratory diseases, urinary tract infection and diarrhea. The majority of patients is treated in the Outpatient Department while around 200 are admitted monthly. 

• Almost every day a baby is born at Kamanga Health Centre! On top of that, between 50-100 pregnant women attend the antenatal clinic for check-ups each month. Additionally, Kamanga Health Centre offers family planning services. 

• When Kamanga Health Centre is really crowded, we know it’s vaccination day! One of the most popular services Kamanga Health Centre offers is the vaccination clinic for children. More than 200 children get vaccinated each month against tuberculosis, polio, PCV13 (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine), rotavirus, measles-rubella, and pentavalent vaccine, a combination vaccine which includes: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b

• In Q1 2020, more than 400 people made use of the free HIV testing service offered at Kamanga Health Centre. Moreover, between 200 and 250 patients per quarter come to us for regular HIV counselling and treatment. This is a vital service as it provides care to HIV-positive community members and the life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs are administered. 

• To ensure quality health care services and to promote learning on the job, medical staff who have special knowledge and skills in certain areas teach their colleagues in weekly sessions. These are some examples of the topics that have already been covered: critical First Aid care, identification of hydrocephalus in a new-born and, of course, symptoms of and protection against COVID-19.

• Since the beginning, Kamanga Health Centre works with a group of dedicated Community Health Workers who provide information and knowledge via a community outreach programme. They raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, provide information on the prevention of different diseases and regularly check-up on expecting mothers. In Q1 of 2020, almost 600 households were visited!

• We have an ongoing stream of dedicated western trained medical staff who volunteer at Kamanga Health Centre and support our local team. In Q1 2020, we had our first nurse volunteer.  

We are proud to be able to provide such extensive services to a community in which these services were non-existent a little over two years ago. With your support, we hope to be able to expand our set of services continuously which would allow to serve even more people.

If you want to know more about Kamanga Health Centre or have specific questions, please contact us here You can also find out more about our volunteer options here

By Vivian Nordquist
Director of Projects
Cedar Tanzania

Living in Tanzania during a pandemic

Please let us introduce Vivian Nordquist, our Director of Projects. Vivian here tells about her experiences as she has chosen to remain in Tanzania through the pandemic along with our Tanzanian team.

Thank you, Vivian and Cedar Tanzania Team.

By Nina Hjortlund
Founding Director/CEO
Australia for Cedar Tanzania

Bamboo to the Rescue

It’s raining and muddy and you could almost use a canoe to get to the hospital entrance. The rainy season is seems endless this year and the lake has risen to unseen levels. We are struggling with more than just COVID-19.

As everywhere else in the world, Tanzania has enforced restrictions on social gatherings and is encouraging social distancing as well as good hand hygiene. Research is showing that most African countries are about one month behind Europe when it comes to the spread of the Coronavirus.

As we continue to provide lifesaving services to the population of Nyamatongo Ward in the North-Western Tanzania, we are faced with the urgent need to provide our staff with surgical masks and other relevant Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 

The 30,000 people we serve have no other health facility in the area and no other place to give birth, be treated for malaria, get medicine for an infection or to take their children when sick.

Bamboo Rock Drilling came to our rescue and has ensured the purchase of 500 surgical masks and a full set of Personal Protective Equipment. This means we can continue to provide safe and secure medical services to the more than 1,200 patients we treat every month.

Bamboo Rock Drilling is one of our long-standing partners who regularly provides valuable support to Cedar Tanzania’s work.

Australia for Cedar Tanzania, Cedar Tanzania, and the people of Nyamatongo Ward are immensely grateful for the continued kindness and support provided by Bamboo Rock Drilling.

Thank you!

"Bamboo Rock Drilling Group operates throughout the African continent and is focused on empowering local stakeholders. By creating a network of locally registered businesses, engaging with key local selected partners and backed by our years of experience and wealth of knowledge in the sector, we are perfectly equipped for your every mining and exploration drilling need."

By Nina Hjortlund
Founding Director and CEO
Australia for Cedar Tanzania

Should a Woman Tell?

Since 2015, The Cedar Foundation Tanzania implements SASA! in partnership with the Ugandan NGO Raising Voices. The methodology was developed to spark critical thinking around power imbalances between men and women and gender inequalities. SASA! works with a phased approach; the four phases being Start, Awareness, Support and Action. It engages the community around the prevention of violence against women and HIV/AIDS. As all cultural and behaviour change initiatives, the results are not immediately visible and it can take years before a real change becomes embedded as the new norm in a society.

Our Field Officers and Community Activists have been working continuously in the last few years to start this much needed change in the community of Kamanga. To illustrate these changes, we conduct a community-wide assessment after each phase, including random surveys and focus group discussions. In February 2020, a group of four enumerators, two females and two males, were selected to perform the research in Kamanga village. The month long assignment started off with a workshop on key topics of SASA! as well as best practices and methodologies around the research. The team was introduced to the Community Activists and Village leadership and familiarised themselves with the surroundings before starting with the research.

In total, a number of 370 community members participated in the survey, 187 women and 183 men, and 58 people participated in six focus group discussions. In contrast to the baseline and the first assessment after the Awareness Phase, we can see an overall increase in the knowledge and attitude of the community towards violence against women and power imbalances.

We noticed a huge change over the past couple of years: violence against women has become a matter that is actually talked about! It is not handled in private anymore and became a topic that is publicly discussed in the community. Our Community Activists have worked towards dissolving the stigma around violence against women and have helped victims not to feel ashamed when acts of violence happened to them. Moreover, the community members feel the need to intervene when they see violence happening and have been equipped with the tools to do this effectively. The Cedar Foundation Tanzania and our Community Activists believe that violence against women is not a private matter, but an issue that affects the family and the community as a whole.  It is very encouraging to see that many community members have come to feel the same way and are not afraid to speak out about violence anymore.

In addition to this, before we started implementing SASA!,more than one third of community members were convinced that the woman is to blame for bringing HIV into the household. After a lot of conversations and sensitisation around this topic, only one fifth of the people living in Kamanga believe this, while almost 80% believe that, “No”, it is not women who are mostly to blame for bringing HIV into the household. It can indeed be both partners. In order to deepen the knowledge around HIV/AIDS among the community, we have conducted an awareness campaign which you can read about here.

Overall, the results from the Support Phase assessment are encouraging and a trend towards more equality between women and men in the community is visible. However, much still needs to be done in order to form a truly equal society and to create a long-lasting cultural and behavioural change. Once The Cedar Foundation Tanzania can resume project activities, we will transition in to the next and final phase of SASA! – Action Phase. It is our hope to further promote a positive change for women, men, families and the community at large.

By Vivian Nordquist
Director of Projects
Cedar Tanzania

When Things Go Wrong

When visiting Tanzania, as a woman you may be told never to wear trousers, and as a man you may feel out of place when wearing shorts.  During your visit you may notice that queues hardly exist and time seems to have lost all meaning. All of these cultural differences can become very infuriating to a foreigner who is visiting Tanzania for holiday, let alone foreigners who are living and working in Tanzania. This is also true for Tanzanians; they often feel the same way when interacting with foreigners.

On Friday, March 6th, in an effort to mitigate some potential conflicts in our workspace, Cedar Tanzania took time from their busy schedules to participate in an internal cross-cultural training. The training, facilitated by Paulina and myself, Dylan, involved all the Cedar Tanzania workers in Mwanza. It covered a range of generalities and specifics about culture, cultural differences, cultural clash, and ways to prevent this type of conflict.

We started the day off with just a short discussion to remind ourselves what culture is and where it comes from.  From this it was clear that culture refers to just about everything in our lives, it is abstract, and engrained within us so deeply we can hardly ever notice it.  To exemplify this point, we watched some videos of different cultural dances from within and outside of Tanzania. Dances that seem normal to one but may be strange to another, because they are abstract. Corporate culture was also discussed in this introduction, meaning the culture which is created within an office or cooperation.  The goals and values of the cooperation need to be incorporated into the work and office space. 

From here, we started to look at the iceberg model of culture.  Through this model, it is easy to see the cause of culture clash showing that the D.I.(V).E. model could be used to prevent conflict between cultures. Describe, Interpret, Verify, and Evaluate are the steps which, if taken when interacting with a foreign culture can reduce the likelihood of conflict.  While these are good steps to take to prevent cross-cultural issues in general, they do not prevent all conflicts. Therefore, we began to discuss the components of culture and the specific issues which we have dealt with in Tanzania or at Cedar Tanzania.

Finally we did an activity to get an understanding of the cultural differences between each of us.  This activity allowed members of the team to express and explain their views on some cultural questions. Hopefully, this allowed the team to get a better understanding of how to best work along-side others in the office.

Of course we know a few hours is not enough time to learn all of the nuances of differing cultures, but we do believe this training will start conversations that will continue to unfold and improve operations at Cedar Tanzania. Overall, the hope was that this training will help all of Cedar Tanzania’s workers to be more prepared to work and interact with people from different cultures. 

By Dylan Parkin

Peace Corp Volunteer/Teacher

Cedar Tanzania

I Was The First Nurse

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 at Cedar Tanzania?

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 volunteered for Cedar Tanzania at the health centre. 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 Tanzania?

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!