Tanzania

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Working together with the United African Alliance Community Center, Kuji has initiated several positive programs in the Arumeru District of Northern Tanzania.

SUPPORTING KIWAWA SHULE!

In February of 2006, the UAACC hosted representatives of Kiwawa Shule, a local primary school near Imbaseni Village. The occassion was a small public ceremony to hand over a $5,000 donation to the school made by Robin Wright-Penn and family after their visit to the school in July of 2005. The money was donated to help complete the building of additional classrooms at the school and a new outdoor latrine for the students.

The money has been put to good use and as you can see below, Kiwawa Shule has undergone significant changes! Kuji would like to recognize the untiring efforts of George Sepellius, who continues to raise money to support Kiwawa Shule. Kuji is honored to be a smart part of that circle and we encourage others to get involved. If you would like to make a donation to Kiwawa Shule, please contact us so that we can connect you with George and the Kiwawa Family!

The Penn's are greeted by a class at Kiwawa Shule	Kiwawa students enjoying Robin's digital camera.
Kiwawa Shule with unfinished constuction due to lack of funds.	Three new classrooms and an office at Kiwawa!
The old Kiwawa office for teachers was just some chairs outside...	The new office is fully furnished and functional!
The old bathrooms...	And the new!
Mzee Pete O'Neal addresses a community gathering with representatives of Kiwawa Shule.	Picture l to r: Mr. George Sepellius, chief patron of the school and owner of George Saw Mill J.M. Wood Products; Head Teacher of Kiwawa Primary, Ms. Edika Boniface Tesha (holding the check); Ms. Charlotte Hill O'Neal, Programs Director, UAACC; Mr. Pete O'Neal, Director and Founder of UAACC; Ms. E.M. Isangya, Afisa Mtendaji wa Kata Maji ya Chai and Mr. S.N. Sumari, Afisa Mtendaji wa Kijiji cha Imbaseni.

SOLAR POWER!

Kuji has recently introduced Solar Power to several residents in Imbasseni and Napoko Villages in its initial campaign to bring solar to every household in the entire community! This work, in conjuntion with UAACC, will bring much needed resources to this rural area where very few people have access to electricity. By providing small solar panels and lamps, We hope to be able to provide each household with a light and a plug for operating a small radio or charging a cell phone. Read more...

MEDICAL SUPPLY DONATION!

Medical Supplies through Collaborations

By

Arusha Times correspondent

            The Old Arusha Clinic was recently the venue for a brief ceremony to turn over a shipment of medical supplies intended for the people of Arusha that consisted of various medicines, vitamin supplements and medical equipment. 

Mr. Pete O’Neal, founder and Managing Director of the United African Alliance Community Center UAACC explained that “this donation was made possible by the Oklahoma Healthcare Project which is based in Oklahoma, U.S.A. and the Kuji Foundation, a community service NGO founded in 1999 by Mr. Geronimo ji Jaga. It was facilitated to reach Tanzania by UAACC.”  Mr. O’Neal went on to stress that “this has been a collective endeavor, a successful collaboration that should be emulated and repeated over and over.”

The ceremony was attended by several senior doctors in Arusha including Dr. J.M. Urasa, head surgeon and founder of the Old Arusha Clinic; Dr. Mhando, a well known cardiologist; Dr. Lyimo, a radiologist.  Also attending were Mrs. Joju ji Jaga of the Kuji Foundation, Mrs. Charlotte Hill O’Neal of UAACC and several nurses and medical officers.

            Mr. O’Neal pointed out how all of the principal organizers for the medical supplies shipment are from the vast community of Africans of the Diaspora (ie. Africans born outside of the continent).

            “These people are setting a grand example for others in the African American community to follow regardless of their political or religious affiliations.

            “Even though it is true that many in America are poor, the collective wealth of African Americans is immense almost beyond calculation.  I have read statistics that report that Africans in America alone spend countless millions of dollars on hair products and cosmetics and entertainment.  Surely, African Americans must be encouraged to take some of that money and spend it on the development and upliftment of OUR Motherland!  I feel that Africans of the Diaspora have a moral obligation to do this.  Collaborative projects like this one (bringing medical supplies to Arusha) and others that have occurred over the years, are only a start.”

            UAACC has facilitated several other medical supplies and equipment shipments for the Arusha community over the past several years through assistance from the people of Kansas City, (one of Arusha’s Sister City associations) with generous donations from Childrens’ International; the Heart to Heart organization, and the Kuji Foundation. 

            “Our aim is to assist the people of Arusha municipality whether through public hospitals or private medical organizations,” Mr. O’Neal said.  “We feel that when dealing with community upliftment efforts one has to involve the public sector and also one must involve the private sector.  I have seen over the years that the Old Arusha Clinic under the leadership of Dr. Urasa, has proven to be a ‘caring’ health facility.  I have personally observed times when he and his staff will treat patients in need regardless of their inability to pay.  This to me is what serving the people with heartfelt conviction is about.  This is a true example of what is referred to as the compassionate approach to practicing medicine.”

View a special thanks from UAACC to Kuji and the people who helped get the donations to Tanzania! click here

Kuji and UAACC bring free community transport to Tanzania!

The War Against AIDS Escalates!

The United African Alliance Community Center in collaboration with the Kuji Foundation and several youth activists’ organizations based in Arusha and Moshi recently celebrated the successful conclusion of Phase III of the Staying Healthy…Staying Alive HIV/AIDS Education Festival. The groups included UAACC’s KushKemet Actors Group; African Traditional Dance Group; Aang Serian; White Orange Youth Organization (based in Moshi); Maasai Arts Group; African Youth Health Promotion Group; Rafiki Arts Group (based in Moshi); Global Services Corps; and the ChemChem Kidedeo group (based in Dar es Salaam). The festival venue was at Technical College Arusha on April 19, 2003. The following are remembrances of the festival by ARUSHA TIMES correspondent and UAACC Program Director, Charlotte Hill O’Neal.

It was 8:30am; we were riding in our UAACC van with Brother Ali Mhina, MC for the festival, who was on the loudspeakers microphone. We had just passed by the Meru Posta, the starting point for the march. The excitement was palpable and filled the air with electricity that I could actually see…at least I thought that was the element that was causing the clouds to dissipate and the drizzling rain to slow to a drip-drop. After all, the HIV/AIDS awareness walk was about to begin, and even though I know we need rain worse than ever, I secretly thought that it would be nice if the rain gods held off until the huge crowd of youth marching in Ngarenaro, actually arrived at the Technical College Arusha for the festival to begin at noon.

I had stayed at the activities hall at TCA to help my husband, Pete O’Neal, Managing Director of UAACC, and representatives from the participating organizations, hang the banners, place the chairs and get the high table and equipment area in order. Another van was bringing food and juice for all the participating groups (some of it kindly donated by Rushda’s supermarket). Things were going smoothly…we were highly organized!

We’d had at least two pre-festivals already in Imbaseni Village and numerous planning meetings and several sleepless nights in anticipation of the day. We had it all together!

As I heard the drums of the African Traditional Dance Group leading the crowd to the gates of TCA I walked out of the hall and saw what looked like a sea of bobbing heads, colorful banners and posters held aloft with messages like: Ishi kwa Afya…Uwe na Uhai; Fight the War on HIV/AIDS and other relevant phrases. I could hardly contain my feverous excitement when all those young people started streaming through…the vibe simply overtook me…I just had to do my ol’ lady, two-step shuffle too!

With a bit of astonishment, I saw the numbers of youth growing by the minute and I thought of Mafanikio Prosper Shayo, (music producer, writer, rapper and music committee co-chairman of Aang Serian) and I sweating in that claustrophobically cramped, but jammin’ Kijenge studio, working for a couple of days on the jingle advertisement for the event that had been playing the whole week on both CLOUDS FM and SUNRISE FM (asante’s and big ups to both stations) and I KNEW that it had all been worth it! The word had gone out too through donated advertisement in ARUSHA TIMES, posters sent out by email and of course, through word of mouth. At the height of the festival there were an estimated six hundred young people in the audience both inside the hall and ringing the perimeter outdoors.

Young folks from Moshi (Rafiki Arts Group and White Orange Youth Organization) had been bussed to Arusha with their teachers and group leaders and even the famous ChemChem Kidedeo actors had taken time off from their television sitcom and traveled up to A’ Town from Dar es Salaam!

Representatives from the Kush Kemet Actors Group based at UAACC; the Maasai Arts Group; the African Youth Health Promotion Group and Aang Serian had sent representatives all the way out to UAACC for each and every planning meeting, as had the youth from Moshi. The commitment of these young activists should be emulated everywhere. We were all volunteers! It was about our community pulling together to get the word out and make it happen…BIG! And it happened…it WORKED!

A communal message was hammered home throughout the six- hour long festival, through comedy and drama; rap and song;and even during the heartbreaking testimony from a woman from Moshi who has been an HIV/AIDS victim for nearly 12 years. The delivery varied but the message was the same (i.e. if we are to live as a community; if we are to prosper and grow, we have GOT to change our lifestyle!)

As Mzee Pete O’Neal said emphatically, "You youth are all revolutionaries...committed soldiers, out to make a difference in our community...spreading powerful knowledge about HIV/AIDS prevention...we are all committed warriors in this war against AIDS!"

There were many peer educators in the group who had already done their homework and research. As they continue looking for positive solutions, the astonishing achievements of Uganda in actually achieving a steady drop in HIV prevalence among the youth, has bought about hope.

Although we know that HIV knowledge, risk perception and risk avoidance options can ultimately lead to reduced HIV incidence, there is more to it than this. There is a complex set of socio-cultural, political and other elements that have affected the course of the epidemic in Uganda…and that element is a widespread change in behavior among young people!

The youth organizers agreed that the way forward, toward an eventual eradication of HIV/AIDS is by practicing Abstinence; Faithful Monogamy (with one tested partner); and the use of condoms only as a (not very effective) last resort.

This is what is saving Uganda! This is what can save our country and other countries in Africa and indeed the world! This change in attitude rests with young people if we are to have a future in Tanzania! This change in attitude rests with young people if we are to have a future on this planet!

But it is also up to we elders in our community to get over our shyness and reluctance to talk about HIV/AIDS prevention measures and healthy alternatives. Honorable Paul Lotta Laizer, the Mayor of Arusha, who served as Guest of Honor at the Festival called for the youth to look to the morals and lifestyles of long ago, way before the advent of that then unheard disease called UKIMWI.

We should constantly be reminding our youth (and setting positive examples ourselves!) that "a positive change in lifestyle can save your lives. It’s as simple as that! It’s a matter of making up your mind to change your life style."

We must look together at what has worked in Uganda and has turned the tide around. We must look to what has been tried and true and emulate and build upon those ideas.