Pictures from our time in Songea

One of our activities at the community center was working with the womens group. We arrange to have a demonstration at the community center for the womens group of the Money Maker Pump. Some of you might have heard about this pump, it was displayed in NYC for the exhibit "inventions for the other half" and has been in magazines and books for similar reasons. It was a great watching the women climb up on the back of a pick up truck to try out the pump, cheering each other on.
When we first arrived in Songea the land had recently been burned. There was no grass and the land was mostly red and black. When we left Songea for the last time a week ago the land was green and the grass was now taller than we were. As you can see below as Saidi marches down a bath behind our house, the land can change a lot over a year.
This week we spent wrapping up our work for MCW. Our last task was to purchase five new computers in Dar es Salaam and send them to Songea. A team member (featured below with the new computers) came to Dar (his first time) to buy the computers with us and to take them back to Songea. It was a little nerve wracking leaving five brand new computers at a bus stand hopping they would make it to Songea.
Roads can be an adventure in Tanzania. The one below is the road to our home. Over our time in Songea the road went from pretty good to horrible. The government tried to fix it many times over a three month period each time making it worse. As you can see below a "walk way" built up in the middle of the road narrowing it down to one lane. It was also so muddy that only SUVs could make it through.