Milola Village is the site of a the Tanzanian Partner Project (TPP) in southern Tanzania. It is an impoverished village that is extremely rural. That means driving over dusty dirt roads for miles to get there. As with Niatola, it needed a clean water source and a school. Livestock is not as much of a concern here. The Masai are herders and that isn’t as prevalent in the south. Here it is more a matter of farming. TPP does have animal health projects in the region but it is not as critical as it is in Niatola. One of the major cash crops here is cashews. The fresh cashews are delicious. Other cash crops are coconuts and sesame.
The source of clean water is a spring that is in the hills 29km away. It is a gravity system. Keeping it functioning and properly maintained is an ongoing challenge. It also needs extensions to bring water to more convenient points. TPP is heavily involved in this project.
The local water tap. The woman on the right is the person that monitors the tap and collects the fees.
There is a sub-village called Ngwenya which is about 7km from the main village. The young children will not walk that far to go to school. It is not only a long distance but there are lions and other dangers. An elderly man donated land for a pre-school and TPP helped build and staff the school.
The Ngwenya pre-school.
The elderly farmer that donated the land for the pre-school.
We were greeted by dancing children.
At Milola Village we visited the main school and the medical clinic. Then there was the village celebration of our visit. It involved music, dancing, speeches and gifts. Afterwards we were escorted to a building for a meal.
Traditional dancers at the celebration.
We made our way back to the White Tulip over the dusty dirt roads. At the hotel the beer was waiting. It was extremely refreshing after the long, dusty day. I was again a hero. One woman in the group said it was the best beer she had ever had in her life.