The strange Dirt/dried Clay cravings of Women and PiF in Africa

In Africa women have all sorts of cravings especially during pregnancy. There is one very strange craving, dirt or dried clay craving. When asked how really good dirt/clay tastes, they say, it smells the way ground smells when it’s real dry and a little sprinkle of rain falls. There is really only one way to find out though, you can head out to the garden and try some yourself.

Is this dirt just picked from the ground and eaten? NO!! This dirt/dried clay is clean fresh dug from the subsurface of the ground, in some instances roasted, packed and has brown, cream or white color. You can find this in most supermarkets especially in Kenya, and that explains why as many as 56% of pregnant women eat dirt/dried clay in Kenya. Some women normally prefer the dirt/dried clay, found on ant hills which am told tastes really good as well.  This picture shows some of the dirt/dried clay sold in a market in Dar-er-saalam Tanzania ready to eat.

The nutritive value and danger of eating clay.

The reason why women develop these cravings is not currently identified; however, am told it may be connected to an iron deficiency. Some people speculate that, eating dirt is an attempt to obtain vitamins or minerals that are missing through normal food consumption. Others say that clay is easily digestible and most people who practice geophagy make sure they are eating clean or fresh earth from subsurface of the ground. Bacteria, parasites and other pathogens are normally found higher up in the top soil. This explains why the eatable dirt is dug from the subsurface. Eating clay in most cases leads to constipation.

How CBG/Anhart Foundation/CBN

Community Nursing Initiative (CNI) and CoBI are two registered community builders organizations based in Tanzania and DRC. These CBO’s get funding to help the communities living in extreme poverty conditions. One way this happens, is by offering health care seminars to sensitize them concerning various health related issues. Dangers of eating dirt is one of the topics that are normally handled. Not only do they just offer seminars, through the Pay It Forward program, $100 worth of grants are offered for business start up material to various groups of individuals. This in turn helps improve their standards of living and hence good nutritional food to the pregnant women.

Below are some of the pictures showing seminars that are offered in various areas, but I must confess I occasionally have these strange cravings.

CoBI staff Rose and Francine, sensitizing members of Mumosho village in DRC Bukavu.

This is a water point in Kasanga Sumbawanga, where the ladies get water for domestic use. Bertha from CNI in partnership with Kasanga dispensary, work together to sensitize them on health related issues.

Different Faces of Pif

Pay it Forward (PiF) is an international micro business development program that provides grants to persons of extreme poverty.  Recipients pay forward naturally to other members of their community.

There are different types of PiF as follows.

Enterprising Non-Profit Businesses

These are grants that are designed for a person who has demonstrated that they are able to start and operate a non-profit business. This person will adhere to proper business practices like registration of the business, having proper accounting in place, and having a dedicated bank account and proper filing.  The main aim is to be self sustainable and then pay forward to people living in extreme poverty in their communities. These funds range from $2000 to $5000 depending on the person’s ability to demonstrate proper business practices.

Below are pictures showing one of the successful ENPs in Arusha Tanzani.  Jackson Naiman received funds to purchase tour and travel car. His business offers East African tours to visitors from all over the world. He has been paying forward over the years to Willson Ngaiza from Bukoba, who, in turn, distributes the funds to people living in extreme poverty to start up small micro-businesses for self sustainability.

The above picture shows Bertha, one of the CNI staff members, standing next to the car during one of her visits.

The picture to the left shows Jackson Naiman on the right, his wife and Bertha on the left.

Collectives

These are grants that are designed to help a group of people or a community in an area of extreme poverty.  This is normally done in the form of a community project, whereby every member of the community benefits from the project. This has been well demonstrated in DR Congo. For instance, in Kahungu DRC, their collectives are grinding mills. The whole Kahungu village has benefited. No one has to walk long distances anymore to grind their grains, like maize, for food preparation. 

The picture above shows one of the grinding mills in DRC Kahungu.

Small Grants

In this category we have PiF One and PiF Two.  These are grants that are designed to help any person in any area of extreme poverty as long as they have a desire to work hard and be self-sufficient.  At a minimum, participants must match PiF grants with their own funds. For example, a $100 PiF grant must be matched by another $100 in cash or business start-up materials. PiF Two is the same except that the participants are given between $500 to $2000, depending on their ability to manage and control a business on that level. 

A good example is Geoffery, from a remote village of Ngorotwa in Kasanga. He received funds to expand his pharmacy kiosk and paid forward to the ladies who later started small businesses. Now he has build a laboratory as well. These pictures show the location of the village and the pharmacy kiosk itself.

Katogota Farm, DR Congo

Comunity Based Initiatives (CoBI), working in the region of Bukavu, DR Congo, began a pig rearing venture a few months ago at a farm in Katogota.

So far, the project has been quite successful. In the first phase, CoBI purchased eight pigs, among them was one which was pregnant . Currently  there are three more that are pregnant.

There was only on unfortunate situation with one of the pigs. The pig gave birth to 11 little piglets. Unfortunately 7 died three days after, this was because the mother pig was unable to produce milk to feed the piglets.  It was after staff gaver her an injection that she started producing milk as reported by Djesse, the CoBI PiF leader. 

The four remaining piglets are now healthy. This problem was not detected earlier by the guards, and the people who sold the pigs to CoBI did not tell of the problem in advance.  The staff worked quickly to find a solution.

CoBI is learning from this and is looking forward for a great pig project. 

Kipwa Sumbawanga TANZANIA

Sumbawanga is a city located in western Tanzania. It is the capital of the Rukwa Region. The regional population is approximately 150,000 based on a 2002 census. The name of the town translates as "throw away your witchcraft", thought to be a warning from local spiritual "healers" to any bringing in superstitions and practices relating to spiritual healers from other areas; there are still some healers who practice both in town and in the surrounding smaller villages.

Kipwa village is one of the villages in our Kasanga target area. It has a total population of over 2500 people. Its benchmark rating is 2.8 out of 5, and with this rating, the village has neither private nor government dispensary. The only medical service in the village is the CNI supported kiosk pharmacy.

This village is at the Tanzania-Zambia boarder, and there is no road to the village. Communication with the outside world is almost dead. The only means of transport to and from the village is by water. Kipwa village can receive medical services in two ways: by visiting the nearby Kapele dispensary (ill equipped with medicines and personnel) which is over 8 kilometers away or by going to the neighboring country of Zambia at Mpulungu town, a distance of 20 kilometers away.

The lives of these people are put at great risk, especially during the rainy seasons when there are great out-breaks of malaria and diarrhoea. The only available marine transport is not reliable as the boat owners routine is not consistent, otherwise for a quick transport one has to hire the boat which is too costly for the poor to afford.

Compelled by those circumstances, the Kipwa villagers decided to mobilize themselves using their hard-served resources to build the dispensary. They managed to construct a 14-room building, which is now 3 years old waiting to be finished, as their strength to carry on came to a stand still. So the villagers started seeking support from some donors and other people to finish the dispensary building.

This is a picture of the construction that the villagers had just started .  Cantwell (Community Builders PiF Coordinator), David (Community Builders intern) and  CNI staff had gone to pay a visit to the villagers.

After a tragic deaths event in September last year, which claimed the lives of the lives of 2 pregnant women and 13 children en route to Kapele dispensary, CNI immediately passed on this information to Community Builders. With utmost concern and importance, Community Builders responded by providing the financial support with the roofing of the building. CNI received $2500 from Community Builders which was  used to purchase the roofing.

The construction is still on underway as seen in the above picture.

The is still a lot of work in order to complete this dispensary,  the below picture show some of the mothers of Kipwa vilalge at the local Authority offices in Kipwa receiving medical treatment for their children.  The office rooms are being used temporarily as the dispensing rooms as seen in the picture below.

Bukoba Kagera Tanzania

Bukoba Kagera region is situated on the shore of Lake Victoria in the northwestern corner of Tanzania.  The main economic activities in Kagera are agriculture (coffee is the main cash crop and banana plants are the main food product),  fishery and trading, especially in urban centers.

In the past, Kagera has been affected immensely with HIV/AID since the first case that was reported in Tanzania in 1983.   Kagera was badly affected; most of the emerging generation of the middle age died.  

Willson is one of the PiF leaders who lives in Bukoba Kagera. He is working on helping start self sustainable projects for the people of Kagera.  Community Builders and Anhart foundation are looking for ways to help him reach this goal. In addition to a small PiF grant sent to him by Community Builders, Jackson Naiman, another PiF recipient, has also been paying forward to Willson. As a result, Willson has started a small poultry project. Willson is an entrepreneur, he operates a bodaboda (motorcycle as a taxi). He also plants pine trees that will be ready in 15 years.  He is also a coffee farmer.

The pictures show Willson's poultry project and his boda boda taxi.

Very soon Willson will start the process of having a CBO registered in Kagera.  With the CBO, he will be able to help eradicated extreme poverty in the area.

Below are pictures showing one of the person Willson has given forward to by the names of Fradnus Myasha who has started a small eatery.

Kitale and Majengo KENYA

In 1983 Community builders visited Kenya for the first time and began to learn about the talents and skills of people living extreme poverty. These early lessons led to the creation of the Pay it Forward plan.  Bowers Lihanda, a pastor living in the remote village of Majengo, Kenya, received one of the first PiF grants to start a dairy and poultry farm. Over the years, Bowers and his wife Gladys have maintained this project which has brought sustainability to their family. It has also allowed them to Pay Forward to new participants and creating employment opportunities to others.

These two pictures show the dairy and poultry farming in Majengo village.

Last year,  a second generation of Pay Forward efforts in the Lihanda family was planted. Iris Lihanda received funds to start a home based bakery in Kitale, enabling her to continue the work of supporting people in extreme poverty.

Iris showing off some of her baked cakes and scones.

Despite some initial difficulties with her business, Iris is currently working on building a structure for the bakery in Biribiriet village. Pictured below are men beginning the construction of the bakery.

Currently, Iris has registered Biribiriet Community Builders Organisation which aims at eradication extreme poverty conditions in the area. Iris is now looking forward to having the bakery work in Biribiriet village, in order to get close to the community she is supporting.  Apart from the bakery, Iris is a farmer, she plants maize/corn and beans. The farming also creates employment to the local community.  Pictured below are two women who work for Iris on her farm. These ladies, are also looking forward to starting small scale businesses with the Pay It Forward model. 

Mbeya, Italalazia, TANZANIA

Mbeya is located in southwest Tanzania. Mbeya has weather with enough rainfall and fertile soil to enable it to be the largest producer of maize, rice, bananas, beans, potatoes, soya nuts and wheat in relation to other areas of Tanzania. There is also extensive animal husbandry.  Mbeya is also surrounded by a number of villages, Ilembo, Pashungu, Italazia, Masoko, Shola, Izuo and Igale. These villages are characterized by extreme poverty conditions.

Alfred Rogers, one of our PiF leaders in Tanzania, is based in Italazia village. This is a very remote village and the poverty conditions are extreme.  However, over the years, Community Builders Network has helped Alfred start various PiF projects that are helping eradicate extreme poverty within Italazia village .

Among these projects are piggery, dairy farming, fishery, pharmacy kiosk, small scale businesses such as selling of vegetables, and animal feeds. Recently, the women of the village have started small scale businesses by using the Pay It Forward model that Alfred Rogers introduced in Italazia. Here are some pictures showing the progress in Italazia.

Women selling vegetables at the market place.

Zero grazing by Alfred Rogers.

This is the manual way of preparing land in Italazia. No use of oxen or tractors due to the poverty situation.