THE NEW LUNCH HUT

The husband has been busy rebuilding the staff lunch hut at Endeavour Group Limited, Bukoba. He is a clever one and it does look ever so cute. This is it finished, but not painted.

Painted and waiting for a loose stones surround.

How green is that lawn? The lawn is the husband's pride and joy. Every weekend he cuts it himself using a manual push reel mower. Given the size of the factory grounds, this is no mean feat. However he does it for several reasons. Firstly, push reel mowers are better for lawns as they do not rip out / tear the grass, so your lawn is healthier. Consequently the lawn looks much nicer as demonstrated in the photographs. Also there is none of that unnecessary noise pollution often associated with lawn mowing, nor is there the cost of purchasing fuel for the mower. They are also easier to fix. In addition he gets some valuable exercise through the activity.

So this is the finished product. Well done Sweetheart.

I wish I had taken a photograph of the staff enjoying their lunch in the hut. Next time.

Disappointed at the lack of employment prospects for young people and women in Bukoba,  we wanted to establish a business that effectively improved lives through employment, not charity. Not only does permanent employment provide a sense of purpose in life, it also enables a sense of pride, in that people can support their families, educate their children and plan for the future.

Coming from a teaching background combined with a love of sewing, we decided to embark on a garment production business. Initially we started with one particularly talented tailor and two unskilled machinists. Since then our team has grown to fifteen fabulous tailors and  trainees, a gardener and a cook.  Ongoing vocational training and skills development are important in raising individual self esteem and has proven to be very successful not just on an individual level, but for the project overall.  

The mainstay of the business has been manufacturing our Nguo Bora label school uniforms which are of the highest quality and, more importantly, are affordably priced for the local community. Too often Tanzanians are confronted with substandard garments that are cobbled together by self taught / poorly trained individuals employed on a casual basis and paid by the number of garments produced. Consequently, and understandably quality becomes secondary to quantity considerations. 

Fortunately, this is not the case with our team members. All members are paid above the minimum wage and enjoy entitlements such as sick leave, holiday pay and a monthly employer contribution to the national superannuation fund. Working conditions are clean and safe. Each employee receives a cooked meal at lunchtime and are able to take home produce from the factory vegetable plot for their family meal.
  

In addition, EGL has diversified into sewing workwear, hence the introduction of our lesser known Kifaru label.  

You have probably already established from the label that Kifaru is Swahili for rhinoceros. We feel that the rhino logo says it all, and reflects the sturdiness of our workwear. 

However Mamakemi is a glamorous lady and feels that a little beauty goes a long way. So now that we have filled all our World Vision orders, EGL is, at last, embarking on producing the Kemilembe label Spring / Summer collection in earnest. 

Look out world, here comes Kemilembe.

FAR FROM CONSERVATIVE - THE EPONYMOUS LES SAPEURS - MEN OF STYLE

The husband is a very well dressed, but conservative fellow. These stylish men from Congo are well dressed too, but far from conservative. I just love these photographs. The juxtaposition of their flamboyant clothing against shabby impoverished backgrounds are truly indicative of the vibrant zest for life, despite enduring hardship, which typifies African spirit.

You may have already seen Les Sapeurs in the stunning Solange Knowles' music video 'Losing You'.  

They are part of a Brazzaville subculture of men dedicated to elegant dressing known as  La Societe des Ambianceurs et Persons Elegants. In French the word "sape" means to dress with elegance and style. VOILA, dandyism is alive and well!

For more information / images please go to the following sites:
Daniele Tamagni's book Gentlemen of Bacongo
Hector Mediavilla's photo story The Congolese Sape
Francesco  Giusti's photo story book  La SAPE Collection

I so much enjoyed looking at them, I hope you do too.

THE NEW ROSE CAFE, BUKOBA, TANZANIA

One of our favourite places in Bukoba is the New Rose Cafe. Whenever we are in town, we stop there for a plate of Pilau with M'chicha (spinach) and a cup of Chai Marsala.

Recipe for Chai Masala

Ingredients:  

3-4 cups of cold water

3-4 cups of milk (you can vary this according to preference)

5 teabags

2 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder

Sugar to taste. Traditionally Chai Masala is very sweet, so it is best that you determine your preferred level of sweetness.

Method:  

Place teabags, ginger, cinnamon, sugar and water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Turn heat down and add milk. Raise temperature again and watch saucepan as you will need to remove the tea mixture from the heat just as it begins to boil. Allow bubbles to disappear and return saucepan to the heat. Again watch for the tea beginning to boil before removing it from the heat. Strain the tea before transferring to a teapot and serve.

If you would prefer to enjoy the flavour without the effort, ready made blends are available. I am unsure of how the following taste but I liked the quaint  images on the packaging.

                                                      Hope you enjoy your tea.

BUKOBA HAIR SALON ARTWORK

On the way back to the village one afternoon, I saw this sign and of course it reminded me of the beautiful Kemilembe, who is at home in Sydney. So I just had to have a photograph. 

As photography is not one of my talents I enlisted the aid of a local photographer, Faustine Ruta and we spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon taking photographs of some of the artwork that decorates the numerous hair salons in Bukoba town. He used his considerable charm to obtain the permission of salon owners wherever possible.

The next two signs are for nail artists. The  signs say "We paint nails."

This image was painted on the side of a clothing store, but we took the photograph anyway because we both liked it. What was interesting to note was the considerable Western influence on the styles depicted in the artwork, although this was not typical in the styles worn by many women who continue to wear elaborate braided hairstyles which are quite magnificent.

And so the menfolk don't feel like they have missed out, where else would they go for a haircut, but to the Obama Cutting Salon. Yes we can!

On a similar theme Simon Weller, the author of  South African Township Barbershops and Salons has some great images on the website African Lens: Telling the Story of Africa which captures various aspects of everyday life on the African continent. 

You may find the following books, Hair in African Art and Culture and Black Hair: Art, Style and Culture interesting to read. 

WELCOME TO BUKOBA

The husband and I arrived in Bukoba, last Friday afternoon. I love everything about Bukoba and would happily live here forever.

Bukoba is situated in North-Western Tanzania on the shore of Lake Victoria. The scenery is amazing: all green hills, rocks and magnificent lake views. Please excuse the quality of the photos - a photographer, I am not!

And While I love our little house in the village, we are surrounded by banana trees, banana trees and more banana trees! Somehow the view just doesn't compare.

The population of Bukoba region is a little over 100 000 people and it seemed all of them were at the bank last Saturday morning. The lovely husband went to the CRD Bank in Bukoba to exchange some money for me and that was the last I saw of him for five hours. Not because he was waylaid or did some other errands before returning home. It was all spent in a queue in the bank! Unbelievable!! We arrived at the bank at 10.30 a.m. and I dutifully stood beside the husband, waiting. However, after an hour and a half of looking decorative and feet beginning to tingle just a little, I decided that I might sit in the car and read my novel (Michael Connelly - The Reversal) after all he couldn't be too much longer, or so I thought numerous times as I waited and waited and waited. Imagine my relief when he finally emerged a little after 3 p.m. Fortunately the novel was a compelling read making the wait not too strenuous on my part. For the poor husband, who needed several cold beers to recover, it was another story entirely. Unfortunately, prolonged waiting is a fairly typical banking experience for many Bukoba people on any day of the week. 

Although just one degree south of the equator the Bukoba climate is pleasant. At the moment we have a light quilt on the bed at night and long sleeves are advisable, if outdoors of an evening. 

That's it for now