Tin man Project

An elderly villager is engaged in plying his trade, with some very old and primitive tools, working on the ground and in the open, with only a tree as a shelter. This made his work extremely difficult, even more so due to his age and ailing health( he is a Tuberculosis patient) He uses his metal –working skills to fix bicycles, repair and make (using his primitive forge) axe heads, knives, scythes, pangas (machetes) and spear heads as the villagers use spears in the protection of their livestock from wild animals) His immediate need is to have a small shelter & store built for his tools and materials, and a sturdy table as a work surface housed within. Some basic new and modern equipment is urgently required, as well as some consumables, and the funding to pay a small weekly for the 2 young apprentices he needs to take on, to allow him to make a living as well as train these 2 youngsters. The apprentices, to start, would earn about $ 25- per week and also be fitted out with work related clothing from project funds, and this business would, because of its high utility, and in the context of its environment, thrive and prosper and contribute much needed services. Tungamalenga is a small traditional African Village in the Idodi – Pawaga areas or (divisions) of Tanzania’s Iringa District. It is in a most interesting and quite pristine location close to and within the buffer zones of the world famous Ruaha National Park & Usangu Game Reserve. The village is included in the group of 19, now 21 villages grouped together as part of the MBOMIPA community wildlife management association. (Mbomipa is the Swahili acronym for Matumizi Bora ya Malihai Idodi na Pawaga – or roughly ‘Sustainable use of Wildlife Resources in Idodi & Pawaga”) In this Easternmost part of the Rift Valley are long time residents & those who have arrived as crop growers and livestock grazers. This association was formed to inter-alia allow the inhabitants to benefit more from their proximity to the park and the presence of wildlife within their lands. The wildlife is there because there are no physical barriers, fences or otherwise around the parks, reserves or game controlled areas, and present both benefits & disadvantages to the inhabitants of this quite huge ecosystem. This and related issues such as commercial & subsistence poaching, community wildlife Management, and all other issues relating to economic activity in the area of course impact on the fight against poverty and the quality of life and opportunities that may or may not be present. This was chosen as a first, simply because it would impact on this village very quickly, was very affordable, and one in which a very practical and much used service could be immediately enhanced with the application of a small amount of money, and also one where the circumstances both clearly demonstrated and cried out for the application of some outside assistance.