Around Christmas 2013, I had a strong feeling: I wanted to go to Africa, to spend an extended period of time there, at the cradle of humankind; I wanted to experience nature and wildlife up close, to understand ‘Africa’ and immerse myself in the continent. At that time, I contacted various organizations and projects in Austria and inquired about them, but I didn’t find anything suitable that appealed to me.
In March 2014, during my studies, I met the founder and chairman of an association that had been working with people in Tanzania on a project for almost 10 years. In the autumn of 2014, Francis Charles Mlokota, the school principal involved in this project, and Brother Samuel Mparange, the founder of the Better Life Foundation, invited me to spend time working on their project in Itete.
In March 2015, I spent three months in Tanzania for the first time. My idea was to live with the people there, connect with them, get to know their daily lives, and do some teaching at a secondary school.
I enjoy observing, thoroughly and carefully – I did that in Itete as well. After two weeks, I started asking questions. I wanted to know and understand why certain things were done in a particular way, which seemed very complicated to me. Very often I heard: ‘That’s just how it’s done.’ I understood that this was the usual way and also the only way the people there knew.
That was the moment when I began to explore alternatives with the people I worked with and encourage them to try different and new paths. Only what you have experienced yourself can you judge and compare with others – that is my firm conviction as an experiential educator.
My goal was to give people new tools to see alternative solutions and thus have the opportunity to decide for themselves between different options. In my view, this awareness of having a choice gives freedom and makes it possible to take a further step towards independence.
In this way, I accompanied the people of Itete for more than five years, spending about 15 months in Tanzania during those five years, and also being primarily responsible for the project’s management and support from Austria throughout the year. I also spent a few more months traveling in Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi, getting to know the countries and their people.
Once a year, I took interested people from Austria with me to Itete for a few weeks to participate in the project and experience Tanzania firsthand. This allowed me to foster connection, something that seems to be increasingly rare in Austria these days. Community there isn’t a theoretical concept, but a way of life, practiced especially in rural areas. People are there for each other and support one another.
During those years in Tanzania, I made friends, forged many connections with people who are important to me, and above all, grew very fond of the children there. They taught me Swahili, and in return, I taught them English. Together, we often spent hours playing, drawing, and dancing, and I felt how open they were to new experiences.
I often had the feeling in Itete that I was exactly where I belonged, with everything I’ve learned in my life, everything I’ve done so far, and all the qualities, skills, and abilities I bring. Furthermore, learning and development are very important to me, and I’ve already learned so much working in Tanzania, especially with and from the people of Itete. I’m extremely grateful for that.
In the summer of 2019, structural changes made my work on the project increasingly difficult, and in mid-2020 I reluctantly ended it. What helped me during this time was knowing how many hundreds of people, especially students, I had already helped to lead better lives.
At the end of 2020, I visited Itete for the first time just for myself, to bring some unfinished business to a close and to see the people who are dear to me again. I wanted to get a sense of whether, and if so, how I wanted to continue supporting the people in the region.
The result of this journey, which had begun years earlier, was the association ‘Taking Development Steps Together,’ with which I, together with dear friends from Austria, will support and accompany people in Tanzania.
We want to learn together, from and with each other, we want to take developmental steps together and be equal partners on the way to the future.
