Brian Crosby and Paul Noonan of Bell X1 were writing furiously last month. Not songs, this time, but diaries. They were in Tanzania with Oxfam Ireland to learn about global trade and experience what life is like for local small farmers. Here are their impressions.
DAR ES SALAAM
Wednesday, August 2nd, 8pm
BRIAN WRITES: There is confusion at immigration and passport control at Dar es Salaam airport. Some people are queuing with yellow forms at the visa queue, some with white ones at passport control. Others seem to just wink at the men in uniforms and walk through without queuing. Kind of reminds me of how Dublin airport was in the good old days, when you'd nod at the security guard and say, in your thickest Irish accent, "How'ya?", and he'd let you through, no passport, no nothing. The same, only different. It turns out we don't need a visa to enter the country, so we fill out white forms. Confused about which box to tick to give our reason for entry, Paul and I go for "the missions". The Oxfam staff suggest the "on business" box is more appropriate, but luckily they have a sense of humour and christen us Fr Paul and Fr Brian.
11pm
BRIAN WRITES: I'm on reserve energy now, after 30 hours on aircraft, so after a couple of drinks I say goodnight to Srs Rebecca, Siobhán and Kim and to Fr Paul and go to bed under my mosquito net.
TANGA
Friday, August 4th, 10am
BRIAN WRITES: Today we're visiting Tanga Aids Working Group, which was set up by a group of medical practitioners to treat people with HIV and to reduce the spread of Aids. As we arrive at the clinic I see a woman covered in a black gown, to disguise herself. We are told that this is a common scene, as Aids still carries a huge social stigma, which alienates victims from their communities. Reality hits home for the first time on this trip. The colourful clothes worn by the patients are not a very convincing cover for the sadness in everyone's eyes.
Feeling totally inadequate, and embarrassed about our invasion, I can only nod and smile apologetically at everyone, and try to make our presence as short as possible. The doctors here have developed herbal remedies for the treatment of HIV-related infections and symptoms. Herbs are grown and ground into four powders: white for increasing appetite, green for reducing fever, black for skin infections and brown for fungal infection. Patients whose white-blood-cell count goes below 200 are being treated with generic antiretrovirals imported from India.
PAUL WRITES: In the afternoon we meet a group of about 30 people with HIV who regularly get together at a kind of community centre. They stand in turn to give their names and a number: the number of years they have been living with the disease. In declaring themselves HIV-positive they run the risk of being shunned by their peers or disowned by their families, so they draw support and comfort from each other.
There is a 19-year-old girl: two years. A 58-year-old woman with eight children: four years. I speak to Peter, a 34-year-old Kenyan who has been positive for four years. He lost his wife to Aids, four years ago, and isn't really working at the moment, picking up casual labour on the docks when it's there. He's on the herbal medicines, as his white blood count is above 600. It tastes awful, he says, pulling a face. He won't take antiretroviral drugs unless his count falls below 200 - although it's doubtful he would qualify for them, he says. The group makes crafts - colourful fabrics and handbags - to sell to visitors like us. Some wicker-style fans bear a line in Swahili that means "sadness will end".
PONGWE, TANGA DISTRICT
PAUL WRITES: We visit a village where a group of dancers, drummers and singers are emphasising the importance of safe sex and HIV tests to the children. It's a really effective way to get the message across - there's a sense of something cool going down under a big mango tree that holds a loudspeaker. I ask someone what they're singing. "Be smart, get tested, or Aids will kill us all!" Ironically, the dancing is incredibly sexual. Barefoot and elegant, the girls move their hips as if they have liquid bones. A youth peer educator takes the microphone and talks about drink and drugs. "If you come home drunk you won't be able to get it up, and your woman will get her loving elsewhere," he warns as the children gaze up at him or dart about, chasing and laughing. People sign up to be tested for HIV at a desk nearby; the tests are done in a series of little tents. In one of them a grandmother of eight shows us how to put on a condom. "And now the man is ready," she says before slipping it on to a wooden replica penis.
TANDAI VILLAGE, MOROGORO DISTRICT
Sunday, August 6th, 11am
BRIAN WRITES: The vehicles drive us up into the mountains. Colours are so lush and vibrant up here. Rich tropical vegetation is everywhere. I'm more than slightly distracted by the breathtaking scenery all around. I'm also becoming numb to the recurring scenes of families living in mud huts, with no electricity or running water. It's almost becoming normal. We are met by a group of local farmers who have set up a savings and credit group for the area. Everyone sits in a circle and introduces themselves. I have learnt a little Swahili now, so I'm able to say my name and that I'm a musician from Ireland. The locals look bemused. I'm not sure if they didn't understand my Swahili or are just confused about what I can do for them, up here in the mountains. It feels as if I've come to the table with an insufficient offering.
PAUL WRITES: There is a strong culture of public speaking and social protocol in Tanzania. When a couple decide to marry, a wedding committee decides who's invited, who sits where and what everyone eats and wears. This is a surprise in a society that in many ways seems so disordered: electricity off every second day, few paved roads, crammed HiAces for timetableless public transport, the anarchy of the market. But it's not disorder, it's poverty. There simply isn't the money to change these things.
NYANDIRA FARMERS' MARKET, ULUGURU MOUNTAINS
Monday August 7th, 8am
BRIAN WRITES: I knew a little about fair trade before I came to Africa. I was aware of farmers' not getting fair prices for their produce in most of the developing world. This is where the deals are going down; the place has a sinister feel. We can see buyers negotiating, and sellers are obviously unhappy with the prices they're being offered. But they don't hold the reins. They have to sell; most of their produce is perishable, so if they don't sell today, then they don't sell at all. This is the way the scales are balanced.
PAUL WRITES: Outside, the smaller farmers sell beans, potatoes, cassava and sugar cane - Brian and I each buy a cane, which you peel and chew. I meet one woman who has walked for four hours to sell her sack of red beans. She isn't getting the price she would like for them, but it is still worth her while coming here. Pound-shop- type stuff is also being sold: plastic basins, Ja Rule T-shirts and playing cards from China.
MOROGORO AGRICULTURAL SHOW
Monday, August 7th, 4pm
PAUL WRITES: I think I am singled out for ridicule at some point, as I hear the word mazungo, meaning "foreigner", in a slightly derogatory way, and there's laughing in my direction. That's one of the mad things about being here. Whitey can't blend in. Driving or walking through the villages, you're fixed in the stern gaze of 100 pairs of eyes. This can seem intimidating, but if you give a wave or a thumbs-up it is always reciprocated. As an attempt at light relief, at one of the meetings with farmers I ask if I could become Ireland's first mango farmer. A discussion ensues about what strain of mango might be suited to such colder climes. The conclusion is that the mango growing should be left to them.
- Since he got back, Crosby has been working on a CD that will include the voices of Nina Persson, of The Cardigans, and Gemma Hayes, in a collective known as The Cake Sale. The CD, out later this year, will include a booklet on Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign, and all profits will go to Oxfam Ireland. For updates and for more from the diaries, visit www.bellx1.com.
- For more about Oxfam Ireland and international trade, visit www.oxfamireland.org and www.maketradefair.com