The Price of Inflation. And Back to School. And Observations.

Somehow this slipped past us last July (how cool is that that I can say "last July" so casually because I was here last July? Meaning I'm not feeling so new anymore!) but, like many governments, the Tanzanian government started its new fiscal year in July. This year our teachers and staff spent quite a bit of time talking about often dramatic price increases that happen as a result. In Arusha many dalla-dalla (minibus) fares doubled, for example from 200 shillings to 400 shillings. It's hard to imagine that increasing something from 20 to 40 cents is dramatic, but it really is. Some food products have almost doubled (bread, for instance). Yesterday, my housekeeper told us that in July he spent 40,000 shillings for charcoal and kerosene to cook with--which amounts to almost 1/2 his monthly salary.

Knowing that we have students whose lives are so difficult and often desperate, it's easy to understand why children don't attend school. It's easier to understand why people make decisions here that often seem short-sighted to our Western eyes. When you live so close to the line every day, how can someone ever get ahead or make provisions for the future? What's the good of planning when things change so suddenly?

Yasini is luckier than most. Working for us he has access to people who can help him if he needs it and help him figure out a solution to a problem. He makes a fair salary for his position, but still uses every cent every month with 3 children in school. He has a gas tank and has seen how long a tank of gas lasts us cooking the way we do. Instead of spending 40,000 for fuel, he can spend 25,000 to fill his tank and use his other cooker and the tank can last for him 2 months. We talked about how best to get the 25,000 for the first fill, which ended up being a gift from us, and then talking about how to set aside some money each week so that he can refill the tank when it's time, rather than wait until it's empty and then try to figure out how to get the money. It's a concept that's very basic for us, but not common and often not easy for Tanzanians. On our end, we feel lucky that Yasini will come to us and ask for help with a problem, but not automatically ask for money. It gives us a chance to talk about other ways to approach a situation and look at all options.

On another front, this is from a Peace Corps volunteer teaching in central Tanzania, about the start of a new term...

I showed up at 7 am last Monday morning (the first day of school) only to find I was the only faculty member there with 30 or so A-level students. A few minutes later the academic master shows up and opens the administration office. Not a single O-level student arrived for the first day of school. This usually happens - the students (especially at boarding schools) don't arrive until a few days (or weeks) after the term starts.

One of the reasons this happens is that students have to pay their fees for the 2nd term and don't come if they don't have enough money. Others can't get the travel fare together. As I said before, the lack of resources encourages people to use what they have right when they have it because there's always an immediate need. Setting money aside for a future event, like transportation money, just doesn't happen. Resources that are available now are used now. Future needs will be dealt with when the time comes. Which is why sometimes you can give someone money for something--a bill, school books, medicine--and then find out later that they spent it on something else. You feel cheated, because it seems like they misled you, asking for one thing, then using it for another. They don't understand your irritation or anger--you gave them money, they had a need. The decision on how to use that resource rests with the recipient, not with the giver. On a personal level that causes frustration. Imagine it on a level of NGOs where foreign companies and organizations are trying to allocate money here.

On the school side, it's interesting to note that neither students nor teachers appeared. So little schooling takes place even when schools are in session. Students are sent home to get more money for something the school wants to do. Schools are closed because it's too hot. Or too dusty. Or too wet. Or because they run out of food. Teachers don't show up because they work other jobs. Or because they are in the work room chatting. Or because everyone's spending so much time practicing mock exams instead of actually learning. It's easy to point fingers and say, "What a mess." And it is a mess. But if you have the ability to really look at everything that impacts learning, you find the same things impact schools in the States, too. Lack of resources, low teacher salaries, socio-economic factors that affect families that schools have no control over. It actually allows us to see education between the States and Tanzania as a continuum, rather than "we have all the answers and know the best way and we're here to show you." Believe me, there's puh-lenty for us to learn!