ZAP NewsPOWER CRISIS – Worsening conditions The news from Jambiani continues to be extremely grim. Still no power = no water. There are more cases of cholera in the village this week, with the death of a 19 year old man. To make matters worse, Dr Hamza was admitted to hospital for surgery, and Mr Pandu is looking after his needs, as well as doing his best to organise the distribution of water lorries on our behalf. We appear to be on our own in this mercy mission, but we felt we simply could not ignore the anguished pleas for help which we continued to receive. Even the government generator lent to the north village has broken down, so now the whole village is without a safe water source.
ZAP has a real dilemma, since we cannot continue to be the main providers of water to a community of 8,000 for much longer without seriously prejudicing our ability to sustain our other projects. So far we have spent over $3,000; it is depressing to realise that this is ‘dead money’, so to speak, and one could certainly take the view that it would be better spent on a long term solution. The problem is – what solution? Mr Vuai, in response to ZAP’s request, has obtained a formal quotation of $12,000 US dollars (plus VAT, unless this is waived) for a generator of sufficient power to run one of the two village water pumps, together with an ‘assurance’ from ZAWA (Zanzibar Water Authority) that they would run and maintain it. Two of these generators would be needed, and experience warns us to be sceptical about any official promises.
Many concerned ZAP supporters have put forward suggestions for alternative power sources, such as wind, wave or solar energy - even the simple ‘no nonsense’ Elephant Pumps which are so effective elsewhere in Africa, but which are not suitable for a large community such as Jambiani where the safe water wells are at some distance from the village. Unfortunately, all these ideas sound good in principal, but are either a) impractical, or b) too expensive. Certainly, an alternative source of power has to be the long-term answer to Jambiani’s problems, but sadly this would require far more money and commitment than we are able to afford. We are a small charity, not geared to large-scale emergency relief.
The extremely successful fund-raising event in Norfolk (see News Bulletin on ‘Grand Quiz Night’) took place during the current power/water crisis in Zanzibar, amid awareness among our friends in the UK that the community which ZAP has undertaken to support was in extreme need. We were deeply grateful for the generosity of everyone taking part, and we do feel confident that ZAP supporters would approve of the emergency aid that we are giving, but it can only be a temporary measure and in a sense our response has put us in an invidious position. We continue to lobby as hard as we can for recognition of the horrible suffering of the Jambiani villagers – both through large aid organisations, and locally – via a newly-formed Pressure Group of village elders whom we are encouraging to make a loud noise in official places. Unfortunately, as we have said before, Zanzibar seems doomed to be ‘beneath the radar’ internationally, and a remote rural fishing community miles from the capital still more invisible.
Pat and Janie Preece
February 2010
A hugely successful Quiz Night was held at the end of January at Sussex Barn, Burnham Market. 190 people took part, and it was great to see so many new faces - including young people from far and wide - as well as ZAP’s stalwart local supporters. We were greatly indebted to the Thompsons for kindly letting us have the Barn – an ideal venue for a very jolly evening in which 24 teams pitted their wits against each other. The winning team, ‘Normal for Norfolk’ just edged ahead by the smallest of margins to take First Prize in what was, admittedly, a pretty tough quiz . Team names and interesting picnic themes were also in the competitive mix; they were very hard to judge as everyone had made fantastic efforts. Narrow winners were the ‘Missing Links’ who just pipped ‘Jewels in the Crown’ – and the best team name went to ‘Timu Ya Kwanza’ – Swahili for Top Team! The Event was superbly compered by Alec Lochore and Henry Symington, and four enormous plasma TV screens showed films of Zanzibar and ZAP’s work in Jambiani in the intervals. Due to the skills of Quiz Controller,Janet Lane, we were also able to flash up on the screens the results of each section as they happened - which greatly added to the competitive atmosphere! In place of a raffle, we had the Tree of Hope and Jambiani Supa-Duka lottery – you bought a piece of fruit or a special monkey or parrot and were guaranteed a prize. An amazingly generous response to our request for prizes and donations, as well as advertising space on the Programme meant that at the end of the evening ZAP had raised well over £8,000. POWER CUT AND WATER SUPPLY CRISIS IN ZANZIBAR – January 2010 ZAP supporters who are on our mailing list, will know that a major health crisis has developed in Zanzibar because there has been a complete power cut to the whole island since December 10th. The power comes from mainland Tanzania via a system which has completely broken down on the Zanzibar side. Efforts to repair it have failed, and full restoration of power is not now expected for a long time.
In January 2007, a similar power failure occurred. On that occasion, we believe that technicians from Norway had to be brought in to install replacement machinery. Our information is that the current power failure is far more serious. Obtaining any information on the current crisis is extremely difficult, but ZAP Directors have been in touch with the British High Commission in Dar, and we are currently lobbying - unsuccessfully so far - for emergency funds to be released in the short term. Meanwhile, ZAP has decided to pay for the immediate supply of some water bowsers to the most critical areas, and to provide necessities, including bottled water, which Dr Hamza in Jambiani clinic so desperately needs.
In Jambiani (pop. 8,000) safe water comes from 2 wells, both some distance from the village. Fresh water is supplied entirely by electrically operated pumps, and the people have had to resort to fetching it from the old unsafe and salty wells which are now running dry. The result is rapid spread of dysentery among the population, and now a cholera outbreak which has already claimed several lives.
The village medical centre is totally overstretched, despite heroic efforts by the staff in conjunction with an emergency team of doctors. Water at the clinic has run out, and ZAP has funded the supply of water bowsers to cope with this. Many people have been hospitalised and disease continues to spread; our African manager, Mr Pandu, has collected supplies of saline drips from Stone Town. (He himself has been ill, but is now recovering). During the previous major power cut in 2007, we were staying in the village, and witnessed for ourselves the inadequate response from politicians and other aid agencies to the people’s plight. On that occasion, ZAP supplied water, torches, food for the medical teams, mobile phone credit for the doctors and many other vital necessities. A bag of rice was the contribution from a government minister.
At this time of year, the heat and humidity in Zanzibar is particularly extreme. For the tourists, and those who can afford it, life is made bearable by using generators, buying water to fill tanks and purchasing safe bottled water. For the majority of the population, one of the poorest in the world, this is not an option. They are enduring terrible hardship, whilst holiday makers and government officials merely experience some inconvenience.
Whilst it is sadly the case that there are millions of people in Africa – and over much of the underdeveloped world – without access to clean safe water, Zanzibar’s current plight is a special case. For one thing, in its tropical climate there is no shortage of rainfall – it does not suffer from drought, only from serious and longterm problems in the supply of power between the mainland and Zanzibar island. The current disaster can and must be alleviated with political will, technical expertise and judicious use of government funds, though it is feared that the major repairs necessary to the powerline may take a very long time. ZAP Directors have been in touch with the British High Commission in Dar, and we are currently lobbying - unsuccessfully so far - for emergency funds (for generators, bottled water, food for medical teams) to be released in the short term to Jambiani, where the situation is particularly acute. Above all, the people need reliable information, and reassurance that somebody, somewhere cares about them.
The root of the problem is that Zanzibar slips under the radar of both the international media, and of the large and powerful charities which work in Africa. Zanzibar is a region of Tanzania, yet many high profile organisations, pouring regular funds into the mainland, have informed us in the past that Zanzibar is not under their auspices. Why? Its people are among the fourth poorest countries in the entire world, and urgent recognition should now be given to their plight.
Footnote:
Received wisdom is that the people of Zanzibar must be benefitting from the recent upsurge in the tourist industry, but in fact the very opposite is true. Undereducated, with extremely poor spoken English (in comparison with other African regions), the majority of the rural population is unable to take advantage of employment opportunities. Local people are very rarely employed by the hotels, which commonly import labour and skilled tradesmen from the capital, Stone Town, and even from mainland Tanzania and beyond. Fish stocks – traditionally the main source of food in rural coastal areas such as Jambiani - have been drastically reduced by the tourist economy; at the same time prices of vital commodities, including rice and essential building materials, have soared, leaving the average Zanzibari worse off than ever before.
This is why ZAP has set up the JFW – or JAMBIANI FUNDI WORKSHOP – an innovative co-operative of skilled tradesmen, all trained by ZAP for 3 years at modern technical colleges in Stone Town.
Please see more details of this exciting and ground-breaking initiative on our Projects page. (click here).
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ZANZIBAR ACTION PROJECT is a Registered Charity in the UK No. 1108030
ZAP is registered in Africa as a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). View certificate.
ZAP is registered in Africa as a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). View certificate.