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Grand Challenges
June – August 2010
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Afrika
GENERAL GOALS
 Improve Swahili skills
 Increase understanding of Tanzanian culture & daily
life on multiple levels
 Gain a greater understanding of how Tanzanian
government policy concerning HIV/AIDS is
implemented in practice & how it is received,
understood and perceived by those it affects
SPECIFIC GOALS
 Gain insight into the advantages and disadvantages of
addressing societal problems as a religiously-affiliated group.
 Learn about how NGO’s delegate tasks and choose which issues
to devote the most time and resources to.
 Understand and grapple with the challenges facing NGO's in less
developed countries where resources are often particularly
scarce.
 Explore the dynamics of the recent Tanzanian government
policy of home-based care for HIV/AIDS victims
 Gain an understanding of how well NGO’s are able to meet the
needs of HIV/AIDS victims and their families who are forced to
care for them at home
African Evangelistic Enterprise
Mission Statement: ”To evangelize the cities
of Africa, through word and deed, in
partnership with the Church. AEE serves the
church through interracial
&interdenominational teams of African
evangelists who share the Gospel through
missions, Christian leadership training,
reconciliation ministries and programs that
meet urgent human need.”
 Christian NGO in Dar es
Salaam with partner
organizations across the
continent, as well as in
Australia, Canada, & the
UK
 Founded in 1962 by
Michael Cassidy
 Different branches within
the organization execute
projects on a host of
development issues
Places Visited (Partners of AEE)
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Christian Churches/Organizations
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Islamic Mosques/Organizations
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Kakobe Church – Mwenge, Dar es Salaam (DSM)
Calvary Mission Church – Survey, DSM
Kanisa la Moravian Tanzania – Tabata, DSM
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church – Posta, DSM
Matumaini Group – Sinza, DSM
Kituo cha Afya Katoliki
Islamic Seminary – Tabata, DSM
BAKWATA Muslim headquarters – Kinondoni, DSM
Msikiti wa Azhar – Tabata, DSM
HIV/AIDS Council of Zanzibar – Stone Town, Tz
Gender Related Organizations
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Tanzania Gender Networking Programme – Kinondoni, DSM
Femina HIP – Posta, DSM
Shake Hands Yough Organization – Tabata, DSM
The AIDS Business Coalition Tanzania – Posta, DSM
Focus Questions – NGO’s/Religious
Institutions
 NGO’s
 What is the mission of your organization/institution?
 When and why was it originally founded?
 Among the programs that your organization offers for social
welfare, how is AIDS addressed? (proportion of time/resources,
focus on prevention/treatment?)
 What exactly do these programs do?
 Where do you get funding?
 Do you receive any type of support from the government?
Focus Questions – NGO’s/Religious
Institutions (continued)
 What changes has your organization/institution undergone over
time? (number of employees, number of worshippers/staff,
budget, objectives, target audience, programs available)
 What are some of the challenges your organization/institution
faces? If organization explicitly deals with AIDS, what particular
challenges have arisen from that status?
 Are you aware of government policies regarding AIDS prevention
and treatment?
 Whose responsibility do you think it is to address the issue of
AIDS?
Focus Questions - Individuals
 Individuals
 Who is primarily responsible for taking care of the sick family
member?
 Who does most of the household chores? (cooking, cleaning,
etc.)
 Who is the family’s primary income earner?
 How has your schedule changed since you/your family
member become sick?
 How have your families needs changed since you/your family
became sick?
 Have you received any help from local organizations? Your
church/mosque?
 Are you aware of government policy regarding HIV/AIDS?
Findings
 Throughout the summer, my internship and research highlighted the
inextricable link between an explicitly health-related issue (HIV/AIDS)
and development.
 Interviews and fieldwork revealed that the Tanzanian government
policy of moving HIV/AIDS victims from public health clinics and
hospitals put a disproportionate strain on family members,
particularly females who were expected to not only continue with
their usual household chores, but also to take primary responsibility
for caring for the ill and in many cases also take on an additional
paying job to compensate for:
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the loss of income from the sick family member who could no longer
work
the families’ increased needs, such as medicine and additional food,
water, and cleaning supplies
Findings (continued)
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Some families noted that they faced increased hardship as they were
ostracized within their communities and at their places of worship, which
stems from the fact that HIV/AIDS is still a highly stigmatized disease.
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Some individuals expressed discontent or frustration with the
government, with many pointing to corrupt politicians as the cause of
their suffering
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The vast majority of the NGO’s and religious institutions interviewed cited
lack of funding as the number one obstacle to improving the provision of
social welfare services. While corruption was cited as the main reason
funding was not available from the Tanzanian government, insufficient
knowledge of English was one major reason many organizations felt that
their applications for international funding were denied, and some
indicated that they were too intimidated to even apply.
Acknowledgements
 Princeton Environmental Institute
 Professor Mahiri Mwita & Professor Aldin Mutembei
 Grace & Peter Musalakulangwa, Gervas Kasiga, Christine
Lwelamila
 African Evangelistic Enterprise