Affording a roof over your head

By Leah Mwainyekule

IN the cold hills of Lushoto, the weather is chilly.  Leaves are falling down from trees and the wind is blowing fiercely.  Everyone is behind a jacket or a cloth wrapped around their shoulders.  They are all concerned about the weather.  But for one woman, that is not really important right now.  What is important is that she is now protected with a roof on top of her house.

One year ago, Yones Tito was the most concerned one about the weather in Lushoto district, Tanga region in northern Tanzania.  Her house did not have a roof.  It was covered with banana leaves and not really protective during the winter season.  When it rained, it was worse.

“The rain dripped inside the house because the leaves were already not too useful.  I cook inside, so the smoke from the fire caused the leaves to be penetrative when it rained and when it was too cold like now.  All of us suffered, including my children,” she explains.

Yones had four children.  She used to have eight children but four of them passed away from unknown illnesses.  Her husband passed away in 1993 and left her in the same house that was roofed with banana leaves.  All of her remaining children were studying at that time and she was the one responsible to take care of them.

“I started walking into the forest in search for firewood,” she recalls.  “I would walk the whole day and get enough firewood that I would take to the market and sell.  It was the only way to survive.”

But Yones did not do this work alone.  Her children also had to assist her.  One of them is Abraham.  He was ten years old back then, but his age did not really matter.  He would also go into the forest and collect firewood.  At that small age, Abraham also worked as a laborer in other people’s farms so that he could help his mother pay for his own school fees.

“I remember that there were times when I couldn’t attend classes because I had to work.  There was no meaning going to school everyday and suffering from punishments because of not paying school fees or not having the necessary things such as exercise books.  So I learned to work,” says Abraham.

The situation caused the boy and his older brother not to be able to study beyond primary level.  They were both selected to join secondary school, but could not because of lack of school fees.

In November 2010, Yones was one of the founding members of the Mkombozi Worth group, a group aimed at bringing together caretakers of Most Vulnerable Children (MVC) who meet weekly and learn how to save money and take loans that would help them take better care of their children.

After having enough savings from her weekly contributions, Yones took a loan of 30,000 Shillings.  She used the money to buy herself a roof for her house.  So part of the house got covered with iron sheets.  She took another loan of 60,000 Shillings and divided it into two parts: with 30,000 Shillings she bought another set of iron sheets and covered the remaining part of her house, and with the remaining 30,000 she paid for her last born’s school fees – the only one in the family to go to secondary school.

“The girl is in form one right now, so at least this time I was able to pay for her school fees and make sure she had exercise books and everything that is needed,” says Yones, laughing.

But the now proud lady did not end there.  Later in 2012 she took a 50,000 Shillings loan and added some of her own money from her firewood business and bought a calf.  Her aim is for it to grow into a cow that would produce milk that she would sell and also for her family to drink.

Right now Yones is happy.  She jokes a lot that Worth has enabled her to be a human being now, and be able to have three meals a day compared to the one meal a day that her family used to have.  “I now eat meat, eggs, and I will soon be having milk as well.  I want to be healthy.  In fact, I want to be bigger,” she laughs.

The laughter of Yones is a sweet, sincere one.  Her jokes are also touching.  From the traumas of life that she and her children have gone through, she can now sing along to the tunes of Worth and convince others to join in as well.  Having a roof over her head is something she is proud of.  Oh yes, the chilling Lushoto is not a problem anymore.