November 2014 - Maji Safi

#GivingTuesday

November 27, 2014/in Uncategorized /by Editor

Join Maji Safi Group by participating in #GivingTuesday. This year, on December 2nd, the third annual global giving event will be held world wide as the counterpoint to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday challenges individuals and communities to make the world a better place through generosity. The simple act of giving not only helps others, but also nourishes a generous community spirit.

Every gift makes a difference and by donating to Maji Safi Group on #GivingTuesday, you are supporting disease prevention education, healthy lifestyle promotion, and female empowerment in rural areas of Tanzania.

Join the #UNselfie global community and donate to Maji Safi Group on December 2nd for #GivingTuesday! Click the donate button to make a contribution to Maji Safi Group.

Thank you and Happy Holidays from the Maji Safi Group staff!

First Maji Safi Golf-a-Thon

November 10, 2014/in Uncategorized /by Editor

Erna Maj, or “Mama Bruce” as she is known in Shirati, started working with the Maji Safi Group (MSG) in March 2012. She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado in Linguistics and TESOL and works as a language teacher, translator, and MSG’s Board Chair. Below, Mama Bruce shares her experience of the Maji Safi Golf-a-Thon she organized and participated in.

“Great cause! And fresh water IS the key to getting out of poverty. Big first step into the future for these villages … keep up the good work.”– Chris Squadra, Golf-a-Thon Sponsor –

It was a beautiful morning at 9:30 a.m. on September 19^th when 18 enthusiastic ladies teed off at Lake Valley Golf Club in warm sunshine under a Colorado-blue sky, and the atmosphere was truly special when the last three players walked onto the 18^th green at dusk with a golden glow from a gorgeous sunset over the mountains and dark clouds with a few bolts of lightning to the east. In between, we had played 474 holes, enjoyed a buffet lunch, and truly helped Maji Safi Group and its work with water, sanitation and hygiene education in rural Tanzania by raising awareness and significant financial support.

“Playing fun golf with great friends. Supporting an important mission. Beautiful weather. A perfect day!”– Jan Fincher, Golf Player –

I presented the idea of playing a Maji Safi Golf-a-thon when we had our spring meeting for our Tuesday 18-hole Ladies League. I was thrilled when my golf friends voted to pursue the idea, but little did I know that the event would grow into a significant fundraiser. In Danish we say, “Mange bække små gør en stor å” which means, “Many small brooks make a big river”. That is exactly what happened here in the best grassroots fashion. We had over 100 sponsors who pledged anything from $0.05 to $12.50 per hole; we had 18 players who played 18, 27 or 45 holes each; and we had many thankful people in Shirati.

“[I] felt like the quote below surely applies to [Bruce Pelz] and the work he is doing as well as what you are doing to help him!

“I slept and dreamt life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy!” (Rabindranath Tagore)

– Brenda Lilly, Golf Player –

We already have plans to organize the Second Annual Maji Safi Golf-a-thon for 2015 – not just for the money, but also for the fun and the joy in giving.

“I had more straight-up FUN playing these holes of golf than any I’ve played since I’ve been at Lake Valley. People were all cheering each other on, sincerely, not just pro forma. We all played serious golf and tried to make each shot the best we could, but the camaraderie was unlike anything I’d seen here. We had a common goal, to do good for others, and somehow it translated into fun and friendship.” –Judith Shinn, Golf Player–

Empowering Tanzanians through Photography

November 6, 2014/in Uncategorized /by Editor

Dear Maji Safi friends,

It is the very first time that I am writing my thoughts for this blog. So first of all let me introduce myself. My name is Christoph Stulz. Soon I will be turning 33 years old, born in Switzerland, proud father of 2 beautiful daughters and working for the Swiss NGO Interteam. I am based in Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania on the picturesque Lake Victoria. My lovely wife is our NGO’s country coordinator so I am also called Interteam’s first lady in Tanzania, thanks to all who gave me this nickname!

I have a very interesting assignment with Maji Safi Group in Shirati as a photographer, videographer, graphic designer, and, last but not least, as a teacher in photography. I get to educate Maji Safi Group’s Community Health Workers, also called Water Ambassadors.

It has been my very first experience in the pedagogic field of teaching adults, so before my first group of Maji Safi Community Health Worker students, I was totally nervous and afraid of standing in front of a group of people, as I am a bit introverted.

But the first workshops in September and October with 3 different groups of Community Health Workers were fantastic! The students were very interested and the goal we set up was reached.

Photography is a daily occurrence here in Tanzania; people get very excited about pictures of themselves. So called “selfies” are already common in the daily lives of Tanzanians. They love to strike a pose in public places when local photographers are doing their small business. And as the smart mobile phones have gotten cheaper and cheaper, today thousands of photographs make their way through What’s App and Facebook in Tanzania.

Photo taken by Community Health Worker

So the idea behind educating the local staff of Maji Safi Group in photography, and later, in videography, is very interesting. The result of this activity is leading to nice pictures made by locals which are totally different photographs you would get if a foreigner makes them, even if this outsider would be the very best professional photographer. Locals see this world here in a very different way from us foreigners. They will automatically get a more sensitive and closer view or access to the local world here in the villages around Shirati, and finally Maji Safi Group will get wonderful photographic material about our different programs and activities. So, all of us are looking forward to seeing more and more photos as a result. I think some of them will turn out like artwork.

Photo taken by Community Health Worker

Photo taken by Community Health Worker

Photo taken by Community Health Worker

During the past 3 workshops, I first explained to each small group of Community Health Workers the different camera types and their parts and simple procedures: like how to turn the camera on and off, how to zoom the lens, how to use the flash. Some of the students haven’t had any experiences with cameras at all before. Others got the sense of it faster, as they had already worked with photography on their mobile phones. So we decided working just with the automatic mode of the cameras because the cameras know much better which settings they should choose for each situation. After the short technical introduction we changed the subject to the even more interesting part about the creativity of photography. We then talked about the rules which can help us to increase the quality of our pictures to attract or fascinate their future viewers.

All in all, the first workshops were very successful as you can see here a selection of photographs made by our water ambassadors.