WaterWatch
Dodoma: Where the Elephant Sank

Dodoma became a name before it became a town. There are different stories about how it happened. One story is that some Wagogo stole a herd of cattle from their southern neighbours, the Wahehe, then killed and ate the animals, preserving only the tails, and when the Wahehe came looking for the lost herd, all they found were the tails sticking out of a patch of swampy ground. “Look”, said the Wagogo, “your cattle have sunk in the mud, Idodomya”. Dodoma in chigogo means “it has sunk”. There is yet another commonly accepted story. An elephant came to drink at the nearby Kikuyu stream (so named after the Mikuyu fig trees growing on its banks) and got stuck in the mud. Some local people who saw it exclaimed “Idodomya”, and from that time on the place became known as Idodomya - the place where it sank.

There was little or no grass suitable for thatching, so the Wogogo developed an intricate structure of the tembes, roofed with sticks and clay, and supported inside by poles placed asymmetrically. The Wogogo composed music of exceptional quality; they created an oral culture with puzzles, jokes and legends, along with a tradition of craftsmanship, most notably in basket weaving. The history of the Dodoma region is a history of seasons - a history almost rhythmic in its ups and downs, periods of fat and lean years, marked by extraordinary endurance. The dominating influence of the climate on life in the region is the uncertainty - when rain fell evenly and plentifully, food was in abundance and the living good; when the rain failed, scarcity or even starvation would follow.

Susana Masinga, her husband and two children live in the Chiboli village, which now has access to water from a borehole nearby. Before, they had to walk far, and fetching water became a full day’s work. Family members took turns, on alternate days, to get water - those who had bicycles used them, and those without went by foot. They had water to wash clothes once a month and take a bath once a week. An ordinary day for Susana starts at 3 a.m. when she prepares the dough for making buns, fries the buns and prepares tea for her tea-stall business. She starts selling tea at 7 a.m. until it is finished; then she begins with her household chores: sweeping, washing utensils and preparing tea for her husband and children. She pounds maize to make flour, normally by hand. Then it is time for washing clothes, collecting firewood and making lunch, which often consists of ugali and vegetables and occasionally beans or meat. After lunch, it is time for the children to be washed, and by 6 p.m. she starts preparing the evening meal. Since having access to a borehole in the vicinity, water-borne diseases have been reduced, and Susana has been able to set up a tea business. Although water is not free, they are happy to pay 20 shillings for a bucket. Susana’s biggest dream now is to expand, so she can sell tea in the market in Fufu village.

The Dodoma Rural District is the administrative capital of Tanzania and is situated in the middle of the country. The town grew steadily in population and size, and many of the older shops and houses gave way to larger and more modern buildings. The trees from the 1930s and 1940s, now maturing, provide a somewhat softening touch along the dusty streets. The tin roofs and wooden shutters of the smaller dukas (shops) tend to break the angular inflexibility of the new style. Dodoma is still a mini-city.

In Dodoma, the Water Supply and Health Project in Marginal Areas is supported by a grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development through the Belgian Survival Fund. The Project, encompassing Dodoma rural and Kondoa districts, aims to provide the rural people with better access to clean drinking water, community health care and implementation of water and sanitation development programmes.

In both Dodoma rural and Kondoa districts, villagers have formed water and health care committees whose members, with the chairman of the village, decided how much to contribute to a water start-up fund, after which the Government was approached to initiate digging of boreholes. Villagers themselves decided on the cost of water, usually one Tanzanian shilling for one litre. The same method was used to set up dispensaries to replace old ones and where there was limited medical facility. A team of journalists visiting the project obtained permission from a Masai chief to stay overnight in his homestead in order to monitor their daily life. A number of Masais are members of the Water Fund. Most of the beneficiaries the journalists talked with were pleased with the boreholes and the dispensaries.