The City of Buffalo included an article about the Buffalo-Bukoba Sister City Collaborative in their Spring 2012 city-wide newsletter. Click the link below to download a shortened version of the newsletter, and read about our collaborative efforts!
City of Buffalo Spring 2012 Newsletter, abridged
Martin Luther King, Jr., Bukoba, Tz and Buffalo, Mn
Who would have guessed?
On this day, January 16, 2012, two delegates representing Buffalo will land in Bukoba to continue the work of building the relationships upon which a variety of partnerships will emerge. Our delegates are examples of the “drum majors” that Martin Luther King, Jr. called us all to be.
The landing of this trip was not scheduled to coincide with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but it does honor his vision as well as the vision of many citizens worldwide: civil and economic justice for all. If we approached every chance meeting as if we were diplomats and as if the possibility of a partnership might emerge out of our time together, ours would be a more peaceful world, equity would not be a volatile topic and oppression would be something studied in history books. Dr. King urged common folk to become fully engaged citizens. He asked us to get involved, as friends. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” imploring us all to become involved.
Our delegates to Bukoba, Ross and Linnea, will spend two weeks forging relationships and helping to get the work done that various volunteer project leaders need in order for their project to move forward. It is important to note that Linnea and Ross’ trip is entirely paid for by their personal savings, motivated out of a strong commitment to service.
Out of the small group who has met a few times to move the Buffalo-Bukoba Sister-City Collaborative forward, eight projects have emerged and are progressing. Each is briefly described below. If you have skills to contribute, our partners certainly could use help. A small group of committed individuals can change the world, but a slightly larger group can have a bigger impact. Comment below or email us to be put in touch with the project coordinator.
Student-to-Student Book Project
Students in Buffalo are writing picture books and short chapter books. The very best will be selected, copyright releases obtained from parents, and translations into Haya or Swahili, as well as some locally needed bilingual translations in Buffalo. Ross and Linnea are meeting with a printer in Bukoba to find out what is needed to get the books printed. A grant was obtained to help fund the printing of these books. EBook versions will also be created and made available on the website at www.READtoFEEDtheMIND.org We expect these to be posted summer, 2012.
Relationships Through the Lens
A picture captures a perspective in ways that transcends language, and reveals the subtleties of a culture. A BHS art teacher, Jon Holz, asked that students and residents in Bukoba take photographs that capture the concept of relationships. The same will be done in Buffalo. These photographs will be bound into a book to be shared on both sides of the ocean.
Buffalo Poetry Book
Another book is being produced by the Senior Writing Group and Bev Koopman’s elementary students. This is a book of poetry about Buffalo. It at once celebrates Buffalo and helps to reveal details that might otherwise go unnoticed about our community. It will be shared with Bukoban residents and those who visit our community in the future.
Mapping Project
Every year, the students in Dave Casey’s classroom embark on a major mapping project in conjunction with their study of world geography. This year, the students will be creating a map that will be helpful to civic leaders in Bukoba. The surrounding township, the Kagera region, is large. With the use of local data and satellite information, a map can be created that is at once educational for Buffalo’s students, and useful for the people of Tanzania. Linnea and Ross will be exploring the needs and priorities from Bukoban leaders so that Dave can choose specifically what will be mapped now and in the future. This project has the potential for a long life of usefulness since every community can use maps for a variety of purposes.
Health Initiatives
Mona Volden is a nurse and has experience working in Tanzania. She is working with Jessica Baitani, a doctor of internal medicine living in the U.S. but native to Tanzania, to develop a prenatal program for the women of Bukoba. This ambitious effort coincides with the construction of the COSAD center in Bukoba, a new medical facility that will open once needed medical equipment and supplies are procured.
An educational hygiene program is also underway. Mona has recently received training in this program and would like to have a small group of people from Buffalo trained so that they can pass the training on to leaders in Bukoba who will implement it there, in the Kagera region.
Culture through food
We learn about our world first through food and our senses. Chef and Buffalo resident Chris Loew is working on creating a set of recipes and spice packets that will be made available to help generate enthusiasm for Bukoba by introducing the culture directly into Buffalo residents’ home, filling them with the scents and flavors of the cuisine of northern Tanzania. Linnea and Ross will write down the names of every dish they eat while in Tanzania, turning this researchover to Chris so that he can then figure out the details of conversion
Bukoba is a big coffee growing region. Linnea and Ross will visit the regions coffee plantations and bring samples of the beans back. The manager at Buffalo Books and Coffee agreed to roast and sell these beans through their coffee shop, but we are hoping to locate a larger roaster in our area as a stream for sales.
In addition, Ross will be helping a small team in Bukoba to plan and set up a restaurant or internet cafe that meets western expectations. This restaurant will be run by Bukobans and serve the local community in addition to western visitors.
Considering the few times that our team has met, this represents a tremendous level of empowerment.
It is fitting that we have our first delegates arriving in Africa today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. May we all remember that our world is a stronger place when we work together, guided by respect. Dr. King recognized that poverty IS oppression. It was Dr. King’s dream to level the playing field. Through partnerships like these, individuals are working to help realize that dream held by Dr. King.
We are living out a small part of that dream, in Buffalo, MN and Bukoba, TZ, by inviting our brothers and sisters to participate in the abundance with which we have each been abundantly blessed. Whether it is creativity, culture, resources, economic prosperity or spirituality, we are made richer by inviting others to share in the abundance which we have been given. Come to the table. Share your ideas and get started on your invitations! Our next meeting is Monday, January 23 at 6:30. Email for details.
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Our Tanzanian liaison, Smart Baitani, is a do-gooder extraordinaire back in his native Bukoba. His list of accomplishments is long and his story is compelling. When he was 17, he was orphaned. He was suddenly given tremendous responsibilities as the eldest in his family of eight children, He entered adulthood, and continued to assume other large responsibilities amassing numerous positive programs in his wake, ranging from economics to agriculture to education to healthcare. View the video to learn about one program Smart brought to Bukoba, while learning a little more about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCEcV73LCck
Smart is the founder and director of COSAD, which stands for Community Solutions for Africa’s Development. COSAD has built a clinic to serve Bukoba and the Kagera region. The construction of the building was recently completed but it lies empty for want of the supplies and equipment that are necessary for providing health care. Learn more by watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlaBjxj3z-o
If you have access to the medical community that might have equipment to donate, please leave a comment below or email:
bbscc AT bwig.net. Your messages will be forward to SMART.
Another way that you can make a difference is to donate to COSAD through GiveMN: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Compassionate-Solutions-For-Africas-Development
You can learn more about the programs that Smart has dedicated his life to by following the links below:
-The COSAD Center for Enterprise & Community Development (www.cosad.org)
Listen to the choir from Tanzania that Smart has assembled and tours around the U.S. as one of his money making enterprises to empower the citizens of his homeland. Smart is also the director of the Imuka singers, and can be seen in the first clip of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ua5Om3sXt8
One day I will convince Smart to post to our blog. Until then, you will need to come to our meetings to get to know this man who is our liaison to a nation half a world away! See you Nov 29?
Last minute plans might not feel as important as those plans that have been in the making for months, or planned-around for weeks, or anticipated for days. But sometimes last minute plans lead to truly serendipitous moments. Thu
s was my experience on Saturday morning.
On the road for a commute before 7:30 am on a Saturday was not this “night owl’s” usual preferred weekend routine, but Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church had a very sweet surprise waiting inside her doors.
In 1988, seven people gathered in St. Paul to discuss and put into motion a plan to make a difference in south central Tanzania, in the Iringa region. In the years since, they have had 2,000 travelers visit between our countries. They have initiated programs ranging from educational teacher exchanges, student scholarships, set 
up a hospital, and helped with a reforestation project whose goal is to plant 1,000,ooo trees. Their program is called Bega Kwa Bega, or Shoulder to Shoulder. I’d previously been told that the St. Paul synod of the ELCA does mission work with Tanzania, but the scale of their involvement is truly breathtaking.
Once inside the doors of Gustavus Adolphus Church, a dozen gracious people took time to meet with me, discussing their experiences in Tanzania and with Bega Kwa Bega. They offered photos, mentorship and a willingness to speak in Buffalo to our residents and at our steering committee meetings. They offered their stories and advice, resources and expertise.
Already, their Policies and Procedures manual has been useful, as topics for the next quarter year’s meeting agendas were outlined today. Perhaps the most important gift that this early morning gathering offered was the gift of affirmation. BBSCC will have the successes of neighbors to build on. We will have their guidance so that we can avoid some of the caveats. We will have their advice to help speed us through some important learning curves. The vision of the BBSCC steering committee is sound, and in fact, it is already in practice in Tanzania!
When the name, Bega Kwa Bega was chosen, it is unlikely that our neighbors in St. Paul expected to find themselves shoulder to shoulder with members of a little town just outside the outskirts of the metro. Isn’t is wonderful that we have neighbors with a similar commitment: to be good citizens to our neighbors on the other side of the river (the Mississippi), AND to those on the other side of the pond?!**
We never know what adventures lie before us. The challenge is to find within us the capacity to do a little more, the confidence to believe “it” is possible and to answer with a resounding “YES,” so that we do not unwittingly miss too many of her hidden, serendipitous opportunities.
-Bev Koopman
**Pond, as in the Atlantic Ocean, a common reference made by the Brits.
A group of people met at city hall to explore possibilities for a new sister city collaboration between residents of Buffalo, Minnesota and Bukoba Tanzania on October 24, 2011.
At this meeting:
We reviewed the history that led to this collaborative, which began in May, 2011, when Mayor Anatory Amani from Bukoba met with Mayor Brad Nauman to discuss the possibility of a sister-city partnership.
Smart Baitani Speaks at the First BBSC Meeting in Buffalo.
We took a virtual “field trip” through Tanzania. Follow the links that follow to view some of the places in Tanzania that we discussed at our meeting. Hum “The Circle of Life,” from the Lion King and remember that Tanzania is one of the truly remarkable counties in Africa, and on our planet, with famous, larger than life sites, stories and culture that might inspire you to do something larger than you’ve allowed yourself to dream.
We learned about the structure for our sister city relationship, which is housed in five major chambers: Cultural, Educational, Economic, Spiritual and Healthcare.
We participated in a brainstorming session to name possible collaborations between our two cities.
