Asante Network

Asante Network is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization and proud member of the Fair Trade Federation and is committed to helping women in Tanzania and Uganda.

Asante Network connects the women's groups with markets in the U.S. This empowers these women to develop their traditional arts into viable home-based businesses.

ASANTE means "Thank You" in Swahili, so "asante" to Jan for finding information about the Asante Network. She and I will be visiting an Asante batik group outside of Moshi during the few days we will be in Tanzania before the rest of our team arrives.

Beautiful and well-made baskets, batik and tye-dyed textiles (clothing, tablecloths, bedcovers, and wall hangings,) and hand-carved crafts are purchased directly by Asante Network from the Miichi Women’s Group in Tanzania and NEEPU Women’s Group in Uganda. The money the women receive help them to feed their families, to send their children to school, to support their church and to support AIDS orphans. Additional funds raised help to build classrooms, provide scholarships, books and tools.

Volunteers from Asante love to speak to church groups to tell the stories of our sisters and brothers in Africa and how our work with them has changed our lives. You can help too by contacting one of the volunteers to schedule an Asante Network Arts and Craft Fair and presentation at your church. Click here for more information.

Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone

A new eight part series has just started this past Sunday on the History Channel called EXPEDITION AFRICA. For those who missed Sunday’s show, it can be seen this Wednesday at 10:00 pm. Some episodes will air after we leave on our trip but it will give a good peek into what some of the wilder parts of Tanzania are like. (Thanks to Cindy S. for sharing about the show.)

Four modern-day explorers are heading toward the unknown, the deep interior of Tanzania. They'll travel 970 miles through African terrain that is stunning as it is fraught with danger. Using only a compass and basic maps, they will attempt to recapture the spirit of one of the world's most remarkable adventures - Journalist Henry Morton Stanley's perilous 1871 journey to find Dr. David Livingstone. Click here for more information on the History Channel website.


Their historic exploration has been captured by one of the premiere storytellers of our time, Mark Burnett, for the eight-part television event, EXPEDITION AFRICA: Stanley & Livingstone

This is not a competition of a game, it's a real-life adventure. Four explorers: navigator Pasquale Scaturro, wildlife expert Dr. Mireya Mayour, survivalist Benedict Allen and journalist Kevin Sites will trek across a vast, unforgiving landscape of dense swamps, rugged mountains and barren deserts. They will face severe dehydration, deadly diseases, wild animals and more than 29 kinds of venomous snakes - only to learn that the greatest danger may actually be one another.

Stanley & Livingstone

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

David Livingstone arrived in Africa in 1840 with two goals: to explore the continent and to end the slave trade. In England, his writings and lectures ignited the public's imagination regarding the "Dark Continent" and elevated Livingstone to the status of a national hero.

In 1864 Doctor Livingstone mounted an expedition through the central portion of the African continent with the objective of discovering the source of the Nile River. As months stretched into years, little was heard from the explorer. Rumors spread that Livingstone was being held captive or was lost or dead. Newspapers headlined the question "Where is Livingstone?" while the public clamored for information on the whereabouts of their national hero. By 1871, the ruckus had crossed to the shores of America and inspired George Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald, to commission newspaper reporter Henry Stanley to find Livingstone.

Henry Stanley was a remarkable man. Orphaned at an early age he spent his formative years in a workhouse in Wales, crossed the Atlantic at age 15 as a crewman of a merchant ship and jumped ship in New Orleans. Befriended by a local merchant, he took the man's name - Henry Stanley - as his own and went on to fight in the Civil War before working his way into a career in journalism.

Leading an expedition of approximately 200 men, Stanley headed into the interior from the eastern shore of Africa on March 21, 1871. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika on November 10, 1871.

Stanley is often remembered for the words uttered to Livingstone upon finding him: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?", although there is some question as to authenticity of this now famous greeting.

Tanzanian Shilling

The national currency is the Tanzanian Shilling (THS).

As of Tuesday, June 2, 2009:
1 US Dollar = 1,349.12 Tanzanian Shilling
1 Tanzanian Shilling (TZS) = 0.0007412 US Dollar (USD)

Click here for a currency converter website.

White Shirts for Mwanza

This touching video highlights Daniel, a med student from Canada, who sponsors school children in Mwanza.

How to Make Ugali

This traditional East African dish is on the menu for out Tanzanian dinner this Thursday.

This video will be helpful for those who will be helping to make the ugali for our dinner.
Check out the post below as it shows how to eat ugali.

How to Eat Ugali

Tanzanian Batik Art

Batik Art originated from Indonesia and the style was adopted in Tanzania. In Tanzania the art is made by dyeing white cotton cloth with prefered background colors and then after it dries, hot liquid wax is brushed onto a piece of cotton cloth in the desired pattern. Dye is then applied again to the cloth which adheres to all of the areas that are not covered by the wax. The wax is then removed and reapplied repeated for each color used. Many beautiful sceneries and images can be created on the cotton cloth.

This beautiful batik art is from Arusha, Tanzania. It depicts African women working in the village.

Check out the post below for more about batik and a video from Filex,a batik artist in Arusha.

An Artist in Tanzania ::: Filex's Batik Workshop

Meet Filex Jacobson, an artist in Arusha. Filex has been passionate about art since he was a child. It is what makes him happy and he is good at it. He used to sit at his father’s feet drawing pictures as a youngster, and now as an adult, his father disowned him because he wanted to be a professional artist instead of a driver, mechanic or other form of “normal” work in Arusha. Filex did not give up and he struggled to get the resources for training in several art forms, including that of the Batik painting.

Batiks are made with a special wax painting process and a layering of different paint colors. Originally from Indonesia, the Batik was used as a form of communication to send messages and was brought to Congo, Uganda and Tanzania through traders and missionaries. It takes a half of a day to make one Batik, you can watch Filex in action in the video.

Filex now owns and operates Sunset Art Studio which is located across from the Arusha International Conference Centre. In addition to selling paintings and providing workshops, he employs six people in his studio and his work supports the livelihood of several street vendor distributors.

When Jan and I are in Arusha we will have to stop by to say hello to Filex, to look at his work or perhaps to take a workshop.

Thanks to the blog of keely stevenson for this information about Felix.

Blog from Lynda in Tanzania

Click here to check out this blog - It is by a woman named Lynda, who lives in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. (Thanks Jan for sharing the link!)

Lynda writes,

This blog is about my life on the farm, life in Tanzania, my travels & lots of African recipes too, of course ! I am proud to be an African & am passionate about this Continent – my blog portrays the positive side of life in Africa & her wonderful people, & not what you see in the media! So “karibu” (welcome) come & join me for a while, & we can talk about food, fun … & farm life!

Giraffes are Coming!

Tanzania's national symbol is the giraffe, seen here on the tail of Air Tanzania's new airbus.

How appropriate that the Giraffe is our team mascot - I will start to update the display case this weekend with giraffes as the theme. So, get ready... the Giraffes are coming!

Serengeti Breweries, Ltd.

In talking with Brooke recently, she mentioned that the Serengeti Breweries, Ltd. is located across the street from our lodging in Mwanza - how convenient.

Serengeti Lager originated in 1996. In the year 2002 the present management took over the reins of the brewery and based on market research developed a new brand portfolio. Serengeti Lager was then relaunched as Premium Serengeti Lager in the year 2002.

The name Serengeti is internationally recognized due to the famous Serengeti National Park and is truly Tanzanian.

It is made from the finest quality malt and hops sourced from best locations from Europe, yeast and water. It is a 100% malt lager with no added sugar with a alcohol content of 4.8% on v/v basis. It is mild beer for those people who like to get along with friends and family and who like to have good time. (Editorial copy is from their website.)

Tingatinga Giraffes

Click here for more information and images of Tingatinga paintings.

Tingatinga Art

Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932 - 1972) was the origin of the naive style of painting who would later take his name. Tingatinga started painting in 1968, and although his career was ended prematurely in 1972, his style inspired his five students and then his followers to establish the Tingatinga School of Painters that continues to florish today.


The Tingatinga movement constitutes a genuine form of contemporary art, original to Tanzania.

From a purely technical standpoint, Tingatinga art can be defined as painting on masonite using bicycle paint. The paintings can be as small as ceramic tiles, while the biggest paintings are no doubt hanging above thousands of family room sofas.

Click here to learn more about E.S. Tingatinga, his artwork and his followers.

Chagga Banana Beer

"MBEGE" - Banana beer is an alcoholic beverage made from fermentation of mashed bananas. At the taverns where it is brewed, the Mbege is served in banana beer bowls made from gourds.

The alcohol content is about 4.8% alcohol by volume. This type of beer is produced and consumed in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Andrew Zimmern recently featured the making of banana beer at an establishment at the foothills of Kilimanjaro in a segment on the Bizarre Foods of Tanzania.

A local man from a chagga tribe enjoying the tropical brew.

Bizarre Foods of Tanzania

The show last night highlighted some bizarre foods - most I hope we won't be sampling on our trip, although I would like to try the Chagga banana beer.

The show also showed beautiful scenes of the North Eastern parts of Tanzania that we will be visiting.

The show was well worth seeing. We can replay the episode after our next meeting for those who missed it and for those who would like to see it again.

Andrew sitting on top of a truck during a safari tour in Tanzania.

Andrew standing with the Maasi wearing traditional clothing.

Traditional Chagga dancers on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

"Bizarre Foods of Tanzania" April 14 on the Travel Channel

Andrew Zimmern will be showing and eating some tasty treats from Tanzania tomorrow night at 9:00pm on the Travel Channel. Click here to see more info about the show.

Thanks to Jan for passing on the info about the show - she also shares, "the Maasi slaughtering of goats is quite the tourist attraction (but something I could pass on)."

Reminder - Fees Due

Don't forget...

Money due to Brooke by tomorrow (April 6st) for J.M. Tours fees.

Dr. Powell will be administering vaccinations on Wednesday, April 8th at 5:30pm in Brooke's office for those who have responded to Dr. Powell.

J.M.TOURS LTD, is a family owned tour company in Arusha, Tanzania, was registered with the Tanzania government as a Tour operator and Travel Planner in 1985.

The owners / directors are Barbro Finskas-Mushendwa and Joshua Mushendwa, who both have a past as mission workers. Their three sons also lend a helping hand in running the company.

The major part of the guests are people related to church-, school- and NGO activities.

At present there are 23 employees in the company. The office staff and tour guides do all the pre arrangements in form of route planning, hotel- and flight reservations, appointments etc.

The drivers, who also are the tour guides during safari, will make sure the guests are comfortable and looked after during the safari and visits.

Animal Names in Swahili

Simba is the Swahili word for lion, so it is appropriate for the main character of the Lion King to be named Simba.

We have a Swahili lesson with Pastor Ben Tonight at 6:30pm.




TWIGA means giraffe in Swahili, the animal that sticks its neck out.

The Twiga Foundation in East Africa has the mission to inspire and support people, especially the young, to build a better future for themselves and their communities.

TWIGA does this in an informal yet professional way by supporting small-scale projects in East Africa by means of (helping with) setting up and executing plans and raising funds, largely in the areas of:

Street children and orphans
Education (formal and informal)
Healthcare
Activities to generate income
Long-term eco-tourism

TWIGA actually also stands for "The Way to Income-Generating Activities" - The foundation believes it is important that a project gets off the ground but also to keep independent funds coming in.

Mount Kilimnajaro

Kilimanjaro with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive stratovolcano in north-eastern Tanzania, rising 4,600 m (15,100 ft) from its base (and approximately 5,100 m (16,700 ft) from the plains near Moshi) It is the highest peak in Africa at 5,891.8 metres (19,330 ft), providing a dramatic view of the surrounding plains.

For more information about Mount Kilimanjaro click here.