I became involved with Mission Morogoro when my husband, James, was asked by Tony and David (MM trustees) to look at an old trailer which was to be purchased, refurbished and sent to Tunguli with the tractor that was nearing the end of its rebuild. Ultimately James rebuilt the bed of the trailer and to cut a long story short, we ended up joining an MM trip to Tunguli, Tanzania in August 2015. During the visit we led the work to erect a building to house the tractor, train the villagers to operate and maintain the tractor and introduce a new farming technique we had discovered was beginning to sweep across Africa. This new method, known as Conservation Agriculture, helps to conserve the nutrients in the soil, produce better yields and prevent erosion, all of which are very important to the village of Tunguli. We contacted the African Conservation Tillage Network, an African NGO promoting and training on Conservation Agriculture. Deo, their field officer met us in Tunguli and delivered two days of training to local farmers.
Our trip to Tanzania, and particularly Tunguli, was a life changing experience. The friendship and hospitality we received was amazing. It was wonderful to work alongside many villagers as they helped to put up the building, using tools and methods they were not familiar with but very quickly learned to use. It was also a privilege to be with them as Deo introduced the farmers to Conservation Agriculture and to see their eagerness to learn and change their farming techniques in order to produce better crops to improve their lives. We want to do all we can to help and encourage our farming friends and to go back and work alongside them again. This has led to a new three-year project for the charity, the “Tunguli Food Security and Environmental Conservation Project” which I am leading on behalf of MM - with much support from James and the other MM trustees.