Projects

Projects in Tanzania

Use strengths to address weaknesses

Every culture has strengths and weaknesses. Strengths distinguish us, give us value, help us to cope well with life. Weaknesses slow us down.
We believe that God wants to change our concepts of life in such a way that our lives are happy. This happiness does not depend primarily on external circumstances. There are people who have everything you can dream of, but who are not at all happy. As human beings we are really happy when we have peace with God, peace within ourselves and thus also peace with one another.

That is why God also wants to start at the weak points of our life concepts, be it private life models or the way of thinking and living of entire cultures.

In order for people to experience real change in their living conditions, it is important that they themselves desire change and take the initiative. Sustainable change must come from within.

That's why we see ourselves as encouragers, we want to encourage local people to tackle their weak points themselves and to use their own forms of communication that are familiar to them. In short: using the strengths to bring about change at the weak points.

Beliefs and values, whether religious, political or social, determine the direction in which we as people or cultures are headed. In our Western cultures, media have a strong influence. This influence is also increasing massively in Africa. But in many oral cultures, the formative content is also conveyed through songs, dances, storytelling and other forms of artistic communication.

That's why we work primarily with artists and encourage them to use their own art forms for helpful content. So that they use their strengths to address their weaknesses.

Helpful content can be beliefs, it can touch on very practical areas of life such as the organization of marriage and upbringing or dealing with finances and intelligent advance planning so that there is money for new seeds next year. Health issues are also of great help to the people, for example the appropriate use of mosquito nets to protect against malaria, a topic that a small theater group around a Tanzanian doctor has implemented.

Part of the encouragement for artists is also to videotape their creations, both traditional and new, and make them available to the people.


Yasini, Malimba player from the Sangu people, recorded in Mahango/Mswiswi (he died in 2022)

A Christian group from the Suba-Simbiti people. The Simbiti live in the very north of Tanzania on Lake Victoria.

Vigoma artists from the Sangu people recorded in Songwe.

Sangu narrator tells 2 1/2 hours of the history of his people recorded in Songwe.

Storytellers from the Burunge people.

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