Singer followed FIFA World Cup concert performance with visit to Tanzanian village where his Show Me Campaign is helping to fight poverty. By John Legend Farmers in Mbola tell John how they’ve been able to triple their crop yields using improved seeds, fertilizer and new techniques Photo: MTV News I had an exciting and inspiring week in Africa and I wanted to share the great news with you. The first part of my trip was in South Africa, where I performed at the exhilarating FIFA World Cup kickoff concert and watched my first-ever live soccer match — complete with vuvuzelas — and even visited a lion park. Many thanks to the South Africans for hosting such a thrilling event and giving me such a warm welcome! But before returning home from Africa, I made my way north to a little village called Mbola. Mbola is located in the Uyui district in midwestern Tanzania. Like many parts of Africa, it’s a beautiful place, but life is difficult there. Thirty-one percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is chronically undernourished and 63 percent of the people lack access to basic sanitation facilities. Still, the people there are warm, hardworking and optimistic about building a better life for their families and generations to come. The Show Me Campaign is trying to help them do just that. We raise funds to support our friends at the nonprofit organization Millennium Promise, helping them to provide clean water, better access to health care, education, higher-yielding food- and cash crops and Internet connectivity. For those of you who have supported the campaign — thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every time I visit Mbola, I leave feeling hopeful because of the progress they continue to make. Here’s an overview of how far we’ve come: Expanding Educational Opportunities for Children We firmly believe that every child deserves a quality education and we’re working hard to make sure every child in Mbola receives that opportunity. Since we were last there, a secondary school has been built in the area which previously had none. Before the new school was built, students who wanted a secondary education had to travel many miles into Tabora, the nearest town. The unfortunate result was that many youngsters in Mbola did not attend secondary school. Now with the new school in Mbola, a major barrier that prevented young villagers from pursuing a secondary education has been removed. We’ve ensured that we have 90 percent-plus attendance rates in our primary schools by funding new school construction, including classrooms and homes for teachers, and providing free school lunches. This school feeding program is actively maintained by the local community and relies on farmers to give a percentage of their food crops to the school. This encourages farmers to invest in their community and become stakeholders in the long-term development of the community. And we’ve recently equipped the schools with new computers; neither teachers nor students had previously had access. It’s exciting to see them use these incredible teaching and learning tools. Empowering Farmers Through Business Education, Credit and Financial Literacy In Mbola, we’ve always focused on helping farmers become significantly more productive by encouraging best practices in agricultural techniques and providing fertilizer and other tools to increase productivity. Recently, we’ve started the village’s first community bank to extend credit to farmers, helping them manage their small-business and personal financing needs more efficiently. This will make all of the reforms more sustainable, as the villagers will be more empowered and enjoy increased control over their own destinies. Imagine where your life would be if you — and everyone in your family — had never had access to a loan, or savings or checking account. This is what people in Mbola struggled with before. Expanding Health Facilities and Access to Health Care Until recently, there was only one health facility near Mbola, and it was four miles away. When walking is your main form of transportation, four miles is a long way, especially if you are ill. During this visit, I was able to see the dramatically improved and expanded health facilities in the community. New clinics and health centers have been erected to ensure that villagers have accessible health care close to home. We have dramatically reduced malaria through the distribution of medicated bed nets to every family. And if someone happens to get malaria, it is no longer a death sentence since the health centers are now equipped and able to quickly treat and cure malaria with low-cost drugs. Additional promising improvements include access to anti-retroviral drugs for patients infected with HIV and medical advancements to prevent transmission of the virus from mother to child. In addition, Ericsson has donated 3G mobile technology to improve communication between the community and the health centers. The results of this technology are amazing. In a region where distance hinders development, having instant mobile communication can be a lifesaver. Community health workers can not only phone in for emergency services but also use them to help diagnose, record and prescribe treatment. This technology, along with the manpower of trained health workers, is changing the face of health care delivery throughout rural areas like Mbola. Access to Water Many villages in rural Africa have either very little or no access to clean water, and Mbola wasn’t any different a few years ago. Building septic infrastructure is a big part of what we’ve done in the village and I was happy to be able to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for another water tank. This tank will expand access to clean drinking water for residents by distributing clean water throughout the village via underground pipes. All in all, it was a great trip. I’m still a little jet-lagged from the many hours of travel, but I’m energized by the progress that has been made. Thank you, again, to those of you who have supported our efforts in Mbola. I hope you will continue to support the Show Me Campaign and encourage your friends and family to help us break the cycle of poverty. We can make a difference if we all work together. Asante! Thank you! John For more information on how you can help John’s Show Me Campaign, log on and follow the organization on Twitter , become a fan on Facebook or visit the Show Me Campaign website. Related Photos John Legend’s ‘Inspiring Week In Africa’ Related Artists John Legend
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