The relationship between ACE Africa and Egmont is a long-standing and fruitful one. Just this year, ACE Africa Kenya achieved the prestigious “Best Performing Organisation of 2017” award at the Annual Egmont Awards Ceremony. ACE Africa Tanzania was our next stop on the Egmont Partner list and we were anticipating great things. ACE Africa Tanzania is based in Arusha, the tourist trap gateway to all number of safari and mountain climbing adventures. Arusha is a bustling and busy place, built up of a multitude of communities from the tiny villages in the hills to the hullaballoo of the frenetic marketplaces. ACE Africa prides itself on understanding and working alongside these communities to enable sustainable development. We would come to learn that the intricate knowledge of these people and their cultures are what enable the grassroots work of ACE Africa to take hold and keep growing. We were introduced to John Emmanuel of ACE Africa by Joe Waddington – a long time Egmont community member and founder of ACE Africa. John quickly put together a schedule for “a day in the life of an ACE Africa worker” for our time with ACE. We met John in the morning and were given a quick insight into the three target areas for the work of ACE: Child Development; Community Health and Well-Being and Community Livelihoods. John was passionate, persuasive and articulate - he had a clear vision and appreciated every angle of every aspect of the work of ACE and was able to (in about 5 minutes) highlight the inter-linking nature of the programmes and how they all weave together to create the strong and sustainable communities. John was clearly, and very rightly, proud of the accomplishments of ACE Africa and their ability to assist the most remote and vulnerable people around Arusha. Jumping into the pick-up truck with our two ACE guides for the day, Delphine and George, we head off to our first port of call – the community facilitators and leaders. Everything that ACE does is with the utmost respect for the cultures and beliefs of its beneficiaries. That includes recognising a need to be accepted within villages in order for people to “buy into” ACE. To achieve this, ACE has enlisted and trained over 70 volunteers and facilitators within the communities. These people are respected and therefore provide a trusted route into the community.
This was the start of the journey into understanding the intricate web that ACE has carefully created. Each strand supporting another link and crossing over to ensure the next layer can form to make a strong and sustainable self-sufficient network. The veg patch provision was introduced as part of the Community Livelihoods project - a form of income for a small family. ACE then buy some nutrient-rich spinach back from the veg patch owner to give to HIV/AIDS sufferers in remote areas to enable the anti-retro viral drugs to be most effective. The Community Health and Well-Being programmes playing their role here. The families who receive the much needed veg have a better chance of staying well and supporting one another. The trust in ACE is increased and the ACE drop-in centres that are built for women and children to use in the event of an assault or abuse are accepted. More jobs are created as social workers and full child protection teams are established. The network of people (teachers, friends, brothers) who will reach out to ACE workers to inform this now beneficial and dependable organisation about concerns for young girls and FGM or forced marriage increases. Child Development comes to play.
At first glance the wide-ranging nature of the support ACE provides to the community may look like a simple responsive development of ideas to meet need. However, the underlying plans and links go to a much richer place of insight and forward thinking. Every programme and step fits into the jigsaw puzzle which makes up the supportive base of ACE. It comes to life which you speak with George about his counselling of HIV/AIDS sufferers, and the vast issues that flow from the disease - poverty, opportunistic illness, being forcibly estranged from families. And to Delphine about how culture and belief is innate in the remote villages where young girls know nothing other than FGM and forced marriage happening to their mothers, sisters and friends. Outsiders saying otherwise are unlikely to be trusted and establishing a community base to commence child to child training is most effective.
There were some shocking moments during our day. As we visited a man supported by the ACE team, a group of young girls ran beside the car with the frequently heard excitable shrieks of “mzungu!”. We laughed until George pointed out that one of the girls, no older than 12, was wearing the dress that signified she was in the process of being married. It really hit us - 12 years old and expected to perform the functions of a wife. No more school. No more playing with siblings and friends. No more childhood. A similar story was told to us about another young girl we met, one whose fate was changed because of an informant who trusted ACE, and the ability of ACE to carefully manage and prevent the marriage taking place.
ACE Africa is the epitome of the ethos that drives support from Egmont. It is not a hand out, a provision of a fish for a day or a bandaid to cover a small scratch when millions of others exist. It is a hand-up, a fishing lesson and a full-body fix up to enable the community to keep building, growing and blossoming. Remember - every single penny you donate through the link on our website goes to Egmont. And every penny going to Egmont is ploughed into these extraordinary organisations changing and saving lives every day. If you are remotely impressed with the work of ACE (and how could you not be...) please think about popping over a penny or two to keep them in action.
