As guests in Tanzania, it is courteous and respectful to keep local government fully informed of our activities. And, we are grateful to receive information from government officials on particular needs in, for example, health clinics, hospitals and schools. 

We have warm relations with the District Commissioner (the President’s direct representative), the District Executive Director (head of bureaucracy) the District Medical Officer, the District Education Officer, various Welfare Officers and Immigration. And we are buoyed by those officials who are highly motivated to improve the day-to-day existence of their people.

However, we very rarely work directly in partnership with government departments, as we are easily frustrated by the slowness of their decision-making  processes. (This problem is, of course, not confined to Tanzania. It is a world-wide characteristic of government decision-making.) But we work with a sense of urgency and the strong need for completion. Nonetheless, there are times when we do find the path for a productive partnership.  

When we do work together on a common goal, our strategy is to make sure that the government contribution is required prior to our contribution. For example: we are happy to equip newly-built health clinics with the necessary equipment to avoid delays and quickly begin servicing the needs of their community. But we will only do so once the health clinic staff have been appointed and are on site and ready to go.

We are sometimes asked by government officials for financial support to carry out their duties. This can take the form of fuel money to visit a village, food money, or a per diem for work in which we are involved. With few exceptions, we  gently refuse, as we do not believe it is our role to pay government officials to do their job.

We are buoyed by the existence of government officials who are highly motivated to improve the day-to-day existence of their people.

Very occasionally we are confronted by suggestions that paying money would lubricate processed or make problems disappear. But to do so would be to encourage corruption. This we never, never do.