(The individuals portrayed in this article are composites.  Real names have not been used.)

Last month, our planet recorded its 7 billionth concurrently living inhabitant.  In an effort to bring such a large number to a scale we can fathom, let's think of world population as a gathering of individuals.

Let's suggest that an oil tycoon decided to invite 150 potential customers to a sales presentation.  Let's say the invitation list would be limited to Individuals who could negotiate oil contracts on behalf of their populations, based on the relative population size of their region.  Using this population formula and knowing there were 150 invitations to distribute, our tycoon would look for 23 individuals from the African continent, as Africa's total population is 15% of the globe's.  Three of the 23 African delegates would hail from the East Africa Community (EAC), a free-trade zone comprised of 5 neighbouring countries with port access on the western shores of the Indian Ocean.  One of the 3 EAC invitations would go to the most populous country in the EAC, Tanzania.

Tanzania is a democratic republic, a hybrid of capitalistic socialism which emerged from the failed economic policies of past-President Julius Nyerere.  Nyerere ruled the country for 25, post-colonial years, ending in 1985.  Every significant town or city in Tanzania has a main boulevard named for Nyerere, a beloved and benevolent dictator on a continent not known for admirable despots.

Nyerere's socialist fascination was also his undoing.  His 1970's policies of federally controlled collective farming failed to move his previous accomplishments in de-tribalization to the envisioned success of socialist prosperity.  Nyerere's exit from office saw him humbly apologizing for his leadership failure and, in the strange ways of hero worship, his country subsequently immortalized him as a peacemaker and visionary.  Following Nyerere's departure, Tanzania moved, like its neighbours, Kenya and Zambia, toward a capitalistic and democratic model.

Many Tanzanian hold-overs from socialist ideologies remain today, including state sponsored healthcare for pregnant mothers and young children.  Tanzania's Ministry of Heath boasts a network of regional hospitals and rural clinics which serve the country's population.  Unfortunately, years of economic struggle, one of the globe's worst rates of HIV/AIDS, and weak infrastructure have combined to tax a well-intentioned system.  The result today is only 1 qualified healthcare worker for every 2,200 residents.

Tamara Mwulungu is a 28 year old mother, living in the Kasanga village grouping of Rukwa district, in south-western Tanzania.  She is a 2 day bus ride from Dodoma, the nation's capital, and an additional day's travel from the bustle of urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city and home to 5% of the nation's population.

Tamara was born in the village of Molwe and the radius of her travels in her lifetime amounts to the distance covered by a 2 hour boat ride followed by a 5 hour bus ride.  This is the distance she travels to visit her maternal grandparents in the semi-urban regional centre of Sumbawanga.  Tamara never formally married, however she has been united to the father of her 5 children for more than a decade.

Tamara lives in a mud home with a grass roof.  Relative wealth in Tanzania is known by the type of roof one sleeps under.  A corrugated tin roof indicates financial stability or, even, prosperity.  Tamara's grass roof indicates subsistence living.  Tanzania's per capita income is $3.85 per day.  Tamara's income is on the extreme low end of the per capita averaging calculation.

The village of Molwe lays on the shores of Lake Tanganika, famous for its freshwater tropical fish and the SS Liemba, a former German naval ship which now makes bi-weekly cargo and commuter trips between Zambia and northern Tanzania.  Tamara's village is only accessible by boat.  Emergency medical help is 2 - 3 hours away, via the most modest of boat taxis.

The father of Tamara's children has 3 wives, scattered between neighbouring villages.  He has 16 children, including his 5 with Tamara.  He fishes for his livelihood and consumes significant portions of his fish revenue on Tanzania's Tusker beer; in a clinical sense, Tamara's only provider is an alcoholic.

Like most labourers in her village, Tamara fishes, taking her children with her, to help provide for her household's sustenance.  Although education to age 15 is mandatory by law in Tanzania, there is no school in Molwe and, if there was, the school fees charged would prevent Tamara's children from attending. Tamara is illiterate and her children are following in her footsteps.

Tamara gave birth to her children at home, with the assistance of her female family members and neighbours.  In rural Rukwa District, death during delivery is much higher than the national (already startlingly high) average of 1-in-127 deliveries.  Tamara is strong and she has beaten the odds, so far.  However, Tamara's life has become progressively more difficult, as she bears the heavy work of matriarch and provider for her growing brood.  Her last child was still nursing when she became pregnant again.  Tamara has already passed the half way mark for Tanzanian life expectancy.  The toll of her circumstances will shorten her years; in an adjusted comparison to Canadian life expectancy, she is the equivalent of a pregnant, 42 year old mother of 5 children.

In the central village of Muzi, within the Kasanga village cluster of Rukwa District, Betty Mhando and Bertha Kisuda have mobilized their circle of influence to establish a Community Based Organization (CBO) named Community Nurses Initiative (CNI).  CNI partners with a Canadian registered charity, Community Builders Group, to provide missing links in the social services of the 25 villages of Kasanga.

Over the 3 year project, CNI plans to implement a community-directed midwifery training program, micro-credit loans for home-based businesses, training in gender equality issues, and public safety programs targeting promotion of clean drinking water and a reduction in domestic violence.  Betty, Bertha and their team, administer quarterly grants, primarily from funds donated by a retired Canadian businessman.

Back in her village of Molwe, Tamara is at home, approaching delivery of her 7th child (1 of Tamara's children was stillborn; Tanzania's infant mortality rate is the 22nd highest in the world at 6.7% of live births; in Molwe, the infant death rate is significantly higher than the national average).  Should complications arise during delivery, Tamara's only choice will be a boat ride to Muzi's clinic, a 2 - 3 hour water journey during the advanced stages of troubled labour.  For many women, the delivery complications and the anguished travel conditions mean mother and child will die before reaching help.

CNI’s midwifery training will provide knowledgeable assistance within Tamara's geographic area.  A case study of rural Tanzanian delivery standards revealed only 1 in 3 expectant mothers gives birth in a hospital setting; in distant Molwe, all women give birth at home.  Nation-wide, when major complications present themselves during home delivery, timely emergency medical care is often not available. 

A graphic example of the life-saving reality of CNI’s midwifery training efforts can be found in the tragic story of Tamara's sister-in-law.  During a long but routine labour, the unborn baby's umbilical cord presented first.  Unfamiliar with proper medical procedures and trained in traditional practices only, the local midwife had no experience for the situation.  Her efforts to manually reinsert the cord failed and, in desperation, she cut the cord, in hopes that the baby would then be free to emerge.  Tragically, the decision to cut this baby's lifeline while still unborn ended the baby's life.

CNI is determined to provide community-based answers to local social issues, envisioning a day when Tamara will have access to health education, professionally trained midwives, emergency healthcare, micro credit business capital, and encouragement toward gender equality goals which address the consequences of substance abuse and domestic violence in Tamara's family.

In his book published in 1973, Nyerere penned, "If real development is to take place, the people have to be involved." It seems a fitting match to Nyerere's eclectic politics to see a Canadian capitalist assisting impoverished Tanzanian community leaders, through partnership with a global charity, to bring socialist development to Tamara and her children in rural Molwe.