On the down side, I should tell you that there is some tension between the staff here and the first community where we started working. Back 5 years ago, we invested a lot of time in meetings, planning, and general discussions with this one community to get the project going. We did spend time making contacts and meeting organizations and community leaders all over Tanzania, from Babati and Arusha in the north, to Iringa in the south, and from the Vice-President's office to farmers. However, our very first activities on the ground were in this one community, and it seems that some in that community have interpreted that as meaning the project belongs to them. This has resulted in some bad feeling and some uncomfortable meetings in this community. It makes me feel bad personally, because I was involved in that initial stage and surely contributed to the misunderstanding. It also makes me feel badly for the staff since it creates additional anxiety for them, and I feel badly for the community since false expectations may have been created.

Community development is not easy, full of disappointments and set backs, but in a sense, it is kind of a good sign that this particular community wants to claim this project as their own. If we were being ineffective, or worse, having a negative effect, I would expect people to react with indifference, or even to try to distance themselves from the project.