Chasing the Comet: A Scottish-Canadian Life

16. Tanzania

The honest man, though e’er sae poor, Is king o’ men for a’ that. —Robert Burns, “For A’That and A’That” CHAPTER SIXTEEN Tanzania This page intentionally left blank A At first, Tanzania was neither a happy nor a sad adventure. It was frustrating. Peggy and I wondered if we’d made a mistake in taking another job requiring us to deal with the stupidity of big government . The frustration started as soon as I made formal application to the federal government’s Canadian International Development Agency for a position as their farming consultant in Africa. After flying to Ottawa, I went through an interview process with three government officials. One of them was a man named Beattie, who headed the African project. At this meeting, I was offered two choices: a job in Basuto (where they hoped to cultivate 135,000 acres of wheat), or a job near Arusha (where they needed someone who knew how to grow corn and beans, as well as wheat). The jobs were on large government farms. They wanted me to teach farm management and how to cultivate crops efficiently. I’d done my homework to find out about the two locations. I picked the job at Arusha because it would be better for Peggy’s health needs. As far as I could tell, in Basuto there was nothing for Peggy’s comfort. There were only small villages, away out in the wilds. Arusha—a town of about fifteen or twenty thousand at that time—would be much more comfortable and civilized, or so I thought. Arusha is where I wanted to be, but it didn’t happen easily. 217 Peggy and I were called back for another interview, this time with a very confused woman, who met us at the door of a new building. She said, “Just follow me and I’ll take you to my new office,” but she couldn’t find it. Red in the face, she led us through the hallways looking for it. Along the way, she mentioned a change of plans that would have Peggy and me sent to Basuto. “What?” I said. “Basuto? We didn’t agree to go to Basuto! Why did ye change the plans? Who made these changes?” Of course, she could tell us nothing, because the papers containing all the details were in her missing office! After about ten minutes of wandering through the new building, she apologized and ended the interview, saying we’d be contacted later. I thought to myself, This is a fine thing, to be sent off into Africa by these people. They don’t even know where they are . . . and they’re in Canada! And they’ve spent tax payers’ money to bring us here to Ottawa! This mix-up was almost enough to turn us against going to Tanzania. But we both wanted to see Africa and help its people. We also wanted the chance to enjoy the salary we’d been offered—$20,000 a year, plus $300 a month spending money. I’d never earned this much in my life! Working for the BC government I wasn’t poor, but I never earned over $12,000 a year. Our house was provided free. The free house was a good deal for the government, because it meant I was there for them night and day—twenty-four hours on call. I also got milk a little cheaper—a quart for the price of a pint. That’s all, but it was a good deal for us. We grew a big garden of our own, so we needed for nothing. Though Peggy and me weren’t rich, we’d always paid cash for what we bought. Never being in debt was important to us and working for the BC Government allowed us to achieve that goal. But there were problems with my pension. It was small for several reasons. First, I’d never claimed a pension for my army service, because I didn’t think I deserved one, having to quit because I was sick, and all. Then, I hadn’t had the opportunity to 218 CHASING THE COMET pay into a pension for most of the years I’d been working. The provincial pension plan didn’t start until sometime in the 1940s. The plain fact was, Peggy and me needed the money I could earn in Tanzania, so I decided...