Overlooking Bulongwa from the Southeast, Imehe sits high up on a jagged mountainous ridge.  Though the distance between the villages does not appear far, the almost ten kilometer road that joins them is nothing short of a two hour technical hike.

 

The path accesses Imehe from Makete and Bulongwa, as the sole route to this remote village.  Originally it was built by the Germans in the 1890’s to connect Tukuyu to Njombe, the two major German settlements in the Southern Highlands, for the use of horses and donkeys.

 

A century of rain seasons has eroded the road to accommodate only motor bikes and the most rugged of 4X4’s, in the best of conditions.  However, many of the original bridges have stayed intact.

 

The inhabitants of Imehe, like many other villages in the region, have had to be self-sufficient.  Every villager has his or her own subsistence plot, with the fertile hills of the Livingstone range providing almost all that is needed.  For everything else, there is some importing and exporting by foot, and this year, for the first time in many, a surplus of timber has even led to exports as far as Dar Es Salaam.

 

One century ago, this was the route the Germans tracked on their missionary expeditions.  A heavy influx of foreign presence built and controlled this stretch of road.  They created the Bulongwa Diocese, Church and hospital, as well as a courthouse and health center in Makete.  Now, the town of Makete has moved with nothing but a secondary school remaining of the original village, erected to mark the location’s historical significance.

 

Malkus Chaula is aware of all this as he makes his way to the Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital, sometimes twice a day, for treatment of his HIV.  He is a self-proclaimed expert on the road and Imehe’s history.  The information he possesses was passed down to him from his parents and other elders when he was growing up.  And he is proud that this road has survived over one hundred years.  It may have been designed by the Germans, but it was “our labor that made it strong,” he recounts.

 

Malkus tested positive for HIV three years ago, and promptly joined PIUMA to aid his fight for better quality health services.  He says he averages four walks to Bulongwa per month, but they are not always for treatment.  Sometimes he crosses the valley to get supplies at the prominent Saturday market, and sometimes to drop in at PIUMA headquarters for a meeting of the Executive Committee, or just to say hi.

 

Malkus has taken an active role in HIV/AIDS care in Bulongwa.  Aside from being a member of PIUMA’s Executive Committee, he also volunteers for the organization Tunadyari, run by the Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital.  Tunadyari, which translates to “we care,” specializes in Home-Based Care, and its volunteers work to inform their respective communities of the importance of home treatment.

 

Malkus’ efforts are respected in Imehe, where he has been elected Chairman of the newly formed PIUMA group, Tusemezani, which hopes to begin income-generating projects for its members and to continue to inform the community about HIV testing.

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