Why is it so important to equip girls in East Africa? Kellen spoke at a Rotary luncheon a few weeks ago and we answer that question in photos and captions.
Observations from EG Enaboishu adviser
Mrs. Martin is the faculty adviser for the Empowered Girls club at Enaboishu Secondary in Arusha.
Mrs. Martin filed this report on some observations from a year of working specifically with girls:
• We have learnt that many girls lack confidence in themselves and they do not believe “they can.” However, once encouraged and reassured, they come out and shine.
• Also, some of them do not know they are valuable. This comes from their culture and traditions of being pushed back, thinking that girls cannot do anything in society. This can be seen in the fact that very few dare to enter competitions.
• Girls need quality advise on how to handle common situations that cause many to make heavy mistakes. Common questions asked by girls include
- Won’t my boyfriend leave me if I do not have sex with him?
- If I love a boy and he loves me too, is it bad if I make love with him?
- I gave my body to my boyfriend. Now he is chasing other girls. What should I do to him?
• Girls need more resources. Some needs:
- Building a hostel for them
- Rescuing girls and women from bad traditions and culture
- Getting more scholarships to educate more girls
- Vocational training
Difficult questions from girls
Mrs. Martin hands out candy after practice for an Empowered Girls skit and song for Enaboishu’s Form 4 graduation. They were refining their message, preparing to bring it to a big and captive audience on graduation day.
Mrs. Martin, the faculty adviser of the Empowered Girls club at Enaboishu Secondary School, collected a few of the most difficult questions that students have confided in her with. Here are two
1. Madam, I had taken a friend home to visit during a holiday break. Months later, I discovered that the friend was carrying out an affair with my father. When I asked my friend, she answered, “Your father prmised to give me money and continue helping me with my basic needs.” Madam, what have I done to my mother? What will she think of me?
• Be strong. Talk to your friend – and even other friends – about the risks being greater than the benefit from doing such a thing. And do not bring any more friends home.
2. Madam, my parents are extremely poor. We live in a hut that has a roof that lets in most of the rain. My mother is crippled and she moves by dragging herself around on her bottom. My father works as a labourer in other people’s farms. When I completed Standard 7, I got a family that paid for my secondary school education. Now in Form III, the man who pays my school fees threatened to withdraw his sponsorship if I do not go to bed with him. His wife has been like a mother to me. I do not dare to tell her because it will kill her. My parents will not mind it at all. Madam, why should I not end my life?
• My daughter, don’t give up. Do not think of ending your life because God will open the door to you by giving you sponsorship that will not be like the man who is causing this pain. And one day you will become a very good mother and a very good leader. Stop crying. God is able!
Meet our program coordinator, Neema
Neema trained with co-director Kellen in October.
Empowered Girls’ new program coordinator, Neema Mbise, started work this week as the new school year began. She brings her social work background and a calm passion for girl education. She introduces herself:
In my family we are seven children: four brothers and three sisters. I come from Arusha Region and now I am married.
I finished my secondary education in 2000 at Machame Girls Secondary School. From there, I joined Momesco Training College for a two-year secretarial certificate, which I finished in 2007. Thereafter I joined the Institute of Social Work at Dar es Salaam for a certificate in social work. I continued with diploma course, which I finished last year.
Personally, girls’ issues are very important because I love girls. It makes me feel good to help them defeat the problems that they face.
Something that I really love about Empowered Girls is how girls are helped to know themselves and know their rights, and also how the organization facilitates them in education, such as through essay writing, which encourages them to doing well in their studies and pass their exams.
I am so grateful to be a member of Empowered Girls and to work for girls’ success.
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An Empowered Girl comes to U.S. for leadership conference
Jackie plays the role of a pregnant student in an Empowered Girls play in September. The play showed how students can have a lot of fun when they allow their focus to stray from studying, but the consequences aren’t worth it.
Jackline Mlay is 15 and one of our Empowered Girls members at Enaboishu Secondary School in Arusha, Tanzania. She was chosen from many applicants to participate in the Youth Leadership Exchange Program through Bold Leaders (boldleaders.com) and the U.S. Department of State. She is in Denver and Washington, D.C., this month. We’re so proud of her!
Some thank yous
1. To our students. You inspire us through your thirst for education, ability to smile in the face of overwhelming obstacles and optimism in the future. You bless us and motivate us to keep working hard to reach more girls. Thank you!
2. To our supporters. Many of you are Tanzanians or have lived in Tanzania. You have firsthand experience of the education system and you know the difficulties that girl students face. Thank you for your care and support, and for being examples to the youth showing the importance of giving back.
For those who aren’t Tanzanian, there are so many places in this big world to put your support. Thank you for sharing our passion and our belief that empowering girls through education is the most certain way to make a positive impact for generations to come. Please know that your young sisters in East Africa are showing their gratitude by working hard to succeed in school and make good decisions.
3. Our audiences. We love to see the reaction and take questions from audiences whenever we give talks or presentations. The group of people who interact with us through this website, Facebook and Twitter keep us energized. And the parents of our empowered girls in Tanzania who are witness to the effects of our programs (as well as drama and musical performances) on their daughters bless us with their positive reactions. To all of you, thank you.
4. Our partners in East Africa. A dedicated group of teacher advisers, guest speakers, health professionals, school administrators, social workers and even musicians have given their enthusiasm, talent and years of experience. For all the things they do, our prayer is that they are blessed many times over.
Ubarikiwe sana (Many blessings to you all)!
Daudi & Kellen
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About the EG Enaboishu essay contest
Girls at our first partner school, Enaboishu Secondary in Arusha, took part in an Empowered Girls essay contest. It coincided with an essay contest using the same prompt at Oldonyo Lengai Secondary School in Engaruka Chini (we’ll post that essay soon).
Girls are affected by so many issues. We believe in the power of essay writing to encourage girls to be cognizant of the issues and how they affect their own success. We also love giving out the prizes. We don’t announce what the prizes will be. At this year’s contest at Enaboishu, the winners were presented with cash during an assembly. Several of the girls who did not participate were mad at themselves for missing out and said they won’t make the mistake of not writing next year.
The girls who didn’t participate in the essay contest watch their classmates win accolades and prizes.
The winners at Enaboishu (from left): Rechel Josephat, Nangidare Jackson, Maua Julius, Angelina Urassa, Faraja Rajabu and Emmanuela Felichesmy.
Angelina (third place), Faraja (second place), and Emmanuela (first place) with their prize money.
Honorable mention at Enaboishu went to three of the best performers, each of whom received a small cash gift:
• Rechel Josephat (Form 2a)
• Nangidare Jackson (Form 1a)
• Maua Julius (Form 2d)
• Third place (and TSH 30,000) went to Angelina Urassa in Form 3a
• Second place (TSH 50,000) went to Faraja Rajabu in Form 3c
• First place (TSH 70,000) went to Emmanuela Felichesmy in Form 3c. She was so shocked when she was awarded the prize that she cried. You can find her essay here.
The contest had several excellent essays. We are impressed by both the quality of thought in the essays and the use of English. We’ll post our favorite quotes from those essays here by Nov. 24.
Enaboishu winning essay: Girls’ obstacles to success
Form 3 student Emmanuela Felichesmy won the Empowered Girls essay contest at Enaboishu Secondary in Arusha. Read about the contest here.
By Emmanuela Felichesmy
Q: WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES THAT PREVENT GIRLS FROM REACHING THEIR HIGHEST POTENTIAL OR GOALS IN LIFE.
Illiteracy
This is a major factor that prevents girls from reaching their highest potential, most girls are not informed, they lack the knowledge and skills to make progress in life for example, they lack economic skills like entrepreneurship. Without this they can not be creative hence leaving them unable to exploit their potential.
Low self esteem and awareness
Most girls in many societies are not aware of themselves, they don’t know their value and what they are capable of achieving in their lives. They look down on themselves and some of them don’t even try to work hard, they let the words of the people around them weigh them down, most people in Africa think girls are not as capable as boys. Most girls think that they are not pretty so they spend time and effort trying to make themselves beautiful which is not productive rather than work hard in school or think of development ideas.
Poverty
This the greatest problem and one of the major obstacles in preventing girls from reaching their potential. Most girls lack basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, medial care and education.
Those in school some times lack school fees so they are sent home time after time to bring school fees. This makes them miss classes and leads to poor grades and discourages them. They lack scholastic materials, some even go to school on empty stomachs making it hard for them to concentrate in class. This affects them psychologically and may cause them to drop out of school.
Tradition and culture
Most girls in Africa are not treated equally or given the same opportunities to thrive as boys. In some societies the girls are not even allowed to go to school, this is mainly because of cultural beliefs and tradition. Most cultures believe that the works of a woman is to take care of family and they believe that if a girl goes to school she will get married and take all the benefits of education to her husband. Some believe that education will brain wash the girls and they will stop practicing their cultural and tradition so because of this girls are left home and boys are given a go ahead. This prevents and deprives girls the opportunity to be what they could have been and shutters their dreams.
Gender discrimination
While other societies have taken a step to empower women to be leaders and take up big roles in governments and companies, most countries in Africa have not yet taken this initiative. Most important jobs are for men, women are left out in important decision making. Some women go to school and once they graduate their husbands stop them from working so that they can take care of children. All these things discourage young girls from working hard to reach their potential because they don’t have women role models to look up to.
Peer pressure
Because of peer pressure, girls end up losing focus on what is important in life. Most girls especially at the adolescent age, they want to try out and experiment different things so they join different social groups so as to fit in. Most of these groups are not good so they end up advising and teaching each other things that are not useful in life for example doing drugs, clubbing, drinking, etc. These groups normally have bad influence on the girls and causes them to fail to reach their highest potential.
Unwanted pregnancies
This is one of the major reasons why girls drop out of school. It is mainly caused by men who take advantage of young girls by promising them heaven on earth, lack of sex education and reproductive health education, poverty that causes girls to go into prostitution, among others. Most girls end up having unprotected sex leading to unwanted pregnancies, this causes them to drop out of school and their parents end up chasing them away from school. Others are forced to get married to the person who impregnated them without being given a second chance in school. Once this happens, the girls’ goals and dreams are shuttered and hence not being able to reach their potential.
Early and forced marriages
Most girls get married at an early age. Some it’s because they are not in school so the only option is to get married rather than just stay home. Others it’s because of culture and religion.
While some girls get married at an early age because of their own will, others are forced to get married even at the age of 10 in Maasai areas and this is totally okay according to their culture. This causes girls to start having children at a very early age and increases their fertility, sometimes they are married off to old men who die just a few years later leaving the girls as young widows with no hope for tomorrow. Once the girls get married at an early age, they can never get a chance to do anything productive and the chances of reaching their highest potential are very limited.
Lack of goals
Most girls don’t set goals in life. Goals are like guide lines, with out those guide lines it’s hard to keep focused especially in life. There are so many organizations and parents that struggle to educate their children but most of them end up getting very poor grades and they can’t go on with education or drop out of school because of unwanted pregnancies and this is because the girls don’t have set goals and have no vision for the future. Because of this girls can’t reach their highest potential.
Loss of parents
Because of so many diseases especially HIV/AIDS most children have become orphans, once the parents die, the children are left with no help at all. Some of the children end up going to live relatives and the girls most of the time become laborers in the house. They have no extra time to study, they go late to school, they are filled with grief and sorrow. They don’t have scholastic materials and this affects their ability to reach their highest potential.
Someone who needs help
Emmanuel took part in our introduction ceremony.
This is a story about Emmanuel Laizer. He is a friend who is at a make-or-break point in his education. He funded himself through the first part of secondary school, but he can’t raise enough money to pay for Advanced Level. He has one year left. Here’s his story:
I was born 25 December 1984 at Orkeju Loongishu vilage in Longido District. I went to school at Ketumbeine Primary School and finished in 1998. I passed my exam, but my parents didn’t want me to go on to secondary school because I am the firstborn and they wanted me to stay and take care of things at home. Most of our cows died with a disease. It affected our family badly. I stayed home until 2004, working as a kibarua laborer whenever I could, doing lowly jobs in construction and building. I never gave up hope that I would go to school.
I saved money and the day came when I had enough to pay school fees. Whenever we were sent home for holidays, I would find work. Those who gave me work in the past times were happy to give me work then. Like that, I paid for my school fees from Form 1 through Form 4.
I passed my Form 4 exam and I am now in Form 5. I have been chased from school for failing to pay school fees. I do not want to give up on school, but I do not know where I will find school fees. I have no place to stay near school, and I can not find school fees in my village.
My parents are Maasai. None of their nine children have gone to secondary school except for me. We only have our few cows. It is a big disappointment in my life to see my young siblings excelling on their Standard 7 exams, but then unable to go to secondary school for lack of school fees. They have no one to help them.
My dream is to help my society, especially parents who encounter problems like mine. I will go to university for a degree in social work. I see my dream dying, but I am not ready to give up.
Essay contest underway
We held our annual Empowered Girls essay contest last week. The winners have been chosen. Fewer girls than last year took part in the contest at Enaboishu, but the once we got back were high quality. We received a donation to bump up the prize money, so the stakes were higher this year than before. We’ll post the winner here by the end of the week.
Kellen has been hard at work in East Africa since June to increase our capacity to teach life skills to girl students. She’ll be traveling back to the US this week and passing the baton to our new program coordinator, Neema Mbise, who has been traveling with Kellen to our partner schools and learning the ropes. We’re excited about the calm strength and passion she brings to Empowered Girls. She’ll introduce herself on the blog soon.
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Someone who needs help: Fadhila
Fadhila
Fadhila Laizer from Engaruka is the second-born of seven children. Her mother is poor and struggles to take care of the family. Her father left the family 12 years ago. Two of her younger siblings have health problems (pus and blood sometimes come out of their ears). Fadhila, like two of her siblings, were able to go to ordinary-level of secondary school because of the hard work of her mother and the generosity of her uncles. For advanced level, she is only a few weeks from the end of Form 6, but her mother has failed to find school fees so Fadhila was kicked out of her boarding school in Uganda.
Fadhila needs $350 to pay her debt for this school year so that she will be eligible to take the Form 6 national exam in November. If you’re interested in helping, please contact us.
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Nearing the end of Tanzania time
Bryn Prater has spent much of the last five months volunteering with us in Tanzania. She’s done a lot of great work, learning and teaching and experiencing as she spoke with our girls clubs and dealt with the many issues that come up in the daily routine of East African life. The girls have been able to share experiences with her and relate as a peer (she’s the same age as many of them). And we’ve been blessed to have her, too. We’re so proud of her and hope she comes back soon!
Bryn presents to girls at Oldonyo Lengai Secondary School in Engaruka.
Says Bryn on her blog:
On Saturday Kellen and I got back from my last visit to Engaruka before I head home. We ended up spending 6 days there, which was longer than we had planned but I’m so glad we did! I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a bit of Tanzania during these past 4 months but out of everywhere I’ve been, Engaruka is my favorite, hands down. The thing that makes Engaruka so special is the people that live there. To me, they define the meaning of community: if a person is in need, someone will try to help. If a family is short on school fees, chances are the other villagers will help however they can, even if it isn’t much. We saw a woman who was very sick and going to the hospital. There was no one with a car available that day so a group of other villagers was took turns carrying her to the hospital. The love that the people in Engaruka have for each other, and for visitors, is beautiful and a philosophy I want to live by.
We visited Oldonyo Lengai Secondary School and Engaruka Juu Primary school again to talk with the girls in the Empowered Girls Club. Instead of the mzungu (white girl) Q&A that we did previously, I got the chance to talk to them about some life skills! For the secondary students we talked about goal setting: why it is important, how to make goals, the difference between long term and short term goals and some other goal related topics. I hope they found my information useful and will apply it to their own lives. At the primary school I talked about peer pressure, something that seems to be pretty universal. When I asked for examples of peer pressure many of the things said were so similar to the types of peer pressure faced in America. A few of the things they listed were someone pressuring you to have sex, try drugs and gossip and play instead of doing your homework. With them, I talked about the importance of focusing on school instead of letting yourself become distracted as well as the reasons to not give in to peer pressure. The younger girls at the primary school really seemed to have taken in everything we talked about during our previous times there, which was so encouraging! This is the first primary school that Empowered Girls is working with and they have set a high standard so far.
After I talked, Kellen took some time to give some feminine hygiene products to all the girls who attended the meeting and answer any questions they had about their menstrual cycle. Imagine having to miss school one week every month simply because you don’t have consistent access to hygiene products. These girls had so many questions and I think that it was one of the first times that they had been able to ask any questions about their bodies without being embarrassed. We also listened to the song that they had written for Empowered Girls and it was great!
During the rest of our time I got the chance to talk to a group of widows who make and sell jewelry to support their families and afterwards they asked me to (try) to dance and sing with them. I also spent ore time with the 19 year old widow who lives in the same compound (an extended family’s area enclosed for protection where there are sleeping areas, cooking hut and pens for livestock) where we stay in Engaruka. It still amazes me how different her life is compared to any 19 year old I know in the states. She has had a very hard life, yet she is still such a happy person and has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. She is an incredibly loving mother, and seems to harbor no resentment or bitterness for the way her life has turned out. Most days she is only able to afford for her children to eat twice a day, breakfast and dinner, and only a very basic porridge. I decided to give her around $20 and told her she should use to it buy food for her family. She told me that instead she was going to buy clothes for her 3 children – for the first time. Her children have always worn simple pieces of cloth. Having food and clothing were two things I always took for granted growing up but is something that is not guaranteed for so many children. She is truly an awe inspiring woman and I hope to write a much longer post about her in the future.
I cannot believe that my time in Tanzania has gone by so quickly, but I have loved every minute of it. I leave this Tuesday and head to South Africa for 10 days to visit a friend before heading home. I’m so glad that I am not leaving Tanzania and going straight back to the States, because there is a good chance I would just “miss” the plane and stay here!
I think I have already done the hardest part: leaving Engaruka, knowing that it would be years before I am able to return. A piece of my heart will always be in Engaruka, and I know that I will not forget the people there who have taught me so much. It is strange to have such mixed feelings about leaving Tanzania when it is so vastly different from the world I grew up in. I am so excited to see everyone from back home, and I know that I will be able to share what I have learned and experienced with many people: yet, I am really not ready to leave.
A scholarship transition
Happiness poses at her school, Moringe Sokoine, in 2007.
The first recipient of the Martin Msseemmaa Memorial Scholarship was a girl named Happiness. She started out Form 1 (9th grade) as a shy village girl. She grew confidence, learned English and eventually finished her four years of secondary school.
At the end of those years, all Tanzanian secondary school students take the Form 4 national exam, which determines whether they will be allowed to go to advanced level secondary school. Happiness did not pass. She was given a chance to take private tutoring the following year in Mbulu, where her mother had recently moved, but again she did not pass. Happiness fit into an unfortunate trend in Tanzania. In 2010, only about a quarter of students nationwide passed their Form 4 exams.
Her scores were disappointing, but her time in school was not a total failure. She gained confidence and good English skills. Had she stayed home in the village those four years, it’s very likely she would have been pressured to marry and she would probably be a mother by now. There’s lots of research indicating the children of women who attended secondary school have a much better chance of breaking the generational poverty cycle. Photos and video from Happiness’ time at school are at http://lenana.net/happiness.
Our next selection for the scholarship recipient has a personality and background quite different from Happiness…
Esupat Tadayo poses with her mother at Engaruka Juu.
Esupat is a 16-year-old who knows what she wants, and has the confidence to explain why. But her family’s circumstances stood in the way of her goals.
She finished primary school at Engaruka Chini in 2010. She was ranked fifth in her class of 82. She passed her Standard 7 exam (the national exam required to pass on to secondary school) and was assigned to Oltinga Secondary, a ward school near Selela. Relatives advised her not to go there because they said it is a very poor performing school, so they sent her to the ward school, Oldonyo Lengai Secondary, at Engaruka Chini.
Her school fees at Oldonyo Lengai are about $150 a year. Esupat has been kicked out of school twice so far in 2011 for failing to pay school fees. People in her village know she is bright, so they have contributed from their meager resources to help pay her school debt. In August when she was kicked out, her mother was able to pay half of what was required. In September 2011, some visitors paid the remaining $50 of her school debt.
Her father does not work and does not contribute anything to her education. Her mother makes donuts and sells them at the weekly market. It’s not much, but her mother said she’s grateful to God that she at least can earn something. People say her father beats her mother over small issues and that violence has taken joy out of the home.
Her school, Oldonyo Lengai, in September 2011 had 324 students and five teachers. She said that on an average school day, teachers might attend one or two of her class periods. Fewer than 5 percent of students at her school passed the Form 4 national examination last year.
Esupat loves science classes, even though there are no teachers for some science subjects. She says that she’s not intimidated by male-dominated courses because intelligence has nothing to do with gender.
Esupat was chosen as the second recipient of the Martin Msseemmaa Memorial Scholarship. Pending an entrance exam and interview on Saturday, she will attend Moringe Sokoine Secondary School in the district capital, Monduli, which in 2010 was among the best-performing schools in the region.
The scholarship honors Martin Msseemmaa, who grew up in Engaruka and attended middle school on the site of Moringe Sokoine Lutheran Secondary School. He believed in the transformative power of education and devoted his career to helping the most vulnerable children find their way in society. We are still fundraising for the scholarship. More information is at http://www.nisynod.org/resources/msseemmaa/index.htm
Mwangaza’s education safari, from my vantage
Grandmothers and teenagers alike participated in this HIV/AIDS seminar at Nkoaranga Secondary School, as did a team of visitors from the United States.
I try to use this blog to shine light on girls’ issues and our work with them in Tanzania. But let me point to the work of another organization, Mwangaza. I recently began serving on the board of it’s American arm, Friends of Mwangaza, and the organization deals mostly with secondary education in Tanzania – not distant from Empowered Girls’ focus.
I’ve spent much of the last week traveling with a group of Americans staying at Mwangaza Centre in Arusha. They came on an Education Safari, with a mission to learn about some challenges and solutions in Tanzania’s education system. The group’s members come from Washington State, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois. They range in age from a 30-something to pushing 80. A few had been to Tanzania before, but for many it was their first time to Africa.
By conicidence, I was staying in Tanzania at the same time of their educational safari, so I was able to join them. They visited sites that were near and dear to my heart — including places where I had worked and established relationships in years past. We toured Ilboru Lutheran Parish and its projects. Another day we saw Mwangaza’s Binti/Mama program in action at a cross-generational seminar at Nkoaranga Secondary School, where we worshipped earlier that day. We visited Rev. Kimirei and the hospice program he heads. We went to Maasae Girls Secondary School, where I taught computers a long time ago, and we visited the Lutheran Church’s Meru Diocese offices. And we visited the homes of some of Mwangaza’s staff who live in the Ilboru neighborhood.
My favorite thing about accompanying these groups is helping visitors – especially first-time visitors – make sense of what they are witnessing. There are always so many layers of context, whether it’s a school or a home visit. The more context you have, the more complete of a picture you can assemble in your mind about the things you’re witnessing and experiencing. I love helping visitors expand their understanding.
Classwork help at Ngateu Secondary School.
I also love seeing visitors connect with Tanzanians, and I learn a lot through this. In a school visit to Ngateu Secondary School just northwest of Arusha, we sat in on an English class taught by a teacher who was trained in Mwangaza’s literacy immersion program. The students were asked to use the dictionaries (for many it was their first time!) to define a set of vocabulary words in the reading selection. Some of the American visitors had past experience as teachers or mentors, and it shone through as they connected with these students in helping them navigate the dictionary and the assignment.
When these visitors go home, they will bear witness to their experiences in East Africa. I wish them blessings for their heart for Tanzania, and that they experienced deeply meaningful interaction and fellowship, and that they have received as much as they have given.
The group in their daily morning prayer at Mwangaza Centre, with John and Nemayan at right.
Read more about the education safari and see its brochure here.
Foray into primary schools
Students at Engaruka Juu Primary School listen to a talk about life skills from Kellen.
Kellen went over life skills with the students.
We were invited by the headmaster at Engaruka Juu Primary School to talk with girl students. He asked that we be careful in talking about sex, since that is one of our subject areas. A select group of Standard 6 and 7 (6th and 7th grade) girls attended, as Kellen led an hourlong lesson on life skills that will help girls avoid some of the problems that their classmates have fallen into. Five girls at the school (7th grade and under) have been kicked out due to pregnancy this school year. That statistic makes the lessons we offer even more poignant to these students.
The talk based on some Empowered Girls reference materials, but we are not ready to start Empowered Girls clubs in primary schools. Our specialty is secondary schools, but since less than a third of students are able to make it to secondary school, we hope to eventually design a program for primary schools.
It’s a large school with more than 1,000 students, including many who are boarding. There has been much progress in building new structures at the school, which has been growing. The village of Engaruka is in a semiarid area on the Rift Valley floor. There’s a river that provides life and agriculture, and it was the site of a large ancient city, which left behind several kilometers of stone ruins of homes, graves, and irrigation canals.
