Tanzanian visitor focuses on quest for clean water

MARBLEHEAD – A clear stream of tap water in the kitchen sink isn’t a sight that gets a lot of attention – unless you’re from the outback of Tanzania.One day last week, 28-year-old Anthony Protas Milinga spoke passionately about his quest for clean drinking water while visiting friends in Marblehead.”My village has only contaminated water. The government started building a well and then all work stopped, so the people are drinking from puddles left by the rain and they are getting very sick,” said Milinga, planning next week to visit Alethe Clemetson, a gemologist who runs the charitable non-profit organization Jewelers That Care in New York City and has expressed interest in his plight.”We need a new well and if I can get the money I will go and build it. That’s the better way. Not to depend on the government. In my country, the leaders take all the money and nobody else gets anything. But the people know me and they know I will bring the water. In Africa, water is life.”Milinga has been staying with Irene Muller, who lives at 4 Pickett St. with her mother, Paula, a professional photographer. Muller, 22, met Milinga two years ago during a trip to Africa with the volunteer-based Global Service Corp. A 2003 Marblehead High graduate, she eventually returned home, enrolled at North Shore Community College and works as a nanny.”We take a lot for granted here in the U.S., not just the things we eat and drink but how we spend our time,” said Muller. “Not enough people get away from here to see how others live. In parts of Tanzania, the villagers walk three miles every day just to find water. I’m not sure when, but I’m definitely going back. Maybe to South Africa this time.”Milinga has been trying to improve living conditions around Monduli, a Maasai village with a population of about 600, located 45 kilometers from the larger city of Arusha. He has founded a professional guide service and tour company, Maasai Moja Expeditions (www.maasaimoja.com), based in the village of Moshi. Over the past couple of years he has led travelers to the 15,000-foot peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro on several occasions, and scientists and photographers onto the Serengeti, the vast plains and national heritage site that border Kenya where big game and other wildlife is extraordinary.”We give cultural tours, too,” said Milinga. “But right now, we must build a well. The animals are drinking from the same small ponds. There is no sanitation and the water gets contaminated from dust, leaves and bacteria. That’s why it’s important that we have a well. That’s why I am here.”