SHOCKING poverty combined with dogged determination that better times are ahead was one of the abiding impressions brought home by a West Devon man after a fascinating trip to Tanzania recently.

For Dick Eberlie, a borough councillor and retired senior civil servant, it was his first trip to Tanzania since the 1960s.

He was invited back to the country by BESO, the Business Executive Service Overseas, on account of his previous work in Tanzania and the fact he speaks Swahili.

Dick, who lives in Tavistock, said he was ?amazed? at the strides taken by the country in recent years.

?Before, it was a state-planned economy with strict socialism. It went to sleep for 30 years ? the socialism prevented any economic development at all. Corruption and bureaucracy developed massively and debt developed hugely, but now, just last year, they?ve been relieved of three billion dollars worth of debt.?

Poor communications within the country and lack of foreign investment has held Tanzania back, said Dick, but at last, money is beginning to flow into the country.

?There is a sense of determination that I have never met before. As you walk round the town every other house seems to be an educational or training establishment of some sort and the children are all determined to go to school if they possibly can, and are all smartly turned out ? they really value their education.?

So was there an air of optimism for the future?

?Optimism no, but dogged determination, yes,? said Dick. ? It?s still moving only very slowly because there is so little indigenous wealth. There is this grinding, desperate poverty, people live absolutely hand to mouth and are very lucky to get enough food to keep them going. The mortality rate is very high, particularly among babies.?

Life expectancy for males in Tanzania is between 50 and 60 years of age. Dick said he met very few people much older that that.

While he was in Tanzania, Dick met representatives of several associations to learn the difficulties faced by businesses and produced a ?blue-print? for progress, informing the government of the needs of the emerging private sector.

Dick said the government was determined to develop a ?resiliant and competitive? economy.

?They are moving in the right direction in my view. They have the right ideas, they are developing their own culture and society and struggling to develop their economy too.

?It was fascinating seeing a country at the start of its growth like that ? rather like a small child growing up.?

Dick said while he was in Dar es Salaam, he attended an Anglican church within the city. Every service held at the church, four in one day in both English and Swahili, was packed.

?It was very impressive,? said Dick. ?It?s all part of the spirit, not so much hope, but faith that they will survive, they will get through this time of terrible poverty.?

While Dick was in Tanzania he was able to personally hand over donations to Jill Stanley, the driving force behind the Tanzania Cheshire Homes Fund which helps children with disabilities throughout the country. The charity supports a rehabilitation centre for disabled youngsters, 600 miles from Dar es Salaam.

Dick said the beauty of the work carried out by Jill Stanley is that donations go straight where they are needed.

In an open appeal to Times readers, Jill writes: ?I wonder if you have ever seen a child walking with club feet? Or struggling with knock knees? Or, like the child they found aged five, born with no legs but who can now stand up and see the world from a proper angle??

Jill said: ?As there is now only one Cheshire Home to support, I have enough money for various other projects, all of which I am very careful to research. I pay secondary school fees for some AIDS orphans, checking their reports annually. I pay school fees for a deaf and dumb child, I help get Lactogen for babies where their mothers have AIDS. I paid for a roof for an up-country school where no government money could be found ? in other words, the money goes exactly where it is needed.?

At present, Jill is trying to raise more funds ? to buy a car for the rehabilitation centre, to pay for a European physiotherapist and a dormitory block for children from more distant parts of the province.

Just $60 will pay for an operation to cure a child of their disabilities ? $13 will buy a child a pair of crutches.

Anyone who would like to help make life better for disabled children in Tanzania can send a donation via Dick Eberlie, 6 Vigo Mews, Tavistock, Devon PL19 0RG. Cheques should be made payable to Tanzania Cheshire Homes a/c 64954711. Newsletters will be sent to supporters periodically to update them on the progress made by the children they are helping.

JANE HONEY