Jasper may be one of Canada’s youngest municipalities, but that’s not going to stop town officials from lending a hand in one of the least-developed countries in the world.

Later this month Councillor Gloria Kongsrud, Town Manager George Krefting and Environmental Services Director Ken Quackenbush will spend five days in the Tanzanian community of Mbeya. Part of a municipal partnership program organized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the trip to Africa is intended as the beginning of a long term capacity building relationship between the two centres.

“The job on this trip is to develop a plan for the next two or three years,” said Krefting. “We’ll develop a protocol with officials from Mbeya and set some goals and objectives.”

Mbeya is the capital of southern Tanzania, with a population of 250,000. That region of Tanzania is a centre of major agricultural and mineral wealth. Despite this wealth in natural resources, the region is quite poor and the country as a whole is ranked 164th in the United Nations Human Development Index. Canada, by contrast, occupies the fifth spot in this annual survey of basic economic and social measurements. Krefting doesn’t expect that one partnership is likely to make a major difference.

“It’s probably going to take a long time,” he said. “We won’t go there and see huge changes as a result.”

Mbeya’s overall budget was just $5.5 million this year, incredibly small considering the size of the municipality, Krefting said.

“It’s my impression that in the past thirty years, Tanzania has gotten worse,” he said. “Their primary exports have lost traction and exports are down.” Their hosts may be looking for advice on how to manage and grow municipal finances, he added.

The cost of the partnership program, including travel, are provided by FCM who run similar programs with about 150 different municipalities in twenty different developing countries. The town staffers on the trip will be using holiday time for the duration of their travels. It is the first trip to Africa for all three Jasperites, so FCM has arranged for cultural training from someone who has lived and worked in Tanzania.

“It’s so we know what to expect, and what not to expect,” said Krefting with a smile. An FCM facilitator will accompany the delegation, providing advice and direction for the early stages of the relationship between Jasper and Mbeya.

Kongsrud is excited to be part of the program and believes that professional assistance and capacity building may be the most effective form of foreign aid.

“I honestly think that in the case of Africa, education is the best thing that we can offer them,” she said.

Environmental infrastructure may prove to be one area where Jasper’s Ken Quackenbush can offer important help to his Tanzanian counterparts.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said. “They probably have a very basic level of infrastructure to work with.”

Quackenbush earned his degree at the University of Guelph in water resources engineering and until recently, hasn’t had many opportunities to put his education into practice. The challenges presented by this program may provide him another opportunity, he hopes.

“That would be nice, it is my passion area,” he said.

The team leaves for Africa on November 17 and a delegation from Tanzania might return the visit some time in the years ahead depending on what happens this month. For now, the group is excited about what lies ahead.

“It will be a big adventure,” said Quackenbush.