role play
The Role of Strong Women
Schools in Tanzania are growing quickly and lack resources of all kinds. Public education is available free of charge through 7th grade. Those that pass the exam may choose to attend secondary school. These schools are taught in English and there are few public schools available. The costs of schooling become prohibitive to many families. I have visited some private and public schools and the differences are alarming. The public schools do not have enough desks (4 to a seat with others on the floor). The secondary schools are being constructed at a rapid pace, but some are left empty for lack of qualified teachers. One school I saw outside of Bukoba is brand new. It was built, but lies empty because there are not enough teachers. Keep in mind you only need the equivalent of a secondary education to teach, yet only 7% graduate from secondary school. There are no books at all for the primary schools and not enough for the secondary schools. There is a movement in place called Haki elimu meaning education is a social right. It is my impression that education is desired and needed desperately, but infrastructure and funds are huge limiting factors. These are the stories of strong women that have overcome these challenges and are building a future for Tanzania, each in their own way.
I spoke with a Head Matron of a secondary school in Kitunda that has received support from the World Bank. She has 450 students waiting to begin secondary school, but cannot because the building is not complete and it will be a three year wait before teachers are ready. I asked about computers and she asked me about electricity…the village got its first water tank only two weeks before. Keep in mind this is only a water tank, the women have to carry water home in five gallon buckets on their heads.
I love to garden, but my perspective on gardening changed greatly. It is not a hobby here, it is subsistence. I visited a hospital where all the food is grown, cows milked, and animals raised to provide the food for the patients. Imagine a surgeon performing a Cesarean Section, then going out to pick cabbage. This happened! In my estimation, there are gardens in this world that are cared for by leaders of all sorts. Sr. Godfrida was the first woman MD in Tanzania.
I visited one small community that has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS where I met a woman who was part of a potato co-op. I asked her what she was most proud of that she has been able to accomplish. Mme. Aliosi replied that since she had lost her husband, she needed to work to support her three children. She feeds them three meals a day and they can attend primary school because they have shoes now. She is most proud that she can now afford to take in a “most vulnerable child” (orphan) to care for because of the benefits of the microfinance loan provided through Africa Bridge (www.africabridge.org) that started the co-op of ten women.
I gave my copy of Greanleaf’s (1970) Servant as Leader to Maggie, the house girl for my host family. She comes from a village in the Kilimanjaro region and has not completed primary school though she is in her teens. She is very lucky to have been taken in by such a loving family as the alternatives are devastating. See (http://www.thisday.co.tz/News/2899.html). They are encouraging her to study math and English even though she does not have the opportunity to complete the grade 7 exam indicating she has met the educational standards for Tanzania. She is being taught to sew in order to obtain vocational employment outside the home someday. She is the first generation of girls from the village to have access to any education and it is a big step. The government tracks three official reasons for not completing primary school: Truancy due to child labor, pregnancy, and death. As I gave Maggie the essay, I told her to mark any words she could not find herself and we would read them together each night before dinner. I thought who better to give Greenleaf’s essay to than a servant? Imagine what we might learn from Maggie about Servant-Leadership.
These are stories of strong women and of my own transformation. I saw, spoke, and visited; but will never fully experience the lives of these women. However, I do know my role as an educator has been enriched and challenged as in this excerpt from the Address to Incoming Freshman and Women 2007 by Vice Chancellor Mukandala of the University of Dar es Salaam.
Students and teachers are partners in the search for truth. There is an academic hierarchy for sure, but in a sense, your teachers are, as it were, primus inter pares –the first among equals. A university is a place where nobody has a monopoly on truth. Every idea, every proposition, is subject to challenge and to processes of verification. We expect students to play an active part in asking hard questions. Challenging orthodoxies and generating new ideas. Empty talk will not do. Exchanging or debating ideas must be part of a serious learning process of which enquiry is an important, essential component. You are supposed to be part of knowledge creation rather than idle recipients of ready-made knowledge. (10 September 2007)
How it all connects…I’m still trying to understand.
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The Role of Infrastructure
The bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya is 12 hours long through some wonderful country. Along the way in the Mikumi National Park I saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, gazelles, water buffalo, and baboons. A spectacular Baobab forest graces the road alongside the Udzungwa Mountains. Small villages of traditional mud huts with thatch roofs dot the roadside that the bus travels through.
These villages are directly under the shadow of massive power lines moving electricity from the Mtera hydroelectric plant to Dar es Salaam. Complexes of cell towers, radio and television relays stations spring up every few kilometers. I was pondering the cruel irony of these villages looking up everyday to see electricity and communication capacity within view, but out of reach. The level of frustration must be incredible. Vandalism has occurred along these lines as well as the natural gas pipeline that spans the region. Little did I know that Bill’s article on the same topic would await me upon returning to Dar.
Even within Dar es Salaam, arguably the most developed city in East Africa, there are frequent power outages. The internet works well in the mornings when the rest of the world sleeps, but slows to a crawl once Europe and the States awaken. This is true even at the University of Dar es Salaam, the birthplace and central hub of the internet in Tanzania. Primary and secondary state schools do not have access to computers and most do not have electricity due to the expense. Those families that can afford private secondary schools are the only ones with access, creating a widening socio-economic divide directly correlating with the digital divide.
There are significant pockets of inspiration in Tanzania that give rise to great hope for the future. My research revolves around the NetTel@Africa program through the work of Washington State University’s Center to Bridge the Digital Divide. I have been interviewing the first graduates of this program that are now actively involved in economic development work throughout Tanzania. Progress is being made on multiple fronts, all involving Information Communication Technologies at some level. One manages a microfinance operation in Maasai country, another is beginning an e-commerce auto parts company, one is managing 200 community development projects, and two are involved in ICT regulation that is making significant policy impact. While my research is still in progress, I sense the potential for continued development of Tanzania as access to these resources come available.
The Role of Religion
One of the things that have made a big impression on me is the level of religious tolerance that exists here. I went to church yesterday as everyone does here. It is unheard of to not attend some service on a Sunday. The Lutheran service is all in Kiswahili and lasts at least two hours. With three choirs, the time moves quickly! The Chapel is shared with the Catholic parish that holds Mass earlier in the day. Six hundred people are in attendance at the services. Right next door is the Mosque that is just as busy. Each morning I awake to the Mullah’s call to prayer as I’m only half a mile from the site. These religious sites share ground right in the middle of a State campus in a socialist country! If it can happen here, there is potential to coexist elsewhere. I think we have a model to learn from here in Tanzania. It has been fascinating to experience. Check out the recent article regarding a recent speech given by President Kikwete at: http://www.dailynews-tsn.com/page.php?id=9189
The Role of Place
I’ve been home long enough to regain my sense of place in the world. It is an unusual aspect of travel that in order to appreciate where you come from, you need to leave and return. The familiar sights and sounds came rushing back to greet me as if I had only been gone a few days.
Our plane was late getting into Spokane and we arrived home shortly after midnight. The biting cold and snow was quite a shock to my body grown accustomed to the warmth of Dar es Salaam, but it was wonderful to be reunited with my family and share the joy of my experiences in Tanzania. The first thing I did at my house was to take a big drink of water right from the faucet and take a long, hot shower. It felt so refreshing. In the morning my wife and I went to buy some groceries. Seeing friends and family again at the market brought many good feelings as I became reacquainted with my neighborhood. We watched the Seattle Seahawks football team on the television, followed by the Washington State and Gonzaga University teams playing basketball. All three of my favorite teams won that day. What a great homecoming! The ‘welcome home’ feelings continued on Sunday at the church service followed by a big family dinner. I fell asleep to my favorite radio program, Prairie Home Companion. Washington State University classes began that Monday which meant a long drive through the rolling hills of the Palouse Country; a sleeping giant in winter. I was feeling good to be home.
My perspective of the place where I live is a bit different now. Yes, the water is clean and cold. The water in Spokane comes from an aquifer that had provided water to the region for centuries. I have a greater sense of responsibility to do my part to keep it clean and speak out when development jeopardizes the safety of our water. The electricity works and the internet is available when I need it, but it leaves little time to just sit and think. We have more than enough to eat, yet I am gaining weight again in our land of supersized burgers and fries. I recognize the billboards and advertizing enticing us to “buy, buy, and buy” and it makes me realize that inconveniences are only felt by those who have too much already. It is easy to get around with our car and good roads, but that only increases the pace of life. I am reminded of Sarah Swai’s reflections on life in the North after her visit to the Netherlands: “You have no time to walk slowly as we do. No time to wait for the dalla-dalla to see if another might come. Pole sana Mark, such a desperate life”. During my rare occasions to pause and reflect, I could not agree more.
I have been given the opportunity to gain these new perspectives on my home because of my travels. I feel my home has extended to Dar es Salaam. Dr. Kainkwa expressed regarding my stay with his family, “This was an issue of both sides. It could not have been possible if you had not decided to live an African life”. The karibu of his family will never wear off and my time with them allowed me to see Tanzania in new ways. Dr. Chijoriga explained just before I returned, “When you open a window in your mind, you create a space to fill with all you see though it”. I saw much indeed through that window which has filled my heart as well as my mind.