Yesterday evening we met with 4 different characters who all had a different twist on their life in Tanzania. One was a famous musician called Banana the other was a Poet called Mrisho Poto and then a lady called Margaret who had opened a Bank exclusively for the women of Tanzania and Rackesh who is the leader of a Lobby group (Haki Elimu) in Africa, which monitors governments in Africa. It was a mixed bag of experiences, I didn’t get to talk to Margaret as she had to leave early and was busy doing an interview with Ulriche the Journalist who joined us on the trip. I didn’t talk to Mrisho Poto as he spent a lot of time talking to Andreas from ONE and also left early and I didn’t talk to Banana because he’s called Banana and I didn’t know where to start and he spoke most of the time to Jana (Actress from Germany). I spoke with Rackesh, it was intense as all the discussions on this journey have been.
I told him of all the thoughts of the other people we had met and tried to find out if he agreed with any of their words. My goal is to collect as much information from as many people as possible in the hope to create a picture of Tanzania, which others can understand but first I had to understand Tanzania!
As a lobbyist he was critical of pretty much everybody but his criticism was mostly constructive offering different solutions that he thought should be in place. There was a thread forming within the conversation and it was not a complete agreement of everything he said but supported some of his opinions. The fact is that the international development funds are necessary in Tanzania but funding needs to be more affective. The money, which is available is sometimes not spent because the international partners do not feel they have trustworthy/competent partners in Tanzania and so the money is returned to its source. The Tanzanian Government needs to be more transparent in it’s use of these funds informing the people of Tanzania of what aid is available to their schools to their communities. Also in my opinion local funding needs to be increased to give the people of Tanzania a greater trust in the system so that they support the Government by paying their taxes. These are considered to be the micro projects (seats for the children in schools and books and writing paper) and therefore are badly funded in comparison to national projects like water and etc. These Micro projects are what the people can see and feel, when the school becomes seats and books the people will feel a small confidence in the system and be more trusting in the their local government which will translate into a greater trust of their politicians/Government.
This is what I think based on what I have seen, there is a will on all sides to achieve the same Goal to make Tanzania strong and self sufficient but there are differences, there is funding but not the competence (on all sides) to point it in the right direction, there is a belief that things can get better but it lacks the necessary trust to take the big steps. Twiga Cement (sorry spelt it wrong yesterday) has shown that everything is possible, the key is a person like Pascal (a Belgian) who overcomes his doubts by creating trust in his workforce, they, on the other hand, overcome their doubts by living their success in their schools and their homes and their living standards. It may seem like a fantasy to think that I can see this and not others who work day in and day out on the problem can but someone who is prepared to dedicate himself to the challenge and works within the system while trying to better it and accepts that the success of the country is the success of his company is the key to the solution! We need more believers who can show by example that change is possible and success is achievable.
I have seen so much here and I hope that my message is reaching you out there! I am leaving tomorrow very early and I will be sad to leave, the feelings of nervousness and unknown are gone. This country has one great resource, which fills its streets and embraces you with every step, and that is its people. Such a beautiful, warm hearted, proud people deserve the chance to achieve their greatest dream. Our last sight seeing today was the old fort which once was the corner stone to the German colonial soldiers who once ruled the land, the most striking picture was that of the many graves of Germans that died here. The graveyard is right before the Indian ocean and somehow this setting pulled together the pieces of the puzzle. I don’t mean to be the preacher but it is obvious that no matter what the distance is between countries, nor the differences between religion, colour or politics, we are one world we are one people. We are ONE!
Rea
