Rough 'justice'

There are many things I love about Tanzania - many things that make me smile. Like the Happyness Hardware truck that I see most mornings and "Hello Mzungu" that comes with a beaming grin. I love the idiosyncratic spelling on official as well as unofficial notices and I love the cheerful positive attitude of most of the people I interact with every day.

But one thing that I do not like is the random application and misapplication of the 'law' by enforcement officials.

Most drivers here are used to being pulled over by the traffic police and asked for "chai" - money to buy themselves afternoon tea or a soda. Official business can happen faster if the "wheels are greased". When we were in Bukoba we came back from a weekend away to find many of the town's buildings were slated for "Bomoa" - demolition - for being too close to the road.  Buildings here in Arusha are also daubed with red crosses but demolition has not happened either here or there!

On Thursday afternoon I  witnessed randomly applied rough justice and was quite upset.  

On my regular walk home I often talk to a street trader who sets out socks, underwear, cheap jewellery and hair ornaments on a tarpaulin close to the footpath on Njiro Road.  I have bought small trinkets from him occasionally but usually I tell him "labda wiki kesho" - perhaps next week.  On Thursday, just as I approached his pitch, a truck pulled up and a dozen people, some in a military looking uniform, jumped out of the back and started rolling up his tarpaulins and removing his goods into the back of the truck. I stopped briefly but had to continue walking, around the melee and home, as AVI advice is to avoid such situations.  I felt that I wanted to help him but there was nothing to be gained by my getting involved.

I talked to a local friend about what had happened.  He told me this is normal - that the police raid illegal street traders a few times a year, confiscate their goods, demolish any stalls they have and the trader is fined. My friendly trader was illegal because he did not have an official permit or licence to run his business.  I saw next morning that the fruit stall where I buy my mangoes had also been demolished as the police had continued down Njiro Road.

The seeming unfairness of what happened upset me - my trader friend was trying to earn a living to provide for his family. Yes, he was trading illegally, but bureaucracy can be slow, cumbersome and impenetrable here so for micro-business people of little education it is not accessible. No, he was paying no taxes, and clearly he had paid no bribes!

I hope my street trader will return - and I won't wait until wiki kesho to do my shopping. I can feel more Christmas presents are needed - who fancies some beautiful jewellery and hair ornaments?

The Great Debate

Today in Global Studies / Spoken English we had a debate. It was in the form of a forum where three speakers gave their points of view and then were questioned by the audience.  The topic was "What is the greatest development issue?" The speakers gave reasons for it to be health, education or clean water. They had been 'prepped' by their teams using research on each issue.

It turns out that all these are interdependent. If you don't have a good education system people get sick through ignorance and you can't train enough doctors.  If you don't have a good health system then children miss a lot of school and their education suffers, or students are kept home looking after ill relatives and miss out on the education, either good or poor, being offered. If they don't have clean water available people get sick and children miss school - see above.

The winner for me was 'clean water' as it reduces sexual assaults on women and girls. How you ask? Many women and girls have an early morning daily trudge to fetch water, often kilometres from home, through isolated places, and fall victim to rapists. Provision of clean water in each village would improve lives the most!

Global Cycle Solutions Tz

Wednesday afternoon is theoretically students' half day off at Umoja but we often use it for excursions and other activities so as not to disrupt the academic timetable.  During October students are learning about Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and we are using a series of excursions to the Global Cycle Solutions workshop to reinforce that. The two so far have been extremely well received!

Global Cycle Solutions website says " Global Cycle Solutions is a social enterprise working to develop and disseminate affordable, quality technology for villagers around the world."

Global Cycle Solutions also run seminars where students can learn about the design process and how to develop a good idea into a useable product. Our students are attending seminars and practical demonstrations as well as having access to the GCS workshop to work on their own inventions.

The inventions that GCS have been working on and promoting include machines that use bicycle power. A rider can pedal the bicycle while it is in a stand to keep it stationary and use the energy made to power a water pump, a grinder or a blender.  The energy can be converted to electricity and used to charge a telephone battery. These inventions are very useful in the villages where there in no electricity.

We were shown other inventions to help in the garden. There was a micro-drip watering system that provides water for plants with no waste. The system was made from lengths of plastic tube and small spikes. The spikes were the same distance apart as the plants in the garden.

GCS also shows students how tools and implements can be made from recycled materials more cheaply than they are bought in the shops. They have a tool for removing maize kernels from the cob quickly and efficiently. The students really liked that one! Many of the recycled materials are from bicycles.

GCS has many tools and machines that students can use to work on their inventions.  Some are hand tools and some are power tools. GCS staff can also give helpful advice. Students can use the workshop free of charge.

A walk in the Mlangarine Valley

Today's hike was a real change from previous Twende hikes. In the past months I've walked through dry paddocks, scrub and creek beds on the west side of Arusha. Today, east of Arusha, was green and even lush in places despite the rains not having yet started. We also saw many hectares taken over by plastic houses where flowers and vegetables are grown for export to Europe.

Today's walk was the usual United Nations, this week including Kenyan, German, Danish, Swedish, Welsh and Scot, plus two Aussies. Age range was about 20 years  to 60. Lots of conversation happens as we walk - about life here and life at home, about our various reasons for being in Arusha, our experiences at the hospitals, schools and NGOs where we work.

Part of the way was along the now derelict Arusha - Moshi railway line.

I always enjoy these walks though usually at about the 3 1/2 hour mark I have some second thoughts on the wisdom of 'healthy exercise'.  But at the end I'm always glad I made the effort!