Tanzania 05.08.2014 - 18.08.2014

Karibu - welcome to our Tanzania Blog!

The IFIL Tanzanian Group 2014 with His Excellency Monsieur Chave

August 5th: Day 1
by Eva Granwehr

We are now in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania´s biggest city, with 4.5 mio. inhabitants (although we will learn during our trip that there are several different numbers about that). Its annual growth equals 8%, which makes it one of the fastest growing cities worldwide.

Our trip officially started with a get together where we got to know each other as well as Gabriel, our guardian angel and local co-organizer of Christina and Robert. Then Robert gave us a short introduction to Tanzania, among other things he told us that Nyerere, the first president after independence in 1961, established Kiswahili as the official language. It is now spoken more widely than the colonial language English and – unlike in many other African countries – even in politics and education. Therefore, having some Kiswahili words in mind is going to be important, so Robert taught us the basics: „Habari“ means „hello“, „freshi“ (cool) is the answer to the informal „mambo vipi“ (hi).

But now: Tunakwenda, we are going – to the Swiss embassy and to dive into Dar´s thrilling life.

August 6th: Day 2 - Embassy; Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport
by Silvia Züger

We started our Tanzanian adventure with a formal and informal introduction to the country. First, we were welcomed at the Swiss embassy by the ambassador, Olivier Chave. He gave us an insight to the political, economical and social challenges of Tanzania.
After the interesting discussion in the embassy, we headed to a conference center, where we met the Tanzanian deputy director of the ministry of youth, culture, information and sport. It felt like entering a diffrent world. Compared to the formal setting in the embassy, we found ourselves in the corner of a hall, sitting on plastic chairs, while the activities of an international youth camp were going on next to us. He talked about the four main challenges of the youth in Tanzania: change of negative mindset, lack of infrastructure, of enterpreneurial skills and of financial ressources. They support start-ups from young Tanzanian people to enable them to be independant. However, he was convinced that it is not only the government's duty, but needs also the help of partners and the private sector.

After the theoretical inputs we rode our bicycles through the real life of Dar Es Salaam and experienced the city with all our senses. Our 15 kilometer adventure led us through the districts Makumbusho, Mwananyamala and Tandale, which represent slum conditions of Dar Es Salaam.
We had different stops, for example for visiting a secondhand shop, a big market and a traditional house. We also got the chance to try some Tanzanian specialties, such as coffee and Tanzanian sweets, spiced tea and chapati (local flatbread). And these are just a few impressions from our 3.5 hours ride.
Although we had some difficulties to adapt to the local traffic rules (left sided traffic, road conditions, Tanzanian driving style,...), we all arrived safe and sound. ;) It was an amazing experience to be so close to the local people.
And this day was only the very beginning of our trip...

Ambassador Olivier Chave		Deputy Director of the Ministry for Youth, Culture, Information and Sport
Bicycle Tour All photos by Eva Hirschi

August 7th: Day 3 - Bagamoyo
by Giulia Wienhues

After a 1,5 hour bus ride we arrived in Bagamoyo - a small fishing village north of Dar Es Salaam. There we did a guided tour, where we got a detailed insight into history and daily life. Bagamoyo played during the German colonization time a decisive role. In addition the village development was influenced by Arabic countries and the village became a transshipment point for slavery to Zansibar. The different cultural influences are still visible in the architecture. We stopped for a bite to eat in a local restaurant called "Poa Poa", where we could widen our culinaric horizon of Tanzanian cuisine. Today, Bagamoyo is noted for its art university and art market. So we left this pretty little village with some more historical background information and of course not without a little handmade painting or sculpture in our bags...

The beach of Bagamoyo	At the art market
Photos by Eva Hirschi

August 8th: Day 4 - A day designated to the Youth of Tanzania
by Arlette Frener

When we got up the 4th day, we had a tightly packed programme ahead of us. Our first stop was at the SOS childrens village of Dar Es Salaam. When we entered the gate, we were welcomed by a guard and shown around the neatly maintained garden and houses by one of the staff members. Some time later, Angolwisye .M. Mwollo-Ntallima, the village director, introduced us to their underlying care-concept, explaining that it was based on a „family-based-model“ in which each of the 13 houses built the home for one caretaker (the socalled „mother“) and around 10 children.

As a comparison we visited a second orphanage, Watoto Wetu. We were warmly welcomed and soon surrounded by a bunch of vividly screaming children. We were offered to eat „Ugali“ (a typical dish made out of mais flower and beans) together. After lunch, the director of the orphanage, Evans, and his deputy Theobald gave us some background information about the orphanage´s history. In contrast to the generous infrastructure of the SOS children´s village, Wotutu Wetu has only one house, but which is the shelter for up to 57 children, implying that 2-3 children share one bed.

Both orphanages are persuing the same goal, namely to support orphans and abandoned children by providing them with a home and education. Moreover, both directors described themselves as being in a father´s role rather as being directors. They face similar challenges, such as the constant search for funding or the maintenance of the propriety. However, the differences were even more striking: The SOS children´s village is an international organization ruled by international standards. It works closely with governmental agencies and seems to have rather long and complex application procedures. Wotutu Weto, on the other hand, is more chaotic but the working staff is extremly caring and motivated. Several participants of our group even felt like the children seemed happier compared to the ones at the SOS village.

After gaining these rich impressions, we continued our programme with a visit of a local youth organization called „Youth Friendly Services“. In an intercultural workshop with almost 60 participants, we discussed our different cultural backgrounds, views and experiences with these friendly, young Tanzanians. Despite some differences we also discovered a lot of similarities.

Photos by Eva Hirschi

August 9th - 10th: Day 5&6 - Travelling through the Kilimanjaro and Maasai Region
by Eva Hirschi

In a state as big and diversified as Tanzania, it is impossible to get a real insight of it by only seeing one part of the country – that´s why we were going to spend the next few days up north in a town called Arusha.

Around 500 km seperate Dar es Salaam from Arusha, and the 12-hours bus ride was an experience itself. We could observe the changing landscape, the beautiful nature, some villages with a lot of people building houses close to the road or selling fruits, and goats and cows strowing around. Close to the town Moshi we could even get a glimpse at the Kilimanjaro in between some clouds. When we arrived in Arusha, we realized it was indeed a very different part of Tanzania: it was colder than in Dar es Salaam, there were some mountains surrounding us and even the sol had a different colour.

One of the many highlights of this trip´s programme was the visit of a Maasai village. The Maasai are one of the more than 120 tribes in Tanzania and are very related to the nature. A bus took us to one of the villages, through sandy and rocky roads. A bit shy and insecure we stepped out of the bus. But soon, the ice was broken and we took pictures together (even a Maasai selfie), talked about their culture and laughed with them when they touched our hair and the fair skin to make sure it was not just colored but real. However, it wasn´t by far the first contact with white people; twice a week they get visitors. It seems that tourism became an important part of their culture too.

We heard a lot of interesting facts about their life in the nature. The men take care of the cows and goats, walking sometimes several kilometers a day to find a good place with grass and water. The women stay at home, take care of the children, cook and produce some jewellery. They go to the market in a nearby village to sell products of their animals and the jewellery, and to buy food. School is mandatory for all kids, even though not all children go to the bording school.

The traditions are fading the more and more, some Maasai – especially the young – decide to go to the village and live a different life. Also, the environment is changing, a lot of animals disappeared because they were hunted. We were grateful to have had the chance to see their traditional life style.

Photos by Eva Hirschi

August 11th: Day 7 - Judicial introduction to Africa
(African Court on Human and Peoples´ Rights – East African Community)
by Audrey Canova

The African Court on Human and Peoples´ Rights, which Protocol has been ratified by 27 of the 54 members of the African Union, has been based in Arusha since 2007. On our guided tour through the complex we learned that this newly established court, which started in 2006, has already provided rulings for 23 cases, with only 5 still pending, whilst the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) has 200´000 pending cases.

After a tour through the library and the court room, we had the opportunity to ask the Senior Legal Officer questions in the conference room of the judges. In our bus (still dusty from the visit of the Maasai village) we then headed towards the city center for lunch.

With a belly full of rice or noodles including vegetables and some tamarind juice we passed the security of the headquarters of the EAC (East African Community). This regional intergovernmental organisation consists of The Republic of Kenya, The Republic of Uganda, The United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi as well as Rwanda. The vision of EAC is prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa; and the Mission is to widen and deepen Economic, Political, Social and Culture integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments.

Inside the impressive building we had the opportunity to get to know the EAC during different presentations. Apart from a general Overview, Annah Nabassa introduced the East African Court of Justice and we were taken to the court of law, which implements the original jurisdiction in the first instance. Bobi Odiko´s speech contained facts about the structure and procedures of the African Legislative Assembly. They provided us with plenty of information, for example; Out of 10 judges there is only one female judge. The EAC has also agreed on a Monetary Union which would include the implementation of a single currency throughout the EAC. However they do not want to experience the same crisis as the EU, hence they are taking their time establishing this.

After dinner, while relishing our Savanna´s (cidre), Robert taught us some advanced Kisuaheli including how to tell the time, as in Kisuaheli there is a completely different system of time. After this jam-packed day we´re sure to lala kama simba (sleep like a lion).

Photos by Eva Hirschi

August 12th: Day 8 - Bus ride to Dar es Salaam, Travelling around
by Mei Seto

Today we were leaving Arusha travelling back to Dar es Salaam. Bus started at 8.00a.m. and we were ready for the 10-hour journey. In between, we had toilet breaks from time to time both in civilized and nature style. For lunch we would stop by a simple restaurant for some local food. First queue up at counter paying TSZ6,000 for a ticket, got a plate and they would fill it with rice, noodle, chicken, vegetables and sauce. In the bus, most of us spent our time chatting to each other, reading and sleeping. The long bus ride seems not as long as it is.

We were moving away from the town centre and saw the country side of Tanzania. Far back at the background was the green mountain or some edgeless fields growing with different types of African crops. In between, we saw houses scattering along the two sides of the roads. Some was in lonely existing and a lot of others group together forming different size of villages. We stopped by at one of the villages believed to be the most typical type of village, housing over 80% of Tanzanian population. The houses of the village were in simple built and there were several tens of them gathering around that area. Adults and kids were sitting around enjoying each other company and one could easily feel their peaceful and simple lifestyle. Kids were playing and staring at us with their curious eyes. Everybody there was so friendly and waved to us with smily face for welcome and goodbye.

Our journey continued and sometimes we stopped for rock block and check of vehicle licence. Sometimes we stopped simply because there was another vehicle ahead of us. Whenever we stopped, both in town or in countryside, we would always be surrounded by hawkers showing us their food and drinks outside our windows. We are lucky to be arranged with our own vehicle for the trip which made things much easier. Sometimes we were trying to leave our hotel for food, it was not so easy to get transportation. First of all, we need to locate a taxi and had a long bargain with the driver. If you had back luck, there might be a driver driving you around without achieving your goal! To go out on foot in the dark also requires much attention. We are encouraged to go out as a group of three at least. And the local like to come forward either to sell or talk to foreigners. Therefore we haven't been moving around too much yet but chance is still to come.

On the Road - Photos by Mei Sato

August 13th: Day 9 - From Economic Development to Studying in Tanzania
by Theresa Manrique Serruto

Having passed our first night back in Dar Es Salaam, we started our day with a trip to the EPZA – the Export Processing Zones Authority, which is an autonomous government agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The director, Dr. Adelhelm Meru, welcomed us and then Grace Lemunge, who is responsible for investment promotion, gave us an introduction to the work of the EPZA. Amongst other facts, she told us that the main functions of the EPZA are investment promotion, infrastructure development and investor facilitation. We then had the opportunity to climb the Kilimanjaro! However, to be honest we must admit that the Kilimanjaro that is located in front of the EPZA headquarter is easier to access than the original one.

Towards the end of our visit, we were offered a tour through a textile factory built by a Chinese company that participates in the EPZA program. It was highly interesting to see how jeans and other garments “Made in Tanzania” are produced. The factory we visited was the biggest textile factory in the area and the produced textiles are exported to the US, amongst others for Levis, Wrengler and Zara.

After lunch, we headed towards the University of Dar Es Salaam. Here, different employees of the university told us about the prospects for Tanzanian students, the government support that students get, the history of the University of Dar Es Salaam and about general social and political aspects of Tanzania. The University of Dar Es Salaam was founded in 1961 and is the oldest university of Tanzania. Its campus is 1625 acres big and currently, there are more than 23,000 students enrolled.

Right after this meeting, we met a Tanzanian social worker. He told us about the major challenges that young people are facing in Tanzania. He especially focused on the education system, on missing knowledge about managing diseases, poverty and conflicts in families. He also asked us about the situation of youths in our countries of origin, which led to an open discussion.

Our last activity for the day was meeting up with some Tanzanian students in a bar. We vividly exchanged information about the living conditions in our countries of origin and we learnt a lot about the dreams and challenges of our conversation partners. We finished this exciting day by dancing together with the Tanzanian students and we learned that Tanzanians are really good dancers.

Climbing "Mt Kilimanjaro" (kind of)	At the Textile Factory
University of Dar Es Salaam - all Photos by Eva Hirschi

August 14th: Day 10
by Verena Davids

On the last day in Dar es Salaam before going to the island of Zanzibar we visitied three institutions: the Media council of Tanzania, the Legal and human rights centre and the Woman legal aid centre. We started our daytrip with the bus at 10 am. Having arrived at the Media council, John Mireny, the publications, research and documation manager, told us much about how the work of newspapers aswell as radio and tv stations work in his country and also he told us about the role of the council in this content. Within the dicussion we raised the topics of freedom of speech, freedom of press and the influence of the government on the media aswell as the influence of the media on the society. We learned that in Tanzania it is hard for journalists to report frankly or even in a critical way. The influence of the government is very strong. The council was established to protect the interests of the journalists als well as of the media recipients and to support the development of the freedom of speech.
After a short lunch break we headed for the Legal and human rights centre wich is a non-govermental non-profit organization protecting human rights in Tanzania by different programmes. We got an insight in the work of the organisation and the main problems in the tansanian society it handles with. For example they are working for an nationwide right of health to be established and they also care for the rights of women. This already was the connection to our next and last stop on this day: the Woman legal aid centre.
Here we were welcomed by the advocacy manager Winston Mosha. He told us everything tansanian women may have to struggle with. We talked about the help the organization offers to women and touched topics like pregnancy of young girls, child custody after a devorce and the abortion which is forbidden in Tanzania. But while he explained to us the gender situation in Tanzania we also got to know that there are some cases in witch the organization is not able to act because they touch relgious issues such as polygamy or children marriage. After all this interessing impressions and discussions we went back to our hotel to get ready for freetime activities such as having dinner and going to a bar called Coco beach.

The group at the Legal & Human Rights Centre - Photo by Eva Hirschi

August 15th: Day 11 - Our first day on Zanzibar
by Laura Siragusa

Zanzibar: an island which expresses something that is mystical. This causes curiosity to explore what is hidden behind this magic atmosphere. Captured for some minutes by the breathtaking view on the sea, we wanted to know what the reality and daily life on Zanzibar is like.

In order to gain a better understanding of legal issues on Zanzibar, we visited the Zanzibar Legal Services Center (ZLSC). The ZLSC is a non-governmental organisation. Their focus is on human rights and therefore on the provision of legal aid. During our visit at the ZLSC, amongst others we got answers to the following questions: How does the ZLSC promote human rights in the society and which rights are most violated on Zanzibar? In order to promote human rights in the society, the ZLSC provides fast trainings on human rights for example for teachers on secondary schools. In addition to this, they contribute to the issue of an annual human rights report, which has to be neutral. Furthermore, we were told that the right of property, the right of freedom of opinion and children's rights are the rights, which are most violated on Zanzibar. When it comes to religious aspects, it can be said that Zanzibar's citizens are considered as quite tolerant. However, there are criminals who violate the rights of religion.

Although Zanzibar lost a bit of its mystical atmosphere due to the facts, which we heard at the ZLSC, it remains in many other aspects a big mistery. That keeps us curious to continue to discover this island.

Photos by Laura Siragusa

August 16th: Day 12
by Kirsten Schönewolff

Ever heard of Tippu Tip? In Zanzibars successfull days he was the most brutal slave trader. Having known the slave trade from childhood on, he established himself in the upper Kongo region to assure supply of men, women and children by collaborating with local chiefs. From this inner african region near the Great Lakes people were brought to the coast and shipped via Zansibar to Arab countries, India and even Brasil. About three million people were thus traded on the coasts of the Indian ocean in the 19th century: The Indian Ocean slave trade.

On todays tour through the narrow streets of Stone Town[Shangai] - Zansibars old town - we meet not only him, but also a princess who marries a German and leaves her fathers island to live in Hamburg as Emily Ruethe. Her father Sayyid Said, Sultan of Oman and Zansibar - made Zanzibar the place of his residence and built its success in ivory- and clove trade – all based on slave labour.

We discover the traces of the islands natural wealth on the spice market, traditional housing, typical local doors with copper decoration and the „Zanzibar Trunk“. We get another glimps on „Swahili“ Culture, the culture of Kiswahili language with people of arab, indian and bantu origin. In the old Sultans palace we witnees the „ordinary“ life Sultan Sayyids successors were confined to after Zanzibar had become a British protectorate and saw its century-long economic wealth threatened by the openig of the Suez-Channel – allowing boats for a much more direct way between Asia and to Europe without going past african coasts.

What still remains is the Tan-ZA-nia – trace in the name of the state formed by Tanganika and Zanzibar – the coral islands of Unguja, Pemba and 50 small ones that is – after independence in the 1960s. Today, its tourists who – instead of millions of slaves - invade the island(s).

Approaching the end of the whole trip we highlight our days in Zanzibar by an evening roof-top dinner accompagnied by „Taarab“ - the local traditional music – and finally go in search of Zanzibar night clubs – only after our final compulsory meeting that is, of course! So when we head back for the mainland, immigration officers will hopefully find evident what they doubted the moment we came her: These girls seek only one thing: LEISURE!!!!

And just in case there is anybody waiting back home: Why not chew some clove or buy this years first spicy Lebkuchen, read Alfred Anderschs german post-war-novel „Sansibar oder der letzte Grund“ or Stanleys „How I found Livingstone“ and then listen to Queens Freddy Mercury? Cause he, too, was born – in Zanzibar!

August 17th: Day 13 - Trip from Zanzibar to Dar
by Emma Salisbury

Today we travelled back to the mainland after having spent 3 short days in Zanzibar. We all felt sad to leave after having spent some well-needed rest time in the historic centre of Stonetown, as well as on the idylic whitesand beaches.

We spent our last hours wondering around the markets, buying our last-minute souvenirs. We then made our way to the ferry port, carrying all our luggage in the midday heat! After having encountered some immigration issues entering the island, we all passed through departures smoothly and headed onto the ferry for the trip home. Unlike the outward voyage, the return trip was somewhat more lively...! Large Indian Ocean waves rocked the boat, proving to be a challenge for some of the less sea-worthy passages (including myself!). However, we arrived safely at Dar es Salaam port, where our bus driver met us to take us back to our home-away-from-home; The Passionist Father´s Hotel.

After a quick last chipsi-mayai in our local restaurant, I unfortunately had to make my preparations to leave Tanzania, whilst the rest of the group remained for a last evening in Dar, marking the end of the trip with a group meal at a local Ethiopian restaurant. I have had a wonderful and enriching experience here in Tanzania and Zanzibar with a fantastic group of individuals! Asante sana IFIL trip 2014.

It was only a real IFIL trip if you end up like this. - Photo by Emma Salisbury