Dysfunctionality in families: Parents must be held accountable

For many years in Tanzania, most of the failures and evil conducts such as rape and domestic violence happening in societies.

The archaic parents’ myth of when I was your age I did so and so to become who I am today…to their children has to stop otherwise the dysfunctional families is here to stay’

Family patterns and secrets continue to circulate and affect not only the family level but the entire generations; yet no single parent dares to bravely come up and take responsibility. Despite of the modern environment and availability of many resources, about 85% of African parents pass to their children what has been instilled to them by their own parents and still find someone else to blame for all the damages that may occur.

For many years in Tanzania, most of the failures and evil conducts such as rape and domestic violence happening in societies are rooted back from Poor parenthood and holding on to the culture of keeping silent. It is about the time the beans are spilled on the table.

What is the cause?

From the research and different interviews done by this magazine, the gap of communication between parents and children is mentioned to be a number one reason to family dysfunctionality in this country. Many parents have been taken away from their families especially children by their jobs, and other tasks. Currently; Mothers for instance, have been clueless on what potential do their children have or what kind of women are their daughters supposed to become because they have offered their precious parenthood job to the nannies. As a result, many children are not raised rather they grow up based on the nannies mindsets.

In her recent speech at the Parliament House in Dodoma, the Minister of Healthy H.E Honorable Ummy Mwalimu has called for all parents to become more watchful and closely communicate to their children because different people from neighbors, to School to friends and other strangers are either directly or indirectly involved to the growth of these children.

Speaking as a parent Ummy Mwalimu said; “Dear parents, despite of your busy schedule you must allocate a significant amount of time for your child. Ask them how their day was … because I can assure you many Children experience different levels of abuse such as sexual violence and find nobody to share with”.

In their Mid-Year Human Rights Report 2018; Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) stated that Sodomy incidents have increased from 12 in the first half of 2017 to 533 in the first half of 2018. Such incidents are also common in schools, including primary schools and boarding schools. In the mid-2017 to the mid-2018, Child rape incidents rose from 759 to 2365. Unfortunately due to the gap of communication, these cases always remain unsolved because it is a shame to the families. It is very likely to find a circle of molestation grow enormously because the culprits are strongly being protected.

Explaining her own experience from how she was raised to what she has seen in different parts of the world, the former diplomatic Maryam Ismail said Dysfunctionality is a global problem that happens everywhere and to all classes and races regardless of the educational background the family may have. Maryam told The Tanzaniene that many parents have become available but not present to their children due to both parents being fully occupied. She said lack of communication is also happening between the parents.
“They both have money and titles. They cannot even discuss and resolve their own personal issues, how you are expecting them to have time for their children in the world of several nannies, Maryam questioned.

I would go to visit my 9 years old son at School in Uganda; the teacher will be astonished to see me at the end of every month because there are kids whom have not seen their parents for six months…this broke my heart. I have been to Asia, Europe and America… we all have the common problem”. She said. Maryam added that; acknowledging issues is the first step towards healing but many parents have their dark stories that are too ashamed to address as a result, their children are more likely to experience the same pattern. On a serious note however; the concept of parenthood must be well understood to both male and female parents. Given that the mothers have been given the privilege of being the primary teachers and providing nurturing to the children, fathers should also not forget of their equally responsibility of communicating because it is not only their right but a failure to do so, may lead to society not being able to accommodate tones of unhappy individuals whose childhood went unchecked.

Something is amiss…

Looking a bit deeper into this issue, it is probably about the time that parents start to evaluate their parenthood mechanism by directing more focus on them other than their children…that is what a US Clinical Psychologist Doctor Shefali Tsabary calls a Traditional Parenting versus Conscious Parenting. Sadly; many parents in the world are the victim of the traditional parenting whose focus is on fixing the child. In this methodology, Dr. Shefali explains that the parents have been conditioned by the culture and experience they gained during their own childhood of which they impose to their children regardless of its hidden psychological dangers. Eventually; the parents unknowingly find themselves talked their ideas, dreams and expectations to their children instead of listening to a child’s own calling. Expressing their opinions to this Magazine a group of High School students in their mid-20s opened up on how much difficult it is for them to cope between who they are and who they should be according to the parents’ ideation. Many have agreed that their parents had invented high expectation on them based on their desires and not children’s perspective which had made a child’s road to make decision even tougher.

“I love drawing, it is my passion but since my childhood my parents insisted I must work harder to become a doctor like our neighbor’s child. Unfortunately I didn’t do well in my studies so here I am coping with what the government offered me” emotionally said Jamal.

The conscious parenting on the other hand, is about raising the parent. It has nothing to do with the child and all to do with the child’s wellbeing. It suggests that parents must be present and mirror on their own being when raising their children. The parents have an opportunity to ask themselves how that moment is showing up for them to grow, and what does it say about the parents’ unhealed baggage because if they don’t govern these psychological baggage, the chance to project them directly to their children is high.

A dysfunctional family is the one that has at its central vicious and destructive parenting with no concern for the child. The effects on the child may completely go unsung and normally nothing is done to rectify the situation.

By Khadija Amri

Expensive fishing leaves Bagamoyo natives in need

Fishing in Bagamoyo has started in the nineteenth century where the fishermen did not take it as a serious generating income job rather they practiced it for commodities exchange, a source of food and most of all a daily activity. Parallel to Masai tradition who receives the number of cows as the daughters’ dowry; the chiefs in Bagamoyo at the time would not ask for money to give their daughters away, instead they simply ordered some kilos of fish or fishing boat as an exchange.

China can be rich and ranks first in the world of fishing history but most of its people might not necessarily have fishing experience, different from Bagamoyo District whose 90% of old people today, were once fishermen.

There is absolutely no one faculty in the World that would understand a professor’s illiterate child complaining about how lack of knowledge made him so, unless he clarifies the situation with real valid documents. Likewise; it is unbelievable for a citizen outside Bagamoyo to relate the natives’ whine about not affording fishes in their own fishery town…but that is just the reality.

In recent years Bagamoyo has witnessed a rapid fishing industry growth that created a high demand mostly on the external market while leaving a majority of residents whose income is average; in deprived, hopeless and even cursed out the blessing saying it is useless.

Speaking to Tanzanienne a local farmer Mama Ali said all the quality fishes are sold to the neighbor regions, leaving the common ones for the locals at yet unaffordable price.

“We don’t know the taste of fishes anymore. Five years ago, it was common to opt for a bowl of fish soup for a breakfast because we could get a 10litre bucket of fish for just 3000/-. Today that same amount of money won’t even get you a quarter kg of sardine, this is unacceptable”. Complained Mama Ali.

Watching these acts happening before their eyes, the residents insisted that the people of Authority must review the incident closely and make a fair decision for both sides’ benefits.

What is the history telling us!

Being its own unique historical heritage, Bagamoyo has gained the popularity through different historical, cultural and traditional activities of which some of them are still active to date such as fishing.

Fishing in Bagamoyo has started in the nineteenth century where the fishermen did not take it as a serious generating income job rather they practiced it for commodities exchange, a source of food and most of all a daily activity. Parallel to Masai tradition who receives the number of cows as the daughters’ dowry; the chiefs in Bagamoyo at the time would not ask for money to give their daughters away, instead they simply ordered some kilos of fish or fishing boat as an exchange. However after industry revolution things have reversed where fishing has now become the main source of income not only for the citizens, but the neighbor regions.

The Zaramo and Kwere are the native people of Bagamoyo although due to the investment and business opportunities, high flow of tourists to the historical sites and Museums in recent years, the town has been loaded by several tribes from other parts of the country such as Pemba, Tanga, Dar es Salaam and Morogoro.

Explaining to this magazine the Tour guide at the Tourist Information Centre in Bagamoyo Ibrahim Juma said, fishing has become the number one District economy booster and has attracted a deep attention from outsiders whose access to the market is made even simpler after the construction of new road which takes a root from Dar es Salaam passing Bagamoyo to Tanga, Arusha, Moshi and vice versa.

“Fishing has become expensive these days. All the mentioned regions come to buy tones of fishes from Bagamoyo something that make this town a busy place and create more business opportunities. The Pemba have become so high in number and are the ones who have dominated the market” He said.

Despite of focusing more on growing the external market; Ibrahim said there is significant figure of fishermen who have highly benefited the fruits of their own efforts and continue to do so because they have committed their lives to get quality. Some of them; have exclusively targeted on the local business such as foreign hotels and restaurants where they sell special variety of fish which may cost up to 300,000/- per one fish.

“Most of the fishermen own their houses, farms and other properties. Children are brought to schools and reach colleges because of fishing.

By Khadija Amri

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This magnificent books starts of in America where a young Nigerian Woman, Ifemelu decides to go back to Nigeria after living ten years in America. She describes her stay there “ it’s wonderful but it’s not heaven”.

Ifemelu in her stay in America, realizes that there are indeed racial issues and they do affect her because of the color of her skin color. It was hard for her to get a job though she had graduated from university. For instance, a restaurant tells her that they’ve decided to hire “‘a more qualified person’” for their hostess position or a babysitting job is given to someone else without any explanation.

Racism is not something she never had to deal with back in Nigeria. As she explains to someone at a dinner party,“I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America.”

The author addresses on issues concerning race in America with the character of Ifemelu and her blog addressing the “onyinbos”(white people) on how to treat black people. For instance “ Dear American Non-Black, if an American Black person is telling you about an experience about being black, please do not eagerly bring up examples from your own life. Don’t say “It’s just like when I …”

Ifemelu grew up in Lagos, Nigeria where she met her highschool sweetheart Obinze. The two went to university together, however due to the political issues in that era, there were strikes and the university shut down. Ifemelu got an opportunity to apply for a scholarship in a university in Philadelphia, America and she manages to get the scholarship and visa while Obinze remained in Nigeria. This is the other side of Americanah where the author tells the story of the persevering love between the two characters across three continents

In America, Ifemelu is introduced to the American culture and its racial politics. Since Ifemelu couldn’t find a job,She later accepts a job helping a tennis coach “relax.” He touches her sexually and gives her $100. Ifemelu goes home and feels guilty and depressed. She breaks off contact with Obinze. This is were the lovers relationship starts to drift away.

Obinze is hurt by Ifemelu’s sudden silence. He graduates and moves to England. He stays with friends but can’t find a good job. Obinze borrows money from Emenike, an old friend who has gotten rich in England, and pays for a green-card marriage with a girl named Cleotilde. On the day of his wedding, though, Obinze is arrested and sent back to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Ifemelu in America, starts dating a rich, handsome white man. He takes Ifemelu on many trips and helps her get a good job and a green card. However Ifemelu, feeling the pressure of her interracial relationship, cheats on Curt and he breaks up with her. She gets depressed again. Ifemelu starts her race blog and it gets very popular.

For more gripping suspense, I suggest you get yourself the book and read. As a reader, I loved the book very much. I loved how Ifemelu and Obinze’s story begun and ended. To the moment where Ifemelu is back in Nigeria in the car with Obinze listening to “Yori yori” by bracket, the reader cannot help but fall in love and see the true meaning of “what’s meant for you will come back to you”

By Vanessa Mwingira

ASHENALE- MARLEEN XPLASTAZ

Marlene Xplastaz’s ‘ASHENALE’

Produced by : blvcq_igbo6

Filmed by: Director Izzy

My Turtle, Your Turtle (Mi Casa, Su Casa)

This tale follows the humble journey of McDonald. From a determined spearfisherman turned passionate ocean conservationist, McDonald’s story explores his dive into despair to his rise into awareness of our precious underwater ecosystem and how one person’s impact can change a community.

In the beautiful coastal town of Watamu in Kenya, AFRISOS collaborated with PWFF, Kenya Wildlife Services, Bahari Hai, A Rocha Kenya, and Temple Point Resort to unite environmental enthusiasts of the local community. AFRISOS mentors guided mentees through a 6-day dynamic smartphone filmmaking lab. Through this program, mentees and mentors worked together to plot, capture, and edit this film, all in four days! At the end of the program, the film was locally screened so the community could be a part of this enlightening journey of grassroots storytelling

Mi Kasa, Su Kasa is a narrative of hope. Hope in humanity’s ability to change, hope for the future of our oceans, and hope that no matter what equipment you already own, you can create artistic visual narratives with the simplest of tools

MSANII KWENYE JUMBA LA SANAA

Nafasi art space is one of the safe heavens in Dar es Salaam for all types of artist. From sculptors to painters and let’s not forget photographers, nafasi art aims at expanding your artistic horizon.

“ Nafasi Art Space is a vibrant art Centre and platform for artistic exchange in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where contemporary visual artists and performing artists come together to create, learn, inspire, exhibit and perform.”

The spot hosts over 50 artists, 37 studios, and several exhibition spaces. They offer regular programs including training and workshops, art talks, and public events, such

as film screenings, exhibitions, concerts, festivals, and public art fairs. The studios are used to paint, produce music, weave, weld, sculpt and more.

It was founded in 2008 and it has provided learning opportunities to inspire and support artists in Tanzania and to give audiences and art lovers a place to experience and appreciate arts and culture.

The overall objective of Nafasi Art space is to be the leading Contemporary Art Centre in Tanzania that provides a platform for artists through development, production, and entrepreneurship in the Visual and Performing Arts by providing training, exchange, and exhibition of contemporary art locally, regionally, and beyond.

Nafasi Art space has been a home for many art exhibition from various artists such as PichaTime photo exhibition created by Nicholas Calvin Mwakatobe ( a resident artist at Nafasi Art space). For more information search Nafasi Art Space on the web and find out what events are on. It’s a recommended place to go if you love art and culture.

Taxes On Female Sanitary Pads

There was a growth in complaint about the pricing of the pads, some range from Tsh 2500 to Tsh 3000. A member of parliament, MP Peneza brought these grievances to the parliament and stated in her speech “…we met with distributors and traders of sanitary pads in the country and these traders, with illustrations, informed us that they had reduced prices

The biggest news to hit Tanzania is the issues on taxes fixed on Sanitary pads. The taxes were re-introduced during the announcement of the 2019/2020 years budget.

The Finance minister Philip Mpango said removing the tax was not productive at all, it allowed traders to raise the rate of pads and increase their profit.

There was a growth in complaint about the pricing of the pads, some range from Tsh 2500 to Tsh 3000. A member of parliament, MP Peneza brought these grievances to the parliament and stated in her speech “…we met with distributors and traders of sanitary pads in the country and these traders, with illustrations, informed us that they had reduced prices. The problem was on the retail end, that is where the pricing has not been reduced”

Looking at how the government implemented on matters concerning plastic bags and made sure that everyone stopped using them, how can they fail to make sure that the retailers stuck to the low pricing?

This has angered many people in the society, mainly women and girls. Taxing Sanitary pads is a great injustice to women since it’s a biological phenomenon and not a luxurious thing. The women and girls who live in rural areas have been hit hard with this news due to the fact that they cannot afford sanitary pads.

Many girls in the village do not own sanitary pads due to the pricing and also unavailability of them in shops. This leads to them missing out on school on days that they have their menstrual cycle. According to surveys done, most girls in rural areas use inappropriate materials such as rags, raw cotton among other things to substitute sanitary pads.

The government should give out sanitary pads free of charge in schools in order to help the girls not miss out on classes. Kenya is a perfect good example where pads are given out free of charge in schools. In addition the prices should be affordable to every woman who earns a low income wage. Periods are not luxuries.

Business On Social Media

communication and even advertisement can be easily provided through the internet making interaction between people from different continents and with different backgrounds connect. This itself is a big win for the internet.

The internet is one of the best inventions made by man. We all know without the internet our lives would be unfulfilled. It has changed our world so much that life has been way easier to tackle. Information, communication and even advertisement can be easily provided through the internet making interaction between people from different continents and with different backgrounds connect. This itself is a big win for the internet.

With all the importance’s it provides us with, the internet has managed to develop small businesses in the society. Many owners of small businesses use the internet as a factor to spread their products. The services provided by the internet are reliable and fast to inform the public about their business without use of much expense. It also captures easily the interest of the customers with the pretty pictures and videos of the products. This way the customers will know what they want, what it costs and when they can get the products.

The biggest result of the internet used by small business owners is social media. From YouTube, Facebook and mostly Instagram, all these social media platforms enable the small businesses to gain market insights and be exposed to potential customers near or far from you. This is advantageous because more people join Social Medias in a regular basis making it a perfect way to connect with your customers.

Clothing brands, portable devices services, photography services; these are some of the famous small businesses in our country that use social media, blogs and the internet in general to advertise and attract their customers. It so happens that this method helps a lot since these small businesses are flourishing and increases income for the owners.

Since social media is used by a large number of youth, many have started opening their small businesses. The chance of getting customers using social media has managed many youth to be creative in what business they start that may capture the attention of the people. For example, a girl named Anitha Mbangula managed to start her own small business of baking homemade chocolate cakes and selling them through social media. She uses mostly instagram and whatsapp to reach her customers.

Small businesses or large ones show that social media is very important in our lives today. If it keeps up, the business world will change rapidly in the upcoming years in a good way.

By Edna Deus

Rugby In Tanzania

Rugby is a sports game that’s played around the world in various countries. Just like how football has the UEFA champions league, Rugby has it’s own international level of competition called International Rugby board. Tanzania is a member of the IRB but has yet to play in the Rugby world cup.

Tanzania’s national rugby union team is known as the Twigas and the team represents Tanzania in International games. The teams ground is currently in Arusha, Friedkin Recreation Ground and the teams coach is Mike Beckner.

In national levels, there are 4 rugby clubs registered under the Tanzania Rugby Union. One of the clubs is known as The Arusha Rhinos Rugby Football Club which is based in Arusha. Another Rugby club is the Dar es Salaam Leopards RFC based in Dar es Salaam and it’s one of the oldest clubs in Tanzania.

It’s very rare to hear news about rugby matches in the country because it’s not the most popular sports loved by the natives. However, this sport does exist in Tanzania and it’s about time it receives recognition from the people. It’s a sport where you have exceptional strong men in opposing teams, and each team can carry, pass or kick the ball to the end zone to score as many points as possible. The team scoring the greater number of points is the winner of the match. It’s truly an interesting game and hopefully you can catch one rugby game for yourself.

By Edna Deus

Women strength: winnowing 300 Kgs a day for $ 10, yet able to own a house!

Winnowing is the process of separating the heavier components from the lighter components of a mixture by wind or by blowing air using a winnowing basket.

There may be the official denial of the current drop economic status in Tanzania but the citizens’ recitation of ‘Maisha magumu’ referred to ‘life is hard’ is unquestionable. However; while the majority of people are completely stuck; complain and wondering how they will cope with the president Magufuli slogan of hapa kazi tu effects, others spend the same 24 hours a day blessing, to figure-out and work on all the opportunities that show up. In a country like Tanzania it is hard to imagine if winnowing could make a living as a reliable job, because it is a must have kitchen equipment to every household in the country, thus no one can real hire an individual for that task…but it is happening.

What is winnowing?

Winnowing is the process of separating the heavier components from the lighter components of a mixture by wind or by blowing air using a winnowing basket. It is essential to separate them in order to obtain clean grains that can be used in the eating purpose. Winnowing is widely used in almost every house in Tanzania especially when dealing with grain and all types of cereals.

Mama Leah is a resident of Kimara in Dar es Salaam. She and her husband have involved in cereal business for 8 years now. They order several sacks of rice and beans from the farmers at Temeke by a wholesale price and sell to individual customers by a retail price at Kisutu market. Explaining their experience in the business, Mama Leah said persistence is the only capital that they hold on to, to become who they are today.

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“The money flow that was familiar before our eyes has disappeared long time ago and there is no hope without persistence. The profit we make does not equate the value of life we are living…but we cannot stop. She said. Despite of facing several challenges Mama Leah and her husband were able to build a 3 bedrooms house and pay their 2 children’s school fees in less than 8 years. Nevertheless, Mama Leah revealed that in the recent years, the main business has gone down and that many of them have invested their time doing the uncomfortable activities like winnowing. Found her in the middle of winnowing; she revealed to the magazine that, it was not from her shop rather she is doing a part time. “This beans sack contains 100 Kgs, and I do it for a fellow vendor (because we have no customers during holidays like this refers to Eid el Fitr and I am idle) who pays me 8000/- per a sack. There is a good number of fellow women as you can see who make their living out of this senseless job, and the maximum we do in a day is 300 Kgs of winnowing either beans or rice. It is a hard work but it pays off if you persevere”. She lamented. Furthermore Mama Leah said almost all the fellow vendors about 50 of them; participate in a marry-go-round play popularly known as upatu, which motivates them to work even harder because each one of them is required to pay 5000/- everyday. After one week, one person receives 1,750,000/- and the process continues. The entire Kisutu vendors have shifted their businesses following the market renovation and Mwendokasi construction, something that has affected their selling out of losing many customers.

By Khadija Amri