My experience in Tanzania and the connection to the course

This summer, I visited Tanzania and Zanzibar and I would love to link this experience to the course (it is too good of an opportunity). Of course, Tanzania is not part of West-Africa, but this makes for an even more interesting comparison, as we can look for similarities and differences. 

Important to note is the fact that I went there on a tourist trip, so while I encountered the culture, I was also sheltered by the guide and the busy schedule. I do not claim to be an expert on Tanzania and thus I do not want to make any wrong assumptions. I will thus be careful with what I say. 

A first thing that I can connect to the course right off the bat is the pollution porblem, which was a huge problem in Tanzania as well. Plastic bottles were everywhere, even in the Masai villages in the desert. I already talked about the plastic ban in a previous post and that is already a big step. Not only have they acknowledged the problem, they are actively fighting it. Of course, this will not solve everything, such as chemical pollution, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. 

Something else that I would love to address is the presence of aid. We visited a village that was aided by a Belgian group, and the things that they did were wonderful. Ama Ata Aidoo may have been right, aid is not everythinh, but it did tremendously increase the living conditions of the people there, by giving them drinking water and a maternity clinic.

This brings me back to the feminism discussion. While it is not directly feminist, especially in African standards, it is a help for women. This is thanks to the family planning facility in there, that offers women help with anticonception, even if their husbands do not know about it. This gives them control over their own body in a way that we see as normal in the Western World. It is another parallel with the course and West-Africa as well, as it is a nationwide problem.

A last parallel is the impact of colonialism. While Tanzania is wealthy in African standards, being a British colony did leave its traces. They drive on the left side and English is a large language in the country, but it also left them in financial trouble. The main sources of income now are tourism and Tanzanite, a precious stone. While there are differences between every situation, all African countries have been impacted by colonialism.

So, while Tanzania is not part of West Africa, there are enough parallels between the regions. I really loved visiting teh country and getting to know the culture and nature that is so different from everything we know!