Much of this blog consists of reflections by Diane and me about living in Tanzania and about the people here. But I am always wondering about how things are from their point of view. What do they make of these wazungu (Europeans / Westerners) who come from another planet?
So I asked our friend Moris Damian to write something about the differences that he has noticed. Moris is among the more intelligent, aware, and articulate Tanzanians whom we have met. He has spent many years doing work of various sorts for wazungu and interacting with them.
Moris is able to converse pretty well in English, at least, he is able to get the idea across. However, I wanted him to write in the language that is most expressive for him, and that is Swahili.
He came back to me with several pages, which I have started to translate. At this point I have enough basic grasp of Swahili grammar that with heavy use of dictionaries I am able to translate almost everything.
I then meet with Moris to review all of my work and to help me through the sticky parts -- sometimes a slight misspelling is enough to throw me off! In return he also gets an opportunity to improve his English. I pay him, too, since he struggles to make a living.
There is no he/she, him/her distinction in Swahili. In English I am using "he" and "him" for both genders. - Earl
TOFAUTI YA AFRICA NA MAGHARIBI (ULAYA)
Tofauti ya mzungu na mwafrika kwa karne nyingi. Lakini kwanza tuone kuwa binadamu wote ni sawa na hii ni kwa imani ya kanisa. Lakini kwa imani ya kibiolojia binadamu wa kwanza kwa mwafrika ni sokwe na hatimaye binadamu halisi. Hapa nitazungumzia tofauti za kimaisha ya mazoea ya kila siku.
Mwafrika:
Huzaliwa katika mazingira ambayo hayana maandalizi ya kutosha kwani huko vijijini hakuna zahanati nyingi na hata kama kuna zahanati hakuna elimu ya kuelekeza watu watumie zahanati kwa elimu ya uzazi na utunzaji wa mimba atimae kupata mtoto mwenye afya njema.
Elimu ya mtoto wa kiafrika elimu ni suala gumu kwani elimu ya rasmi inaingia wakati mtoto anaumri wa miaka 7. Kwa mzungu elimu hupata tangu akiwa miaka 2 na lugha anayotumia nyumbani ni hiyo hiyo hadi atamaliza chuo kikuu. Kwa mwafrika mfano Tanzania elimu hutolewa kwa lugha ya kiswahili toka darasa la awali mpaka darasa la 7 na baadae kidato cha kwanza anajifunza masomo yote kwa lugha ya kigeni yaani kingereza. Hivyo watoto huona kama elimu ni adhabu na sio ufunguo wa miasha.
Mazingira ya Kila Siku.
Hapa Tanzania na Afrika kwa ujumla watu hasa wazazi ni vigumu kuandaa mazingira ya mtoto baada ya kutimiza miaka 18. Hakuna mazingira ya mzazi kuangalia maisha ya mtoto, hakuna elimu ya kupambana na maisha. Sana sana wazazi huwapa watoto eneo la kilimo wakati mzungu huandaa mazingira ya mtoto hufungulia maisha tangu mwanzo. Umpa elimu na humuwekea akiba ya fedha za kuanzia maisha yake ya baadae.
Maisha ya Kila Siku.
Mwafrika hupenda kufanyakazi kwa maamuzi yake bila ya kutimiza wajibu wake. Hii kwa shughuli za kilimo au za kiofisi.
Shughuli za kiofisi - mwafrika hata kama atakuwa na sheria ya kufika kazini saa 2.00 hsb sheria hii ni lazima atavunja. Ni mazoea ya mwafrika kuona kazi yoyote atafanya kwa wakati wake, hajui kazi ni muhimu. Mfano.
Mwalimu wa shule iwe sekondari au shule ya msingi hadi chuo kikuu, mwafrika anafanya kazi kwa muda tu, sehemu kubwa ya muda hutumia kwa soga na biashara au miradi yake mwenyewe badala ya kufundisha, cha ajabu pia, ushindana kwa mavazi, viatu, kutengeneza nywele, n.k.
Wakati mzungu kazi kwanza na muda wa kazi kama ni saa 2.00 yeye atakuja saa 1.45 ili kazi aanze mara 2.00. Mavazi kwake sio shida, anaweza kutumia nguo hata kwa siku 4 - 5 nguo moja, akiwa kazini ni kazi, hata kama kuna mgeni ni mpaka amalize muda wake wa kazi, hana soga nyingi, hana biashara nyingine ndani ya muda wa kazi, hata simu ni vigumu kutumia muda mrefu kwa kuongea akiwa kazini na simu.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE WEST (EUROPE)
There have been differences between the Westerner and the African for many centuries. But first let us regard that all human beings are equal and this is through the faith of the church. But through beliefs from biology the first African was an ape and eventually a true human. Here I talk about differences in the habits of every day living.
The African:
Is born into circumstances which do not have sufficient preparations because in the villages there are not many clinics, and even if there are clinics there is not education to explain to people to use the clinics for education in maternity and pregnancy care so as to get a child in good health.
The education of children in African education is a difficult problem because formal education starts when the child is seven. The Westerner gets education from 2 years old, and the language which he uses at home is the one used until he completes college. For the African, for example education in Tanzania, it is offered in the Swahili language from the first grade until grade 7 and then in form one [the initial level of secondary school] he learns all subjects in a foreign language, that is, English. In this way children look at education as punishment and not the key to life.
Everyday Circumstances.
Here in Tanzania and Africa on the whole for people especially parents it is difficult to prepare circumstances for children after they reach age 18. There are no circumstances for parents to look out for the life of the child. There is no education for how to struggle with life. Very very often parents give children an area for farming, while the Westerner prepares the circumstances of the child to open up life from the beginning. You give him education and keep for them an amount of money for starting their later life.
Everyday Life.
The African likes to work according to his choosing without completing his responsibilities. This is so in farming or office work.
Office work - the African even if he has a rule to arrive at work at 8:00 a.m., this will certainly be broken. It is the habit of the African to see that any work is done in his own time, he does not know that work is important. For example.
A teacher at a school which is secondary or primary school up to college, the African works for some time only. He uses a large part of the time to chat about his own business or projects instead of teaching, surprisingly also, to compare with each other in clothes, shoes, hair-do, etc.
For the Westerner work is first and if the time of work is 8:00 he will come at 7:45 so that the work starts at 8:00. For him clothes are not a problem, he can use the same clothes for even 4 - 5 days. If at work, it is work, even if there is a visitor [at the workplace], [the visitor waits] until the worker completes his work time. There is not a lot of chatting, not other business during work time. Even phones are difficult to use for conversing for a long time when at work with a phone.
Moris is a fellow Catholic parishioner. My impression is that Christians here tend to regard the coming of the European missionaries in the 19th century positively because they established schools, health care clinics, and hospitals. They continue this work to the present day. Consequently, some East Africans have reasons in general to favorably view wazungu and their ways of doing things.
(continued at Part Two)
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