This posting is a continuation of Part One, where there are some introductory remarks. As in the first part, the Swahili original appears first followed by my English translation. -Earl
Muda na Ratiba ya Shughuli za Kila Siku
Mzungu ratiba ni muhimu wakati mwafrika ni vigumu kuwa na ratiba na kutumia muda.
Mwafrika hana muda maalumu kwani kama ana ahadi saa 3.00 kuonana na mtu mwingine mahali fulani mwafrika huongeza dakika zaidi ya 30 - 45 tofauti na mzungu. kama saa 3.00 ni saa 4.00 - 5.30 kwa mwafrika. Muda kwa mwafrika ni ugonjwa wa kudumu katika maisha yake ya kila siku.
Ratiba. Mwafrika hana ratiba ya kila siku. Yeye huanzia pale anapoanza siku, hata ofisini kukiwa na ratiba ya kazi hafuati hata haijali, wakati mzungu ana ratiba ya nyumbani, ofisini, na ya mwaka mzima au ya miezi 6 zaidi. Mzungu hujua tarehe gani natakiwa kufanya nini, wakati mwafrika hajui hata umuhimu wa kalenda na kutumia kuweka vitu vyake mpangilio unaofaa.
Mzungu hupanga ratiba hata ya chakula chake kwa siku wiki mwezi. Mwafrika hajui hilo, yeye alacho cha toka kwa mungu, ilimradi tumbo lijae ashibe, hana muda na mlo uliokamili kwa siku, wiki, mwezi. Yeye hana.
Ratiba ya mavazi. Mwafrika hajui kupangilia hata uvaaji wa nguo kutokana na rangi ya nguo na yake, wakati mzungu hujua rangi gani inafaa kwa mazingira gana. Mwafrika yeye ilimradi nimevaa — yatosha ni safi.
Uwajibikaji na Kujaliana.
Mzungu hujali shida ya mwenzie na kumpa msaada wa njia ya kutatua shida na kupambana na kila hali. Mwafrika hana msaada kwa mwenzie hata wa mawazo, yeye anaweza kuona na kucheka tu. Mzungu utoa mawazo fanya hivi na tatizo litaondoka kama la maisha na kama la elimu, afya, mazingira yeyote. Mwafrika anajua tu kuomba msaada wa mara moja kama chakula au fedha, au kinginecho, na kumaliza kwa siku au muda huo tu lakini kesho shida huendelea tena na tena na tena.
Mazingira ya nyumbani. Kwanza nje ya nyumba.
Mzungu ana mpango mzuri wa mazingira ya nje ya nyumba, ataweka bustani nzuri na atapanda maua na kuweka katika hali ilio bora.
Mwafrika yeye hana mpango ulio mzuri nje ya nyumba yake kwani hulima sehemu yote ya mbele ya nyumba na pembeni ili kupata mahali pa kufagia na kukaa pakiwa na ukavu, vumbi na kila shida. Uamini nyasi ni uchafu na maua ni tatizo kwake kutunza kwani hana elimu nayo.
Mazingira ya ndani.
Mzungu ana sehemu sebule, jiko, chumba, choo kwa mpango ufaao. Mwafrika sehemu hizi hazipo kwa mpango, mfano utakuta viatu vipo juu ya kiti, utakuta sufuria ipo sebuleni, utakuta nguo ya ndani ipo jikoni, yaani hana mpango kitu gani kikae wapi?
Time and Schedule of Everyday Activities
For the Westerner the schedule is important, while the African has difficulty in keeping a schedule and in using time.
The African has no particular time since if he has an appointment for 9:00 to meet someone somewhere the African adds more than 30 - 45 minutes, different from the Westerner. 9:00 is 10:00 - 11:30 for the African. Time for the African is a permanent ailment in his everyday life.
Schedule. The African does not have a daily schedule. He starts off when he starts the day. Even if the office has a work schedule he does not follow it, not even caring, while the Westerner has a schedule for home, office, and the entire year or more than six months. The Westerner knows which dates he needs to do what, while the African does not even know the importance of the calendar and putting his things in an appropriate plan.
The Westerner arranges the schedule, even his food, for the day, week, month. The African does not know this. For him what he eats is from God. Provided that his belly is full and he is satisfied, he does not have an exact time nor meal for the day, week, month. He doesn't have this.
Schedule for clothing. The African does not know to arrange for himself the clothing which he wears based on the colour of his clothes and of himself, while the Westerner knows which colour is suitable for which circumstances. For the African provided that he is wearing something — it is enough that it is clean.
Responsibility and Mutual Concern.
The Westerner cares about the problem of his friend and gives him help for a way to solve the problem and to meet each situation. The African does not have help for his friend, not even thoughts. He can only see and laugh. The Westerner offers thoughts on what to do and problems go away, such as those in life and in schooling, health, any circumstance. The African only knows to ask for one-time help such as food or money, or some other thing, and it is finished in a day or for that time only but tomorrow the problem continues again and again and again.
Home Environment. First, outside the house.
The Westerner has a beautiful arrangement of the environment outside the home. He will put a beautiful garden and plant flowers and put nice things there.
The African does not have an arrangement which is beautiful outside his home because he does not cultivate any part of the front of the house and the sides. He gets a place to sweep and to sit which is dry, dusty, and has other problems. He believes that grass is dirtiness, and flowers are a problem for him to keep because he does not have training.
The inside environment.
The Westerner has areas for the sitting room, kitchen, room, and toilet according to a suitable arrangement. For the African these areas are not arranged. For example you will find shoes on a chair, you will find pots and pans in the sitting room, you will find clothes in the kitchen, that is, there is no order for which item is located where.
I must concur that there are huge differences with respect to attitudes towards time. Westerners work hard to control time and to make efficient use of it. Tanzanians are very relaxed about time, about appointments, punctuality, etc.
I'd like to attain a happy medium in which I make effective use of my time while also remaining flexible (I have learned a lot here about being flexible) and having the ability to "enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing".
While going over the translation of this part I told Moris that the Westerners he meets in Tanzania are a self-selecting group of people who are generally competent and able to do different things. People who are not do not come here. This gives him a very skewed view of wazungu.
(continued at Part Three)
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