While I have been here in Tanzania I have seen many sides of the country. I lived just outside the second largest city and now I live in a somewhat isolated valley full of subsistence farms. Yesterday, though, I saw something new. I'm here in Dar es Salaam and I got a call from Matthew, a friend of mine who's another teacher at my school. I told him I was in Dar and he said he is too, staying with a friend of his. We decided to meet up so I went out there. Turns out his friend lived in what many people would call a slum. It wasn't as bad as the worst images you may have seen with pieces of sheet metal just piled together to form some kind of shelter. What it was however was narrow alleyways in which tiny houses were packed together. I've spent a lot of time in the city center of Dar without going out to see how most of the people in the city live. Fortunately people aren't starving, but the high density and lack of sanitation systems causes the occasional rather horrific outbreak of cholera or typhoid or some such disease. It was interesting for me to be there because I definitely seemed to be the only white guy for quite a distance around, but my presence didn't cause the kind of stir I normally do in a rural area. The kids were also real friendly and not at all scared of me. I played with several little girls who seemed pretty excited to have such a strange looking guy around.
Matthew and I spent the afternoon visiting people, eating lunch, and having a couple of beers in a surprisingly nice bar. I can't help but think how shocked I would have been by the place if I went there right after arriving here. I wouldn't have believed that people were raising there families in such an environment. Now however, it doesn't seem like such a horrible life, just different. Of course concerns about health are quite serious, but people, many of them working, are there and leading a decent life. We Americans put such a premium on having our own space that we can't believe that many people don't feel such a need. In fact, Tanzanians are often completely horrified that I live in a house by myself. They think I must be suffering unbearably. This isn't to say that these people probably wouldn't have nicer places if they could afford it, but it certainly isn't as bad as many Westerners would assume at first glance.
I was hoping to post some pictures this week, but I'm having trouble getting this computer to recognize my camera. Hopefully I'll be able to before too long.
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2 comments:
Andrew, do you think too many people have moved to the cities -- primarily Dar and Mwanza? Would they have been better off staying in rural areas and farming, or is there not enough suitable land left to sustain a large agricultural population?
Baba
The problem is too many people, not necessarily where they are. Where I live now it's rural, but every scrap of farm land is being used and the deforestation is horrible. And really, Mwanza isn't that big a city and even Dar's small compared to places like Nairobi. I don't think the urban dwellers are suffering too much, and honestly if you're not in a town subsistence farming is your only option. I really couldn't say I blame anyone for coming to the city, especially those with families because in the rural areas the kids will have few opportunities in education and little prospects for future employment.
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