2011: A special year that never was

“New Year comes every year but 2011 is a special one which will happen once in a life time. It will start with a combo, the first one being 1/1/11. After 10 days 11/1/11 while after 10 months it will read 1/11/11 of which 10 days later it will be 11/11/11. Isn’t that fantastic? I wish you a wonderful year and happy holidays,” reads a message I received on New Year’s Eve, last year.

I couldn’t help but marvel at the message because with all these unique dates, I just wondered what sort of a year it will be. I longed for it to be different from 2010, a year I described in this column as a year of disasters. But, as I put pen to paper and taking stock of the events that unfolded last year, then I failed to get anything special in it. It was full of misery and preventable disasters that claimed innocent lives. I could say it was one of the worst years for us as a nation as we had a lot of disasters striking us.

I remember the year started on a positive note with thousands flocking the residence of then once little known former man of the cloth, Ambilikile Masapila, or Babu wa Loliondo as he is now affectionately known. With a desperate nation seemingly having found a desperate solution to its problems, who could blame wananchi for a promising year that was about to put the country onto the world map, by becoming the first to discover the cure to the dreaded HIV and Aids.

But as days went by, the nation seemed to be the one in need of the Loliondo cure as a lot of strange things were happening. We had a wide range of problems, fuel prices began to skyrocket, daladala fares were hiked. The government agreed to pay Dowans a fortune that could have been used to better lives of wananchi.

As if that was not enough, the country had to come to terms with another unusual happening. The Mwananyamala madness, where bodies of ten babies were discovered buried in a shallow rubbish pit passed for a grave near the hospital. Though a lot of noise was made about, wananchi are still to be informed of the final findings and steps taken on those found guilt of the hideous act.

Before the Mwananyamala dust could settle, another horrific experience shook the nation; The Gongo la Mboto bombs blasts that brought Dar es Salaam to a stand still in March. I need not to remind you dear reader of how many people suffered while others lost their property and lives in the fiasco.

Then came the Zanzibar mass murder. Thousands of people are believed to have perished when a ship, Christened MV Spice Islander, coming from Malindi Port, Unguja on its way to Wete Kisiwani Port in Pemba capsized in the Indian Ocean along Nungwi coastline in Unguja South.

This was referred to as a mass murder because human error was blamed for the disaster attributed to a dilapidated ship and overloading of both cargo and passengers. To sum up everything, this disaster could have been avoided if everyone had played his or her part.

Then when we were about to enter the festive season, another disaster struck. Floods rocked the city of Dar es Salaam, killing 40 people and displacing over 4000. A lot of household property and infrastructure were destroyed. Again this could have been avoided if people had been prevented from occupying valleys and low lying areas. Again the effects could have been mitigated if people had taken heed of a warning about the impending floods.

These are just but a few disasters that characterized 2011 that claimed the lives of our loved ones. I had longed for it to be different from 2010 in the sense that I lost some of my beloved relatives, friends and colleagues but that was never to be.

Death is unavoidable but it remains painful, I don’t know whether it is to those who would have died but what I am certain of is that it is very difficult to stomach when it comes to those who would have remained.

And, looking at those who were around us, who failed to make it into 2012, should give us more reason to thank our God for being in a position to read this column now. 2011 has come and gone, we have so many sad memories but we should also cherish our achievements and good deeds we carried out in the same year.

Congratulations and welcome into the New Year dear reader. The trade mark of marking the inception of 2012 was not an exception. While some people went into churches to pray thanking God for 2011 and making sure that they thank Him for the New Year, some were busy running around the streets shouting, singing and making all sorts of noises. What interested me this time was the presence of the vuvuzelas. Yes, dear reader, the one that was popularized during the historic 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

A group of young men and women made sure that everyone in our neighbourhood, especially those due to one reason had decided not to wait for the New Year and instead enjoyed their sleep had no option but to wake up because the noise from the vuvuzelas they were blowing was unbearable. I know each and every one of us has his or her own experiences when it comes to the New Year celebrations but what is important is that we have our expectations this year.

Don’t worry about the failures and disasters of last year, everything is now history. For those who are still to come up with their resolutions for 2012, time is still on your side and this year’s resolutions should help you maintain focus. Many people fail to achieve their intended goals but we should not treat that as a sign of weakness, but once that happens we should dust ourselves up and begin the race again till we attain that goal.

I know the year for most people has started at a bad note with pockets having been perforated during the recent holidays, where most of us celebrated as if there was no tomorrow. In a bid to please friends, family and at the same time maintain our status in the society, we embarked on a spending spree that saw our pockets being overstretched. Just like I mentioned last week that a disease had been ambushing us and now that we are in the New Year, the January disease is fast catching up with us.

Reality is fast dawning in our small heads that we needed to have preserved the little that we splashed during the festive season. January is usually a dry month, especially for the bulk of wananchi who survive on from hand to mouth basis. There is no reason for us to continue crying over spilt milk, what is important is to learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves up and move forward.

But, in our endeavour to survive under these difficult circumstances, it is my appeal that we make this country a better place for everyone to live in. My main concern is the fact that in most cases, it is the children who suffer the consequences of our misdeeds. My heart bleeds every time I am reminded of parents’ brutality against their own flesh and blood we reported in the media last year.

Many parents try to dump their frustrations and failures on their children whom they in most cases treat inhumanly. Let us protect these young ones for they are tomorrow’s leaders. Our failure to realize our goals should not be an escape goat to abuse children. It remains a fact that Rome was never built in one day and our fore fathers believed that ‘hata mbuyu ulianza kama mchicha.” Even if we fail to achieve our goals now, the best thing is to go back to the drawing board and start afresh rather than not only losing hope, but also let our children suffer. God Bless us this year.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz/symeniah.blogspot.com/0657651300