Merry Christmas

The management and staff at BongoBlast wish all valued readers a merry Christmas , a fruitful and a blessed New Year.

Curbing stigma, discrimination vital in HIV/AIDS fight

By Simbarashe Msasanuri
Tanzania will next week join the rest of the world in marking the World Aids Day where humanity gets the chance to remember those who succumbed to the disease while at the same time looking at successes and failures in trying to mitigate the social anomaly.
It is unfortunate that up to now, a lasting solution remains elusive for the world and people continue to perish like poisoned cockroaches. It is saddening that behavioural change among people is subtle as many people continue to engage in reckless behavior.  It is an open secret that the world’s oldest profession remains popular and a lucrative business in this country despite the presence of the dreaded disease.
The situation in drinking joints and other places such as bars and brothels is not encouraging at all. A visit to these places reveals a sorry state of affairs where the gains in the fight against the pandemic seem to be reversed.
The state of affairs has forced the Tanga District Commissioner, Halima Dendegu, to launch a crackdown against commercial sex workers in the city this week. This according to her is meant to make sure that Tanga residents uphold moral values and at the same time reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The coming in of the dread HIV/Aids seems to have brought with it confusion to humanity. This has seen many people doing or saying absurd things about the virus that a normal thinking person will never dare. The problem of mystifying HIV/AIDS has contributed to the stigma and discrimination those who contracted the disease are facing.
So many people have been segregated, chased out of their lodgings or lost their jobs simply because they contracted HIV. It is a shame that stigma and discrimination continue to rear its ugly head at a time where the whole globe is supposed to unite in fighting a common enemy.
It is high time we deal with stigma and discrimination. There is no need to segregate those living with the virus because no one is immune to it. The problem with those people who segregate others is that they are living in darkness, they have never gone for an HIV test and they simply don't know their status. In most cases, it is a matter of a pot calling another pot black. Gone are the days of thinking that someone with the virus is an outcast especially if we do not know our status.
This leads to many people going into self denial when they later get tested and find out that they are HIV positive. I know of many people, including my relatives, who ended up dying, denying that they had the virus despite the doctors having told them so. They sought solace in witchcraft as they spent their fortune and time going around consulting traditional healers, who in most cases tell them what they want to hear. They are told that they had been bewitched by their relatives who are jealous of their progress in life. What a shame!
I think it is high time we demystify this disease and begin treating it like any other. We know that it is compulsory, in some countries, for children to undergo immunization against the five killer diseases such as polio, typhoid, measles and so on then why can't it be compulsory for HIV.
The secrecy surrounding the disease is the one that is killing us. If testing could be made compulsory and made mandatory that the results are not secretive as they are now, then all the mystery surrounding HIV will disappear and in the long run, will be treated as any other disease where people will be open about it. I believe that the reason we have a lot of stigma and discrimination is the fact that AIDS has been mystified and is viewed as taboo.
 Governments, throughout the world, especially in Africa should put in place laws compelling men and women to first of all get tested before getting married. Many lives could be saved that way as many people will get into their marriages knowing the status of their loved ones. This will then make them take precautionary measures and avoid infecting each other.
 A lot of ground still has to be covered in as far as fighting this disease is concerned. It only takes us to change the perception we have of the disease.
Ends

DSG: Changing lives of women, less privileged

Simbarashe Msasanuri

All roads led to the International School of Tanganyika (IST) recently where the Diplomatic Spouses Group (DSG) held its Annual Charity Bazaar with the aim of changing lives of the less privileged. It was a hive of activity at the school as thousands of people from different walks of lives, thronged the venue to play a part in the historic event.

The place was overcrowded and one could be forgiven to mistaken it for the Buguruni or Kariakoo market as people jostled to buy commodities on offer, whose proceedings were channeled towards charity.  The only notable difference was the type of people doing the shopping as top dignitaries and executives formed the bulk of the customers.

Second hand clothing, handcrafts, books, toys African attires and various other commodities were on display.

 Food lovers were not left out as different countries offered their traditional foods, giving the opportunity to those home-sick expatriates to have a feel of their delicacies. 

Parking space was a problem and some people had no option but to park far away from the school and finish the journey on foot. This quickly describes the atmosphere at this year’s bazaar, an event aimed at changing lives of the less privileged.

The Bazaar is a major fundraising event of DSG, supporting local initiatives which assist Tanzania’s most vulnerable citizens, most often women and children, physically and mentally challenged.

While officially opening the event, Asha Bilal, the wife of the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilal, praised DSG for their life changing initiatives.

“The Diplomatic Spouses Group supports local initiatives that assist Tanzania’s most marginalized in society- women, children and the physically and mentally challenged. The Bazaar has been an enduring tradition for the DSG,” she said before adding that the work of the Diplomatic Spouses is an example for all of us and so relevant to the challenges today around the world.

“The work of the DSG is exemplary. From empowering women in Kagera, inspiring the disabled to create world class craft in Iringa, providing education to pastoralist girls in Arusha, literacy to Masaai women in Simanjiro to supporting street children in Dar es salaam and many others in society, the range and breath of DSG’s impact and influence on our society is unparalleled,”

She said the DSG’s collective consciousness has been instrumental in practically transforming the society in an important way such as inspiring and giving vigour to communities they support.

“The underlying principle of giving is that each one of us is charged with leaving the world a better place than we found it. To do that we have to use all the resources that we are blessed with – our material and intellectual wealth, the power and position we may be occupying in the community, and our personal spiritual strength and courage to make hard decisions about our situations and conditions, “ Bilal said.

The DGS Chairperson, Juliana Parroni, who is the wife to the Switzerland Ambassador to Tanzania, Olivier Chave, while addressing the same gathering, said the Bazaar has a special place in the diplomatic calendar of Dar es Salaam, adding that it was an opportunity to raise awareness of different countries’ handcrafts, food and culture as well as celebrating the traditions and culture of the host country.

According to her, last year’s Bazaar raised over 73m/- used to support 16 NGOs throughout Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

“The DSG strongly emphasizes accountability and follow through. Project selection and grant monitoring is carefully done by a special committee. Our grants are small but carefully targeted,” she said.

And, during an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News,’ Parroni said that her organization targets projects with strong leadership, that are sustainable and that come from the community.

“We don’t fund individuals but NGOs through grants ranging between 5 to 15million/-. And, we target those projects that are too small for donours because it’s small groups that need support such as water projects, poultry projects for elderly women and so on,” she said.

She added that the money realized during Saturday’s event will be disbursed by March next year, where the group will go through all applications and come up with eligible beneficiaries.

Parroni went on to thank all the organizations that supported the event before heaping praise on Mrs Bilal and other top dignitaries who graced the event. She also hailed ambassadors for their support towards this cause.

She, however, urged Tanzanians to support the cause as many disadvantaged groups needed help.

Asked for a comment, the Switzerland Ambassador to Tanzania, Olivier Chave, said the event is very useful as it goes a long way in helping the disadvantaged.

“We have always supported this event and we had to import our traditional food from Switzerland for this event. As you can see the food is being served at our pavilion.

“Tanzania is united.  The idea is to come together, so many cultures, languages to achieve a common objective,” said Chave.

Last year’s event benefited 15 projects and some of the recipients include  Kidzcare, an orphanage based in Bagamoyo that had a security fence erected;  classroom furniture bought for Loreto girls Secondary School based in Mwanza; Emusoi Centre, benefited through the purchase of text books and dictionaries for the pastoralists girls in Arusha; A street children supporting organization, Makini, based in Dar es Salaam was provided with most of their basic needs as well as art projects, recreational activities and basic nutrition; Neema Crafts Centre that cares for disabled people was offered training  and employment opportunities in Iringa and WomenCraft of Kagera was economically empowered for the benefit of artisanal  women.

DSG is a non profit organization comprised of persons with diplomatic status in Tanzania and its mandate is to be a social and charitable organization which is non-political, non- governmental, and non-profit.

 

Neema Swai: A woman flying her dream

By Simbarashe Msasanuri

 It was on a Monday afternoon around 3 O’clock at Progress Flight Academy in South Africa, an aviation training institute, when a young female trainee pilot bubbling with confidence and the prospects of a dream come true, prepared to embark on her second solo flight.

 Everything looked normal and the weather was not only favourable but encouraging. After conducting her routine checks as taught by the lecturers and under the supervision of an instructor by the name Jolene, she headed for the cockpit and when she ascertained that everything was in order, the then 19-year-old lady switched on the engine ready to conquer the skies.

With a promising future ahead, the flight was important in that it added on to her flight hours, something that is important when one is considered for hiring as a pilot in the competitive aviation industry.  Since nothing was amiss with the Cessna 172 aeroplane, she quickly headed for the runway where in no time she started gaining altitude. The take off was smooth and one could have mistaken her for a fully qualified and experienced pilot.

Hardily a few minutes after takeoff, and after sighing a sign of relief for a job well done, the young lady got the shock of her life. She discovered that the fuel tanks of her plane were leaking and this signalled danger.  She had two options: to continue with the journey and let fate take its toll or to abort the flight and institute an emergency landing.

Even though the experience was as terrifying as that of a prisoner under death row coming out of the situation alive was not guaranteed, she did not panic. She gathered all the courage she could muster, coupled with the training she had undertaken and commandeered the plane back to the runway.

“I was really afraid but luckily my training was up to standard and I managed to perform as required (abort the flight),” she said.

But, as fate would have it and immediately after touching down, she realized that the aircraft's brakes were faulty, and it took the entire runway for it to stop. When the plane finally ground to a halt, without any eventualities, her colleagues and some lecturers were waiting for her, congratulating her for a courageous conduct. She had conquered her own world.

Though Neema confesses that the incident scared her and while she was still trying to come to terms with reality, the faulty aeroplane was taken for inspection. And, as if what had happened was not enough, the Chief Instructor at the Academy ordered that she be given another plane and continue with training.

“I was really scared and getting into another plane barely 30 minutes after another aborted flight was difficult. But, I gathered courage and managed to finish the solo flight that day without problems,” she said.

This reads like a fairy tale from a fiction story or a script from a Hollywood movie but is a true story of a young and dynamic Tanzanian pilot, Neema Swai, flying our skies today. Though the incident was scary and life-threatening, Neema never looked back; she had a dream to live.

Since her childhood, Neema's dream was to become a pilot, and she worked hard for it. Born in Arusha 25 years ago, Neema is a first officer with Precision Air (PW) Services and confesses that the sky remains the limit.

The soft-spoken Neema, is a Tanzanian young lady hailing from Machame in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region. In a bid to prepare her for the world ahead, her parents enrolled her at Juja Preparatory School in Nairobi, Kenya where the seeds of her dream were planted.

“At an early age I took aviation as a subject which was offered in my primary school and ever since I've always been fascinated by the aviation world and never saw myself doing anything else and with a very supportive family I managed to live my dream,” she said.

After completing her primary education in Kenya, she moved to Kabojja Secondary School in Uganda where she continued with her education. When she passed her Ordinary Levels, she was 16 years old then and was too young to join aviation school, so she had to enroll for Advanced Level where she studied Physics, Geography and Mathematics ( PGM).   

Neema remembers that when she told her parents that she wanted to be a pilot, they told her to study hard and pass with flying colours if ever she had hopes to be one.

And, after her high school in 2007, the second born to Mr Ellysoon Kirenga Swai and Mrs Sikudhani Mwenda Swai, joined Progress Flight Department in South Africa, for a one year aviation course, opening the doors for her to the male dominated profession.

Asked on whether she was afraid during her first ever flight, Neema said that, “No I wasn't, in fact I'd say I was very excited because finally my dream was in my grasp.”

When she graduated from the flight school, Neema started working at the age of 20. She is among eight women pilots working with Precision Air, and probably the youngest.

Armed with approximately over 2800hrs of flying experience Neema's day-to-day life is busy, flying passengers from one country to the other in East and Central Africa. To date, she has flown in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Commenting on the most challenging airport within those she has landed, Neema said, “of all the airfields I've flown to I enjoy flying in to Bukoba, it's always a new challenge due to the adverse weather and runway length.”

“I am rated on the Cessna 172, Pipper Pa28,Pa30, ATR-72-500,ATR-42-500 and now the first and only ATR-42-600 in Africa and am lucky to be at Precision Air to be the first female pilot to fly it in Africa,” she added.

Balancing work and personal time is not a challenge for her, “I chose to be a pilot. So I have learned to balance things and I like it. My work is a bit of a challenge but it is exciting. I have been exposed to the rest of the world and I have gained a lot of experience.”

Neema says that though some careers are termed to be male dominated, it is time for women and the rest of the society to do away with that notion.

She however, said that there are many challenges and for a female pilot to gain the respect and approval in the aviation industry, “you work twice as hard as a male pilot due to the fact that it’s been a male dominated field.”

Commenting on women and careers, Neema said that self respect and motivation is essential in professional growth for any woman, adding that women are in a good position to tackle 'hard' professions such as engineering.

“Everyone has the capacity to perform well in various fields. All it takes is self respect and commitment. You will meet situations that will pull you down but that is normal. Keep your focus and you will succeed.

“It is through having this in my mind that I have come this far. I urge any other woman out there not to be fooled but to keep up their focus and spirits.  This is my fourth year working as a pilot and it is not the end. I have so much I would like to achieve,” says Neema.

The second born in a family of three is grateful to her family for the support they have given to her to come this far.

“I am grateful to my parents and siblings, elder sister Eshy and younger brother Kelvin. They have been my greatest inspiration all through. I could not be here without them,” she says, adding that families form the foundation of everyone's career.  

Neema's dream is to fly the Boeing 747 because it’s state-of-the-art and modernized aeroplane making it a dream for every pilot, and she also hopes to, one day, own an aircraft. “I want to use it to move around.”

In a bid to keep fit Neema had this to say, “well I swim, go to the gym and take power walks to keep me fit and ready for my long sitting hours.”

“Never settle for anything less than what you believe in always motive yourself towards your goals and dreams and remember to work hard towards it,” she concludes.