Eric Samuel

'Gender and Social Justice in Tanzania' 1. ♀ Located in East Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 1964 by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, both recently liberated from British colonial rule.♀ With a population of nearly 43 million people, it is one of the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries.♀ Tanzania is ranked 152 out of 187 on UNDP’s 2011 Human Development Index. 2. Tanzania’s National Strategy for Gender & Development identified key challenges relating to gender equality in Tanzania: ♀ Patriarchal system; customs & traditions that discriminate against women and perpetuate gender inequalities ♀ Inadequacies of the legal and institutional framework ♀ Lack of capacity for implementing programs towards gender equality & women’s empowerment ♀ Persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women ♀ Inequalities in arrangements for productive activities and in access to resources (continued) 3. ♀ Inequalities in the sharing of power and decision‐making♀ Inequality in access to education, especially secondary and tertiary education♀ Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women♀ Inequalities in managing natural resources and safeguarding the environment 4. “At the family level, boys (have been) socialized at the father’s fireplace school and girls by mothers in the kitchen school. While boys were trained to be ‘men’ [outside looking, open minded, and making decisions], girls were trained for their role of housewife and mother.”The dominant family structure in Tanzania had been the extended family, but it is now shifting to nuclear as more people migrate to cities away from their extended families. Polygamy exists among some tribal cultures and Muslims, but it is decreasing due to the influence of Christianity, the education of women, and limited money to support multiple households. 5. The following video link of an interview with Tanzanian women offers a picture of the treatment of women in their society – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpSZ5adaCjE 6. ♀ As is the case with all of the gender-related issues highlighted in this presentation, education, good governance, and money (program funding, responsible economic empowerment) are key to making changes.♀ For a society in which gender inequality is accepted as part of deeply ingrained cultural beliefs and traditions, it is critical to have respected opinion shapers voice educational messages. 7. “Giving birth holds deadly risks for mothers in Tanzania, where on average one woman and six infants die each hour from preventable, birth-related complications.” - PBS NewsHour The following video clip offers a glimpse of maternal health in Tanzania: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUXC5RK07eI 8. “Many women who die in childbirth (in Tanzania) are young and healthy, and most maternal deaths are preventable with basic obstetrical care.” – New York Times♀ Maternal mortality is 790 per 100,000 live births (WHO 2011).♀ According to slightly different data (with a lower MMR) used by the medical journal, Lancet, in a 2010 report, Tanzania’s MMR translated to a global rank of 148 out of 181.♀ Main causes of maternal mortality in Tanzania are: Hemorrhaging, Infection, High blood pressure, Prolonged labor, and Abortion-related complications 9. ♀ Death is not the only all-too-common result of pregnancy and childbirth for women in Tanzania. One debilitating and long-term result can be obstetric fistula (OF).♀ OF is a painful and marginalizing health condition resulting from complications during childbirth.♀ Women with OF often live in shame, isolated and shunned by their community, friends, and even family.♀ It can result from prolonged labor, female genital mutilation, giving birth too young – before a pelvis has time to fully develop, insufficient ante-natal care, and the “3 delays” described later. 10. Tanzania’s overall health statistics are greatly troublesome.♀ Tanzania is ranked 192 out of 192 countries for physician density, with a mere 0.008 physicians per 1,000 people.♀ It is ranked 140 out of 183 for hospital bed density, with 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people.♀ Just over 5% of its GDP is spent on healthcare.♀ With an overall low life expectancy of 52.85 years, its maternal and infant mortality rates are high: 790 per 100,000 live births and 66.93 per 1,000 live births. 11. The 3 delays:Maternal mortality occurs most often due to what is termed the 3 delays, which are: ♀ Delay in seeking healthcare ♀ Delay in reaching a healthcare facility ♀ Delay in getting medical attentionOther cohort members have reported identical or similar causes of maternal mortality in their project countries, including Nepal, Pakistan, India, Angola, Ghana, and Latin America/Caribbean, such as: Hemorrhage, Sepsis/Infection, Hypertensive Disorders, Complications from Abortion, and Obstructed Labor 12. These similar causes have their roots in lack of access to adequate medical care, which must be addressed in paving a way forward, including: ♀ Lack of knowledge about, and the cultural acceptance of, what adequate medical care during pregnancy and childbirth means ♀ Lack of adequately trained health professionals ♀ Lack of nearby medical centers equipped to deal with childbirth complications, or lack of reasonable access to transportation to reach such centers ♀ Early childhood marriage, female genital mutilation, and other traditional practices that cause childbirth complications ♀ Lack of adequate ante-natal care 13. “(In Tanzania), there is no law against domestic violence, specifically.” – USAIDThe major forms of GBV in Tanzania are: ♀ Domestic and intimate partner violence ♀ Sexual violence ♀ Female genital mutilation ♀ Trafficking 14. ♀ The major form of violence practiced against women in Tanzania is domestic and intimate partner violence.♀ According to a study by Tanzanian NGO, Kivulini, Tanzania is “among the 50 countries in the world with (a) high percentage of domestic violence against women.”♀ Domestic violence statistics in Tanzania demonstrate highly localized areas of intense, rampant violence against women. This same study reported that “82 per cent of women in the Lake zone and Singida Region are subjected to domestic violence.” 15. ♀ "Domestic violence is ♀ "I was beaten by a man with rampant for various whom I was living and had a reasons, including child with…He used a stick patriarchal and cultural to beat me and broke my beliefs as well as practices kneecap. I had to undergo that degrade women. A an operation to insert a plate man can do anything in my knee. I have never against a woman simply recovered because the because he had paid injured left leg is now dowry." shorter. The man was never - Ananilea Nkya, executive director of taken to court.” Tanzania Media Womens Association - Halima Mikidadi, Dar es Salaam 16. “According to Tanzania health statistics, FGM affects 18 per cent of the country’s female population. Despite the fact that the government criminalized FGM in 1998, this traditional cultural practice still exists.” - UNESCO The Maternal and Neonatal Program Effort Index reports that female genital mutilation contributes to childbirth complications, including bleeding, tearing, and infection. 17. ♀ The major forms of violence against children in Tanzania are: – Child labor – Early child marriage – Child trafficking The following video clip offers one experience of child marriage, from the child herself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAqqxlz5Tg 18. ♀ Adequate laws to protect women and children from violence must be put in place and enforced.♀ Education on the unacceptability of gender-based violence is key: with messages tailored to audiences of men, women, and children.♀ Opinion shapers have a duty to speak out against GBV, rather than ignore it or claim it is acceptable and something to be endured.This video clip demonstrates the positive effect educational campaigns focused on men can have: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHizM1ifUxk 19. The key environmental challenges Tanzania currently faces include: ♀ Access to potable water ♀ Soil degradation ♀ Deforestation ♀ Desertification ♀ Recent droughts affecting marginal agriculture 20. ♀ There are significant impacts on both women and children with regard to water.♀ Limited access requires people (in Tanzania, the role primarily belongs to women and girls) to walk long distances to fetch safe water, which results in gender- based violence and lack of schooling for girls.♀ According to the paper, Diverting the Flow: A Resource Guide to Gender, Rights and Water Privatization, “Every day, many women and girls walk or travel long distances to bring water to their families, often at the expense of education, income generating activities, cultural and political involvement, and rest and recreation.” 21. The following music video gives you a sense of the watergiver’s burden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA4GvfDIYUA 22. ♀ Land degradation leaves soil in such poor condition it is either difficult or impossible to use for agricultural cultivation, which leads to a greater workload and level of input in order to try to coax some yield from the land to put food on the table.♀ According to the UN, “This added burden usually falls disproportionately on women (except for land clearing work), because they are predominantly involved in food crop cultivation and activities connected with livestock.” 23. Ideas to improve soil and water conservation: ♀ Work with communities to build and maintain community water sources ♀ Educate communities on farming techniques to improve soil quality ♀ Harvest rain water ♀ Promote environmentally sustainable practices at all levels: individual, private/corporate, public It is also critical to ensure the safety of women and girls as they travel to obtain water. 24. ♀ A Woman’s VOICE can be a powerful tool in society – whether in family life, community affairs, the political arena, journalism, academia, or the arts.♀ Although there are some example of this in Tanzania, there is a long way to go in providing a safe space and opportunities for women to voice their concerns and ideas. 25. ♀ Tanzania ranks 15 out of 187 countries in terms of women seated in the lower and upper houses of national parliaments.♀ Most of this is due to the provision of “special seat” quotas, established when the country moved from a single-party to multi-party system in 1992.♀ Other categories of special seats were also established at this time, including those for youth, the army, and workers. 26. ♀ According to the paper, The Politics of Quotas in Tanzania: “The idea of special seats was to ensure that the voices of special categories of citizens were heard in parliament. The thrust was not to bring about balance, but to incorporate these voices, which otherwise would have been at a disadvantage in the ‘normal’ electoral process.”♀ We can see from the table in the next slide - when comparing “women’s seats” and “total women” - that few women are actually popularly elected to these positions.♀ While quotas can be a step in the right direction if utilized properly, along with other measures to promote gender equity, they cannot necessarily be relied on as a true measure of female voice. 27. Constituencie Women sYear s seats Total women Total Seats % total seats 2005 17 75 92 307 29.97 2000 12 48 60 279 21.51 1995 8 37 45 269 16.73 1990 2 19 21 242 8.68 2005 17 75 92 307 29.97 2000 12 48 60 279 21.51 1995 8 37 45 269 16.73 28. In speaking about women being elected to political office in Tanzania as opposed to receiving appointment due to special seat quotas, the organization Research and Education for Democracy in Tanzania (REDET) articulated a number of barriers:“There are a multitude of reasons which account for women’s low participation in electoral politics (in Tanzania)… In a nutshell, some of the reasons include: low positioning of women in the society due to social cultural norms and values, lack of economic power, legal and regulatory environment, lack of political support by existing political parties, which in turn impact their ability to access electoral resources, such as media, the type of electoral regime, which translates in lack of political will to transform the politics of exclusion.” 29. ♀ Women should be, can be, and are influential in all walks of life.♀ Music is the most popular form of expression and communication in Tanzania. As such, female musicians can play a role in giving Tanzanian women a voice in society, as strides are slowly made in other areas of culture and society. 30. One example of the positive and influential role a woman’s voice can play in Tanzania is Nakaaya, a popular musician, who sings about social issues. Listen to Nakaaya’s VOICE here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2461HqUizAw 31. ♀ It is clear that, at the base, gender equity must take root at the basic levels of life in order for true change to occur.♀ While political quotas can be helpful, a woman’s voice must be promoted in all walks of life. 32. ♀ According to one Tanzanian participant in a UN-sponsored online discussion on women in leadership roles: I believe Tanzania is among the leading African countries in promoting gender equality and giving women leadership opportunities... However, improved policy making and gender sensitization cannot easily be measured by having a woman leader in a ministry, agency or department, and if this is the case, I do not think it is sustainable. I think gender sensitivity is a culture that we are breeding, and although in a disoriented manner, it is slowly being reflected. We still need to do a lot in different socio-cultural, economic, political, public and private institutions to nurture positive gender sensitivity. 33. According to the UN document, Women and Decision- Making, some strategy areas that have been identified for increasing the representation of women in politics include: ♀ Setting targets ♀ Affirmative action (which would include quotas) ♀ Review of electoral systems ♀ Public awareness campaign ♀ Encouraging women to join politics ♀ Support for women candidates ♀ Support for women parliamentarians ♀ Support for women in democratization, peace and conflict resolution 34. Capstone Topic – Preventing Stigma and Violence Toward People with Albinism in Tanzania Gender Dimensions:♀ When Tanzanian women without albinism give birth to children with albinism, they are often accused of sleeping with a white man.♀ The birth of a child with albinism is sometimes viewed as a curse due to something a woman did wrong during her pregnancy.♀ A new belief has arisen – sleeping with a woman with albinism is a cure for AIDS. Tanzanian women with albinism are now being raped as a result. 35. ♀ Tanzania is a beautiful country with beautiful people, but the dangers women and children face are particularly troublesome problems.♀ Deeply-rooted traditions, culture, poverty, lack of access to education and basic health services all contribute to the perpetuation of these problems.♀ Progress is being made, but it is slow, and women and children are suffering and dying in too great numbers.♀ Hopefully this presentation has offered some insight into the problems and some ideas for a way forward. MR ERIC SAMUEL KUHOGA mpendwaeric@yahoo.com morogoro tanzania east africa +255753599827

Speedy deletion nomination of User:Eric Samuel

If this is the first article that you have created, you may want to read the guide to writing your first article.

You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.

A tag has been placed on User:Eric Samuel, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the page seems to be unambiguous advertising which only promotes a company, product, group, service or person and would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become encyclopedic. Please read the guidelines on spam and Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations for more information.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be removed without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator. — O Fortuna! ^{Imperatrix mundi.} 08:58, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

Contested deletion

The Sandawe of Tanzania

Population: 40,000 Religion: Traditional Nature Animism Registry of Peoples code: Sandawe: 108634 Registry of Languages code (Ethnologue): Sandawe: sad

NARRATIVE PROFILE

Location: The Sandawe people are a small group living in north central Tanzania in Kondo District, near the town of Kondoa, between the Mponde and Bubu rivers.

History: The Sandawe are a small remaining group of a race of people that originally lived over much of Africa. The San, called the Bushmen by the Dutch in South Africa, were the first people we know of in the Rift Valley. As they came under pressure from invading and immigrant peoples, the non-aggressive hunter-gatherers often moved away or were absorbed by intermarriage, or more often were killed off. The San as a group are considered to be the oldest human lineage in the world.

Southern Cushites then Eastern Cushites were followed by the Highland Nilotes (Kalenjin Cluster), then the early Bantu. Oral traditions of the Kikuyu of Kenya refer to the Athi (the ground people), whom the Kikuyu paid for the right to move into their land. The Athi are thought to be the original San people of the area.

Some San peoples seem to be in existence now speaking the Bantu language of their dominant neighbors. The herding and tilling of the immigrant peoples, with their metal implements and weapons, upset the Sandawe way of life and sources of food.

Identity: The Sandawe are racially different from the surrounding tribes. Whereas most of the tribes in Tanzania are Bantu people, and the nearby Maasai are Nilotic, the Sandawe speak a San language. Some Sandawe have features more like the San people of southern Africa, while others look more like their Bantu neighbours.

They have a coppery brown skin and tend to be smaller than the surrounding peoples. Photos show some Sandawe to have knotty hair like that of the Bushmen, commonly referred to as peppercorn hair. They are reported to have the epicanthic fold of the eyelid (like East Asian peoples) common to the Bushmen. See two photos of Sandawe among other Tanzania peoples here.

The Sandawe are a remnant of the earlier inhabitants of the area, thought to have once covered all of eastern and southern Africa. Another related people in Tanzania are the Hatsa (or Hadzapi). Some think the pygmies in Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire are related, though they now speak the Bantu language of their neighbors and have more Bantu features.

The Bantu name "Twa" for the pygmy peoples living in the forested areas around the Great Lakes of Eastern Africa is the same word the Zulus use for the Khoisan click-language speakers they found in their early migrations into what beacme Natal province of South Africa, now called Gauteng. One San tribe there today is still called Twa.

Recent DNA studies have confirmed the relationship of the Sandawe and Hazape people to both the San and the Pygmy groups in eastern Congo.

According to Knight et al. (2003), Hadza Y-haplogroups mainly consist of B2b-M112 (12/23 = 52%), i.e. the same subclade of Y-haplogroup B that is present in typical Pygmy groups like Mbuti and Baka as well as in populations that speak Northern Khoisan languages, such as the Ju|’hoansi. The high presence of haplogroup E1b1a-M2 (7/23 = 30%) shows a marked Bantu admixture, and the rest is predominantly formed by haplogroup E1b1b1-M35 (3/23 = 13%). The Y-DNA of one of the sampled Hadza males (1/23 = 4%) was tested only enough to determine that he belonged to either haplogroup C or haplogroup F.

Their mtDNA lineages are formed by L4 (mainly a Sandawe lineage L4g) and L2 (mainly a Mbuti lineage L2a1), and none of them is shared with the San from South Africa, who originally belong to L0d/L0k mtDNA haplogroups. The overall genetic picture suggests that the original Hadza population, possessing Y-chromosome haplogroup B2b and mtDNA haplogroup L4g, was influenced by gene flow from the Bantu and East Africans. Wikipedia, "Hadza People" Similarly, findings related to the "Pygmy" peoples of Central Africa, in reference to the San group, are described thus:

"Genetically, the pygmies are extremely divergent from all other human populations, suggesting they have an ancient indigenous lineage. Their uniparental markers represent the most ancient divergent ones right after those typically found in Khoisan peoples." Wikipedia, "Pygmy People" Language: The Sandawe language includes click sounds as consonants and is also tonal. Totally unrelated to other languages around them, it is difficult to learn. The language is related to the languages of the Bushmen (San) and Hottentots (Khoi) of southern Africa and is classified as a Khoisan language. It is considered to constitute a separate branch of the Khoisan family of languages.

The Hadzapi, also in northern Tanzania, are the only other aboriginal people in Eastern Africa still speaking a Khoisan language. Their language is also so different that it likewise constitutes aseparate branch of Khoisan. Comparative linguists theorize from comparison of the Sandawe and Hadzape languages with other San languages that the point of origin of San speech was here in Eastern Africa.

Political Situation: The traditional living patterns of the Sandawe left them isolated from other peoples. They were pressed by immigrant groups for millennia. Into modern times they were outside the political and social mainstream. The socialist Tanzania government forced the Sandawe to limit their movement and settle down. As they lost their hunting areas, their sources of food diminished, but they found it hard to make a transition. Their experience with farming and herding has resulted in economic disaster.

Customs: The Sandawe are known as a monogamous people, in contrast to the traditional practice of their neighbours. Some sources, however, comment that they have recently adopted polygamy from their Bantu neighbours. They have been associated with rock art that is very similar to the rock art of the southern San peoples, but with some unique features. See links at the end of this profile for more on this topic.

They have traditionally been hunters and gatherers of food, moving their portable shelters wherever there was game. In the past generation, the village-based development program of the Tanzanian central government has encouraged the Sandawe to develop a more sedentary lifestyle based on farming. Maybe one-fourth of the Sandawe have migrated to the areas around the towns of Arusha and Dodoma.

The Sandawe now own cattle and cultivate with metal hoes instead of their original wooden digging sticks, but still maintain their hunting, including pig and elephant. The men also still gather wild honey and women gather wild fruits and vegetables and dig roots with sticks.

Because of their healthy lifestyle and wide diet, the Sandawe have a much higher level of health than their Bantu neighbors. They do not suffer the kwashiorkor or other deficiency conditions of their neighbors. During the 20th century, the Sandawe have shifted from their traditional movable structures called sundu, to more solid rectangular houses of the tembe type of their Bantu neighbors.

Sandawe hold all-night dances to the music of drums in the moonlight. The Sandawe have a great musical and dance tradition, with beer-drinking at their celebrations. There are celebrations for each area of life, each with its own music: hunting, hoeing, circumcision, etc. Curing rituals have their own music. Their instruments are musical bows and a trough zither.

The elders tell the children stories of the past, conveying their history, traditions and wisdom. They also value riddles and have an art of humorous insult. In many of their traditional stories the Sandawe identify with the small animals whose cunning and intelligence gives them victory over their more powerful enemies. Men today commonly wear the Muslim brimless hat, called kofia, common to other peoples in central Tanzania.

Religion: Islam has influenced the eastern section of the Sandawe. Roman Catholicism has influenced the southern section. Most Sandawe still practice their animistic faith which includes the reverence for the moon. The moon is seen as a symbol of life, fertility and good will. Their traditional beliefs emphasize living in harmony with nature, which is a common feature of the San people of southern Africa.

The Sandawe religion gives a central place to cave spirits living in the hills, to ancestor worship and divination. They fear the cave spirits and no hunting, herding or wood-gathering is allowed near their caves. They make annual sacrifices to appease the hill spirits, shouting prayers loudly as they climb to the sacrificing area. They also sacrifice at the graves of their ancestors in public ceremonies.

The San peoples practice their traditional tribal religious rituals and they are very closed to Christianity. They believe in a High God, called Warongwe, a distant spirit that is not active in their lives. They see certain animals (especially the praying mantis) and celestial bodies (sun, moon, morning star, and the southern cross) as symbols of divinity. The moon is believed to be the source of rain and fertility. They also believe that dancing near a sacred fire will bring healing. Some reports indicate 10% of the people are Muslim.

One source comments further on the nature-relationship of their traditional religion:

"The gods of the Sandawe are activated by an erotic dance, phek'umo, in which the act of love is mimicked in embrace by the dancers. The Moon is seen to be part of the cycle of fertility; in the cycle of months and in the menses of women...so people dance by moonlight and adopt stances and postures in the dance which represent the phases of the moon. This dance embeds the necessity for human and earth fertility in the body, mind, and spirit of the dancers as they work the fields or the banana in Tanzania." However, one of the few scholarly articles accessible on the Sandawe culture commented in 1969, "Nowadays the phek'umo is rarely performed...."1

Christianity: Estimates of percentage Christian vary considerably. Some estimates are as high as 80%, but other investigators say this is unrealistic. The Africa Inland Church has three Tanzanian families and one missionary family engaged in outreach to the Sandawe. More workers are needed. A Bible translation project is underway in the Sandawe language.

Several Anglican and Pentecostal groups have worked with the Sandawe people, and there are gospel recordings in their language. A Bible translation project is underway and has some Bible books online in print and audio. There is also a dramatic film of Luke. All these are free to download

There has been little positive response to the gospel. The transition to a more settled farming life may make it easier to plant a church community among the Sandawe people, as well as to improve their health and education. ___________________________________________ 1Eric Ten Raa, "The Moon as a Symbol of Life and Fertility in Sandawe Thought" Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan., 1969), pp. 24-53.

Related Profiles The !Kung The Gwikwe Bushmen The Mbarakwengo Bushmen

Related Topic on This Site How We Determine Ethnicity What is a People Group?

More on the Sandawe People: Book Reviews with Information about the Sandawe and their Neighbours Bushman Eland-bull Dance of Girls' Puberty Rites A Christian Project Among the Sandawe Difficulties of the Sandawe and other Minority Peoples Dr Helen I Presume — Web site of a linguist working on the Sandawe language The Drama Of The Holy A Forest Shared by the Sandawe and Other Hunters Photos of Sandawe and other Tanzanians San — Human Genetic and Linguistic Origins San Rock Art in Tanzania Sandawe-Hadza Rock Art Sandawe-Hadza Rock Art Irangi Hills Sandawe Iyari Dance Performed When Twins are Born Sandawe Language – Gombo-Kaya

   Download, listen or read online Sandawe stories, portions from the Bible and even the whole video of the Gospel of Luke in Sandawe. 

Sandawe Phek'umo Fertility Dance