Features

African social conducts rules must address women empowerment

By Elisha Magolanga

The world has witnessed the International Women’s Day on 8^th March this year, and it is time more Tanzanian men actively support gender equality for women to ensure the prosperity of nation and the future of their children.

Mahatma Gandhi said “Women have been suppressed under custom and law for which man was responsible and in the shaping of which she had no hand. Rules of social conduct must be framed by mutual co-operation and consultation. Women have been taught to regard themselves as slaves of men” Therefore, women must realize their full status and play their part as equals of men.

In patriarchal societies like Tanzania girls and women are under the control and authority of men and are often given a lower social status. The high level of violence against women and the higher HIV infection rate among girls and women are tragic consequences of female disempowerment.

The Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children (2010) reported that, in many areas of Tanzania girls are socialised to become home keepers and child bearers, placing less value on their education and economic attainment. 

Often when a woman undertakes certain production activity and becomes successful, her husband, a spouse or male relative tries to take the control of the activity or money generated.   

According to Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHV) 2010, only 30 per cent of currently married and employed women are paid cash for their work compared to 50% of men while the situation is worse for rural women where by only 28% of them are allowed to decide on spending their cash earned something quite different from 48% of urban women.

The unequal access to earned financial resources has negative impacts not only in economic level but also affect health outcomes Tanzania families. (TDHV) reports that only 15% of women make decision on their health matters compared to 66% of men.  

 Leena Raiskio from United Nations Development Fund for Women (Finland UNIFEM) who lives in Turku said “In Finland we have a very good public family- and parenthood service-system. Men are active in reproductive health to their wives; also women are free to take care of their health themselves without interfered by their husband” 

“We are five children in our family, two boys and three girls. Our parents give all of us equal social status. There is no gender inequality among us” said Laura Heino a Finnish girl form Helsinki University. 

She added that when the woman is pregnant, usually couples (mother and father) go to the maternity clinic together. The nurse is taking care of the pregnancy issues concerning parenthood as well, and talks with the parents. It is a good support system for families.

Auli and Mikko Ryökäs are couples in Lieto, together said that, they have division of labour in their family for some basic works but sometime they share duties together. “I help my wife some domestic work like washing clothes, cooking food, and cleaning the house” said Mikko.  

As former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said when opening the 50^th session of the UN Commission of the status of women. He said “No tool for development is more effective than women empowerment” 

Varrisuo Lutheran church initiates toward Islamic religion    

By Elisha Magolanga

In most part of the world there are some people think that it is impossible Christians and Muslims to share religious interests and think they are great religious enemies. This is due to the presence of religious bloodshed in some countries like Nigeria massive of people have been killed.

The situation is quite different in Finland, for several times The Lutheran Church in Varrisuo have been invited Muslims groups in church to sing during multicultural performance worship. 

Arriving at Varrisuo Lutheran Church the Tutka found a Parish Pastor, Riku Laukkanen in his office, few kilometers from Turku city center where it is in the middle of the area which third of the population comes from different countries. Over 50 languages are spoken including Russian, Somali an, Bosnian, Estonian, Ethiopian, Swedish, Pakistanis, Chinese, Philippines, Kudistanish, etc. 

Pastor Riku said that the idea of inviting Muslim and other people from different ethnic backgrounds was there for several years. Through the partnership with  Finnish Missionary Society  the church has introduce a project known as Multicultural Initiative in Varrisuo that unity people from different ethnic backgrounds to interact social experience of life.    

“The basic reason for our initiative we were questioning how can we speak of love, kindness, solidarity and Christian values if we don’t show hospitality and openness toward people from different religions” said Rev. Riku Laukkanen.

Pastor Riku added that, the atmosphere between Christian and Muslims in Finland has been change to hard opinion; racism is there hence the Lutheran church started the Diversity Awareness Dialog program as the progressive training that will change people’s negative perceptions toward their differences and the workshop will be conducted in Varisuo whereas 20 people will be trained this year.

“The main goal of the church is to become multicultural community as well as church because in order to survival in this world, Lutheran should be multicultural and open hospitably church toward different people of the world”

Khalid from Benin in Turku is among Muslim who invited to sing in church, he said “our basic human life are same, we are all created by God so there is no need to have conflict between us, there is no necessity to fear each other” 

Nigeria has been wracked by periodic incidents of violence for decades. The country's 150 million people are divided about equally between Christians and Muslims and further fractured into about 250 tribes. Religion differences have divides the country's Muslim north from the Christian south. 

There are ominous signs in Nigeria that the campaign of violence by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is leading to wider and more explosive sectarian tensions in a country where Christian-Muslim relations are often worried and sometimes bloody.

In 30 December 2011 CNN witnessed widespread bloodshed in northern Nigeria, with churches and police stations among the targets. Boko Haram (which according to the group means "Western civilization is forbidden") has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on churches in central and northern Nigeria on Christmas Day, including one near the capital, Abuja, which killed nearly 30 people.

Furthermore, the Times Magazine reported the machete killings of hundreds of villagers near the central Nigerian city of Jos on March 2010.  The most victims were Christians, many of them women and children. It was revenge for clashes in the same city in January where by in that massacre, Christian attackers killed 300 Muslims.

According to Pastor, Rikku Laukkanen, the Lutheran Church in Varrisuo believes that hope, fear, wishes and dreams are same besides the basic questions of life are the same no matter where are we come from. 

Finish people crazy about tanzanite 

By Elisha Magolanga

 

No wonder, as anyone who has ever laid eyes on this gem can testify. A gem so exotic and so rare that it is found exclusively in area just a few kilometers long nearby town of Arusha, actually just a village approximately 50 kms to the northwest. The area is called Mererani and lies between Mount Kilimanjaro and the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. 

The Finish people know nothing about tanzanite although it is among worthy gemstone made expensive jewels in the world.

“I don’t know about tanzanite jewels however I have been selling jewels in different shops for more than three years” replied Elina jewels seller in Turku.

Mariane Jonathan (48) jewels seller in Helsinki said “It is difficult to find tanzanite in Finland because Finish people don’t know them… they are limited availability hence not common. Myself, I know tanzanite because I saw to my friend who have been in Tanzania about 20 years passed”

The Tutka arrived at the third floor of the University of Turku buildings to the geology department. In the small office with two big shelves covered with good number of books, most of them are geology, sat down with Kari Yli-Kyyny, a lecture and researcher on geography and geology studies want to know how he understands about Tanzanite.

Kari replied “Unfortunately our department of the geology has no teacher or a researcher who has specialized in gemstones but tanzanite is relatively rare and it has beautiful colors as a gemstone it is too soft”

“Wikipedia has explained tanzanite as the blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxy silicate) which was discovered in the Mererani Hills, it is used as a gemstone. Tanzanite is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism, appearing alternately sapphire blue, violet and burgundy depending on crystal orientation. Tanzanite can also appear differently when viewed under alternate lighting conditions” added Kari.

“Tanzanite market is valued up to twenty thousand dollars a carat at the beginning of this year! Of course, the larger the stone, the darker the color will be worth the most. The major market countries are US, India, Britain and France” said Stanley Mushi, a Tanzanite businessman from Mereani.

This amazing discovery of tanzanite was made by Tanzanian Jumanne Ngoma, (73) now living at Makanya village in Same district.

Speaking to Tutka Ngoma said “I found the tanzanite in Merelani Arusha, in the area called Kiteto at the beginning of 1967. I was on my way to visit my relatives who live in Kiteto, when walking through the bush I saw some crystals of a blue mineral lying on the ground. There were very nice… They were blue, some were transparent… In a few minutes I collected about 5kg and they were all very beautiful blue crystals”

“A friend of mine told me to get on the bus and go to Nairobi… where there was a much bigger gem market than in Arusha. I borrowed some money and I went to an overseas company which deals with precious stones and I allowed them see the 5kg of tanzanite. They didn’t even know what the mineral was. They told me that as soon as they knew, they would let me know. I left them with the 5kg of tanzanite in exchange for a return ticket, worth $5. Now 44 years have gone by and I’m still waiting for their answer! But I kept some samples for myself” added Ngoma.

Ngoma said “In 1^st May 1984 the Prime Minister Mzee Rashid Kawawa awarded me dicsovery certificate of tanzanite”

Tanzanite is not common because Tanzania is a third world country that gained independence in 1961. In 1971, a young and inexperienced government began to realize the financial potential of tanzanite.