TRAVELS, GADGETS, I-PODS AND BUS STOP MUSIC...

All images by Freddy Macha

Times are hard.

Very.

Sometimes you are (ruthlessly) reminded about this through daily reports of muggings, mass murder and pick pockets. Or how your budget does not fit the weekly shopping list, anymore. Salaries stay where they were ten years ago (and continually zoom down), while prices shoot up.

 Is this something new? You tell me.

I have always travelled.

 Either on foot to school when I was a little kid growing on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro; and a robust teenager on a (two days!) train journey from Arusha to Morogoro where I finished High School at Mzumbe in the 1970’s recession. Back then we thought things were tough.

Well, fact is they were. We had Black September hijacking planes.

“The cause of Palestinians must be heard!” shouted the determined militants. Those green days, the cause (and case) of Palestinians felt new. I had grown up believing Jews are the chosen children of God and anyone else is a dustbin. Truth is everyone is a child of God. We are all here to reap the rewards (and disasters) of mother earth. 

KINYAMKELA CHA MWANAHABARI JULIAN ASSANGE MJINI LONDON

 Niko katikati ya kitongoji cha matajiri, London...

Nimezungukwa na  majumba ya ghorofa, vigae, matofali ya kisasa,  vioo vitupu; mseto wa ujenzi. Punde nimekabiliana na Harrods-  duka maarufu la mamilionea  la ghorofa tano. Harrods imesimama mtaa wa Knightsbridge. Kando yake mna jumba dogo zaidi lenye  matofali rangi kikahawia mtindo wa karne ya kumi na tisa. Mtindo huu unalandana  na mila na desturi za Malkia Victoria aliyetawala karne hiyo (ya juzi) enzi za ukoloni. Nyanyake malkia Elisabeth.

Jengo lina ofisi nyingi na mojawapo ndipo ulipo Ubalozi wa Ecuador. Kawaida Ubalozi mdogo wa Ecuador usingekuwa na haja ya kuandikwa katika safu kama hii. Ila katika kipindi cha miezi miwili – umetajwa tajwa na kufahamika sana.

Hapa niliposimama nje nawaangalia askari zaidi ya kumi wa Kiingereza waliojipanga nje,wakiulinda ubalozi. Upande mwingine wamebana, paparazi na wanahabari na kamera zao; watalii wanapita pita nao wakipiga picha na mkabala wa Ubalozi limejikita kundi la watu, wakipiga kelele, wakiwasuta wale ma-askari. Mmoja wao kashika kipaaza sauti:

“Hakuna mtu aliyepiga simu namba 999 kuulizia msaada wenu, wajinga nyinyi!”

Askari hawasemi kitu. Watasema nini? Nchi hii ina Uhuru wa kusema na kujieleza.  Ukiyatazama mabango waliyobeba waandamaji  na mengine waliyoyabandika kando ya barabara pia mkabala na Ubalozi wa Ecuador, yatakufahamisha nini kinatokea. 

Mathalan:

“Kwanini askari wa Uingereza wanashirikiana na Marekani?”

“Ujasiri Unaambukiza!”

"Chapisheni Ukweli!"

“Uhuru.”

“Ondoeni mikono yenu toka Ecuador!”

“Serikali ya Uingereza ya Aibu lakini si wananchi wake!”

Na mabango kadhaa yana picha za mhusika.

“Mwacheni huru Assange! Msimpige Mjumbe risasi!”

 Yote, yumkini, yanamhusu mwanahabari Julian Assange ambaye toka Juni 19 aliomba ukimbizi  ubalozi wa Ecuador.

TRIBUTE TO ALAN HAYMAN – A SOUTH AFRICAN WHO LOVED PEOPLE OF ALL RACES

In the previous article published in Citizen Tanzania...I made a few errors about the origins of Alan Hayman, like saying his mother tongue was Afrikaans and that he was a Boer. Those errors are highly regretted and this corrected and shortened copy, sets the record straight. You can also read a longer version here...

By Freddy Macha

 I met Alan Hayman, a South African community activist and musician in 1991. Back then I was living in Rio de Janeiro and had reviewed an international film festival for a London magazine. While visiting the country my agent (who was based in London) said she had got a call from this African guy.

Alan pictured here in his last years working with young people in a Brazilian community. Pic courtesy of Vera Lucia Pereira da Silva...

On the phone, Alan was polite and had a strong South African accent. I was used to South African English because many freedom fighters were exiled in Tanzania due to Apartheid.

“Unjani!”

I greeted Mr Hayman in Zulu.

“Ngikhona.”

OLIMPIKI YA VILEMA IMEMALIZIKA -TUJITAYARISHE KWA MICHEZO YA MADOLA GLASGOW 2014

Awamu ya pili ya michezo ya Olimpiki ilishamalizika  London. Tokea 1988, mashindano haya ya vilema yalifanywa sehemu mahsusi  ya Olimpiki kule Korea Kusini, ingawa tukio lilikubalika rasmi  Olimpiki, Roma, Italia, 1960 .

Zaharani Mwenemti akiwa na wahudumu waliojitolea Olimpiki...picha na F Macha

 Mwaka huu Tanzania iliwakalishwa na Zaharani  Mwenemti aliyeshiriki utupaji tufe (“shotput”) na kisahani (“discus”). Mwenemti aliongozana na kocha, John Ndumbaro(mwenye ulemavu wa mguu mmoja) maofisa wawili – mkuu wa msafara, Johnsoon Meela na afisa utawala, Iddi Kibwana- (pichani chini) wote pia walemavu wanaotumia viti vya magudurumu au fimbo kutembelea.

Nilipohudhuria mashindano haya katikati ya juma nilishangazwa na kiasi kikubwa cha watazamaji. Bidii na juhudi za wanamichezo walemavu inasisimua na ni somo kwetu wote.

Suala la michezo ya vilema duniani lilianzishwa na mganga wa upasuaji na mishipa ya fahamu, Profesa Ludwig Guttman mwaka 1948.

Profesa Guttman....aliyeanzisha na kupigania uwezo na maendeleo ya walemavu baada ya vita vikuu vya pili vya dunia...

<--more--!>

LONDON’S NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL- TWO MILLION FEET DANCING....

Multi tasking is a word associated with women although most of us do it without realising. Driving a vehicle when we are texting or speaking on the phone as well as managing a conversation with a passenger. That is dangerous multi-tasking. But it is done, anyway.  A boss administering a bunch of clerks, newly appointed junior managers and anxious customers while performing his own chores- such as making sure the company sells well or dealing with emergencies.

Like said, multi tasking is traditionally associated with females.

Whistle blowing at the Notting Hill Carnival, this year...pic by Z. Bahati.

Feeding a crying baby, cooking for the husband, making sure older children are prepared for school, chatting and gossiping with friends and neighbours and if educated (and well positioned) being an efficient executive. Yes, multi-tasking is a skill. Multiple skills; multiple things, multiple colours.

Consider such  mix: work, play, serious, fun. This would be one way of describing a Carnival.

<--more--!>