A 38 kilometer drive was a very quite morning around 4.45 am. Birds were chirping in the thickets as we moved across the so called undeveloped plots along the Morogoro road sides.
Practically the bus was full parked many were women almost 13 seats out of 15 were occupied by ‘wamama’ while others were standing carrying empty buckets, baskets and all kind of bags.
They were rushing to ferry market for fresh fish from the sea, some were moving to Ilala, Buguruni and Kariakoo markets to buy items for rouge markets while food venders were starting off to various sites, whether build, construction or industrials areas.
As we started talking about International Women’s Day, we generally agreed that we have a Tanzania of hard-working women verses idling men.
As we thought of it women admits that they are the early risers some wake up around 3.30 or 4.00 am while men are sound asleep.
Women food vendors’ fry maandazi (bans) chapatti, vitumbua (rice mill bread) some distribute their snacks to various shopping centres and are seriously dedicated to serve their family and the dependants.
Despite that nobody labeled them ‘workaholics’ women in this land work hard regardless negatively affects on their health and families.
You can find them do farm works than men they work longer houses than their ‘sweet hearts’.
For instance in Dar women working in the gardens, they grow various vegetables for family but much more for sale. Such farming is undertaken in condemned areas of streams and river valleys.
On the streets of major cities like Dar es Salaam, women are moving with babies on their backs selling various items such as fresh fruits and juices, vegetables, milk, tea and porridge in the thermos.
Women are hard working, they love their ‘jobs’ no matter how hard they are and they go an extra mile to ensure that they accomplish their tasks and make the ends meet.
By contrast men are idling some are seated under huge mangoe trees or marking time in places called ‘vijiweni’ or ‘maskani’-drinking coffee while charting how Simba club will outsmart Young African in this leagues season or the vice versa and much more the issues centered around United Kingdom FA League, particularly the Manchester United or Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and the likes.
In the past many communities in Tanzania believed that men are family providers and givers as it is stated in the Bible and entrenched in some African norms, but currently women have assumed the males’ role.
It’s women who constantly think about their families, provide for food, the house rents and school requirements because they frequently pushed and hustled by critical situation faced by their children and dependents at home while their husbands (men) careless about their obligations.
When you go to rural areas the assumption that the kitchen and bed rooms are better places for women has vanished into thin air.
Alcohol drinking has taken its toll to the extent that men sleep and on Kibuku, viroba and other local brew for instance in Kilimanjaro ‘dengelua’ and ‘mbege’has become part of male’s daily menu.
Dengelua is made from fermented sugar cane juice while mbege is a product of finger millet.
Most young men in Kilimanjaro region villages have become vulnerable they consume larger amount of ‘dengulua’ ‘mbege’or other brews a trend that worsen gender violence and aggravate poor life on the part of women and the children.
In urban areas idling and boozing is aggregated by seriously increasing number of bars and clubs that all kind of drinks from local to modern beers.
Laziness among men and alcohol boozing can lead to growing cases of divorce and separation in both rural and in the cities.
As women continue to suffer in the hands of lazy men , the United Nations -UN –Women Africa, reports that discrimination, abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) is wide-spread and common in Tanzania due to patriarchal and traditional norms.
Two out of five women in the 15 to 49 age range have experienced physical violence.
One out of ten women aged 15 to 49 years have experienced forced sexual intercourse against their will. Violence and killing of older women (often in relation to accusations of witchcraft) is so much entrenched in Lake Zone.
It’s also sad that women with albinism have also been the target of violence and killings.
UN Women indicates that a quarter of all households in Mainland Tanzania are women-headed, and a fifth for Zanzibar.
A vast majority of these households are characterised as resource poor, compared to those headed by males.
“Almost 33.6 percent of the population is below the basic needs poverty line, as are 24.5 percent of female headed households. Per capita income was $652 USD in the year 2012.”
The analysis of UN Women reports concludes that GBV and VAWG particularly sexual abuse, wife and child neglect, spouses beatings have adverse consequences for women sometimes could be to lose one’s life.
The survivors of these actions die due to prolonged depression, stress, hypertension, dementia and ultimately deaths. The time has come for Tanzania to amend or enact marriage resolution law to ensure that if a man clashed with his wife for any reason he has to maintain the children.
Additional if he abandons them he has leave the properties whether a animals, house or a plot to the spouses and the family not otherwise in order for the mothers to use the assets to make the ends meet.
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