Women still work harder than their ‘sweet hearts’

At 4.45 am the 38-kilometre drive was calm and birds were heard chirping in the thickets as we moved across the so called undeveloped plots along the Morogoro road.

Practically all passengers were women. Some women were standing carrying empty buckets and baskets.

They were rushing to Magogoni ferry market in Dar es Salaam to carry fish to sale. Some were proceeding to Ilala, Buguruni and Kariakoo markets to buy items while food vendors were starting off to various construction and industrial areas to save breakfast for workers and labourers.

As we started talking about International Women’s Day, there was a general agreement that in Tanzania women are struggling much for their families than men. Women admitted that they are the early birds who wake up at around 3.30 or 4.00 am while men are still in slumber.

Women food vendors fry buns, chapatti, rice buns while some distribute their snacks to various shopping centres. They are dedicated to serve their families and dependants.

Women in this land work hard despite affects on their health. You can find them do farm work than men. They work longer hours than their ‘sweet hearts’.

Women in Dar es Salaam toil in their gardens growing vegetables for family but much more for sale. Such farming is undertaken in condemned areas of streams and river valleys.

Despite of all that, nobody gives them a pat on their backs. 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 and especially the youth are idling. Many sit under huge mangoe trees or marking time in places called ‘vijiweni’ or ‘maskani’-drinking coffee while charting how Simba club will outsmart Young Africans in this leagues season or the vice versa.

Issues also centre on 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. However 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 dependants at home.

When you go to rural areas the assumption that the kitchen and bed rooms are better places for women has vanished. Alcohol drinking has taken its toll to the extent that men sleep on Kibuku, viroba and other local brews.

In Kilimanjaro ‘dengelua’ and ‘mbege’ has become part of male’s daily menu. Dengelua is made from fermented sugarcane juice while mbege is a product of finger millet.

Most young men in Kilimanjaro Region villages have become vulnerable to alcohol. 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 with all kind of drinks from local to modern beer.

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 UN Africa Women 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 bracket 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 entrenched in the Lake Victoria 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 Gender based violence and particularly sexual abuse, wife and child neglect, spouse beatings have adverse consequences for women including loss of live.

The survivors of these actions die due to prolonged depression, stress, hypertension, dementia and ultimately death.

The time has come for Tanzania to amend or enact laws to ensure that if a man clashed with his wife for any reason he has to maintain the children.

Additionally if men abandon women they have to leave behind properties gained with their wives so that mothers use them to make ends meet.