Tanzania Day One

Day one is now behind us on this trip.   Well a part day really as we didn’t land until 3pm.   But the drive from the airport to the hotel gave us our first glimpse of this bustling African city.   Vibrant and busy busy busy.   And traffic like you would not believe!    We were stationary for about fifteen minutes at one point and I asked our driver if there was a problem ahead, maybe and accident?

“No, this is Dar es Salaam!”

There didn’t seem to be any kind of logic to the direction the traffic was coming out of us from and yet despite being cut up everybody was courteous and just seemed to accept that traffic didn’t necessarily go in a straight line.    Added to which there was a constant stream of young men offering us all sorts of wares for sale.

Tarpaulin

Cashew nuts

Phone chargers

Apples

Inflatable swimming rings

DVDs

Matches

You name it, you could buy it on that queue.   Or even if you were standing at the bus stop there was a chap with a table laden with fruit.  He would even peel it for you.  There were signs of enterprise everywhere.  As we sat in yet another traffic jam we saw a chap demonstrating the latest carrot peeler, complete with a microphone so everybody near by could hear about this new must have gadget.   Who needs QVC?!   All along the road side there were stalls that consisted of just a sheet of material on the ground, laden high with clothes, shoes or plastic tubs.   The railings became a showcase for the trousers sellers.    People busily going about their day, just trying to earn a living.

And tomorrow we are off to the Gatsby Trust to see more of the same, with the focus on women being supported by donations from Comic Relief.

70% of the world’s poorest people are women, and they own only  1% of the world’s property.  

It doesn’t have to be like this.   Comic Relief’s funding is working address changes at practical and structural levels and bring about positive and enduring changes for women and girls in Africa.   And that is what we are to see first hand, and report back on.   This is what Comic Relief are calling #LastingChange.

On Thursday we are going to be seeing food processors, a tailor and a soap processor, all running their own businesses and reporting back with photos and stories.   If you would like information and photo for your own blog, do sign up for a digital postcard (we have extended the deadline until 7pm Thursday night)

Annie has written about her thoughts after today and so has Penny, do go and have a read.

Until then.  Here is a little video we made just before dinner tonight.

And until tomorrow Lala Salama