I can’t think of many better things to be doing in the summer before my sophomore year of high school than going to East Africa for the sole purpose of helping people. However, with the opportunity comes with the responsibility to be effective as possible. That’s why, for this year’s trip, my goal is to have nearly every class that I teach in Tanzania be able to say they had learned something from the lesson. This is important to me, because I was taught on my last trip that the most effective thing that disrupts the cycle of poverty is education. Knowing skills that can get someone out of poverty can help more than housing built by the government. I also know that I can still improve a lot on my teaching skills. This goal will ultimately motivate me to learn how to be a better leader and teacher.
The history of Tanzania goes back to the roots of humankind about 3 million years ago, but starting at about 5,000 years ago, several different peoples migrated and inhabited the land including the Khoisan, Cushitic, Bantu, and then Nilotic peoples. Trade with the Arabs and Indians made it economically strong. From there, many outside powers struggled over dominance of the land, and, at one point, it was the center of the Arab slave trade. Many European explorers set foot in the country as well. After 1886, most of Tanganyika was split between East German Africa and British-administered Tanganyika. It was later all given to Britain by the League of Nations in 1920 and gained independence in 1961. The unification of Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar created the country of Tanzania.
The unification of the two governing parties did not actually come until 1977 when the TANU union was merged with the Afro-Shirazi party of Zanzibar. This formed the CCM Revolutionary party. The principles of this party were put into the constitution in 1982 and reaffirmed in 1984. However, the philosophy of Julius Nyerere, the president since independence, had allowed the government to become extremely corrupt. In 1979, Soviet-backed Ugandan forces invaded northern Tanzania, but they were quickly expelled after Tanzania declared war. Since 1990, there has been political unrest in Zanzibar, who have tried for independence. Thirty-five people were even killed in a protest in 2001. Protests have died down in most recent years, however.
The most interesting thing I have learned while researching Tanzania was its history of an economic center. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the islands and coastal cities were part of an economically flourishing time called the Sharazi Era. They traded gold, ivory, and other goods to places as far away as China. Kilwa, a major trading city, had even been declared one of the best cities in the world. The contrast to now is what makes this fact so interesting. How could a country that was once a major trading hot spot become a country with so many people living below the poverty line? I am very interested in the kind of effects that this has on the culture today.
