Kiwohede and other women's rights organisations in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

ExChange 2010
Report by Tracey Taylor, Tipperary Women’s Network

Tracey Taylor was a member of the Banúlacht ExChange Group that visited Tanzania in November 2010: here she reflects on her time in Dar es Salaam. (See reports from other participants for broader context of the visit.)








(Tracey with women from Kabangaja, Mwanza, at the launch of the Mná Sasa Manifesto)


Dar-es Salaam was quite a different experience from Mwanza. It is a huge sprawling city and we had a busy schedule visiting a variety of organisations. Mná Sasa was not such a driving force as it was in Mwanza so this meant I focused on learning more about integrating a women’s human rights approach when advocating for women. I was extremely impressed with the professionalism and commitment shown by organisations such as WLAC, Women’s Dignity, and TGNP. However my highlight was our visit to Kiwohede. This is an organisation in Dar es Salaam that works with girls and some boys who have experienced exploitation and abuse. It operates across many parts of the city but the particular project that we visited was the House Girls project.

Some girls who leave their families to work as house girls in the city find themselves in a vulnerable position where they are at risk of homelessness, trafficking or prostitution. The girls who are referred to this project receive a basic education and also taught skills such as embroidery, sewing, weaving and jewellery making. We visited the shop where the girls sold clothes, bags and jewellery they had made and I was impressed with the beauty and quality of the goods. As well as being educated they are learning business skills that will give them a future. Furthermore, they are taught life-skills such as respect for themselves and others and shown how to use their own voice and lobby for their human rights. This human rights approach was central to the work of Justa Mwaituka, the director of Kiwohede, who is dedicated to the elimination of sexual violence and exploitation through influencing policy and working closely with communities.

Apart from the high regard that I have for Justa’s dedication and professionalism, I was really moved by our meeting with the house girls themselves. We were introduced to them just as they were leaving the centre and were treated to a display of singing and dancing that was really inspiring and uplifting because the girls were so confident and vibrant and yet some of them had probably experienced sexual abuse. It was this vibrancy that captured, for me, the essence of the trip, as a whole, to Tanzania. The strength and passion of the women working for all the different organisations and the resilience and determination of the members to improve their lives and take back their power.

Enabling Grassroots Women to Have a Voice
Banúlacht ExChange 2010:
Report on Tanzanian ExChange 2010

Ann Fitzgerald
Waterford Women’s Centre





(Photo: Ann planting a tree to commemorate Mná Sasa-see below and the reports by the other participants for the full story)



The motivation for me to participate in the Tanzanian exchange began when I listened to Mary Rusimbi, who was a co-facilitator of the a training course, From Local to Global—Grassroots Women Sustaining the Women’s Movement, which was by Banúlacht and the National Collective of Community Based Women’s Networks. At the training in Dublin I became very inspired and wanted to learn more about the issues for women in Tanzania. Even though I was a bit nervous about going on such a long trip, I was interested in gaining more skills and knowledge around issues affecting women from a local to a global perspective.



(Ann (left) participating in the 2010 Banúlacht NCCWN From Local to Global Training course)




















(Photo: Mary Rusimbi with participants in Banúlacht's From Local to Global training course)


The idea of developing a shared vision to sustain a positive, collective and empowering way forward was very interesting to me. I also wanted to contribute my knowledge and life experience as a grassroots woman with understanding of women’s oppression and inequality to the trip. I have made a commitment in my life to engage in opportunities to learn, listen and share experiences with other feminist activists. This has led me on a very worthwhile personal journey and opened new and exciting possibilities for me, resulting in the exciting opportunity to go to Tanzania.

My first impressions of Tanzania were of being totally overwhelmed with everything I saw: it was like stepping into a time warp or entering into a dream. After the first two days I began to get my bearings and the dream became a reality. I then began to see everything in a much clearer way and was ready to engage with my role on this trip. For me that was about being open to learning, bearing witness, gathering information and being a voice for marginalised women everywhere. For me the highlight of the trip in Mwanza was meeting all the Tanzanian women I had heard so much about from my colleagues and working with them on a manifesto of common issues called “Mna Sasa”.


















(Photo: Tonny Ndunguru, Mary Kabati, Mary Makinda, Celestina Nyenga and Jovitha Mlay at the Kivulini Kitchen)


This is where I witnessed solidarity grassroots feminist women working together for a better future. This is a new solidarity movement of Irish and Tanzanian grassroots feminists. Building on this document was very much part of our trip and it was really welcomed by the women in Tanzania.



(Photo: Mná Sasa colleagues: Tonny Ndunguru, Jovitha Mlay and Mary Makinda)






The enthusiasm that was generated at this meeting for the manifesto was carried forward for the next two weeks. I felt this document gives grassroots women a voice and provides a framework for change.



















(Photo: Discussing Mná Sasa at Kabangaja, Mwanza)





















(Photo: Discussing Mná Sasa at Kabangaja, Mwanza)




(Solidarity walk/run/bicycle ride to Kabangaja)


This trip really opened my eyes about gender and development issues in Tanzania and in Ireland. I realised for the first time how gender and equality are so closely linked. On our visit to the hospital especially: I saw the issue of maternal mortality linked to human rights and women’s empowerment, all of the projects that we visited strengthened my understanding of women’s human rights contexts in Tanzania. This has given me greater understanding of global issues; and a deeper understanding of the concept of solidarity between women from a global perspective in sustaining a global women’s movement as an equality issue.

























(Photo: Kabangaja Village: Maimuna Kanyamala visited the village later in November to ask the women about their experience: see article in Banúlacht GAD Bulletin Issue 9page 9)



One thing I learned from the Tanzanian women was how they work in close collaboration with the communities they live in. An example of this was at the launch of Mna Sasa where we saw a village gathering that included listening to speakers, dancing and chanting. I was impressed by the way this event was organised the people’s openness, visibility and creativity of how they celebrated. The use of drama, song and artistic expression was evident at every event we went to including meetings. I also learned from the way they sustained their projects without much government funding, for example setting up small enterprises like soap craft and dress making. I noticed how the women leaders integrate development issues and a human rights approach as a tool in empowering women in their educational strategies. I realised I do not use this approach enough in my work as a facilitator and will be bringing this observation back to my organisation.

I also learned so much from the Irish women I went with on the trip, as a group we really bonded and worked well together to support and mind each other. I made really good friends and loved the sense of fun and comradeship we shared. On occasions I did not fully understand something especially around language or an issue, I appreciated how clearly it was explained to me who ever I asked in the group.




















(Photo: Ann, centre, with with fellow ExChange participants Mary Timmons and Noreen Kennedy)

















(Photo: Ann, second from left, with fellow ExChange participants Liz Price, Tracey Taylor and Siobhán Madden)



From this trip Banúlacht have presented to me an awareness of the importance of development education and the interdependence our sisters in Tanzania. I also learned how advocacy and policy work is a fundamental element of shaping our future. What I learned and experienced on the trip deepened my understanding of the key challenges of women from Tanzania. I was very impressed and grateful to Maeve and Eileen in Banúlacht for how professionally and effectively the trip was organised. The format of events, visits, meetings and group/ individual support was essential to every aspect of the itinerary and the overall success of the trip. The orientation meetings before we went really prepared me for the experience.



Now that I am back from the trip to Tanzania, I know it was a really an amazing experience that I will never forget. In many ways I felt very much at home there and could have stayed longer, which surprised me, as I thought I would be homesick. I did not get bitten by mosquitoes and did not get burned by the sun, even thought it was really hot. I was very tired when I got back and it has taken me a while to get back to my normal self and routine. I have been sharing a lot about the trip and the experience in the women’s centre and among my friends and colleagues. I am planning a formal presentation in the Waterford Women’s Centre in the near future.

The overall impact of the trip for me was I how recognized the importance of the inclusion of women like myself-grassroots women who have firsthand experience of the issues. I understand more now how important it is that that work on the ground such as the work we were doing on this trip is supported and resourced to enable grassroots women to have a voice. To be included is not easy for many women: it takes courage and overcoming years of conditioning to take our place and have our say. But, with encouragement and support, it is together through collective action that we are able to face challenges especially around changing the society we live in. That is at the heart of the Mna Sasa feminist movement building strategy.


Maternal Mortality….

As a group we went to visit a local SEKOU TOURE hospital which is Mwanza’s Regional public Hospital. We were taken on a tour to the maternity ward by the matron Eva Muday she explained how she was linked to the Kiviluni project and works with them on their education outreach programme especially on issues of domestic violence. The conditions for women and children in the hospital were difficult to believe: we recognised a desperate lack of medical supplies and basic equipment.




















(Photo Mary Kabati of TAHEA and Eva Muday, the inspiring matron of the Sekou Toure hospital)



















(Photo: Tonny Ndunguru and member of Sekou Toure Hospital staff)






We were told Malaria and HIV/AIDS are huge problem. From visiting the sparse overcrowded wards we saw women are 2 to a bed and have to being their own food and medical requirements- even rubber gloves. We heard how women have to walk miles in labour if they do not have transport or even a bicycle. We also visited the paediatric unit where severe burns are a major problem, as many women cook on small open stoves in small rooms, children can accidently get burned and scalded in the homes.



















(Photo: Nurses at the Sekou Toure Hospital)



On our visit to this hospital especially: I saw the issue of maternal mortality linked to human rights and women’s empowerment, I saw first hand the high levels of maternal mortality, the visit to this hospital really opened my eyes about gender and development issues in Tanzania and in Ireland. I realised for the first time how gender and equality are so closely linked.




















(Waiting at the Sekou Toure Hospital)




Nutrition support to children under 5

We travelled by small bus on very bumpy roads to a local village called Igonbe ward in IIemela distrist with Tonny Ndunguru (Mwanza Chemichemi Community Based Organization—Co-ordinator of this project). This is a project very much in the area of community based health care, and is affiliated with Kivilini in terms of training, support and capacity building. When the women arrive the nurses talk to the women about the importance of attending this clinic and bringing their children and also encouraging them to bring other women. It is open two days a week where two nurses in charge access the women coming in and decide how the women need help. Approx 39% of the women coming to this clinic have been victims of domestic violence, many have HIV/aids. Many are coming for purely economic problems and a large number are single mothers.




(Photo: At the nutrition clinic)

The work that happens with women coming into this clinic is on several levels, on assessment some women are referred to hospital. Children that are malnourished are taken to the nutrition clinic. In addition to giving women information on food supplements and health education, women also receive information and support in relation to family planning, HIV/AIDS, human rights and domestic abuse. I learned about how the women integrate development issues and a human rights approach as a tool in empowering women in their educational strategies. One thing I learned from the Tanzanian women leaders was how they work in close collaboration with the communities they live in.

I also learned from the way they sustained their projects without government funding, for example setting up small enterprises like soap craft and dress making. There are many barriers and obstacles particularly around poverty, transport and HIV/Aids and no state funding.

The women that visit this clinic also can get access to training about small business skills for example they had a small sowing machine which they were teaching each other sewing skills. They were also learning skills around growing useful plants that they could sell in the markets and use in their food.

Feeding clinic….

Up to a month ago this was out in the open with the children sitting on the ground. They had just moved into a new building a month age but still very basic- just four bare walls and sitting on the floor. Women prepare a nutrition porridge is made up of soy, maize, crushed rice and water this is heated over small charcoal fires and then cooled down. At this stage a local nutritious plant extract called moranga is added. They get 2 kilos going home to feed their children. Many of the children are undernourished and they have a card system of tracking the weight development of the children.



(Nutrition porridge containing marenga leaf)


At the clinic they have a very basic dispensing clinic which is a small room with a few boxes of tablets and a nurse in charge to keep a record. The nurse in charge had a statists chart on her wall- they see 25 to 30 women each day and about 150 children, many of the women walk up to 5 kilometres to get to the clinic.

They talked of the impact of the practical help that Noreen’s project gave in organising some medical equipment to be sent to this project, also by the huge importance of sending baby clothes.

Education and poverty alleviation

We went to visit another small village near the shore of lake Victoria. Aids and HIV are a huge problem in this village as it is a fishing area but even though fishing means a bit more access to money for the people of this village, it also means the men are gone for months and are coming home with this disease. This in turn results in increase instances of gender based violence. The first project she showed us in this village was a practical solution to the disease where the women were making and distributing a particular pro-bionomic yogurt to families with aids every day. This yogurt was developed by a university in Ontario Canada and is an ongoing research project linked with Kivilini.


(Explaining the yogurt making project and its benefits)

This yogurt has a huge positive impact on the lives of those with this disease. 25 to 30 local women are managing this project. They are now charging a small amount of money for the yogurt and they can use some for their own families. They make 10 litres of this yogurt a day for distribution. The hut they are making it in is a tiny basic space with just a fridge in the corner and a small amount of equipment for preparation of the yogurt. The women bring small cups to collect the yogurt.


Gender based violence

Tonny, Anna and Celestina took us to a domestic violence project in the same village. We entered a small hut like building with just a table and a few plastic chairs. Here we were introduced to the young male co-ordinanator called Emmanuel Maoja-Co-ordinator Zawadi Mathias Member of staff, Happiness Maico-Member of staff, Playeda Thomas-Accountant, Anna J. Malai- Member, paschal- member, Ester Maico- Secretary.



(GBV project staff explain their work)


(GBV Project staff explain their work)




(GBV project staff explain their work)

This is Anna Chambo’s area: she is a Program Officer in capacity building in Kivulini. Her work is around training people in the districts on legal matters and they work voluntary for their communities. She is supported by the Women’s Legal Aid Center in Tanzania (WLAC), a human rights organization striving to promote and protect women and children’s rights by helping to bring about gender equality in Tanzania through legal aid, legal research, networking, publications and outreach programs. We were to visit WLAC the following week in Dar es Salaam.





(Photo: Ann Fitzgerald and Anna Chambo Kivulini Program Officer and first woman footbal referee in Tanzania)

This support center is a safe space that women can speak safely about their situation. A woman's first port of call to report domestic violence is usually the street leader. He will investigate her allegation and see if there is a case to be answered. He might refer her to this project they would help her to prepare to take her case to the district court. The volunteers carry out the activities of the clinic; they give legal advice, counseling services, court representation and other services.This project is very much part of the community.



Launching and celebrating Mna Sasa

We went by bus to a local rural village called Kabangaja, where we were welcomed by the local people. From there we went as a passenger on the back of a bicycle to the next village, the idea of us Irish women travelling on the back of a bicycles was symbolic for using the most common form of transport for taking rural women to health centres when in labour. The Tanzanian women believe people learn and experience best by “Learning by doing” I can see how this approach works. It was a nightmare of a journey, I kept falling off the bicycle must be unbearable when in labour.








(Photos: preparing to head off on oversized bicycle taxis)

At a local school we sowed 5 trees in schools ground as a ritual for launching our manifesto. This was a very exciting event and some of us got stuck into the digging. In Tanzania trees are very important for many reasons especially for shade from the intensive heat. I know that very well as I ran to a tree every time I got off the bus. I hope they remember to water the trees. Back in the village the chairman made a speech and welcomed us, women from the Sukama tribe danced for us in the village square. Noreen from our group made a lovely speech of thanks and appreciation for their kindness and friendliness.



(Photo: Planting Mná Sasa trees)






Noreen Kennedy saying farewell and thanks to our new Mna Sasa colleagues in Kabangaja



What I really noticed in this village square was how men women and children gathered and listened to speakers which was followed by dancing and chanting. I was impressed by the way they organised the event, their openness, visibility and creativity of how they celebrated. The use of drama, song and artistic expression included everyone.




KIWOHEDE


Kiwohede’s goal is to aid young girls who are being subjected to exploitation and abuse. Due to poverty and neglect many young girls in Tanzania today find themselves in vulnerable positions. As a result they fall prey to prostitution, trafficking, and dangerous, underpaid work. Many of them are homeless or have been taken away from their parents. They are denied their basic human rights and are being deprived from any chance at an education let alone a future.Kiwohede works in cooperation with the community to rescue and house them. If the police happen across any of these vulnerable children they will be referred to Kiwohede.Kiwohede tries to give the girls life stability by creating them support networks. They run a variety of rehabilitation programs, offer child counseling and run free testing for STDs and HIV. (From Kiwohede's website)


They provide the girls with necessary tools for the future, such as a basic education and vocational skills. These include sewing, tie dyeing, tailoring, weaving, embroidery, cooking, carpentry, sculpturing, weaving, hatchery, beekeeping and animal keeping. Finance and business management are also included to show them how to sustain themselves and how to make the most of their tools.
(Kiwohede's office in Buguruni, Dar es Salaam)

This NGO supports young domestic workers (“house-girls”) who have come from the rural area to work for members of extended family on the promise of education and a salary and are vulnerable to, experiencing or have run away from situations of over-work, inappropriate work demands, unpaid wages, denial of education, physical, verbal and/or sexual abuse. The goal of the Child Domestic Workers Project is to end human rights violations of domestic workers under the age of 18 years and to promote the rights of domestic workers in general.


(Students at Kiwohede with one of their teachers)


Poverty drives many girls to leave their homes, typically in rural areas, and they come to Dar es Salaam and other cities with promises of a better life. “Many of those young girls suffer from sexually transmitted diseases and are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The girls reached by this project are undergoing rehabilitation and recovering from the trauma they experienced. They follow group and individual counseling, as well as instruction on the dangers of prostitution, reproductive health education and HIV/AIDS counseling.

A major goal of the organization is to help former child prostitutes and domestic workers to become economically self- sufficient. They are thought to make products that they make are sold at the various KIWOHEDE centres. They have a community theater group for public awareness raising on the problem of child prostitution.



(Students at Kiwohede's return to education project)




In advance of the ExChange

For a few weeks in advance of the ExChange visit, I got busy with my fundraising effort and this was combined with awareness rising about the trip. In a spare room in the Women’s Center I opened a second hand shop and this also operated as an exhibition and information centre for the trip. This included photos from previous visits and other visual items representing Tanzania. This created an interesting and informative space where women and other visitors to the centre gathered, asked questions and helped with the fundraising. The exhibition also served as part of the development education for the women in the groups. My fundraising bag-pack in the local supermarket was also an awareness raising event within the community. For two days we talked to many people answering lots of questions and I raised most of the money through this effort. Combined with a circle dance workshop in the community where I also got great support. I sent a press release to two of the local newspapers about going on the trip and also to a newspaper in my own local town which they gave a prominent place on page two. This gave a lot of local attention to the Exchange and a local business man sent me a donation towards my trip.


Since I have come back from Tanzania I have typed up most of the information in preparation to do a presentation in the Women’s centre. I have also organized all my pictures and am preparing to do another visual exhibition in the centre. I was to do this just before Christmas but ended up in ill hospital for five days and then I had my graduation. I know women in the groups are looking forward to hearing all about my trip and so are the women on the staff and management.



(Photo Ann Fitzgerald and Aoife Cooke with the Kivulini truck after the launch)



















(Photo: Kabangaja Village: Maimuna Kanyamala visited the village later in November to ask the women about their experience: see article in Banúlacht GAD Bulletin Issue 9 Spring 2011
















(Photo Ann on the group's weekend off in Zanzibar)

Reflections on Feminist Movement Building--Banúlacht ExChange 2010
Report by Liz Price, Limerick Women’s Network

It wasn’t until I was handed a copy of the packed itinerary for the two week exchange Banulacht organised to Tanzania that I began to feel excitement about the trip. I had taken part in the 2008 exchange and had been enthused and excited by the possibilities it offered for deepening understanding between women in Ireland and women in the Global South. Two years later the environment in Ireland has changed dramatically and women’s projects are struggling to survive. It is becoming hard to muster enthusiasm and energy for anything not directly connected to the problems women are experiencing as a result of the economic recession.


(The group with Maimuna Kanyamala of Kivulini Women's Rights Organisation. Photo Ann Fitzgerald)

The lives of women in Tanzania can seem very far removed from the lives of women in disadvantaged areas of Ireland. Could I justify taking time out of my project for the trip and asking people to fundraise to support me to travel? Was it fair to ask women to engage in discussions of unequal global structures when they are adversely affected by unequal structures at a local level every day in their own lives?
The answer to all three questions was a resounding yes. Limerick women had met the Tanzanian women who came on the return visit in 2009 and had made a connection with them. They wanted to hear how their projects were progressing and they wanted to keep in touch. They recognised as kindred spirits these strong women and identified with their struggle.


(Members of Limerick Women's Network with Maimuna Kanyamala at a Banúlacht training course in 2009)

I was encouraged by the numbers of women who turned out to support the fundraising efforts. There was great excitement about the Mná Sasa manifesto which a collective of Tanzanian and Irish feminists developed and which we planned to develop further on the exchange. This document calls on Irish Aid to fund long term policy work of women’s organisations in Tanzania. Women’s networks in Ireland identify strongly with this as they struggle to get funding for strategic programmes and long term initiatives in their own projects.


(Liz Price and Mary Timmons reading the Mná Sasa Manifesto)

Women were moved by the stories in the manifesto of Tanzanian women thrown out of their houses by violent husbands and Irish women whose lives were controlled by violent men. These stories demonstrate how connected we are. Members of Limerick Women’s Network had taken part in the development education and human rights training delivered by Banulacht, which helped us place these stories in a wider global context and recognise how globalisation unites all women.

This idea is what provided the motivation for me personally to take part in the exchange. And that coupled with our deepening understanding of solidarity issues is why the management and membership of the network felt it was not only worthwhile for us to take part in the exchange but important for us to commit to ongoing work with Mna SaSa.

With all these ideas buzzing in my mind I made the journey with eight other enthusiastic women activists arriving in Mwanza on a sunny October day. Everywhere seemed much greener than I remembered because there had been some rainfall, although there was concern locally at the late arrival of the rainy season. Contrary to most media images of Africa the hussle and bussle of the busy city of Mwanza is striking. These industrious and hard working people move cheerfully about their business. But evidence of their daily struggle is everywhere with elegant women carrying water on their heads, firewood on their backs or cooking over small open fires.


(Market in Mwanza)


(Selling dried fish)


(Selling locally grown produce)


(Market in Kabangaja)

On a visit to Sekoutoure, Mwanza’s Regional Hospital, Eva Mudai the matron, told us of the high rate of children who suffer burns as a result of cooking accidents and looking into the eyes of these little children and seeing the suffering and pain on their mother’s faces affected the entire group. Visiting the maternity wards she told us of the ongoing increase in numbers of women with HIV+ infection, the high maternal mortality rates, the difficulties accessing maternity care and many other issues all relating to women’s lack of power.


(Mary Kabati, TAHEA, and Eva Muday, Matron of Sekou Toure Hospital)


(Outside the Sekou Toure Hospital)

Stories like these had overwhelmed me on my visit two years previously. But my increasing knowledge of the work of Tanzanian women’s organisations means that I can now listen without experiencing the same sense of hopelessness. Our contact with the women’s organisations has taught me that women in Tanzania are becoming more organised in their resistance to oppression.

We encountered a good example of this well-ordered response in the workshop organised by Kivulini Women’s Rights Organisation (Kivulini WRO) our hosts in Mwanza, which we attended with representatives of 24 of their affiliated organisations. Participants engaged in a frank discussion of the challenges women face accessing maternity care. It is very easy when faced with the type of survival challenges these women face to adopt a default position of anger. But what was refreshing about the discussion was the honesty about shortfalls in their own services which members shared and what was striking was the in depth analysis which they brought to the discussion.

Celestina Nyenga, Kivulini’s Advocacy Officer spoke of women’s lack of access to health services and linked this to the disproportionate burden of poverty ,lack of access to education and lack of productive opportunities borne by women. She talked about evidence which shows that women not only bear the brunt of poverty but that women’s empowerment is a central precondition for its elimination.


(Liz (standing) making a presentation at the Midland Hotel)




(At the Midland Hotel)

This type of analysis was in evidence in the practical response of the Tanzania Home Economics Association (TAHEA). On a visit to a community based early childhood development intervention in Nyamwililelwa we heard how local women are given loans to buy shares in the chicken farm which must be paid back in three months with interest. This microfinance project supports the pre-school education and gives rural women an opportunity to generate some income thus improving their status in the households. Mary Kabati of TAHEA explained to us how rural women are affected by cultural practices which rob most of their rights but with the support of TAHEA’s education programme these women can advocate for their own rights in the family, improve household security and reduce family conflicts.

Ms Kabati was positively beaming when showing us the foundations for the new Malezi Resource Centre, the design of which was influenced by Irish Centres she had visited on the 2009 exchange. The building will house a training room, childcare facility and library and will have the potential to generate funding by charging a small rental fee for training and community events. The one stop shop approach which has proved successful in Ireland was incorporated into the traditional round buildings of the Sukomo tribe and is testimony to the shared learning which happens on these exchanges.




(Members of the ExChange group with Tanzanian colleagues)

Everywhere we went we found evidence of women organising and resisting. Justa Mwaituka Director of Kiwohede, introduced us to young women on a back to education programme, who came to Dar es Salam from rural communities as domestic workers and suffered abuse at the hands of employers some being forced into prostitution.
Magdalena Mlolere of the Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) told us of the devastating consequences for women of customary laws which discriminate against them especially in the area of inheritance practises. She introduced us to members of Kibaha Para-legal centre which provides education on human rights and raises public awareness of negative cultural practises. 24 women known as Paralegals received training in basic law and its procedures through this project which also monitors the implementation of international women rights instruments, an area of work which many women’s networks in Ireland are now pursuing.

As well as the practical work and in depth analysis, I was inspired by the research on women’s individual and collective stories carried out by organisations like Women’s Dignity which promote the rights of women and girls living with fistula, a debilitating injury acquired during prolonged labour.

The lessons learnt from research carried out by the Tanzanian Gender Networking Programme on feminist movement building in Tanzania have a lot of relevance for women’s organisations in Ireland. The level of documenting and recording apparent in all the projects we visited has motivated me to do better in my own project.
I returned to Ireland with many questions. How can we harness the energy for Mna Sasa, demonstrated on our first day working with Kivulini (WRO), when after a busy day working on the manifesto they spent the evening translating it into Swahili for the launch - And the excitement in Kanga Kasbangaja where we walked in solidarity with local women and planted trees to mark the launch and danced and celebrated our achievement together.


(Mary Timmons and Eileen Smith the placard reads: Special Launch of Mna SASA! In solidarity between women from Tanzania and Ireland in preventing violence against women.)



(Photo by Ann Fitzgerald--At the launch of the Mná Sasa Manifesto: the placard reads: Special Launch of Mna SASA! In solidarity between women from Tanzania and Ireland in preventing violence against women.


The exchange provided us with a unique opportunity to gain some insight into the reality of women’s lives in Tanzania, to reflect and share our analysis of the unequal world in which we live and to deepen the understanding between women in Ireland and women in the Global South. All of the groups we met recognised the need for women to work in solidarity globally and all of the groups could see possibilities for Mna SaSa. The question now for all participants of the exchange is how to move forward in our future feminist movement building project, and what part Mna Sasa can play in that project.




(Getting ready for the launch of the Mná Sasa Manifesto. Photo Ann Fitzgerald)



(Liz, left, with other members of the 2010 ExChange groupAt the Tilapia Hotel, Mwanza)
Follow up

• Met with Minister Peter Power and briefed him on the benefits of the exchange
• Spoke in U.L. about how Limerick Women’s Network changed direction in its work as a result of the exchange and did reading of Mna Sasa – committed to following up with U.L. on this and give them information on the planned online forum
• Gave presentation to Management Committee of network on Tz exchange
• Planning to include reading of the manifeso in NCCwn Seminar later in the year