2008 Woodie Awards
RSSMore to Tanzania than Western view
Letter to the editor
By Ahmed Salim, '08
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Opinion
As the only Tanzanian student at Lehigh, I'm quite content to see articles in The Brown and White about Africa, especially Tanzania. I commend Ryan Ruggiero ("Tanzania more advanced than we think," Oct. 30) for not only writing two pieces in the paper about my country, but also physically visiting it. The only way someone will know what a country is like is to actually visit the place to experience it fully.
Tanzania is a developing country. We are neither advanced nor considered a rich country. But I only discovered Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world after reading the facts in my international political economy class.
But I question what being 'advanced' means. Does it measure how advanced a country is by types of cars driven, seeing Apple computers everywhere and showing off the newest styles of clothing? Running barefoot on the streets is not a sign of underdevelopment or poverty. I used to run barefoot when I was a kid and so did many of my friends. Cooking over an open fire is no different than grilling outside at Campus Square.
People need to remember this type of measurement of development is a Western measurement. Because of that, Tanzanians are perceived to have a long way to go before reaching the state of being a 'developed' nation. I think it's a skewed measurement and African countries always get the bitter end of the stick.
One assumption Ruggiero makes is that Tanzanians are more religious than Americans. Remember that in the U.S., particularly in the South, religion plays a huge part in shaping society and even laws. I agree with Ruggiero that Tanzanians are spiritual. We are proud to have strong family relationships. But this has more to do with our culture than our religion.
From a very young age, we are taught to respect our elders, to always help others and not to dwell too much on material things. In Tanzania, everyone is family and everyone is related to you in some way. If you go to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, you will see another reflection of Tanzanian life and society. Yes, there are religious people in the cities and villages, but at the same time you will see people flossing their cars and enjoying life as Americans do. In fact, some people are very happy to be connected to the material world.
To assume Tanzanians not connected to the material world are happy is incorrect. People do struggle to find jobs and make money, which is why you often find people left begging on the streets. They are not happy and life is tough for them. The people Ruggiero saw may have been happy, but they may have also been happy to see a foreigner come and visit and help out.
Just because some Tanzanians are disconnected to the material world does not mean they are happy about it. Because Ruggiero says Tanzanians are happy the way they are, people will incorrectly assume this is the reason why we are not developing rapidly.
It's great to see people from our Lehigh community travel the world and see what it has to offer, but please remember there is more to what you are seeing. I want to do my country justice and show the world there is more to Tanzania than reflected in Ruggiero's articles.
Tanzania is a developing country. We are neither advanced nor considered a rich country. But I only discovered Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world after reading the facts in my international political economy class.
But I question what being 'advanced' means. Does it measure how advanced a country is by types of cars driven, seeing Apple computers everywhere and showing off the newest styles of clothing? Running barefoot on the streets is not a sign of underdevelopment or poverty. I used to run barefoot when I was a kid and so did many of my friends. Cooking over an open fire is no different than grilling outside at Campus Square.
People need to remember this type of measurement of development is a Western measurement. Because of that, Tanzanians are perceived to have a long way to go before reaching the state of being a 'developed' nation. I think it's a skewed measurement and African countries always get the bitter end of the stick.
One assumption Ruggiero makes is that Tanzanians are more religious than Americans. Remember that in the U.S., particularly in the South, religion plays a huge part in shaping society and even laws. I agree with Ruggiero that Tanzanians are spiritual. We are proud to have strong family relationships. But this has more to do with our culture than our religion.
From a very young age, we are taught to respect our elders, to always help others and not to dwell too much on material things. In Tanzania, everyone is family and everyone is related to you in some way. If you go to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, you will see another reflection of Tanzanian life and society. Yes, there are religious people in the cities and villages, but at the same time you will see people flossing their cars and enjoying life as Americans do. In fact, some people are very happy to be connected to the material world.
To assume Tanzanians not connected to the material world are happy is incorrect. People do struggle to find jobs and make money, which is why you often find people left begging on the streets. They are not happy and life is tough for them. The people Ruggiero saw may have been happy, but they may have also been happy to see a foreigner come and visit and help out.
Just because some Tanzanians are disconnected to the material world does not mean they are happy about it. Because Ruggiero says Tanzanians are happy the way they are, people will incorrectly assume this is the reason why we are not developing rapidly.
It's great to see people from our Lehigh community travel the world and see what it has to offer, but please remember there is more to what you are seeing. I want to do my country justice and show the world there is more to Tanzania than reflected in Ruggiero's articles.
