After Africa

'The FP Twitterati 100' - where are the Africans?

The magazine Foreign Policy has put together something they call 'The FP Twitterati 100' - A who's who of the foreign-policy Twitterverse in 2011. Check it out here.

Neat it is, but what puzzled me instantly was the very few Africans on the list.

Paul Kagame is put in the category 'Politicians and Diplomats', and titled 'President of Rwanda and Twitter fanatic' (!)

However, in the 'Africa' category only one out of five, namely Andrew Mwenda from Uganda, is an African.

And the reason can't be that Africans are not tweeting.

However, having followed the Tanzanian twittersphere since it developed I suspect that one reason for not reaching out to a European or American ordience may be that tweeps tend to be very much in love with internal issues (where foreigners either need lots of insight or patience), and that language is Kiswahili mixed with English? 

Time to rewrite travel guides to Africa, sio?!

I have got Lonely Planet Tanzania opened, going through a page or two when sidetracking.

I am wondering of the use of words and the values behind:

Scrappy (Kigoma), spotless (hotels), pleasant-enough, sleepy, semi-colonial, safe, faded charm (Tanga), little-reason-to-come-to (Dodoma).

Time to rewrite travel guides to Africa, sio?!

BarCampDar 77

 
BarCampDar is on. July 7 in Dar es Salaam.

Check out the website here (still needs updates).

Check out my personal experience here from June 2008 where I went to BarCamp Nairobi in Kenya.

Free delivery kits to all pregnant women in Tanzania

'IN a move to reduce reproductive and maternal deaths, the government will effective next financial year, provide all pregnant women with delivery kits. The move was announced in Dar es Salaam on Monday by President Jakaya Kikwete when launching a Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal and Newborns Mortality.'

So, the Tanzanian Daily News reports in an article on June 6.

In july 2009 I visited Itulahumba Hospital near Njombe in the Southern Highlands in Tanzania (photo). The hospital had the basic buildings in place, but little equipment apart from some outdated and samples of beds that had recently arrived in a container from Denmark. During my brief visit I was told that women would give birth on mats on the cement floor if the few beds were taken.

When I lived in West Nile in northen Uganda from 2005-2007 I knew exactly where the bigger hospitals were situated along my work route: Adjumani, Moyo, Koboko, Yumbe, Maracha, Arua, Kuluwa and eventually Mulago. I also knew where pregnant women would prefer to go if they could afford it.

Being pregnant in a first world country and with all the comfort and security it offers, makes it hard to imagine the conditions many African women must suffer when pregnant. Priviledged myself, having had a car and a health insurance when I worked in Africa, I could only observe the strenght of these women - and give lifts to the nearest hospital.

Reading the article I am therefore also wondering what exactly is a delivery kit? And how a kit can improve a pregnant woman's chances of surviving giving birth? Obviously a hospital bed, clean water and a qualified doctor would be preferable to a kit, isn't it?

However, the positive thing is in fact that President Kikwete is standing up tall, talking on women's behalf:

'President Kikwete pointed out some of the challenges in the government programmes to reduce these deaths as lack of support from the community members, especially husbands of the pregnant women and thus leading to many women delivering at home.'

It strikes me how concise Kikwete is with numbers all the way down to the 421 motorcycle ambulances ordered. (About two weeks ago the development of the fibre optic cable were given specific numbers.) It seems like a free gift to monitors and others with a passion for accountability? Maybe to check The Guardian's article 'Mobile healths offers hope to patients in Africa' for inspiration?

Follow what East Africans have to say about governments handling of national budgets #UGbudget11 #kebudget2011 #budgettz2011

Can't even track my own budget - but find it rather interesting that during these days you can follow national budget debates in East Africa on Twitter via citizens, media and MPs - check:

Uganda: #UGbudget11

Kenya: #kebudget2011

Tanzania: #budgettz2011

Rather curious how the three countries distinct themselves on Twitter, opinions and budgets. Should be an interesting phenomenon for a donor of budget support.

If bored, it does tend to get rather internal and full of abbreviations, do check Alfred Mutua.

MP tweeting from custody in Tanzania. The easy part and the real challenge.

I’ve been communicating quite a bit with different people relating to Tanzania about the use of social media over the past few days.

Then suddenly, Zitto Kabwe, MP for Chadema, tweets from custody in Singida:

'Have just been arrested by police in Singida for ' holding a rally after 6pm'

It is awfully hard not to retweet a tweet like this, as it contains the most elementary ingredients of what news are made of.

The tweets go forth and back quickly, and soon the news from the event in a district town in central Tanzania have spread to the rest of the world in no time. Just check the Facebook comments here.

Lots of pole sana. It has even become the subject of debate between people across continents. Alafu - about an hour later the MP is out on self-bail:

'RCO just got an order from his RPC to let me off and report tomorrow. Self-bail.'

Back to my interest in how social media is applied in Tanzania, and how this is perceived in i.e. Europe, I have to conclude that to me this is no longer about the fascination of the raw facts that a Tanzanian MP tweets and facebooks straight from custody.

That is in fact the surprisingly easy part.

To me the real challenge lies in adressing the issues of why he ended up there, what will happen after and how the instant communication affects politics in a longer term perspective. Another, may be to keep focus on how the government goes about its cyberspace policies in the long term.

If interested in the Tanzanian government's take on the Internet, read along here. 

Tanzanian Government's take on the Internet

 

On May 25, 2011 the Tanzanian newspaper Daily News quotes President Kikwete for promising that 'the national fibre-optic network currently under construction is set to cover all districts in the country by June, next year'.

The article goes from praising Microsoft to the benefits of the implementation of the fibre-optic network. For instance, it mentions 'e-learning at different levels of education', and quotes President Kikwete:

'We will from next financial year set aside a budget for the implementation of the Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow (TBT) project in which through ICT a teacher can teach many students in various regions at a time. This will, to a large extent, reduce the problem of teachers' shortage'

Neatly the article adds clear numbers in term of the assumed progress: According to the article the fibre-optic network has reached 19 regions and 59 districts out of Tanzania's 30 regions. Nice numbers for press conferences. However, the style of the article makes me think of territory of microphone holders, and this article, too, leaves me with a strong wish that the reporter had investigated further:

Is it really true that over half of Tanzania's regions by now are covered by the fibre-optic cable?

According to the blog Bora Kujenga Daraja, it hasn't yet reached Njombe in the Southern Highlands, and the map illustrating the progress leaves space for interpretation (for one, it is in Chinese):

It may be relatively easy to monitor the amount of kilometres of fibre-optic cables digged into Tanzanian soil, but what do the numbers actually mean for the 42 million people living in Tanzania? 

Internet is obviously nothing without electricity, computers, money to buy an Internet subscription and the skills to utilize it for meaningful purposes. So, I'd also like to know more about the numbers of people for whom this makes a difference, and what kind of difference it makes practically. 

The government's 'Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow', as mentioned above, may be a part of the answer, but the President's vision of solving the problems in regard of the lack of teachers eventually depend on the answers to the questions above.

Earlier this week the blog Swahili Street noted another relevant perspective of this development by referring to the government's training of the police force to do on-line patroling. Swahili Street also poses questions: 'And what will it mean practically? How does an “online patrol” take place? Where exactly will be patrolled? And who?'

Certainly, the Tanzanian government has embarked on an intensified process of adressing the use of the Internet, and having the President promoting it up front is definitely interesting. One may however hope that media and others interested in the impact of the Internet, freedom of speech and education also will manage to intensify their observance, too.

The illustration was sent to me from a friend in Tanzania, and is cut from last Wednesday's Mwananchi. My Kiswhaili isn't perfect, but I believe the text can be translated to: 'Citizens, your government is now
on Facebook. You have to be on Facebook.' (Please, do correct me if not so).

On Blogging motivation, Top Key Words, Freud, being stuck in Africa, and living less...

I'm preparing a training session for Danish development NGOs on blogging for this afternoon where part of it is to explain that before starting a blog you should decide on software, succes criteria and aims, plan strategically, and then currently monitor if it works out that way.

That is if you want readers, to keep them or to influence agendas or what not.

I realise that I never planned beforehand in terms of blogging, but rather learnt stuff along the way. Simply because I had little idea of what the potential was. In fact, no idea, when I see what came out of it in the years to come. 

But what's there to monitor if you have no readers? And what's there to blog if you're out of ideas and motivation?

In terms of blogging strategies, aims and plans are worthless without personal drive, passion and motivation to express.

I didn't succeed very well in regards of blogging in 2011. Mainly because I've been lacking personal drive, passion and motivation to express myself.

I did get into Twitter during the past year, which has been cool for getting familiar with the media and community. However, I find it hard to say what I really want in only 140 characters, and turn both fascinated and sceptical at the same time when big men like Paul Kagame and Ian Birrell squeeze Twitter's (and their own) potentials to their maximums.

While I lived in Tanzania some friends would ask: 'Don't you miss cultural stimulation? Like the news on TV, the Sunday paper, theatres and rock concerts they way they operate in Europe?'

I never really did. (There was always Q-Bar). I already knew then, but it just feels more evident now:

Africa gave high, daily doses of motivation to express myself, and I simply haven't found it here.

And to me, not to feel a daily urge to write and take photographs, that is in fact sort of like living less.

This fortunately explains the reason why I have taken time out of Denmark with the intention of spending it in Tanzania from June and onwards.

Can't wait.

PS. I needed an illustration for the training session on how you monitor key words for your blogging. The above illustrates my top key words for 2011. I'm sure Freud would have noted my key words, and said something about the unhealthy thing about being stuck in Africa while actually in Europe.

Haya...

 

Tanzanian Parliament, New Technology and Access #Bunge #Tanzania

The Tanzanian Parliament, Bunge, yesterday embarked on the third of its four annual sessions.

An activity which will feed the Tanzanian newspapers and the social media scene for the coming 10 days.

I just picked up some recent statements from the two youthful politicians, I've previously blogged about here:

Zitto Kabwe, MP for Kigoma North and CHADEMA, referring to the national anthem:

and January Makamba, MP for Bumbuli and CCM, who has a good reason for not being in Dodoma yet:

However, as a lovely contrast I have to lead your attention to The Citizen, which today has a brief article up on a new security measure in regard of physical access to Bunge. It is described as 'everyone who wants to enter a certain room has to use a special device in the form of a card'. The article goes on explaining the problems occurring due to this, and quotes the Speaker of Bunge, Ms Anne Makinda, who explained: 'The problems were anticipated as they were part of the new technology.'

Afrographique. Cool design on the use of digital media in Africa

Afrographique presents fantastic graphic design illustrating use of digital media in Africa.

Have a look yourself here for more designs.

Do also read the brief introduction to Afrographique:

This blog is my small contribution to assist the changing perception of Africa and it’s people - hopefully you will be able to learn something as well. This blog aims to collect as much data as possible with the aim of presenting the information in an exciting and digestible format to all.

You’re very welcome to use any of the infographics I have created in your presentations or projects - the only thing I ask is either a mention or a link to the final product.

http://afrographique.tumblr.com/About

I, for sure, will use these designs in coming presentations - so thanks a lot back to Afrographique!