Albert Jimwaga
Since last year during weekends and holidays when I am at home, my daughter Gloria (19) always asks permission to have access to my laptop – reason for it to blog.
I had always thought it is a game until Stil came recently to train us. Thanks to Actionaid Australia had made me to start blogging in late 40s. Just imagine. Being my first ever blog post, I though I’d start by telling you a little bit about myself — where I come from and why I’ve dedicated a my life at this age to finding a home for change where every individual is free from poverty, injustice and lives in dignity.
Traversing through my life has been an hectic one and people who knew me in my teens might be surprised to learn where I’ve ended up today.
I started my school life at the age of 5 walking barefooted 5km to a primary school and on weekends or holidays going either fishing or farming. My life was difficult and continues to be frustrating as I still even today see thousands of children being denied their right to education, their parents who are farmers, facing issues of market, extension services and inputs. People living with HIV/AIDS being stigmatized and not being able to access treatment and care. And women being denied their rights. In addition to this the poor, especially the women, are not involved in decision making and the government is not accountable and transparent.
After graduating I joined the Government and then UNDP community in Antigua and Barbudat and learned a lot from there. I returned home and worked with environmental conservation organizations including IUCN in Rufiji Delta before joining ActionAid. So now I’m working with the incredibly talented team at ActionAid Tanzania — a privilege to work for this wonderful organisation. I’m excited to be connecting in ending poverty together through this blog. Please let me know the issues that you’re interested in hearing about and I’ll certainly do my best to engage with you as we embark on this journey and help our people claim their rights.
Tags: antigua, barbudat, hiv/aids, iucn, stilgherrian, tanzania, undp
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I am looking forward to understanding what these large scale issues look like through the eyes of individuals. It is one thing to explain issues, but quite another to see them face-to-face (as it were). I look forward to reading more.
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Hello Albert, and welcome!
It is most wonderful to read your post and I hope you continue to write regularly. Blogging is a lovely way of making contact with the world, sharing your news and thoughts. As a very lucky person who lives in Australia, I look forward to reading your posts. I hope it will be a great way for me to understand the reality of life in Tanzania, and to read how organisations like Action Aid help. By blogging, I hope your words will encourage many Australians to read, to think and to do what they can to help.
Good luck.
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Hi Abdul and Albert,
Congratulations on getting your first posts up and both are terrific! Really looking forward to connecting with you both.
Happy blogging!!
Archie Law
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Hi Albert
I was really interested to read your story – you mention at the beginning of your blog post how you think that people who knew you when you were a teen would be surprised about where you have ended up today. Even though our lives have been very different I think the same thing – education was the thing that changed my life. I left school when I was 15 but went back to study as a mature age student – at that stage I had two children.Can you tell us more about what changed your life.
I live at Heathfield which is in the Adelaide hills http://www.southaustralia.com/AdelaideHills.aspx. Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia.
Really look forward to reading more from you.
Cheers
Deanne -
Abdul and Albert, it’s been a pleasure to work with you. Now that you’ve introduced yourselves to the blogosphere, it will be interesting to see how your conversations evolve.
People in Western countries like Australia usually only know Africa through the standardised media images. Being able to experience it first hand with guides like yourselves, combining humour with local knowledge, has been a privilege. I’m looking forward to writing much more when I get home. You will not be forgotten.
Please pass on to Thomas my thanks for his skillful and tireless driving. Driving such distances would be exhausting enough in Australia, where the roads are mostly good. I am still in disbelief that he worked so hard for us, and yet was still smiling so early in the morning, and so late at night.
Albert just asked my to approve the comments which have been made so far, as he’s leaving for Dodoma again — yes, today, another 5-hour drive — with a colleague from Zimbabwe. It never stops…
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Hello!
My own blog and experience is only about my life and observations I make as I travel through it. I guess it is more like your daughter’s blog.
I wish you all the best luck in your new endeavor and hope it helps communicate what is going on over in your country. As Stilgherrian said, we only get a filtered view of the world. As someone who travelled to china, indonesia and other nearby countries to Australia I am aware of this problem. So do not fear to tell the truth. Knowledge is a powerful thing. We in the world need to have a balanced view of what is happening. I’d expect there will be some bumps on the way, but stay in there. The whole world is still working out what blogging is about and what it can and cannot achieve.
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Hi Albert,
Transmission received but more importantly a thin, neural-like, two way link is set up. A blog is your voice to many and far more powerful than other forms of communication.
I ran a project at the BBC back in 1997 called the Musical Nomad, live blogging via a portable satellite from poor parts of Central Asia and the importance of actually bringing voices and grass roots perspectives out of developing nations to the connected always on world, is critical to breaking down walls of poverty. The developed world in its self imposed technological competition/race is often unaware of many still at the starting block – it is important for the 1 billion connected to respect and acknowledge and act for the 5 billion unconnected.
You mention education and I feel that this has now changed irrevocably. The new education is actually the connection between us via the internet and the best start for many in developing nations is to connect themselves to the ‘cloud’, the peoples of the rest of the world and to ask questions. Millions of questions and for us all to strive to connect those out-of-the-loop.
Finally you mention that you think/thought blogging or the internet is a game? I suspect you may believe life is a game too – most played locally, for the fortunate few globally? The internet and the way we communicate with each other is absolutely a reflection of the ‘rules of life’. Importantly the rules of life are changing – governments are being made irrelevant through the power of ‘global connection’, representation is now in the hands of individuals & small organisations and well done actionaid in realizing that these rules can be changed. Everyone can play a part in this game – they just need to be at the table, and your first blog post Albert gives you a seat in the global game.
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Hi Albert,
Welcome to the “blogosphere”! I’m looking forward to reading more about your work and your life in Tanzania.
Keep up the good work
Mark Chenery
Communications Manager
ActionAid Australia -
Dear Albert & Abdul
It’s wonderful to see you here and amazing to be talking to you from my desk in Sydney. I am really looking forward to hearing much more about Tanzania and what life is like there. I have only been to Africa once, and had the privilege of visiting ActionAid Mozambique. I was very shocked to discover how many people were living with HIV/AIDS. In some regions it’s thought that up to 1 in 4 people may be HIV positive. I’m really interested to know what kind of work you are doing in this area?
Kelli
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Albert
Congratulations on your blog. I hope you enjoyed the journey and learning with Stilgherrian. We are looking forward to learning more about Tanzania and your community.
Australia has a real opportunity to see real insights through your blog.
Thank you -
Congratulations on your first blog post Albert!
I have met people from various parts of Africa who have had to leave the continent to survive. It’s refreshing & eye openning to hear stories from individuals. This project is a fantastic idea & I hope it works for you.
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Thanks a lot Simon for your encourangement comments. The success of this blog depends on your contribution and sharing the experiences you have already. have you managed to ask my fellow Africans why there are leaving the continent What are the root causes and possible solutions
thanking you again
albert
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Many thanks still on behalf of my Colleagues i express our profound gratitude for the support you provided hope to continue working with you
remember the Kuku Choma at Chako ni Chako in Dododma,
Gud day -
Dear Garry
Thanks a lot for this especially the third paragraph. We will do our best though we do not have portable satellite as you was . Since we are building this blog and putting in consideration that you have been in poor parts of Asia can you please advise us what are priority issues Australian would like to hear
Regards
albert -
Dear Mark
Thanks a lot. While we are building this blog can you please advise us what priority issues/news Australian bloggers would like to know
Cheers
albert
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Dear Bendell
Thanks a lot for this. As we are building the blog can you please advise us what are priority issues Australian are interested of
Regards
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Thanks Gavin
I assure you we will be discussing and providing you the real information on the ground. As we are building this blog Do you have and specific priority issue you would like us to start with
Thanks a lot and in Kiswahili we say KARIBU SANA (you are warmly welcome) to blog
Cheers
albert
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Dear Archie
Thanks a lot for this impressive comment. We appreciate for your initiative and support of making the poor voices to be heard. We are still young, inexperienced and really expect more continued support from you specifically and the whole Actionaid Australia family. Please be our guardian and part of this blog. I really expect your rich advice-giving in building up this blog. Thanks a lot
albert
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Welcome to blogging Albert
I’m really interested in hearing more about your life and what you do every day. I’d love to hear your stories
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Hi Kelli,
My Name is Laurent Wambura and I am working as HIV/AIDS thematic advisor for ActionAid Tanzania. I have read you comments and your expressed need of knowing what we do in Tanzania on HIV and AIDS as ActionAid. Firstly, i would like to inform that HIV/AIDS prevalence in Tanzania is currently at an average of 5.7 percent from 7.0 percent of 2004. However, women are still higly infected in comparison to men at the rate of 6.7 percent now compared to that of 7.7 percent in 2004. That in total makes more than 1.5 million people living with HIV and our government intends to enroll 440,000 of them in Antiretroviral treatment (ART) reaching end of 2010. Secondly, in the study ActionAid Tanzania did in mid 2008 on community access to care and treatment services in remote areas in Tanzania indicated challenges in accessing treatment and care. Distance to health facilities,frequent out of stock opportunistic infection drugs and inadequate home based care services posed as major challenges. In fact, it is a year remaining for the set target of 440,000 people living with HIV to be under ART by 2010 and it is almost 50 percent reached. It is feared that due to global financial crisis, donor support will be reduced and affect even ARVs accessibility to those under ART. -
ActionAid Tanzania apart from doing study so that we can have informed position, we use participatory approach called Societies Tackling AIDS through Rights (STAR) to bring together community members at the grassroot critically analyse issues and challenges they face due to HIV/AIDS and plan action points to address them. Communities that have used the approach are empowered to demand for care and treatment services near to their localities.
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Jambo Albert! I am looking forward to hearing your stories about the lives of people in Tanzania. Please help us understand what you believe the causes of the hardships are that people face there and what we, the people living in luckier countries, can do to help you improve the situation for your people.
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Trackback from Aide-Memoire on 9 July 2009 at 4:54 am
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Hello Abdul and Archie – welcome to the world of blogging.
The most valuable aspect of your blogging will be your ability to communicate to the outside world, the ways in which YOU believe we can best help you. It is fine for outsiders to come into your country, wishing to help and having all the right intentions, but if their help is not addressing the correct needs, then it can defeat the purpose, or at best, delay the outcome.
None of us can appreciate your experiences with your everyday life, and what can be done to solve the issue of poverty, but it is never a simple solution. This is your opportunity to inform us of how best to HELP YOU. There may be issues that we are totally unaware of that may cause complications, rather than assistance – and you shouldn’t be afraid to tell us.
Blogging gives you a voice, a powerful tool to use for your benefit. Don’t make the mistake of feeling you have to be grateful, or polite. Be truthful about what is really needed to help you and address the continuing issue of poverty in your country.
The issues of dealing with Malaria and HIV/AIDS must be difficult. I’ve only just recently learnt (after watching a documentary on Malawi) that it is now possible for pregnant women who are HIV+ to be treated in late pregnancy, and then for their babies to receive treatment when born, to prevent the baby from being HIV+. That is brilliant.
Their problem has been getting the message out to those affected women that this treatment is available. Blogging would be another avenue in which to spread such valuable information as this. If there are other bloggers in neighbouring African countries, you may also be able to share experiences and help each other.
We do look forward to hearing about your lives and what can be done – but don’t always wait for the questions from us – feel free to just tell us what you need to tell us
I don’t think we will be able to truly assess the value of social media for many years to come, when we can reflect on the changes that have occurred in the world – but based on just the last year alone, I suspect it will be enormous.
Take care, Abdul and Albert, and we look forward to your future blogs.
Regards
Avril… -
Pingback from Stilgherrian · Unreliable Tanzania 1: Fatigue on 13 July 2009 at 3:04 pm
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Go! Go! dad what thats nice so do i get that new laptop hahaha joking what about the phone hahaha joking too write more i got 2 show my friends
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Hi; the written is very significant, we need people just like you, sure the tanzanian still needs people just like you to let them out of darkness,its recomendable job keep it up;;
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Welcome Albert and Abdul,
A really W A R M W E L C O M E your both. Step in the amazing world of “blogging”
I am not a blogger already so please do not await a “good tip” from me…just tell us your stories and I am sure it will grab our attention and we all will keep in touch….couple of days, months, years later it’s not Albert and Adbul who blogging then are “just” our f r i e n d s that inform us about what there are currently doing
Enjoy it!!!!
Take care and all the best
Stefan*
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