JUST SAY NO!

Arabs say: It is better for you to say Yes after No than to say No after Yes. Many of us regret for what we have done just because we said 'Yes". When you say no you have more time to look into the problem and make useful decision. Many of our problem could be solved easily if we had been clever enough to say NO before saying YES.

Yes, it is also true with computer users. Most of the novice computer users hesitate to say NO/cancel when they use computer and as a result they destroy their computers or loose their important files. Some one may tell you. Where is my picture file? It was here. I don't know what happened. Yes he said YES/OK and that was the trouble. Another one may say I remember to have such a program in my computer but I don't know what happened. He said OK and the program was installed. It is always like that.

Most of the problem which computer users face could be solved by selecting Cancel/Back/Undo/Esc. Your chances to survive increases when you choose to say NO. When you are not sure of anything in computers you are safe when you choose to cancel the action or you return to the initial step or reject the action and the computer will give another options: more time to think.

I didn't say that you should close your eyes and always shout NO, NO, NO...... You will loose all your property when refuse to "save".  But when you save changes you must be careful. What I want you to put in your mind is that it is not sin to say NO. Some times you save your life by saying NO. Any how is it not true to our lives. We are just safe when we say NO. Just say "No".

HOW MUCH DO YOU PAY FOR A LESSON

When I was comming back to the collage from Pemba I got very expensive lesson. I payed for it but if you like you can grab it free.
I had to stop at Zanzibar Town for I had taken the reserve key for the room I stayed when I stopped on my way to Pemba for the season leave. It was Saturday and I wanted to reach at the hostel on Sunday morning so I decided to buy a ticket for night boat.

When I was near the booking office a your man approached me;  'You want a ticket to Dar at Night?' 'Oh Yes'. 'Give him This'. The ticket was taken from the office widow. 'This is for the top class. Pay 15,000/= for you'. I didnt look at the name because always we miss tickets at the offices and buy them from these drug addicted victims. I just payed and went away.
After eating something I slept heavily for almost I was sleeping very late at night. You know we are reserchers. No disserted. Oh any how... My uncle came to wake up me at about 7.30 pm. 'I was told you are going to Dar'. I just jumped out of the bed, collected my things and he took me on his motor cycle to the port. Good bye. byeeeee.

When I reached he entrance the checker jumped out 'This is the ticket'. After long discussion I found that the ticket belonged to a European guy and it was stolen. Lucky enough the case was not reported to the police. But I had only 1000/= in my pocket. (You know I use an INTERNATIONAL VISA CARD) but there was no nearby bank at the port and remember it was around 8.15 now.

I didnt regret for that because I believed I had got a lesson:
1. Our culture of buying tickets from these addicted young men is like watering there bad behaviour.
2. I never checked the name in the tickets which I buy through the same way.
3. I could escape this if consulted the gut at the window which was about only 1.5 metres from me.
I payed 15,000/= for this lesson, is it too much? How much would you pay?

Oh, excuse me. you want to know how I managed to travel to Dar then. I was very lucky. The guy who was guiding the Europeans payed 10,000/= to the man ant the boat gate man. (Dont ask me if it was legal) When I interred the boat some one shouted,Bring him to first class. I had no time to thank him or just to know him.

IT DOES OCCUR!

Many things occur in the world  which you can not explain unless you know the background of the issues. One of such things is people occupations. Kojani people in Pemba are always fishermen to the extent some one may call all fisherman Kojanis. Some body from Kenya when he sees tyres seller, he thinks about Kambas. In Zanzibar when we see a Maasai we presume he is a watchman. May be events of cattle bandits have made Maasai always ready to fight. But traditional life of Maasai also has given them another specialty:  selling beads and traditional medicine. The woman in the picture was selling women decorations and traditional medicine at Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam. Maasai women from their relatively dry regions in Northern Tanzania have no other occupation to do outside their territory accept this because they are not prepared to do anything outside thier houses. Decoration and madicine are their born with talents and that is their business.

BLESSINGS OF THE COAST

They say: 'Mgaa gaa na mpwa hali wali mkavu' (One who plays on the shoreline might not eat plain rice). but the coast has more than that. Coast is the source of rains while the amount of rains decreases with increasing distance from the coast. Corals have many uses   building materials, rocks for road construction, fish breeding grounds, tourism attractions,  .............Sea is also the source of protein: fish, octopus, squid, lobsters....  No wonders that more than half of the world population live with in 500 kilometers from the coast line.

Picture above shows a girl fishing oysters along the coast.Ah .. Did I say fishing? No, it is just collecting the small creatures. If she lives a few meters from the shore why she eats plain 'ubwabwa'.

JUST DO! WHAT YOU DO DOESN’T MATTER

Dar es Salaam is a great city with a population of about 3.5 million people. Most of the people have primary education. (some may complete standard seven with out knowledge of reading or writing). Life is very hard for many of the people. To earn leaving you must do anything which can earn you something to it. They say: Any job is like any other bora mkono wende kinwyani  (only that your hand must reach the mouth (get some thing to eat).

In this picture, a man with a sewing machine is working along a narrow street – without a shed). This is among the busiest dirty street in the city where people go to and fro on foot, by bicycle, carts or three wheel motor cycle commonly known as ‘kibajaj’ or ‘boda boda’. Here municipal law can not work. You can do any business any where as far as people know you.