A brief social history of Tanzania...

(paraphrased from "Tanzania: The Land and Its People" by John Ndembwike)

Tanzania is one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent. The nation underwent radical transformation when the government launched a policy of ujamaa in the late 60s. This was one of the boldest experiments in social engineering in post-colonial Africa, and one of the most ambitious in the entire Third World.

Previously a British colony, Great Britain (the country's ruling colonial power from 1919–1961) had devoted virtually no resources to building government-sponsored schools, hospitals or social welfare programs. In a nation twice the size of California, there were fewer than one thousand miles of paved roads.

The policy of ujamaa (which means familyhood in Kiswahili) did not transform Tanzania into a socialist society overnight, but it fundamentally changed the way people lived and looked at each other, and how the economy was run. During the early experimental stage, President Nyerere instilled in the people of Tanzania egalitarian values and ideals which shaped Tanzania's national character, transforming the country into an egalitarian society by which the vast majority of Tanzanians viewed each other as equal human beings. Millions of Tanzanians began calling each other "Ndugu," meaning "brother" or "sister" to underscore the nation's commitment to equality, and the believe that no human being was better than another.

This was in sharp contrast to the society of Tanzania's northern neighbor Kenya, where ruthless competition under capitalism literally transformed Kenya into a dog-eat-dog society (as many Tanzanians would state during the days of ujamaa). Kenyans angrily responded that Tanzania was a dog-eat-nothing society because the country had been impoverished by bankrupt socialist policies which failed to develop the economy. There is some truth in both statements.

During the socialist era, Nyerere succeeded in uniting Tanzanians into one people, an achievement probably without parallel on the continent. Tanzanians became so united that tribalism and racism were virtually banished from national life. The national language was Kiswahili, and speaking one's tribal language – let alone talking about one's tribal identity – was frowned upon. The people of Tanzania saw themselves as Tanzanians first, and not as Masaai, Gogo, Ngoni, Sukuma, etc...

The opposite exists in Kenya, and the contrast is glaring. Among Kenyans, the tribe comes first; a Kenyan is a Kikuyu before he is a Kenyan. As a result, tribal and regional rivalries are an accepted part of life in Kenya. Following the 2007 rigging of the Kenyan presidential election (by President Mwai Kibaki), ethnic violence erupted in the country; it was easy for Kenyans to murder and burn people alive simply because they did not belong to their tribe [this can tragically be seen throughout numerous countries on the African continent].

This kind of senseless violence is unthinkable in Tanzania, and Tanzanians are grateful the government did not unite with Kenya and the other East African countries under a federal government. They feared that the tribal disease that is endemic in Kenya and other East African countries (Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda) would spread to Tanzania. Thankfully, that has not happened.

However, it was during these days of socialism that Tanzania also suffered economically on an unprecedented scale. Nyerere committed to building schools, hospitals and other social institutions, yet borrowed heavily on the West to do so. While it is true that great achievements were made in terms of education and provision of social services (at one point Tanzania had the highest literacy rate in Africa and one of the highest in the world at over 90%), the socialist experiment was a glaring economic failure, resulting in massive food shortages during the late 70s and throughout the 80s. At one point, the World Bank made more loans per capita to Tanzania than to any other nation, but threatened to stop the flow of money unless drastic reforms were made.

Eventually, socialism was replaced by a capitalist system in the late 80s. Currently Tanzania is trying to evolve their economy through agriculture and tourism, though logistical problems, including harsh geography in terms of climate and physical barriers, are some of the biggest obstacles to economic development in Tanzania. Though they are making improvements, it is a slow process. Infrastructure in the country is severely lacking: the national railroad and airline have both gone out of business (a combination of bankruptcy and atrocious safety records). Only a few roads are paved and less than one percent of Tanzanians own cars.

Although globalization is gradually – and even radically – transforming the face of Tanzania and the lives of many people in the country, the vast majority of Tanzania still lives in abject poverty with little prospect for improvement in their lives. Professor Manning Marable of Columbia University wrote in 2007 of a visit he made to a school in Arusha, where 900 children were being taught by 17 overworked and underfunded teachers. '...scores of African children receive instruction in cattle stalls with dirt floors because schools lack enough classrooms. Fewer than half of the children have textbooks, pens or paper. Yet all the children appear eager to learn.'

Tanzania is also plagued with health problems that seriously compromise the country's economic development:

* The median life expectancy at birth is only 45 years for males, and 46.4 years for females. *Infant mortality rates remain astronomically high.
*Approximately 2 million Tanzanians are estimated to be HIV-positive or to have AIDS