COMMUNITY AND ITS TRADITION

Some where in Tanzania there is a community living in a particular area, the area is rich in natural resources such as forest and wildlife, the area was green with diverse of different plant species. This community who are local inhabitant(native) to this place they where utilizing this natural resources to meet their basic needs such as fire wood, building materials, fodder, medicine, fruits and etc.

Within this area there is forest which was reserved for spiritual matter as part of their tradition. The forest is managed by the local community guided with native law and custom and every one is abiding with this rules.

Due to the beauty scene of this area and weather one of investor was attracted and wants to take some part of this land .The investor follows all procedure and he was given part of this area. The investor starts to clear its land for preparation of Tea plantation.

During this process the investor commands workers to clear the other part which was not given by the government including the reserved forest. When they start to clear this land the community warns investor to leave aside reserved forest disdain and tell them I’m rich I can do anything.

Workers proceed with their activities and they managed to clear some part of forest. When they come for another day to finish remaining part they found that all tree where emerged. The investor was shocked with this situation but he did not give-up. Due to their understanding them though that if they clear all forest for one day no plant will emerge. They do so by using the advanced machine like bulldozer to clear the land. The next day they found that all tree where emerged as if there where nothing happen to that forest.

After all initiative and techniques to clearing fails the investor leave reserved forest as it is and the local community proceed to use this forest for the spiritual matter as usual.

Heri Jackson

herij26@gmail.com

MIKUMI IPO HATARINI

Tarafa ya mikumi inapoteza utajiri asilia ambapo binadamu amekuwa ni chanzo kikubwa cha kupelekea kupotea kwa utajiri huo. Katika maeneo mbalimbali ndani ya Tarafa ya mikumi kumebakiwa na nyasi kavu zisizo na uhai pamoja na vumbi ambavyo ni viashiria tosha vya maisha duni baadae.

Hivi sasa hali inatisha ukiangalia maeneo mbalimbali kuzunguka Tarafa hiyo. Katika maeneo hayo kumebakiwa nyasi kavu, maeneo ambayo yamechomwa moto pia miti michache inayoweza kuhesabika hata ukiwa umbali wa mita mia tatu (m.300) toka katika kila eneo la ekari ishirini. Shughuli mbalimbali zinazofanywa na binadamu imekuwa ni chanzo kikubwa cha kupoteza uoto huo. Hayo yalizungumzwa katika mkutano ulioendeshwa tarehe 12.09.2009 na asasi isiyo ya kiserikari ijulikanayo kama Greenbelt Schools Trust Fund (TSGF) kwa kudhaminiwa na WWF katika kata ya Mikumi.

Watu wamekuwa wakifanya shughuli zenye madhara katika mazingira ilikujipatia mahitaji yao ya kila siku. Shughuli hizo ni kama vile utengenezaji wa mkaa, ufugaji holela pamoja na kilimo cha kuhamahama. Hii inaonesha kwamba wenyeji hao hufanya shughuli ambayo itawaletea matunda haraka pasipo kufikiri hasara zinazojitokeza. Mjumbe mmoja wa kamati ya mazingira kutoka WWF Ndugu Angelus Runji amesema “Uwajibikaji mdogo wa wanajamii katika kuhifadhi mazingira ndio chanzo cha madhara mbalimbali kama vile umomonyoko wa udongo na ukame. Vilevile mwenekiti cha Mikumi Ndugu Idd Liko amesema” baadhi ya watu hujihusisha na uchimbaji wa udongo ilikutengeneza tofari, Pia hukata kuni kwajiri ya kuchomea tofari hizo”. Hali hii imedhihilika katika bonde la mto Ruhembe ambapo imepelekea udongo kupoteza rutuba.

Shughuli hizo zimepelekea kuwepo kwa uharibifu mkubwa wa misitu katika eneo la Mikumi na hatimae kuwepo kwa udongo usiofaa kwa kilimo pamoja na uhaba wa maji. Hali hii imeshuhudiwa na Katibu Mkuu wa Asasi moja isio ya kiserikali ijulikanayo kama Greenbelt Schools Trust Fund (GSTF) (Ndugu John Mengele) inayojishughulisha na mazingira amesema “Pia sababu nyingine inayopelekea uharibifu wa mazingira katika vyanzo vya maji ni kilimo holela cha umwagiliaji maji kinachoenda sambamba na ukataji wa miti kandokando ya mto Ruhembe”. Ameendelea kusema kwamba hapo awali mto huu ulikuwa ukijulikana kama Bustani ya asili ambapo ndizi zilijiotea zenyewe kando kando ya mto lakini hivi sasa eneo limekuwa kame.

Huu ni wakati muafaka kwa wanakijiji katika Tarafa ya Mikumi kuchukua hatua madhubuti kuzuia madhara ya uharibifu wa mazingira yanayojitokeza. Hatua hizo ni kama kupanda miti ya matunda, mbao na nguzo. Jitahada hizi zitapelekea kuinua kipato cha wanajamii kwa kuuza matunda, mbao pamoja na nguzo. Pia kutatua tatizo la uhaba wa maji.

Greenbelt Schools Trust Fund (GSTF), imeanzisha mradi wa upandaji miti hasa miti ya matunda kama vile miembe. Asasi hii imelenga kuhakikisha kwamba ifikapo mwaka 2012, kila familia imiliki miti hamsini (50) ya aina tofauti.hatua za mwanzo za kutekeleza mradi huo zimeonekana katika mkutano huo ambapo wanakamati waliridhia mradi huo na kupewa mbegu pamoja na miche ya miti wakapande. Jitihada hizi ziliungwa mkono na katibu tarafa wa Mikumi Ndugu Benjamin Mang’ara

Amesema “hiki kilichotokea leo sijawahi kukiona tangu nishike wadhifa huu katika tarafa hii, nidhahili kwamba jitihada hizi zitaboresha maisha ya watu na shughuli zao katika katika ngazi ya kata hata tarafa yetu ya Mikumi. Serikari pia imeona haja ya kuanzisha mpango wa muda mrefu wa upandaji miti ambapo kila familia inapaswa kupanda miti Kumi (10).” ameendelea kusema kwamba jamii ibadili tabia ili kuwepo matumizi endelevu ya rasilimali zetu na hatimaye kupunguza umasikini uliopo.

Hii ni dhahili kwamba hakuna kinachoweza/kitakachoweza kufanyika endapo jamii zetu hazitazingatia matumizi endelevu ya rasilimali tulizonazo.

Angelus Runji
runjifred@yahoo.com

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

Birth is a beginning
and death a destination
And life is a journey:

From childhood to maturity
and youth to age;

From innocence to awareness
and ignorance to knowing;

From foolishness to desecration
and then perhaps to wisdom.

From weakness to strength or
from strength to weakness
and often back again;

From health to sickness
and we pray to health again.

From offense to forgiveness
from loneliness to love

from joy to gratitude
from pain to compassion

from grief to understanding
from fear to faith.

From defeat to defeat to defeat
until looking backwards or ahead

We see that victory lies not
at some high point along the way

but in having made the journey
step by step
a sacred pilgrimage.

Birth is a beginning
and death a destination

And life is a journey;

A sacred journey to life everlasting.

REST IN PEACE. GODFREY TWEVE

MAASAI TRIBE AND OLDONYO LENGAI

Once upon the time, there is a mountain called Oldonyo Lengai, it is a good mountain Maasai people usually visit and worship there, the mountain was very good, very kind and very friendly to Maasai community even to women who have no ability to conceive

They will have babies if they go to worship there, but as times goes the mountain changed its kindness due to the disobedient of the community by breaking out the regulation or rules which were given to them by God like they use to sacrifice holly animals which to them refer as black goats and sheep and the one who are allowing to visit the place must be holly, also it was responsibility to Maasai tribe to protect the mountain and its environment. Due to this disobedient Maasai tribe started suffering because the special God who live in Oldonyo Lengai was angry and does not hear their voices anymore, from that time to now, maasai tribe believe that they are the one who made God who living in Oldonyo Lengai to release volcanic emission as they believe that God of mountain punished the community through hot volcanic emission in way that it explore, burn and killing livestock and people.

Nginyi kimaai

nginyikariongi@gmail.com