Morogoro Visit during White Ribbon Rally

My visit to Morogoro was a great learning experience. There were many things that occurred that could have been better planned for, particularly the “masses.” There seemed to have been one system set in place to organize the people into the march, but it did not seem to be functioning properly. The crowds grew and grew and eventually became quite restless, either fighting for shirts or bottled water.

While it was amazing to see so many people turn out for the rally, it was depressing to see their reasons for coming. When they were notified that they would not be receiving the rally shirts, many of them simply decided not to march. Some of those who decided to continue on with the march without their shirts continued, but seemed to miss the point of the rally as they marched chanting “shirts, shirts, shirts.” In the end, it seemed we were marching for shirts and not maternal-child health. Did the message reach those who could not attend the ceremony to hear the actual speeches? From a bystanders point, it appeared this was not the case.

As it may be customary in Tanzania, there was a lot of waiting for “important” individuals. While the program was scheduled to start at 8 a.m., we were delayed almost 3-4 hours. The waiting was either due to improper planning of “minor” logistics that turned into major projects (such as t-shirt distribution and participant enrollment) or waiting for the guests of honor (a good 1-2 hour wait for each one). As the locals were more patient than I (the foreign bystander), the program continued as if nothing had gone wrong.

In the end, the speeches were delivered, and many stayed in the audience to actually listen to the true message trying to be delivered.