Ugogo is the region of Tanzania that Dodoma is in – basically, it’s the middle bit. The people of Ugogo are called Wagogo (plural); one person is an mgogo. Recently I’ve read an English translation of Mathias E Mnyampala’s The Gogo: History, Customs and Traditions written in 1954. While much of […]
Every year Arthur and I try to do some sort of marriage enrichment. We read a book or do a course or see a counsellor. It’s not the only thing we do to improve our relationship but it’s one thing that helps us to be pro-active about it.
Our house mama approached me a few weeks ago to say she needed help to bake a cake. As it turned out, the cake was for her wedding and she wanted me to do it for her. I quickly discovered that the cake itself is not the big deal – […]
Our house mama had something a bit like a second wedding this weekend. We were honoured to participate and excited to learn about this aspect of Tanzanian culture. Every wedding may not be exactly like this, but here’s some of what we observed:
1. It is cold. I think this is because all white people come from Europe. People often ask us if we are coping with the heat. They are very surprised when we tell them that Australia is hotter than Tanzania and when they worry about us getting burnt because of […]
To finish off the Cooking with Tamie series (I hope you’ve enjoyed it!) here’s some of what I’ve learnt about Tanzanian cookery. All Tanzanian food is cooked with a lot of oil and salt. Most of these dishes are cooked in saucepans. Very few people have or use ovens. Food is served […]
I’ve only read the introduction to Olufemi Taiwo‘s How colonialism preempted modernity in Africa but just the outline of his argument is intriguing. He thinks that the ‘standard story of colonialism [as] the spoilsport who destroyed, distorted or altered African forms of social living’ neither accounts for the agency of African […]
Meet Jesus at uni 