I was asked to teach on personality and teams for a Leadership Training Seminar for TAFES. The easiest thing for me to pull together in the 2 days before the seminar was some stuff on DISC, but I had to work out how to make it resonate for Tanzanians. Personality […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
In language class we have been concentrating on Tanzanian proverbs and sayings as there are many in common usage. We have noticed that many of them pertain to the issue of hierarchy. Lots of them are warnings to people who are nearer to the top, but they are not addressed […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Arthur and I are not that good at holidays. Both of us are a bit allergic to admin for a start, but that might be just as well: our ministry calendar has been so changeable that our lack of planning for holidays means we can be flexible with it. We […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
When you walk down any given street in our suburb, at least half of the women are veiled, probably more like three quarters. There’s a mix of ethnicities – Indian, Arabic and Tanzanian – and Muslim denominations, from the very conservative women in black with socks, gloves and eyes hidden, […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The following was shared with TAFES associates in a WhatsApp group of which we are a part. The nearest I could trace the authorship was here but it was not clear. Nevertheless, the interest for us is less on who wrote it and more on how it is being used […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
I’ve been trying to get my head around why Tanzanians might view some hierarchy as a good thing. Australians are deeply suspicious of hierarchy, often viewing it as inherently flawed, a system that inevitably leads to abuse of those at the bottom. Tanzanians do not share our pessimism about hierarchy, […]
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
A TAFES Associate who is also a psychologist posted on her Facebook profile about why a man might beat (but not kill) his wife. She wasn’t trying to give justification for it, but to unpack what his assumptions or mental situation might be. The reasons listed were: he might do […]
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes