THE PEOPLE ARE THE FOUNDATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

These are the words of Tanzanian father of the nation, first president, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

When I was growing up, I listened to his conversations and inspiring speeches, he never failed to remind us ''watu ni msingi wa maendeleo'', he never credited himself for all good he did for the country, and for the rest of Africa.
I regard Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as a living legend, a hero. He was not a ''me first '' person, he led with principles, compassion, wisdom, discipline and a clear vision. Although he was revered by all his people, he remained humble and devoted all his energy in building the foundation for our country. The peace and unity we Tanzanians enjoy today are the fruit of his efforts, which is why we see him as Father of the nation. He planted the seeds of his wisdom, principles, discipline and compassion among us, but with the changing times, few take time to remember the many sacrifices he made as a person, to be a good leader for his country. It was easy to follow Nyerere, because he was someone we could trust as a parent. Unfortunately now that he is no longer with us, Tanzania remains like a family with foster parents.

Many organisations have expressed interest to help Tanzania and the rest of Afrika with various development projects. Not all organisations have the people’s interests at heart and not all organisations take time to analyse the causes of problems within the community they are trying to help, they simply make a project plan that is sustainable to enable them to earn a living. Analysing the cause of the problems region by region, can help to create projects that will eliminate the problems one by one and therefore take care of the negative multi-dimensional impacts.There are organisations whose underlying interests are mainly to accomplish personal and organisational goals, to meet deadlines or simply to make profit.For many developing countries, this can create chaos within local communities and/or policy makers and also brew opportunities for many things to go wrong. This is why, the father of the nation was against foreign interventions. If the people are the foundation for development, and they are not empowered with the right tools, what kind of a foundation are we creating for poor countries? And what kind of a nations are we building for the future generation?

Currently my biggest concern is that, many regions in Tanzania are not targeted for development projects. There are regions such as Moshi, Arusha, Dar es salaam, Mwanza, which have donor friendly environment and they are well endowed, these are places that have the most projects from non governmental organisations. This situation, replicates in most African countries.The problem is that, with some regions developing so fast, we have an imbalance within the country. For instance, in some regions there are a lot of education facilities and health facilities, and in some regions there are few or none. We have seen how the imbalance created by colonial past, has had impact in our present, such as the case of the Hutus and Tutsis.

Within Europe, it is important for development organisations working in Africa to hold meetings with African embassies to understand various concerns and be aware of opportunities that are needed in different communities, before making a decision on where to set a project. It is important for research to be made about the cause of problems so that a project can be created to attack the root of the causes, instead of doing plastic surgery on the problems. It is important for international organisations to involve migrants from the countries they are establishing the projects. Migrants have to be empowered to bring change in their home countries, they have to be empowered and polished to be tools for change. This is the road to sustainable development and the way to forming empowered sustainable partnerships. Migrants are an important resource for development organisations, and until now they have not been given much thought.

Furthermore, empowerment within developing countries, should be taken more serious. Until now, some organisations have been doing well, but there is more that can be done if more people are given the tools to make their own contribution towards development. By tools, I mean skills, support and any relevant knowledge, that will enable them to participate in income generating activities. Let’s face it, without economic means the circle of poverty will continue and as we are clearly aware, organisations simply help ‘’target groups’’ and whoever falls out of the target group, has no chance unless they are empowered to help themselves.[

The majority of the population within developing countries, have traditional skills even though most of them lack advanced formal education.Organisations can tap into this resource and polish it to be a finer tool, and in so doing empower more people to participate in production.It is not possible for Africa to depend on foreign aid forever, and it is not possible for developing countries to repay all existing aid.
Dependence on developing aid, dis-empowers developing countries and creates more poverty related problems.For instance, it is impossible for poor countries to make policies that restrict import of products within a poor country, while at the same time the poor country depends on this rich country to assist in health care.

In the end, by accommodating the wishes of the donor country, more problems are created for poor countries, such as 80% of the population which consists of farmers losing their market, and the impact falls on the households and spreads to other businesses in local community and country wide. The trend needs intervention, and therefore reviving primary industries has to be one way of rectifying the current situation for a better future for Afrika.People need to be able to provide for their basic needs, without wondering who will be dropping in with their next meal.When people's stomachs are satisfied, Tanzania and the rest of Afrika might be able to maintain a record of good governance and getting rid of corruption. This kind of environment is good for business investments and provides fair export- import trading opportunities.

Furthermore, what has happened in Zimbabwe and South Afrika, should be taken as a warning. If the higher majority of the poor population can't manage to earn a sustainable living, the end result is undesirable for everyone. One can not reason with a hungry and angry person.

The solution is in our hands. We can either empower the people to be active participants for development, or wait for the people to be empowered by opportunists from the weapon industries.As we have seen, development and destruction are two sides of the same coin.

The people are the foundation for development.

Honouring the memory of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere,

by Stella Evelyne Tesha
http://www.green-waters.org/