stoney stone town

Zanzibar: A drug-fuelled paradise?
Why is it an A list must go destinantion for backpackers ze"vishukas"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Dickinson

Just a few minutes walk from the winding picturesque alleyways of Zanzibar's historic and much-visited Stone Town is a sight that most tourists will not get to see.
Crouching in small fishing boats and dugout canoes on the shore of Malindi, Stone Town's port are a number of young men injecting themselves with a cocktail of heroin and cocaine.


Tourists come from Europe to sample cheap heroin and cocaine

It is a scene at odds with Zanzibar's image of an exotic beach paradise for well-heeled tourists, but for a growing number of Zanzibaris this is the reality of life on an impoverished island off the coast of Tanzania. Saluum Ibrahim Jiddawi started taking drugs when he was just 15 years old. His reasons for doing so were probably no different from teenagers anywhere in the world; he thought it was cool, his friends were doing it, he was bored at school.

Wasted life

And his life unravelled along predictable lines.
He graduated from smoking cannabis to injecting heroin and over the 15 years of his addiction, lost all his friends, his self-respect, put his family under huge stress and took to stealing and lying to feed his $15-a-day habit, a heavy financial burden on an island where the average wage is less than $1-a-day.


I wasted 15 years of my life, and I regret all the pain I put my family through
Saluum Jiddawi Ex-heroin user

Saluum managed to kick the habit two years ago and now runs an outboard motor repair shop on the Malindi shoreline where addicts remind him on a daily basis of the "biggest mistake" of his life. "I wasted 15 years of my life, and I regret all the pain I put my family through," he said. Saluum was lucky to get out of the drugs scene when he did as the temptation of drugs on the island is as strong as it has ever been.

"Drugs are more available now as Zanzibar is on the international drug routes, but the quality is deteriorating as cocaine and heroin are being mixed with flour." Small packets of foil wrapped brown sugar, as heroin is called locally, is easy to pick up in Malindi for just $1, but because of the poor quality addicts are increasingly injecting rather than smoking it. "Users prefer injecting as the drug goes straight into the blood stream and has a bigger effect," said Saluum.

Spread of HIV

And now addicts are adopting a new technique which is worrying drug abuse specialists. It is called "flash blood".
A user injects heroin, then withdraws a syringe-full of blood which contains a smaller amount of heroin and which is passed to a second user who injects it. The technique means that addicts who cannot afford to buy their own drugs can still get a fix, however diluted. "Such sharing is terribly dangerous," says Dr Steven Nsimba of the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

"It could have devastating consequences for HIV/Aids. If the first person is infected the second person will get a direct transmission of the virus." The prevalence of HIV is under 1% in Zanzibar, well below the 7% on mainland Tanzania, but Dr Nsimba believes that could change. "The spread of HIV could be very fast depending on the number of people who are doing flash blood." No-one knows just how many addicts are using the flash blood technique, although the health authorities in Zanzibar are now trying to gather reliable data.

Drug-fuelled paradise?


Mgeni Hassan from Zayedesa, a local NGO which offers support to addicts, paints a gloomy picture.


Young people do not know what they are doing.

We believe every household in the urban centres has one or two children affected
Mgeni Hassan Zanzibari ngo worker "We are seeing the effects of drug abuse, the increase in crime. Young people do not know what they are doing. We believe every household in the urban centres has one or two children affected." And it seems that Zanzibar may be getting a reputation as a place for drug tourism.
One hotelier, who wants to remain anonymous, said he had met tourists who came from Europe to sample cheap heroin and cocaine. One recent case involving a British tourist ended in tragedy. A 26-year-old man collapsed and died after taking drugs he had bought on the island. Most tourists will, of course, enjoy drug free holidays in Zanzibar and will not be aware of the growing local addiction problem. The authorities on the island are no doubt hoping that Zanzibar never picks up a reputation as a drug-fuelled paradise.


Soma Hapa

Rais alipewa majina ya wauza unga lakini ameyaweka kapuni ni lini atayashughulikia? Hadi vijana wote walewe unga? Taratibu tunaanza kupata sifa ambazo haziendani na U

TV Zanzibar(TVZ): Kuondokana na Analogy kwenda Digital

Luninga ya SMZ imeingia mkataba na serikali ya Japan ambapo, Luninga hiyo itafanyiwa malekebisho ya hali juu toka mfumo wa sasa wa urushaji wa matangazo wa Analogy na kwenda kwenye mfumo wa Digital.

Kwa mjibu wa Mdau hapo juu kwenye picha, matengenezo hayo yanategemea kuanza mapema 2008. Mfumo huu wa digital katika Tanzania upo kwenye TVT, Star TV huku ITV na Channel 10 wakiwa semi digital. Zaidi Wachina nao wamekubaliana na serikali ya mapinduzi zanzibar kuvungua kituo kimpya na cha kisasa zaidi cha Tv. Kituo hicho kinatazamiwa kujengwa katika maeneo ya Masingini. Tv hiyo itakuwa ni full digital na yenye nguvu kubwa zaidi kuliko hiyo ya sasa (TVZ).

Jumuwata inakuhitaji..

Jumuiya ya Wanablogu wa Tanzania inawakaribisha wanablogu wote katika kuchangia, kurekebisha, kukosoa, kutoa ushauri n.k katika katiba ya jumuiya.

Mchango wako wa kimawazo unahitajika sana ili kuweza kupatikana kwa katiba nzuri kwa manufaa ya wanablogu wote.

Usomapo Tangazo hili tafadhali mjulishe na mwanablogu mwenzako.

Wajane waweka rekodi mpya huko zenj....!

Wajane wa kisiwa cha Zanzibar wameweka rekodi mpya katika fani ya mavazi. Ni baaada ya kuwa wabunifu wa kwanza kupaka/kuchora hinna kwenye vitambaa ambavyo hutumika kutengenezea nguo mbalimbali. Ubunifu huu waliupata kutokana na kuhudhulia kozi ya muda mfupi juu ya kuchora hinna kwenye vitambaa.

Ili lengo la mafunzo hayo liweze kufanikiwa ambalo ni kuongeza kipato kwa Wajane hao, ni muhimu kuona kuwa wanakuwa na sehemu rasmi ya kufanyia biashara zao. Kwa upande huu wa fani zisizo rasmi kuwekuwepo na usumbufu mkubwa wa sehemu za kufanyia shughuli zao, pengine ni kutokana na serikali kutowajali, hivyo kuwasumbu sumbua kila kila.

Sehemu ambayo Wajane hawa na wafanyabiashara wengine katika fani hiyo wamekuwa wakiitumia ni Eneo la mji mkongwe na sehemu ya Uwanja wa Forodhani na baadhi ya mitaa ambayo hutokea katika uwanja wa forodhani kama vile mtaa wa gizenga. Halmashauri ya Mji kupitia maelekezo ya Mamlaka ya Mji Mkongwe, Ofisi ya Mkuu wa Mkoa Mjini Maghalibi na ofisi ya Waziri Kiongozi wamekuwa mara kwa mara wakiwaondoa wafanyabiashara hao kwa madai mengi, ambayo mengine uhusisha mambo ya dini.

Kwa kuweza kuweka rekodi ya Dunia, ambapo sasa wataweza kujiongezea mapato yao maradufu, Ni vema kwa serikali kutowasumbua sumbua Wajane hao. Soko lao hilo linawalenga watalii ambao hupatikana katika maeneo ya forodhani ambako kuwa vivutio kadhaa vya Utalii. Na zaidi SMZ sasa iweke mikakati ya kuweza kutambua fani zisizo rasmi, kwani zaidi ya kutoa ajila kwa wahusika zitaweza vilevile kuingiza mapato ndani ya serikali na kusaidia juhudi za serikali kupunguza umaskini kwa wananchi wake.