Leo ni Sikukuu Zenj (15/10/07)

Wananchi wa Zanzibar leo watendelea kuwepo mapumzikoni, katika kusherekea sikukuu ya Idd El Fitri. Hayo yalitangazwa na Mkurugenzi wa Idara ya Utumishi visiwani humo. Kwa kawaida sikukuu hii huwa na mapumziko ya siku mbili rasmi, hata hivyo mwaka huu iliangukia siku ya mapumziko, hivyo pengine SMZ wakaona ni vema na siku ya Jumatatu wananchi wake waendelee kufaidi kusherekea sikukuu.

Visiwani sikukuu za Idd husherekewa kwa muda wa siku nne mfululizo,ambapo siku mbili kati ya hizo huwa ni mapumziko rasmi, na zingine mbili husherekewa baada ya saa za kazi kwisha. Viwanja rasmi hutengwa na Halmashauri za miji kwa ajili ya watu kwenda huko kushereheka, karibu kila aina ya burudani huwepo katika viwanja hivyo. katika viwanja hivyo huwepo na maduka ya kuuza toys,vibanda vya vyakula, vibanda vya kupiga picha, vibanda vya tombola, vibanda vya taarabu, disco na uchekeshaji na vibanda vingine. Kwa Halmashauri hizo ni wakati mzuri wa kukusanya kodi kubwa katika kipindi kifupi zaidi cha ukusanyaji wa kodi. Aidha kwa wananchi ni wakati wa kutumia kwa nguvu katika kipindi kifupi.

Kwa wafanyakazi wa SMZ sherehe hizi hufana zaidi iwapo zitaangukia mwisho wa mwezi, kwani wengi wao hua na uhakika wa kupeleka familia zao katika viwanja hivyo kwa muda wote. Iwapo una familia, mke/wake na watoto, basi hupenda kuwa na nguo mpya kwa siku zote za sikukuu, pesa ya kwenda na kurudi na za kujichana wawepo viwanjani humo.. huku watoto ukiwa ndio wakati wao wa pekee kununua toys wazipendazo. Hivyo kwa mfanyakazi wa SMZ inabidi awe amejinyima sana ili kuweza kufurahisha familia yake.

Kujinyima kwa wafanyakazi hao si kitu rahisi sana kutokana na viwango vya mishahara na hali halisi ya maisha visiwani humo, hii husababisha wasiwe na mipango ya muda mrefu ya kujiandaa na sherehe hizo, zaidi ya kuomba Mungu sherehe hizo ziangukie karibu na mwisho wa mwezi.

Katika ile awamu ambayo wafanyakazi walikuwa wakilipwa mishahara yao katika siku ya arobaini, kulikuwepo na tabia ya wafanyakazi kulipwa nusu msharaha iwapo sikukuu itaangukia katikati ya mwezi. Hii iliwapunguzia machungu ya kusubiri mshahara wa siku ya arobaini na kuweza angalu kuvinjali na familia zao katika viwanja vya sikukuu. Hata hivyo wakati huu nusu mshahara haikutoka na zaidi leo wameambiwa kuwa wapumzike. Kwa upande wa wengi hii ni kero kwao. Iweje upumzike wakati huna hata senti mfukoni. Wengi wanaona bora wangeenda huko kwenye maofisi yao kufanya kazi kuliko kukaa nyumbani pasipo kuwa na kitu. Mbaya zaidi iwapo mfanyakazi ana akaunti ya katika Benki ya Watu wa Zanzibar(PBZ), ina maana kuwa leo hatoweza kutoa fedha zozote, kwani benki itakuwa imefungwa na PBZ hawana ATM...

Hivyo nina imani kuwa pamoja na nia nzuri ya SMZ, kuwapa wafanyakazi siku ya leo kuwa ya mapumziko, sio wengi ambao wamefurahia tangazo hilo. Zaidi limewaweka katika wakati mgumu wa kujibu maswali mengi toka kwenye familia zao.

TANZANIA Food and Culture

Na Mwandishi Wetu

TANZANIA imepata fursa pekee miongoni mwa nchi za bara la Afrika, kushiriki Tamasha la Chakula litakalofanyika mwisho wa mwezi huu mjini Conwy, Wales.

Katika taarifa ya mratibu wa tamasha hilo la chakula, Gloria Mutahanamilwa, hiyo itakuwa fursa kwa Tanzania kujitangaza katika nyanja mbalimbali za utali, utamaduni, biashara, uchumi, kilimo, uvuvi na nyinginezo.

"Hili ni tamasha la chakula ambacho ni kitu kinachopewa umuhimu zaidi, lakini tutajumuisha mambo mengine mbalimbali kupitia tamasha hilo, kuna uwezekano wa kufungua njia kwa Tanzania katika kushirikiana na nchi nyingine kupitia nyanja tofauti" alisema mratibu huyo.

Katika tamasha hilo, ujumbe wa Tanzania wa watu takriban 25 pia utahusisha wacheza ngoma, wapiga muziki na wapishi.

Balozi wa Tanzania nchini Uingereza, Mwanaidi Maajar anaunga mkono jitihada hizi na amethibitisha kuhudhuria tamasha litakaloonyesha vyakula, mapishi, utamaduni na vivutio pamoja na kutoa malelezo kuhusu Tanzania.

Tamasha hilo litafanyika katika mji wa kihistoria wa Conwy uliopo Wales kwa siku mbili yaani Oktoba 27 na 28, mwaka huu na inakadiriwa watu 20,000 toka kona mbalimbali za dunia watahudhuria kwani Conwy ni miongoni mwa miji mikuu ya kihistoria na kitalii.

"Ushiriki wa Tanzania ni wa kujitolea, wajumbe wote wanajitolea lakini bado kuna gharama nyingi ili Tanzania tuwakilishwe ipasavyo," alisema mratibu na kuhimiza watu binafsi na taasisi mbalimbali kuchangia na pia kushiriki.

Taarifa zaidi kuhusu TANZANIA Food and Culture zinapatikana kwenye tovuti yao kwa kubonyeza hapa au kwa kuwasiliana na wandaaji,
Tanzania Centre UK kwa barua pepe tanzaniacentre@hotmail.co.uk au
simu +447745891595.

Lugha rasmi za SMZ

Hizo hapo juu ndio lugha rasmi zinazotambuliwa na SMZ hapa kisiwani Zanzibar.. Mpangilio unaoonekana hapo juu, ni kutokana na uhumimu wa lugha hizo katika SMZ na wananchi wake kwa ujumla..

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

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