Transportation

I seem to be writing a lot about the state of Tanzania's infrastructure, but I think I can explain why it's been so important to me.

When Canada first began to form, the two most important tasks were to populate the West and to unite it via a railroad, and eventually the TransCanada highway. What I've always taken from this is to unite a people, they have to be able access each other.
While Tanzania doesn't have the same distances to cover, with its current infrastructure, the geographic obstructions to travelling are definitely greater than Canada's. It's visible with everyone you encounter, particularly in the Southern highlands. Most of the older generations had never left their community, and many now cannot afford (money or time) to get to other villages more than a couple times in their lives. And yet, people overwhelmingly feel Tanzanian.
The only way I can explain this is Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's first president, who ruled with a padded iron fist for nearly 20 years.
Nyerere did some terrible things to the country. As a quasi-communist leader, he took a country with enviable resources - agriculture (using only 10 percent of arable land with inefficient small-scale farming, TZ is still a net food exporter), great hydro-electric potential, rich deposits of diamonds, gold and iron, and vast forests great for building material and energy creation - and turned it into one of the top five poorest countries in the world. But in doing so, he did some things that really promoted national unity.
He created a school program that transferred students to different areas of the country for secondary, breaking up the typical tribal boundaries, and he unified people with Swahili as the sole language. His socialism caused the retreat of foreign presence, without violence, and he stripped people of all their belongings, leaving most equally poor.
All of these are awful things, but among the nine countries on its border, Tanzania is one of the only never to lapse into civil war - something Tanzanians are very proud of, and probably something that's been difficult. Originally having strong tribal zones and deeply divided among religions (Muslims and Christians are about equal in population), peace has been a feat.
However, it's easy to see things are starting to change. Since Nyerere's retirement in '85, the West has slowly crept into the country. Most can remember when coca-cola became a household name, but now bilboards for it are found in the most remote places, alongside cellphone towers that stand on every peak. Radio and TV play American hits, and everyone is now looking for money or to get out of the country (although, I can't say I know what it was like before, I've often been asked for help to enroll in a Canadian school, or to help get a passport). I would think this transformation has broken the generally level footing of Tanzanians under Nyerere and has begun to create a class of haves and have-nots. Or at least this segregation has become increasingly clear to residents of more isolated villages.

I'm not saying business is bad, though. In fact, I think it has huge potential to get people what they need. The PIUMA clinical officer says everyone here is suffering, and while I don't think that's necessarily true, people are doing little other than getting by, and are clearly yearning for more. As long as pressure is put on new business to help develop infrastructure - build roads, hospitals, pay decent wages - then amazing things could happen here. The country-side is by no means a blank slate, but a little money and vision could go a long way here. The majority of people are unemployed and really itching to obtain the sort-of lifestyle they associate with Western. The unfortunate truth is that, with the state of government corruption, disorganization and the general disenchantment with it, when (and if) investment comes to these parts, it will likely not be socially vigilant.