That plastic bottle!

Ever wondered where that piece of inorganic plastic water-bottle  you throw out of the moving-car window goes?  In the slum neighbourhood are diligent men and women who wake up early to sweep the city streets for us. They pick the used plastic bottles and pack them in huge sacks in their backyards, away from the ‘clean’ city dwellers, ready for re-cycling! This explains why Dar-es Salaam city in relatively cleaner than most East African cities. Good job there, isn’t it? We can’t live without plastics, but how can we lessen the plastic menace after we  take the Machinga’s  water? Should we just drop the bottles anywhere for cleaners to pick for recycling?  

Mambo ya machinga!

Located along the tropical shores of the Indian Ocean, Dar es Salaam is a hot town. The immense heat and humid conditions makes one sweat and thirst a lot. It is worse when you are stuck in the traffic. A family member sees an opportunity in the traffic pile up: vending mineral water!  You will definitely need some chilled mineral water from the ‘machinga’ (corruption of marching guys) as they are generally called. The affluent thereby provide for the needs of the poor. 

This symbiotic relationship is greatly influenced by the jostle and hustle of the city life for survival.

'Bongo-Uswazi'

In another part of the city, in the slums that exist alongside the sub-urban outskirts, the ‘not-so-well-to-do’ are conjuring up means and ways of providing a meal to the often large families. Money to buy food is hard to come by, but somehow life must go on! Innovativeness is what it means to survive.

'Mji wa uzima'

Dar es Salaam city, formerly Mzizima (Healthy town), is the business capital of The Republic of Tanzania. As a business capital, one would expect a confluence of the rich and mighty, the meek and poor, as well as the working class who oil and keep the cogwheels of production revolving. The city folk are a busy folk. The hustle and bustle of city life often ‘drives’ the city folk ‘up the wall’. The rich and the middle-class need wheels to shuttle them along. The result is crammed up motorways that extend several kilometres. In fact, it is the norm for the city folk to start the day early, just to create the jam early and likewise end the day early to join the queue. As seen in the above photo, at junctions often it is mayhem and anarchy.