Once again Chinua Achebe, one of the most, if not the top African writer, has brought into the literature another type of non-fiction genre. In this book, Achebe coherently presents his personal experience of colonial Nigeria, post-colonial Nigeria, Biafra War, and politics after the war. Although most pages are dedicated to the Biafra War, the book provides a detailed context of pre-war and post-war Nigeria. Seemingly, life in Nigeria was good during colonial times especially for children of the Christian parents such as Achebe’s.  British colonial government set up standard schools and selections to enter those schools were based on merits (perhaps ‘relative’ merit). It was for this reason that Achebe argues that they felt well prepared to run the country because they had received an outstanding education (p.49).  But may be only a few felt the same way. Things changed upon the independence when the colonial authority manouvered the first election by placing a person who my friend in reference to Plato would call a “lesser” to lead Nigeria (pp.48-52).  Having “lesser” leaders in the new nation hindered efforts for nation building and opened doors for hatred, lust for power, ethnicity, and many other killer viruses in nation building. Only 6 years after the independence Nigeria found itself in a civil conflict that was nothing short of genocide (pp.228-232). The Biafra war composed of systematic ethnic cleansing and one of the worst humanitarian crises.

 In his perfect literary style, Achebe gives an account of first hand experience of the war. He was a victim. In many angles. A Igbo man. A writer. A Biafran ‘state’ diplomat. Thus the pages of the book carry a disturbingly personal story on “things falling apart” yet easy to read thanks to Achebe’s magic writing hand.  In this, we learn the importance of keeping a diary of our daily life experience. It is a way of writing our own history. The account of the war in this book narrates what Achebe saw in his own eyes. In fact, very wisely Achebe wrote the story as it was and then sought for analysis or explanation after. For example, when he narrated about the joy and dancing following Mwalimu Nyerere’s recognition of Biafra, he gave a picture of what he saw even from his wife and later on he gives an analysis of the significance of Nyerere’s recognition. At this point I must say how proud again (as ever) I am to be a Tanzanian, a country that stood for humanitarian principles despite the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) stance.

 Well, in connection to the above, I can vividly say that Achebe tried to be as objective as possible. This is why he is critical to some of Ojukwu’s decisions and actions. Achebe was definitely pro- secession of Biafra and he has clearly explained why, but he was not a kind of a “Yes Master flag follow the wind” type.

One of the big lessons in this book is the role of writers and the power of writing. Achebe dedicated many pages in showing how committed writers not only influenced politics of the day but also predicted what will happen. For those who think writing is not effective, here is a quote for them from Achebe:

 There are some who believe that the writer has no role in politics or the social upheavals of his or her day.  Some of my friends say “No, it is too rough there. A writer has no business being where it is so rough. He writer should be on the sidelines with his notepad and pen, where he can observe with objectivity.” I believe that the African writer who steps aside can only write footnotes or a glossary when the event is over. He or she will become like the contemporary intellectual of futility in many other places, asking questions like: “Who am I? What is the meaning of my existence? Does this place belong to me or to someone else? Does my life belong to me or some other person?” These are questions that no one can answer. pp. 55-56.

Uuugh, the pinching thing is that Achebe criticizes Ali Mazrui’s work “The Trial of Christopher Okigbo” immediately after the above paragraph… no other comments from me!

That aside, the power of Achebe’s writing is evident in the ability to engage our emotions and feelings. His friendship with Okigbo was admirable and I felt very sad upon his lose of life. Similarly, his explanation of Azikiwe writings or his meetings with Senghor brought them very close to me as if I knew them in person already.

 The poems at the end of some tough and painful sections made it easy to move on to another section. They were like refreshing or tear wiping white cloth clearing the eyes for next pages.

In summary, Achebe’s writing talent lived with him to his old age. From his first novel, Things Fall Apart to this very last book in his life-time, Achebe has never let his readers down.  I am personally grateful for this wonderful non-fiction book, which provides a primary account of one the painful scars of Africa.

One question though:  the title of the book “ There Was A Country”… does it mean Biafra or Nigeria? Because the book starts with a narration of a brilliant Nigeria and ends up with a corrupt full of trouble Nigeria….! I, however, think the title means Biafra because of its subtitle A Personal History of Biafra.

 Well, I will end here so I can write my diary before sleep takes me over…may be one day this diary will account for personal history of …? What! #BungeLaKatiba…ooh no…may be of  Professor Hunk…lol! ouuch

“It was so sad to be a wiser man than one’s nation…One cannot feel bitterness towards one’s homeland. Better to be mistaken along with the nation than to be too right with those who tell it hard truths”p.148

The above quote is cited in the book. Renan, one of the 19^th Century Orientalists whose analysis of his work took considerable number of pages in the book, said the sentence in 1885.  It was one of the justifications for the cultural hegemony of the Occidental.

 Well, may be two words are already striking you from the above two short paragraphs. I assume they are Orientalist and Occidental. I am not sure if I have the capacity to explain them properly, and so I argue you to spare adequate focus time to read the book. In it’s simplest, Occidental refers to the European (or the West). I will define Orientalism using a quote from the book, then after I will put down what engulfed my mind while reading and after finishing this marvelous classic book.

 In the very first page Said says:

“Orientalism, a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience. The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other.  In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience. Yet none of this Orient is merely imaginative. The Orient is an integral part of  European material civilization and culture. Orientalism expresses and represents that part  culturally and even ideologically as a mode of discourse with supporting institutions, vocabulary, scholarship, imagery, doctrines, even colonial bureaucracies and colonial styles. In contrast, the American understanding of the Orient will seem considerably less dense, although recent Japanese, Korean, and Indochinese adventures ought now to be creating a more sober, more realistic “Oriental” awareness. Moreover the vastly expanded American political and economic role in the near East  (the Middle East (makes great claims on our understanding of that Orient” pp.1-2

Through the pages that follow the above paragraph are deep and critical explanations, evaluations, and reviews of the origins, development, and institutionalization of Orientalism. Said takes us through two or more centuries of the development and institutionalization of ‘representation’ of the Orient.

 The book is thus very well packed with reviews of different accounts of European explorers, colonial officials, policy makers, scholars, and media. Said deeply, in fact very deeply, analyzed various documents from European explorers diaries to the university academic syllabuses. Thus, the book is uniquely historical yet modern. The book has only three but long chapters with sub-chapters. Chapter one covers the scope of Orientalism, in which Said thorough analyses different angles and aspects of Orientalism from religious, to cultural, economic, scientific, and political points of view. In chapter two, Said takes us through written works by French and British scholars who had significant influence towards institutionalization of Orientalism.  Chapter three examines Orientalism now with a focus on academic side. The three chapters link the “idea” stage of Orientalism to “material” stage of Orientalism. By material, we can think of colonialism as well as institutionalization of departments/colleges that were put in place to further expound the Orientalism. A familiar example of this was the establishment of London School of Oriental and African Studies…considered as the necessary “Furniture of Empire”- p. 214

Some of the pages in those chapters were very difficult to get through. Often Said includes French quotes without translation or indenting them. Some of the sentences are a bit abstract and it seemed like I needed to get into Said’s mind to understand his line of thinking- but how could I do so with such an intellectual man as Said?

Now, let me quickly point out what I reflected while reading the book:

Representation of Africa – Chambi Chachage advised me to look at “Black Orientalism”, which I admittedly did not look so I don’t know the content. But may be in relation to that (assumptions) I think the concept of Orientalism as described throughout the book can be used as analytical framework to examine the representation of Africa over the years. In fact Said spoke of Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, which describes very well the controlling of the “subordinate” class in general. So over the years, since the time of European explorers such as Stanley, we see how Africa and Africans were represented which gave way to colonialism and neo-colonialism…and even now neoliberalism or post-modern colonialism.  Without even going into the scholarly work (which I cant generalize as I know a number of honest genuine academics who study Africa not for any bad motive or with wrong attitudes but for love and genuine interests), the international media has often portrayed and represent Africa in a negative way…and this is often for a certain reason. As Said said “representations have purposes, they are effective much of the time, they accomplish one of many tasks. Representations are formations, or….they are deformations” p.273

As Africans we need to reform so as to remedy those deformations. There have been efforts to rebrand Africa.  More is needed, not only in writings but also in hard work so as we can show the world that what has been systematically represented about Africa is not natural!

Islam and the West– I can’t even believe I’m writing this, but the phrase “Islam and the West” is not new to many of us. But to understand the representation of Islam in the West and now almost internationally (because what is the West anymore? Can we say the West is geographical?? That’s another debate or blog entry) can only be understood from historical perspective.  Tens of pages in this book have addressed this issue of representation of Islam from 18^th century by both the French and British scholars. Islam was wrongly presented and this is way too complicated and to some extent, sensitive.  But what we hear now about Islam has historical roots. I think people who want to thoroughly understand the unfair and stereotyped media representation of the Arab world, Islam, and political rhetoric especially after September 11 (2001) should read Said’s book.

Although I was genuinely scared of the book’s implication to the discipline of Anthropology or area studies, I think Said’s work is an honest piece that challenges us to think critically of the education system. It reminded me of  2 years ago when I was teaching ‘International Political Economy and Global Development” module at the University of Nottingham. In seminars, we took considerable hours to discuss Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. One of the difficult issues that we once or twice discussed was the role of the education we receive as an agent of the hegemony class. We have to be critical to the very education we receive because…can it be a hegemonic agent? I’m even scared to think about it…

On a different note…the book has reminded me…and mostly helped me to further understand two books that I read a while back:

 King Leopold’s Ghost

 The Western Supremacy: The Triumph of an Idea 

Written by Samuel Ndandala

Two weeks ago I was flipping TV channels in my hotel room in Lausanne, a serene city on the northern shores of lake Geneva. Not too far from there, the Syrians were starting to negotiate an end to a three year old bloodshed that is threatening to wreck the entire Middle-East. Richard Quest was on CNN, interviewing Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkison; the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The Cardinal was sent by Pope Francis to deliver a simple message; Money should serve humans, not rule them. The event covered was the World Economic Forum. This is where those on top of the food chain – Presidents, CEOs, heads of supranational organisations – convene to discuss the state of the world’s affairs.

The theme in Davos this year was ‘The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.’ Don’t you love it when conferences have so much grandeur in their themes? The kind of theme that almost says everything, and nothing at all? Anyways, I better digress no further, on to my story. On my three hour train ride to Lausanne, I finally managed to read a short book, a recommendation I picked up on Andrea Cordes’s blog. ‘We are heirs of a revolution’ is a collection of speeches of one of Africa’s great sons, Thomas Sankara.

Until his assassination, he was Burkina Faso’s president for a short four years (1983 -1987). I will review Sankara’s book in the context of what I think he would say had he attended this year’s WEF. Of course this is partly my imagination (and knowing what I know about him, he probably would feel out of place in Davos). I would like to relay my thoughts on what impression I got from the read, the make-up of the man if you will. And to do this I feel that a brief introduction of the man is necessary.

Thomas Sankara seized power in what was then Upper Volta in 1983. Immediately, he unleashed sweeping reforms. He cut his salary to USD 45o a month, sold the government’s fleet of Mercedes cars and made the cheapest car at the time (Renault 5) the official service car for ministers. In 1984, he renamed the country ‘Burkina Faso’ (which means the land of upright men). Catapulted by the land reforms he introduced, his country’s wheat production per hectare more than doubled, making it self-sufficient within three years. In a move unseen in Africa, he refused to have his portrait hung in public places, he turned off his office air conditioning which he claimed was the privilege the majority of Burkinabes did not have. A new Burkina Faso was under way. Unfortunately his life was cut short in 1987.

So what would he say? I think I have an idea. First, like Pope Franchis I think he would remind delegates that all institutions on earth should have the sole purpose of serving and advancing the welfare of fellow men, without exception. Any institution that fails to do this – be it private or governmental loses its right to exist. Against that background Thomas Sankara rallied every Burkinabe around that goal. ‘The days of a free-spending army are over’ he declared, ‘from now on, besides handling arms, the army will work in the fields and raise cattle, sheep and poultry. Indeed the army must live and suffer among the people to which it belongs.’ For him, no member of a society got a free ride, all had to work in service of the society.

What would he say about foreign aid to Africa? First of all, regardless of the donor’s good intentions, begging is inherently a degrading thing. Begging for over half a century is even more humiliating, even when you call it ‘development assistance’. Not just because it psychologically makes one feel inferior, but also because, as Sankara rightly put it, ‘he who feeds you controls you’.

I believe he would recall that there was a time when Europe received aid. But that kind of aid was specifically targeted at particular sectors, it was clear how much would be given for a specific amount of time and most importantly, it was FINITE. It was clear that the aid taps would stop running at a certain point in time. Africa is treated as if it will forever be in need of aid. That is wrong, insulting and dangerous. Thomas Sankara would be outraged. ‘Of course we welcome aid that aids us in doing away with aid’ he said as he addressed the UN General Assembly.

Let me digress on aid. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation released its annual letter three weeks ago. It focused on why aid is a great thing and why the rich world should be more altruistic. Bill Gates made a bold statement, ‘By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world’. In other words, 21 years from now, the Bill Gates foundation will become redundant. He clearly advocates for more assistance, of course out of good intentions.

In principle, I have philosophical problems with poverty alleviation strategies being set by NGO’s, philanthropic organisations and the UN. In many ways it is assuming that the poor are unable to think for themselves. In ‘The White Man’s Burden’, William Easterley makes a distinction between what he calls planners and searchers. Planners are fancy economists, ‘development practitioners’ and celebrities who seem to think they know what the poor need more than the poor themselves. Searchers allow the entrepreneurial energy of the poor to unleash itself. Planners feel messianic, Searchers do not believe in top-down policies. A planner’s arrogance, Thomas Sankara would have rejected completely. When planners prevail, leaders from poor countries loose focus. They begin to act like they were elected to court Bill Gates and Oxfam.

Self-sufficiency was one of Sankara’s obsessions ‘‘Let us consume only what we ourselves control.” He said. This is reminiscent of Tanzania’s former prime minister, Edward Sokoine’s mantra, ‘ tusimame kwa miguu yetu miwili’, loosely translated as ‘let us stand on our own two feet’. Sankara encouraged Burkinabes to buy local. Soon the men and women started to eat and wear what they produced. In three years Burkina Faso, was feeding itself.

Thomas Sankara understood the indispensable role women at the time when ‘empowerment of women’ was not popular. ‘Women hold half of the other sky’ he said. But more importantly Sankara would have spoken to the women on why it is important that they ‘empower themselves. He challenged women to rise up. ‘Liberation is not given, it must be conquered’ he said to women. He appointed women in places of authority, not out of pity of mercy, but he explained that he not only believed in empowering women, but letting women take the power.

As the Sahara desert encroached Burkina Faso, Sankara embarked on a massive reforestation program. ‘For nearly 3 years, every happy event – marriage, baptism, awards, visits – was celebrated with a tree-planting ceremony in Burkina Faso. Men developed a great relationship with trees,’ he said while addressing an audience in Paris. If they meet in the afterlife, Thomas Sankara and Wangari Maathai would be looking for trees to plant in heaven! Thomas Sankara would remind humanity that it only has one home. That we need to protect our environment before mother earth starts punishing us.

Not many Africans, much less the rest of the world, know of this extinguished star. Any healthy society must have heroes from which to draw the moral, intellectual, ethical and spiritual courage to propel itself. Thomas Sankara is that kind of man. He showed Africa and the world what can happen when a dedicated people resolve to transform their nation. He showed us that the key to economic transformation on the continent lies in its people. He was an upright man, a selfless man. These are the kind of leaders that the African continent needs to resurrect and invoke. Thomas Sankara inspires me.

Samwel Ndandala is a Transfer Pricing and Value Chain Transformation Consultant at PwC Switzerland. The views expressed are entirely his own. 

(Disclaimer:  I promised to review E.W. Said ‘Orientalism’ this weekend,  but as I sat and reflect upon it, I wasn’t sure if am (yet) capable of doing it. I am still trying to understand it especially its implication to Africa and in particular “African studies”…I might ask Chambi Chachage for a chat about it before doing it! Well, since I promised to have a book review or lesson on my blog every weekend of 2014, I asked my brother- Shirumisha to write something from one of the books he has recently read …he gladly agreed and here is what he wrote)

What makes a great leader: Lessons from:Nelson Mandela: Conversation with myself (London: Macmillan, 2010)

By Shirumisha Kwayu

After the death of Nelson Mandela, the humble Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, urged people to emulate Nelson Mandela. Many leaders around the globe did the same. Nelson Mandela was one of highly regarded leader of the 21^st century. He was unselfish to principles of democracy and justice.

This week I was fortunate to get time to read a book that records his personal life of Mandela. It is the “Nelson Mandela: Conversation with myself”. The book is exposing and fun. It is a collection of letters and dialogues with friends. I enjoyed reading the letters and some stories that were part of the dialogues. The most enjoyable stories were, to name a few, “the analogy of moneychangers”, “the shadows of Nazareth”, and “the wind and sun”.

This brief note is not about retorting the stories but rather to note a few things that I’ve learned from this book.

The importance of reading widely– this is evident in Mandela’s letters and dialogues with people recorded in the book. Mandela used knowledge from vast literature to cement his arguments and also to strike conversations with people of different caliber and from different backgrounds.  It is evident that Mandela read a lot of literature about revolutions when he was establishing the Umkhomtu we Siwze. He read narrations of different revolutions occurred in the world with Algerian revolution being the notable one.

The art of expressing ourselves– the letters and conversations expressed clearly Mandela’s thoughts in an honest way. He expressed them in a simple way that combines both easiness and seriousness of his convictions. Also he didn’t want his conversations to leave a negative image of other people, he remained positive throughout. He tried as much as possible not to be offensive yet maintaining honesty without flirting.  On another side, people in the conversations also teach us the same. The way the warders were communicating with the prisoners determined efficiency during duties. The warder who spoke to them gently got a lot more done than the one who spoke harshly. Remember the condition was the same but the communication was different and it made a difference.

Thinking with mind not blood– It’s quite important to learn and think realistically without allowing personal and emotions to take over our logical thinking. People prefer to stay away from problems rather than facing them. For instance many politicians prefer to deliver rubble speeches in order to win the masses. They can get a lesson from Mandela. He spoke what he believed without caring who will like it or not. He also decided to change the way of making his speeches by adopting the more gentle method that was more effective. The story of the wind and sun fits here well. I wont narrate it here, but I urge you to read the book so you can come across it.

 Keeping record of diaries and personal journals– Keeping records of ourselves helps us to keep history. Information, which may be regarded useless today, might be very useful tomorrow. For instance, letters to Mandela wife (Winnie), children’s, leaders, friend and colleagues were the main source used to construct this book. These letters show the side of Mandela, which we would never know if they had not kept them. Many people have considered Mandela a saint or angel but his letters and dialogues show his human side with emotions and weakness. I consider the human being side of Mandela more important as it challenges most of us to emulate him as suggested by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Meditation: When Winnie was in prison and there was no one (Mandela and/or Winnie) at home to look after the children, Mandela sent a letter to Winnie. In this letter Mandela was encouraging Winnie to learn how to meditate. Mandela argued that meditation is important for searching oneself soul. This, he contended, might be tiring at the beginning but in the tenth time you will get hold of it. Mediating is important as you can look at the mistakes that originate from yourself and it will help you evaluate by telling your self the truth. Many people keep deceiving themselves sometimes it better to leave everything and find time to search our soul and inner being.

 Lastly, The book of Mandela emphases values as biggest asset for socialisation. Humility and humbleness are shown and emphasized by Mandela as the greatest values that are honoured universally.  Respecting others regardless of their age is quite important. In certain tale Mandela describes how he felt very bad when he spoke harsh words to a friend, he later went to make peace with them. Also in another event when they were smuggling letters into the prison, a young warder saw them and pretended as if he hadn’t seen them, Mandela felt very bad for this because his colleague made it openly and it was a disrespectful act to the warder. Although in that situation Mandela could not do anything, he felt the guilty. Sometimes we as human being find ourselves in situation like this. And finally, when Mandela was on transition from prison to freedom, he insisted to wash dishes and undertake other activities that were supposed to be done by warders. This teaches us to be humble regardless of our status.

There are many lessons to learn from this book, and I ask you to read it- it’s fun and you will find yourself laughing…or crying at other times.

Wakati ambapo Tanzania imekumbwa na janga la elimu mbovu na hivyo mijadala mbali mbali kuhusu elimu na namna ya kuiboresha, kuna ambao wamebaki kuongea na kulalamika lakini kuna waliochukua hatua. Kati ya waliochukua hatua madhubuti ya kupambana na janga la elimu mbovu Tanzania ni Faraja Nyalandu. Kwa hapa sitaongelea mengi aliyoyafanya katika hili lakini nitachambua, kwa unyenyekevu, kitabu alichoandika kiitwacho : Unaweza: Mbinu Kumi za Kumudu Masomo Yako.

Kitabu kinaeleza kwa lugha nyepesi namna 10 za kujifunza na kumudu masomo. Namna hizi ni (1) Kutambua Kwa  Nini Uko Shuleni; (2) Fahamu Lugha inayotumika kufundishia; (3) Elewa Somo; (4) Zingatia Matumizi ya Muda Wako; (5) Jifunze Kutafakari; (6) Jifunze Ulichojifunza; (7) Kuwa na mkakati binafsi;(8) Ushirikiano; (9) Kuwa na Uvipendavyo nje ya masomo; na (10) Mwamini Mungu.

 Kwa makini sana Faraja anaelezea kila mbinu, anaonyesha umuhimu wa kila mbinu na pia anaonyesha jinsi ambavyo hizi mbinu zinategemeana. Hivyo ni muhimu kwa mwanafunzi kuelewa mbinu zote hizi ili aweze kumudu masomo yake.

 Muhimu zaidi ni jinsi Faraja anavyounganisha uelewa wa masomo darasani na maisha ya kila siku. Elimu inatusaidia katika utatuzi wa matatizo ambayo tunakutana nao kila siku maishani. Hivyo anaonyesha uelewa ni muhimu kuliko kukariri.  Zaidi pia anaunganisha uelewa na maisha kwa kuonyesha umuhimu wa ushirikiano na pia kuwa na muda na mambo mengine nje ya masomo. Mambo yote haya ni muhimu.

 Kwa muda sasa kumekuwa na mjadala kuhusu lugha ya kufundishia hapa Tanzania hususan matumizi ya lugha ya kingereza kwenye shule za sekondari. Bila kuingia kwenye huyo mjadala Faraja anaonyesha jinsi lugha inaweza kufanya mwanafunzi asielewe na anatoa mfano wa wimbo wa Taifa ulioandikwa kwa kanji (Kichina). Ingawa watanzania wanaujua wimbo wa Taifa, kama umeandikwa kichina hatutautambua. Hivyo anaonyesha tu ni lazima kila mwanafunzi afanye bidii kuelewa lugha ya kufundisha ili aweze kumudu masomo. Anasema mwaka wa kwanza ni muhimu sana wanafunzi waelewe lugha ya kingereza na kanuni zake ili aweze kumudu masomo yake. Hili la lugha ni tatizo kubwa nchini na lazima Taifa (sisi wote) tuzidi kulifikiria ili kuleta suluhisho la maendeleo.

 Kwa hekima kubwa, Faraja ameonyesha mbinu ya mwisho ni kumwamini Mungu. Hili ni jambo la juu sana na kila mwanafunzi anayemwamini Mungu anafanikiwa kwa sababu hakubali vitisho au wasiwasi kumrudisha nyuma. Ndio sababu naona kitabu kinaitwa UNAWEZA, hili ni neno la kiimani na ni kweli kila mwanafunzi anaweza.

 Kitabu kimetumia rangi mbalimbali katika kurasa zake na pia michoro. Hii ni muhimu sana kwa kuvutia wanafunzi kusoma na pia kwa uwelewa rahisi. Kila mbinu imewakilishwa kwa rangi tofauti.

 Nilipata shida  kidogo nilipokuwa nasoma hiki kitabu haswa kwa kuona labda Faraja alifikiria zaidi wanafunzi walioko mijini au wenye uwezo flani. Maana Faraja alitoa mfano wa kupoteza muda kwenye mitandao. Nikajiuliza ni wanafunzi wangapi wana mitandao Tanzania? Lakini nilifurahishwa badae niliposoma mbinu ya “mkakati binafsi” niliona kati ya hatari ambazo Faraja alitaja zinazowekumkumba mwanafunzi  ni kama “kazi nyingi nyumbani.” Hapo wasiwasi wangu ulipungua nikajua mwandishi alifikiria pia wale wanafunzi wenye uwezo duni wa kimaisha ambao wanakumbwa na hatari kama hizi.

 Naona pia Faraja angeongelea zaidi au kuweka mkazo zaidi juu ya “kutambua vipawa”. Ingawa Faraja aliongea hili kwa mbali na kutoa mfano wa maisha yake na uandishi (alivyokuwa akitengeneza kadi na kuandika maneno mazuri akiwa mwanafunzi) angeweza zaidi kuongelea jinsi ya kutambua vipawa na kuvikuza. Hili simlaumu, na labda iwe changamoto yetu wengine sisi kuliandikia.

 Binafsi ingawa nimesoma na kumudu masomo mpaka shahada ya uzamivu (PhD) nimejifunza mambo mengi sana  kwenye hiki kitabu. Nimejifunza umuhimu wa kutafakari na kujifunza nilichojifunza. Niliwahi kufundisha kwa miaka 3 katika chuo kikuu cha Nottingham, na kama mwalimu ilinibidi nisome na kujitayarisha sana ili niweze kufundisha vizuri. Nafikiri baada ya kuacha kufundisha nilisahau kidogo kiwango cha elimu nilichokuwa napata kwa kujitayarisha na somo. Lakini kitabu hiki cha UNAWEZA kimenikumbusha na kunionyesha kuwa, hata kama sifundishi, ninaweza bado kujifunza ninacho jifunza.

 Asante sana Faraja kwa kitabu kizuri. Asante kwa kuchukua hatua katika mapigano ya kuboresha elimu Tanzania. Nawasihi wazazi wanunulie watoto wao hiki kitabu na wasome nao. Kama unauwezo nunulia pia watoto wengine kwenye shule mbali mbali.