"Haraka, haraka haina baraka!" is a Swahili proverb that means, "Going fast is no blessing!"  It seems time runs differently in Africa. Some Westerners pejoratively call it "Africa time" meaning that, 1) things often move slowly; and, 2) some Africans are less than punctual. Many Africans do have a more relaxed attitude toward time that can frustrate Westerners and gives rise to the fallacy that Africans don't work as hard as others. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least not for the rural Tanzanian mother.

     Try to keep up with a mother who rises before dawn to walk miles for water and carries a 10 gallon bucket (that weighs up to 70lbs.) on her head all the way home. Then she fixes a morning meal for her family, makes sure the kids get off to school and spends the rest of the day in the maize field (which may be miles from her home), hoeing weeds.  Then, back to home to prepare another meal and do the laundry before it gets dark and it is no longer safe to be outside where hyenas prowl the night. 

     The pace of life in rural Tanzania is not slow, it is measured, but not measured by a clock. It is measured by a pace that gets done what needs to be done. Perhaps it is most like Aesop's fable about the tortoise and the hare.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Haraka, haraka haina baraka!  Moving quickly with a bucket of water on your head results in a lot of it being spilled by the time you reach home.

     Time in Tanzania has more to do with a gift given by God that allows one to accomplish what is needed for the day than it has to do with a clock.  As one Tanzanian put it, "To Americans, God gave clocks.  To Tanzanians, he gave time."

     Imagine you are walking through the savannah woodland bush in a remote region of northwest Tanzania on the shores of Lake Victoria called the Biharamulo Game Reserve.  You are in the midst of 643 square miles of unspoiled African wilderness populated by antelope, elephants, zebras, hippos, colobus monkeys, cape buffalo and even the rare mountain gorilla. You are alone. You are on foot patrol. Your job is to safeguard some of the most precious of Tanzania's resources, its wildlife and its forests. You are a Wildlife Management Officer and you are looking for poachers, people who kill animals and destroy the forest for profit.  Poaching, especially of elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns, has become increasingly big business across Africa as Asian market demand increases. 

     In the dense bush, you unexpectedly come upon a herd of Cape Buffalo, ostensibly one of the most dangerous of all African animals.  Cape buffalo have been known to kill lions!  The leader of the herd sees you and begins coming your way!

     This was the situation recently described by one of our G4TZ graduates from the College of African Wildlife Management, Roggi Wado.  Here is his account:

     "While I was in the bush for patrol, we left the car and we started walking on foot. I was a bit far from others; it was

Roggi Wado

dangerous!  I came across a group of buffalos; they were just ten meters from where I was.  I took my SMG (sub-machine gun) to scare them by firing the bullets, but instead of running away they start coming closer to me!  I jump in the tree and I keep on firing the bullets. On hearing the shots, my friends came closer and they also fired their guns. I thank God the buffalos ran away."

     We are glad to report that Roggi is fine and continuing his patrols to protect the land and animals of the Biharamulo Game Reserve.  He is a fine example of G4TZ graduates who are serving Tanzania as wildlife managers, health care professionals and teachers throughout the country.  Our thanks to those who supported Roggi through secondary school and continued to support him through his college years at the College of African Wildlife Management.