My last GlobeTrotter post was in July, and while I may not have crossed an ocean between July and December, I did trot back and forth across the US for work conferences in D.C. and L.A, to weddings in Denver and Chicago, and home to Illinois and then a drive to Kansas City all in the last 5 months- phew! I'm tired. And seriously in need of noise-cancelling headphones. Life is too short to live without them!!!
And here I am again in Tanzania. Arrived on Sunday Dec 4th, and today Dec 9th, 2011, is Tanzania's 50th birthday!! While I didn't do much in particular to celebrate, our local staff did have the day off of work and celebrations did happen across the country including a ceremony at the national Uhuru (independence) stadium, four-day national hike of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and a relay marathon across the country! Celebrations also took place across the globe where many Tanzanians call home and will continue here throughout the weekend.
Tanganyika won its independence from Britain 50 years ago today. That's one thing to remember about many of the countries in Africa- they are so young! America is 235 years old and we're considered young when compared to European countries. Julius Nyerere.
In 1954,
Julius Nyerere, a school teacher who was then one of only two Tanganyikans educated to university level, organized a political party—the
Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). On December 9, 1961, Tanganika became an autonomous
Commonwealth realm, and Nyerere became Prime Minister, under a new constitution. On December 9, 1962, a republican constitution was implemented with
Mwalimu (which means teacher in Swahili) Julius Kambarage Nyerere as Tanganyika's first president. Even today in every office in Tanzania, there is a picture of Mwalimu Nyerere, next to the current president.
Three years after independence, Tanganyika and Zanzibar came together to become the United Republic of Tanzania.
So congratulations Tanzania...50 years young and still growing strong! Happy Birthday, TZ!
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