Bagamoyo

13th Century Kaole Ruins at Bagamoyo

Last Sunday, the team went for an excursion to Bagamoyo, an old, quiet town that was once a center for slave trading. We first explored the Kaole Ruins, where still stands a mosque built in the 13th century when the Shirazi from Persia dominated the area. Among the ruins were 22 tombs. Just a few meters from the ruins was the area where Dr. Livingstone landed as he began his mission to heal the "open sore of the world," - slavery. Before we left the area, we posed for pictures under a giant baobab tree. It was said to be 500 years old so it was there way before many of the Europeans arrived in East Africa.

Driving a few kilometers north,we finally entered the center of Bagamoyo. We were welcomed by an imposing boma, a fortified structure build during the German period. The guide showed us a tiny room where 25 slaves at a time were kept with little light and ventilation. He also pointed to the long chains that were used to pull the slaves who all had a big metal chain around the neck fastened to the longer chain. We walked towards the sea and we saw a monument where once stood the gallows used by the Germans to hang dissidents. A few meters away, I saw the Indian Ocean for the first time. In the distance, we could see the dhows, fishing boats with triangular sails that have been plying this route for centuries.

A few kilometers away, we saw more pictures and artifacts about slavery at the Catholic mission in Bagamoyo. The mission acted as a refuge for rescued slaves. A plaque marks the spot where Dr Livingstone's remains where kept for one night before they were sent home to Scotland. We ended the day at the slave port. Right before the port was a fish market where we saw the vendors deep frying fish in large pans filled with boiling oil. Some of them were exasperated at tourists taking photos so we kept our cameras away. At the port itself, we saw nothing more than an enclosure and a small stone jetty.

I imagined the plight of the slaves. I saw a man thinking of his beautiful wife and two small children while busily tending his livestock when the slaver suddenly arrives with a gun. He and his friends are tied to a long chain and they march from the interior of Africa for nine months with just enough food and water to survive. At certain towns they are made to carry heavy elephant tusks to be sold as ivory. After marching for nearly a year, they are herded to the tiny room in the boma where they stay for two days. Several of them die from the ordeal. Hungry, tired, and weak, they are chained once more and dragged to the slave port where they catch a glimpse of the sea for the first time in their lives. As they stagger at the vastness of the ocean and as they see the dhows waiting to carry them to the slave market at Zanzibar, they realize this is the end of life as they know it - all hope escapes them. Many of them exclaim, "I lay down my heart," - Bwaga-Moyo. Such is the painful story of hundreds of thousands behind the name Bagamoyo.

#IBMCSC Tanzania 10

Dhows at the former slave port

Corporate Service Corps in Tanzania

Schoolboys on a field trip resting under a giant baobab tree at the National Museum

 

I joined the CSC program because, like many IBMers, I wanted to make a difference to the company and to the world. I continue to be amazed at how IBM chose to create a Corporate Social Responsibility program around helping communities in emerging economies by sending teams of IBMers from all over the world to bring their experience and expertise to bear on a social problem. It seems easier to donate cash or servers, but a program that develops global leaders, opens up new markets for IBM, and benefits NGOs, educational institutions and governments in rural areas is a truly more imaginative way of approaching CSR, one in keeping with the IBM value of "Innovation that matters."

Colonial era hospital building at Ocean Road

Tanzania is a sprawling country in East Africa with more than forty million people. It is fortunate to have enjoyed peace for most of its modern history unlike many other African countries mired in civil war. Yet the country remains poor, with a GDP per capita of 1700 USD. It is the ultimate destination for safaris as it is the home of the Serengeti National Park where one of nature's greatest spectacles, the Great Migration of wildebeests, takes place every year. Yet the sad reality is most of the population do not earn enough to pay the steep fees required to join a safari.

Two dalla-dallas waiting for passengers under the pouring masika rains

As I walked the streets of Dar es Salaam, I felt the energy of a fast growing city in an economy growing 6.5% annually. With 5 million people, Dar is becoming like other mega cities of the world - a magnet for opportunity but a also a recipe for traffic congestion and urban sprawl. I could not help but compare with my own city of Manila. I saw images of poverty with some beggars and street children on the streets, but I noticed the streets were clean and the number of people was not nearly as much as in Manila. Yet there were also enclaves of privilege and power like Makati where one sometimes feels he is no longer in a Third World country. I could not walk and take pictures with as much leisure in some areas as I kept being approached by touts calling out "Hey, friend" as they would say "Hey Joe" in Manila. I politely said no and simply walked on. At the end of my first day, I entered the St Joseph Cathedral where I attended mass in Swahili. I prayed for strength and compassion so I might be able to complete my mission well and keep the people of Tanzania front and center in my thoughts. We are, after all, on a shared journey towards a better life for our people and I hope the CSC program, in its own small way, takes us a few steps further on that journey.

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian riding a bike on Coco Beach

#IBMCSC Tanzania 10