Hope and a New Beginning for Manyash

As Spring approaches our thoughts often turn to hope and new life. Many of the children in our Education Program have been rescued from a life of fear and suffering. With your help they get a new beginning. Manyashi is one of these children. I met Manyashi on my first trip to Tanzania. I was visiting a government school for the blind, because I had heard that many children with albinism were living there. Fifty to one hundred such children had been rounded up "for their protection" by the government after a rash of attacks on people with albinism. Taken from their families, homes and communities, they now lived in a school that was overcrowded and run down. There were few teachers, books or materials so the students were not really learning anything.  Then I noticed a little boy, Manyashi, pushing his way through the crowd of children and running to me.   He looked so scared. Perhaps it was my white hair and fair skin, very similar to his own, that drew him. As I picked him up in my arms he just clung to me. He did not want to let go. Later that day, visiting a rural village, I met his mother who recounted the story of her 5-year old daughter Mariam who had been murdered in her home a few weeks before. She took me into the mud hut and showed me the lingering blood stains.Manyashi was only 8 years old, when he cowered under the bed and witnessed his younger sister Mariam's brutal murder. No wonder he had looked so scared when he ran to me earlier that morning. Mariam had been killed JUST BECAUSE SHE HAD ALBINISM. The attackers who fled with her limbs likely sold them to witchdoctors for potions and charms believed to bring wealth and good luck. As a person with albinism, I took it very personally. Mariam's story had to be told. The world needed to know, so that this would not keep happening. That day, we told Mariam's story for the first time, to a local TV reporter. That's how the advocacy work of Under The Same Sun began. I knew that my encounter with Manyashi was no random coincidence. It was a collision of our two worlds that would leave us both changed forever. I knew that he needed a new beginning. When I asked him what he most wanted, it was to feel safe and to have an education. With proper schooling he would be able to support himself. It would help him to grow in confidence and demonstrate to those around him, that he is just like them except for the color of his skin. That's when Under The Same Sun's Education Program was born. When I visit Tanzania, I catch up with Manyashi every chance I get. Now abandoned by his mother, Manyashi has been adopted into a loving foster family where he is putting back together the pieces of his life. Through the UTSS Education Program, he is thriving in a high-quality, safe and inclusive school along with his other siblings. He is now a self-confident Grade 9 student, who has learned English and is getting straight A's.  And Manyashi has big plans for the future. His dream, he says, is to be the future President of Tanzania...or a Pastor. With your gifts, you enable stories of change to take place for children like Manyashi every day!       Every dollar counts. $12 can buy textbooks $60 provides a kit of low-vision aids $100 equips a student with school supplies for the year $160 covers medical expenses Please make a life-changing gift today. Spring is a great time to help a child make a new beginning. Thank you for your support for children like Manyashi, who, as they take their rightful places in society, will bring hope to all people with albinism in Tanzania. Peter Ash Founder and CEO Under The Same Sun  www.underthesamesun.com P.S. You can make an ongoing INVESTMENT IN HOPE with a monthly commitment. $25/month covers school materials and uniforms. $50/month helps supply health and personal needs. For the stretch gift of $135/month you can provide EVERYTHING to educate and change the life of one student. STAY CONNECTED: Under The Same Sun is a Registered Charity. All donations are deductible for income tax purposes in Canada and the USA. 100% of your donations go directly to programs in Tanzania. All administration costs are covered by a generous benefactor.  Canadian Charitable #: 851599860 RR0001 US: EIN 68-0680719

Tigo yafungua duka jipya mkoani Singida

Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida mjini, Saidi Amanzi(katikati) akikata utepe kuzindua duka jipya la Tigo mkoani Singida jana, Wanaoshuhudia kushoto ni Mkurugenzi wa Tigo kanda ya kaskazini, George Lugata na Meneja huduma kwa wateja Tigo, Halima Kasoro. 

Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida mjini, Saidi Amanzi(kulia) akiangalia bidhaa mbalimbali mara baada ya kuzindua duka jipya la Tigo mkoani Singida jana. Wanaoshuhudia katikati ni Mkurugenzi wa Tigo kanda ya kaskazini, George Lugata na kushoto ni Meneja huduma kwa wateja Tigo, Halima Kasoro. 

Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida mjini, Saidi Amanzi(katikati) akiongea na mmoja wa wafanyakazi wa Tigo mara baada ya kuzindua duka jipya la Tigo mkoani Singida jana, 

Mkurugenzi wa Tigo kanda ya kaskazini, George Lugata akimkabidhi zawadi Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida mjini, Saidi Amanzi mara baada kuzindua duka jipya la Tigo mkoani Singida jana, 

Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida mjini, Saidi Amanzi(katikati) akiwa katika picha ya pamoja na wafanyakazi wa Tigo mkoani Singinda mara baada ya kuzindua duka jipya la Tigo mkoani Singida jana,

Kampuni ya simu ya Tigo imefungua duka jipya Singida ambalo

limepunguza adha kwa wateja wa kampuni hii ambao walikuwa wanatafuta huduma kwa wateja umbali mrefu toka kwa makazi yao 

Akizungumza wakati wa uzinduzi wa duka hilo Mkurungezi wa Tigo Kanda ya Kaskazini Bw.George Lugata alisema uzinduzi wa duka hili ni moja ya mipango ya kampuni ya Tigo kusogeza huduma karibu na wateja wake.

"Kampuni ya tigo imeangalia fursa zilizopo katika eneo la Singida ambapo kwa pamoja tumeiona ni jinsi gani tunaweza kusaidiana na wakulima na wafanya biashara kuweza kufanya huduma mabalimbali za kibenki kwa kutumia simu za mkononi"Alisema Lugata. 

Lugata alisema kuwa duka hilo linategemea kuhudumia wateja wapatao mia tatu kwa siku wakipata huduma mbalimbali ikiwemo huduma za kuunganishwa kwenye intaneti, usajili wa laini za simu na kurudisha laini zilizopotea pia kununua simu za kisasa.

Kwa upande wa katibu wa mkuu wa wilaya ya Singida mjini Mhe.Saidi Amani alipongeza hatua za Tigo za ufunguzi wa duka hili kwa kuwa utarahisisha upatikanaji wa huduma kwa wateja wa wilaya ya Singida.

Tigo Tanzania ina jumla ya maduka (46) nchini, na duka hili linamaanisha kwamba tunaongeza ubora wa huduma zetu katika maeneo zaidi. Wateja wetu watakao tembelea duka hili wataweza kufurahia na huduma zetu mbali mbali matumizi ya smartphones, modemu za intaneti, Tigo Pesa, Muziki wa Tigo na Facebook ya bure inayotolewa na kampuni.

UAMUZI WA RAIS MAGUFULI KUTOA ELIMU BURE UTACHOCHEA USAWA WA KIJINSIA NCHINI – UMMY MWALIMU

Hayo yalisemwa na Waziri wa Afya na Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia, Wazee na Watoto, Mheshimiwa Ummy Mwalimu (Mb.)wakati akitoa taarifa ya nchi katika Mkutano wa 60 wa Kamisheni ya Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Hali ya Wanawake Duniani (CSW). 

Mhe Ummy alieleza kuwa Adhma ya Mheshimiwa Dkt John Pombe Magufuli, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania ya kutoa Elimu bure kwa shule za Msingi na Sekondari itakuwa na matokeo makubwa ya kuongeza udahili wa wanafunzi katika Elimu ya msingi, Sekondari na Elimu ya juu.

Akaongeza kwamba uimarishwaji wa upatikananaji wa elimu kwa wanawake ni msingi mkubwa wa kuwezesha wanawake kiuchumi, kwakuwa elimu hutoa ujuzi, maarifa na hali ya kujiamini kwa wanawake kuendea fursa za kiuchumi.

Waziri wa Afya Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia, Wazee na Watoto, Ummy Mwalimu ( Mb) akizungumza wakati wa majadiliano kuhusu dhima ya uwezeshwaji wa wanawake na uhusiano wake na utekelezaji wa Agenda 2030. katika mchango wake Waziri anayeongoza ujumbe wa Tanzania katika mkutano huu wa Kamisheni ya Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu hali ya Wanawake amesema Serikali inatambua umuhimu wa mwanamke katika utekelezaji wa ajenda mpya ya maendeleo endelevu ( Agenda 2030) na kwamba itaendelea kumwezesha.

Katika Taarifa hiyo, Mheshimiwa Waziri, alieleza kuwa Serikali ya Tanzania inatambua kuwa uwezeshaji wa wanawake na Usawa wa jinsia unachangia kwa kiasi kikubwa kufikiwa kwa wepesi kwa Malengo ya Maendeleo Endelevu ( Sustainable Development Goals). Kwa kutambua hilo Tanzania imejipanga kuhuisha Ajenda 2030 katika Sera, Sheria na Mipango ya nchi kwa kuhakikisha kunakuwa wa sheria zinazolenga kuleta Usawa wa Jinsia na uwezeshaji wa wanawake, ambapo pamoja na mambo mengine utekelezaji wa Mikakati, Sera na Sheria utaendelea kuzingatia haki ya kielimu kwa Wanawake na Wasichana.

Mheshimiwa Ummy, aliongelea pia umuhimu wa Afya kwa wanawake na Wasichana (ikiwa ni pamoja kupunguza vifo vya wajawazito na watoto) kama njia ya kumuwezesha mwanamke kushiriki kikamilifu katika uzalishaji mali.

Mkutano huo wa wiki mbili unafanyika NewYork, Marekani kuanzia tarehe 14-24 Machi 2016, ukihusisha wawakilishi kutoka serikali mbalimbali duniani na Asasi za Kiraia ambapo hujadiliana na kubadilishana uzoefu na kuelimishana kuhusu hatua mbalimbali ambazo Serikali zao zinachukua katika kuboresha maisha ya mwanamke na mtoto wa kike.

Mheshimiwa Ummy Mwalimu akiwa pamoja na Mhe. Balozi Tuvako Manongi na Mhe Peter Serukamba (Mb.), mara baada ya kuwasilisha taarifa ya Tanzania kuhusu Masuala ya Maendeleo ya Wanawake.

SERIKALI YAPONGEZA OPERESHENI SAFISHA YA TFDA, WAUZA DAWA ZA SERIKALI KUHUKUMIWA

Naibu waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla amepongeza juhudi za Mamlaka ya Chakula na Dawa (TFDA) nchini kwa hatua wanazochukua katika utendaji wake ikiwemo zoezi la kukagua madawa yasiyofaa kwa Jamii ikiwemo yale yaliyokwisha muda wake hasa katika zoezi la "Operesheni Safisha" iliyofanywa karibu mikoa mbalimbali ya Tanzania Bara huku akitaka wale wote waliohusika kupandishwa Mahakamani kwa hatua za kushughulikiwa.

Kigwangalla ameyasema hayo mapema jana Machi 17 jijini Dar es Salaam baada ya kupewa matokeo ya Operesheni Safisha kwa maduka ya dawa muhimu na yasiokuwa na vibali iliyofanywa na Baraza la Wafamasia na TFDA pamoja na Jeshi la Polisi, amesema dawa zilizokamatwa zitaifishwe na kupeleka katika hospitali za serikali.

Amesema kuwa haiwezekani wananchi wakakosa dawa za serikali na kuonekana katika maduka ya dawa na watu hao wakaachwa bila kuchukuliwa hatua.

Kigwangalla amesema kuwa katika operesheni hiyo baadhi ya maduka yanauza dawa ambazo haziko kwenye orodha za dawa ikiwemo ni dawa ya usingizi ambayo inatakiwa kutumika wakati wa operesheni.

Aidha amesema kuwa baadhi ya maduka mengine yamefungwa lakini yanauza dawa nyakati za usiku na kuwataka wanaofanya operesheni kuendelea na wataokutwa wachukuliwe hatua mara moja.

Operesheni hiyo ilianza machi 1 hadi 3 mwaka huu ambapo walikagua maduka 685 katika mikoa tisa na kati hayo maduka 432 yamefungiwa kwa sababu mbalimbali ikiwemo na kuwa na dawa za serikali pamoja na kuwa dawa za asili.

Aidha Kigwangalla amesema kuwa dawa ni sumu hivyo inatakiwa kutumika kwa malengo yaliyokusudiwa na wanaouza dawa ambazo hawana orodha nazo wanazalisha matatizo ya kiafya kwa wananchi

Kigwangalla amesema hadi sasa ni dawa 65 tu ndiyo zenye nembo ya serikali na kuwataka wananchi kutoa ushirikiano pale watakapopata dawa serikali katika duka la dawa.

Amesema kuwa jeshi la polisi lichukue hatua ya kuwabana wale wote waliokutwa na dawa za serikali kuwabana katika kuweza kuwapata waliokuwa wakiwapa dawa hizo.

Tazama MO tv, kuona tukio hilo hapa

Msajili wa Baraza la Famasi nchini, Bi. Elizabeth Shekalaghe akisoma ripoti ya Operesheni Safisha kwa Naibu Waziri pamoja na wanahabari na wakuu wa idara ya TFDA (hawapo pichani). 

Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Mamlaka ya Chakula na Dawa (TFDA), Hiiti Sillo akitoa taarifa yake juuu ya Operesheni Safisha

Naibu waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla akisoma tamko la Serikali ikiwemo juu ya kuwachukulia sheria kali wahusika wanaohujumu sekta ya Afya hasa upande wa madawa tiba ikiwemo watumishi wanaoiba dawa za Serikali pamoja na wale wanaoendesha maduka ya dawa bila kuwa na vibari.

Baadhi ya maafisa kutoka TFDA na Famasia wakifuatilia tukio hilo.

Naibu Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla akitoa tamko hilo.

Mwanahabari wa mtandao wa Michuzi Blog, Bw. Chalila Chibuda akiuliza swali kwa Naibu Waziri Dk. Kigwangalla (hayupo pichani) wakati wa tukio hilo.

Meza kuu ikisikilia swali kwa umakini kutoka wa wanahabari (hawapo pichani).

Naibu Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla akijibu maswali ya wanahabari.

Naibu Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla akiwaonesha wanahabari baadhi ya vitu vilivyokamatwa katika Opresheni Safisha. kifaa alichokishika Naibu Waziri ni miongoni mwa vifaa vilivyokutwa vinatumika kuchemshia vifaa vya kufanyia upasuaji/operesheni ikiwemo vifaa vya kutolea mimba.

Baadhi ya vifaa na madawa vilivyokutwa wakati wa operesheni hiyo.

Naibu Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla moja ya dawa ambayo ni ya usingizi hata hivyo ilikutwa katika maduka ya dawa ya kawaida

Madawa hayo.

Madawa hayo yaliyokamatwa.

Naibu Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia Wazee na Watoto, Dk. Hamisi Kigwangalla akitoa agizo la Kiserikali juu ya hatua zitakazochukuliwa dhidi ya wahusika waliokamatwa kwa kukutwa na dawa zilizokwisha muda wake, maduka yasiyokuwa na wafamasia waliosomea na yale yenye kuendeshwa kienyeji.

Brazil protests: Rousseff and Lula supporters rally amid corruption claims

Factions backing president and her predecessor to put on show of strength in face of mass protests and moves towards impeachment

Brazil protests: share your photos, videos and experiences

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is greeted by supporters after his appointment as chief of staff to president Dilma Rousseff. Photograph: Adriano Machado/Reuters

Bruce Douglas in Brasília

At the end of a week of extraordinary political drama, constitutional chaos and massive anti-government protests, supporters of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will rally in cities across the country on Friday.

Why is Brazil's government in crisis? – the Guardian briefing

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The Frente Brasil Popular, a network of trade unions, social movements and other organisations sympathetic to the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) said it would hold events in 45 cities in defence of democracy and the rights of the working class.

It will mark the first major show of strength by Brazil’s pro-government factions since an estimated 3 million people took to the streets on Sunday to demand the president’s resignation.

On Thursday Brazil’s congress elected the 65 members of a special commission that will examine the case to impeach Rousseff, who is accused of using illegal accounting manoeuvres to balance the government’s books.

In the evening, as legislators voted for the leaders of the committee, thousands of protesters gathered once more on the huge grassy lawn outside congress chanting “resign, resign” as a cordon of riot police prevented them from approaching the building.

Most political analysts believe the committee itself is fairly evenly split between pro- and anti-Rousseff members, though its president is a close ally of the house speaker, Eduardo Cunha, who initiated the impeachment proceedings.

“Whether the committee leans for or against Dilma will depend very much on what happens on the streets,” said Lucas de Aragão, a partner at the political risk and public affairs consultancy Arko Advice. “The committee’s backbone is made up of seven or eight parties which are extremely non-ideological. These guys have no shame in changing sides.”

One of the committee members who will sit in judgment on Rousseff is Paulo Maluf, recently sentenced in absentia to three years’ jail for money-laundering by a court in France. Around 26% of congress face active criminal proceedings.

After Rousseff presents her defence, the committee will make a recommendation to the congress, but whatever it decides, the vote to impeach will go to the floor as a whole. If two-thirds approve, it then moves on to the senate, where it requires only a simply majority to pass. Should that happen, Rousseff will be suspended from the presidency while the supreme court decides her fate.

“The government has lost control over the variables that keep a country running: the politics, the economy, the streets,” Aragão said.

What happens in the streets is likely to be determined by further revelations from Operation Lava-jato, the investigation into Brazil’s worst-ever corruption scandal, centred around the state-run oil company, Petrobras.

Release of tapped phone calls between Lula and Rousseff sparks mass protests in Brazil

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Both Lula and Rousseff have been implicated to varying degrees in the investigation or its offshoots, as have senior coalition allies and Aécio Neves, the leader of the main opposition.

Rousseff’s decision to appoint Lula to her cabinet this week prompted widespread outrage among the opposition, which believes the move is designed to shield the former president from prosecution. The controversial release by the investigative judge of secretly recorded phone calls between the two – interpreted by the opposition and the Brazilian media as confirmation of this ploy – only fuelled the fury of anti-government protesters.

In tense scenes outside the presidential palace on Thursday, government supporters and opposition activists were barely kept apart by police as they hurled insults and threats at each other.

Shortly after the ceremony, the anti-government faction rejoiced at news that afederal judge had suspended Lula’s appointment. But it subsequently transpired the judge is an opposition activist, and the government appears confident that the supreme court will overrule the injunction.

FacebookTwitterPinterest Demonstrators gather to protest against the government of Brazil at the congress building in Brasília. Photograph: Fernando Bizerra Jr./EPA

For Regina Silva, a car saleswoman who attended her first anti-government protest on Thursday night in Brasília, the details of the latest developments were overshadowed by her anger at the idea of government ministers becoming rich while the economy nosedived.

“This is the worst government I have ever known. This is the toughest time I have ever seen. I see people who used to be in a strong financial situation and now they are practically begging for bread.”