Letter to Sarah Palin

One of the small blessings of being mostly out of reach of North American media is not having to see Sarah Palin’s face simpering at me constantly (the media here much prefer Barack and Michelle!). But recently, I was getting caught up with the Globe and Mail, and happened upon this quote from Sarah speaking about McCain who was “standing up for the time-tested truths,” including “the belief that the government that governs least governs best.”

Here’s my response:

Well, Sarah, if you really believe that you need a trip here to Tanzania to see what happens when a government, because lack of resources, governs very little.

Leaving aside the huge inequities that are a part of daily life here (and in the States), the lack of a safe water supply, the problems with education which I have written about elsewhere, and the lack of any affordable healthcare for most people (a recent story tells about a “big” man who was rushed to the hospital and refused treatment because he didn’t have $500USD in cash – he later died), one only has to drive around Dar to notice that government is often “missing in action” and if you live here, it is impossible to escape. These pictures were all taken in my neighbourhood in the last week.

Let’s start with the roads. We have written about the potholes that can swallow a car (indeed we have had to avoid one of them every day since we arrived and have lost track of how many cars it has claimed). But less dramatic is the sheer bumpiness of city streets in most residential areas – the daily bump and grind of getting out of one’s  neighbourhood. The rocks, the mud and the homemade speed bumps (totally unregulated) make driving hell. And the poor condition of the roads leads to everyone having to buy bigger, stronger, and more gas guzzling vehicles. You haven’t made it unless you have a Toyota Landcruiser at least! And these monstrous cars are big contributors to the air pollution…

I mentioned speed bumps – they are necessary because no one ever monitors speeding in the city. It is an everyday occurrance to see vehicles passing others on residential streets at 80 kph – woe betide the small child or cyclist that gets in the way.

Air pollution? Everyday a cocktail of aromas wafts by our balcony – the lowtide stink of sludge, the burning of garbage, the runoff of raw sewage at our back door. When there are no regulations about burning, people tend to burn anything anywhere – this traditional boat is having the burning rubber treatment – 3 old tyres  being used to coat the wood and make it more waterproof. These are just the toxins I can smell – a visit to the industrial districts reveals lots of ancient looking smokestacks pumping out black stuff. It doesn’t matter where you live Sarah, air pollution affects us all!

Garbage disposal? I am helping update a book for newcomers to Dar, and it has fallen to me to investigate what one does with household waste. Forget composting, recycling and all those good things we have back home in NS – there is no municipal collection, and it turns out that most compounds (even large apartment buildings) just burn their waste outside their walls, often on the street. There are a few private collection firms, but they are difficult to find and expensive – and some of them apparently just dump the waste in these informal dumpsites. Every watercourse in the city seems to be a dump – and those ubiquitous plastic bags can really gum up a drain during a rainstorm!

How about regulating the professions? I’m willing to bet that this “Dr” who promises to cure infertility, impotence, frigidity and even to increase the size of your bum (imagine anyone at home wanting that!) does not have an MD.

Having homeless people living on your street corner doesn’t add to the tone of the neighbourhood – but you could probably learn to live with it, Sarah.

What about emergency services – those services we all hope we’ll never need, but are happy to have available? I have yet to see a public fire engine or ambulance. The only ones in evidence are operated by the private security firms which supply guards to the rich.

On the highways, we have occasionally been stopped by police wielding radar guns, but nothing seems to slow the drivers of the rickety buses and even more decrepit trucks who must be promised bonuses for arriving sooner. This front page photo shows a piece of squashed and twisted metal that was a dala dala (small bus) containing 17 people – the tanker was passing on a curve. The driver is still at large….

“Why do people flee from the scene of an accident?” was the question for discussion on the morning radio show today…most callers said it was because they were at fault – no one mentioned the fact drivers face summary justice from local people. When there is no faith in the police or justice system, people take the law into their own hands, with often grisly results.

So, Sarah, small government may sound great when you are rich and take for granted all those services we in the developed world count on our government to provide, but here we are constantly reminded that actually clean air, good infrastructure, and law and order affect rich and poor alike. Our neighbours in the mansion across the road suffer just as much as from the air quality and bad roads as anyone else!

But I shouldn’t overstate things, because government does visibly do some important things here – the main highways are well maintained, somehow they have managed to treble the number of high schools in the last 5 years and small dispensaries can be found even way up in the hills. And the constraints the Tanzanian government faces come both from within and without (aid organizations, multinationals, World Bank, other governments – all have their influence).  


We didn’t actually go to the right place to find “the government that governs least” in Africa – for that we should have gone to Somalia. Perhaps you should try life there.

Yours in sisterhood,

Molly Hurd 
PS: Please stop giving tea parties a bad name.


(with thanks to Lars)