The January 2015 edition of our regular newsletter for members, with news and details of forthcoming trips and events, and including new of good progress with construction of the Safe House and Vocational Training Centre in Mara.
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Newsletters – 2014 and earlier
Earlier editions of the Britain Tanzania Society newsletter (from 2014 and earlier) are collected here:
BTS AGM: Tanzania and Extractives – Another Twist? – November 2014
Date : 15 November 2014
Venue : Central Hall Westminster
The speaker at the AGM, Alan Roe, gave an update of the situation regarding mining and the possible exploitation of natural gas discovered off-shore in Southern Tanzania. He showed how minerals, especially gold, had not made a big difference to Tanzania’s GDP but had, since about 2000 made a bid difference to its earnings of foreign exchange. Much more was expected from the more recent discoveries of natural gas.
This presentation took place before the dramatic falls in world prices of oil and natural gas. The present position in Tanzania is much less clear.
Alan’s talk was summarised in Tanzanian Affairs.
His slides, including graphics and data, are here tanzania_and_extractives_2014.
Future Visions and Urban Development in Dar es Salaam – November 2014
Date : 10 November 2014
Speaker: Sarah Brennen
This seminar focussed on the proposals to build a huge modern development, predominantly for housing and recreation, on land in Kigamboni, “over the ferry”, in Dar es Salaam. The graphics here here show the scale and ambition of what is envisaged.
Continue reading “Future Visions and Urban Development in Dar es Salaam – November 2014”
Seminar – Urban development in Dar es Salaam – October 2014
Raising Attainment in Tanzanian Schools – October 2014
Date : 20 October 2014
Speakers:
Elaine Ulterhalter, Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education in London, put the expansion in Tanzania into an international context and looked at the issues of quality.
Felistas Kalomo, spoke about the Changarawe Project, near Morogoro, of which he is Director. It has been supporting the education of orphaned and destitute children for more than 15 years.
Anne Samson, advisor to VEPK, Village Education Project Kilimanjaro, spoke about programmes to improve primary and pre-primary education through training and improved materials.
A report of this seminar can be found on page 14 of the BTS Newsletter January 2015.
Seminar – Population growth, internal migration and urbanisation in Tanzania, 1967 – 2012 – June 2014
Date : 16 June 2014
Speaker: Hugh Wenban-Smith
A report on this seminar held on June 16 on Tanzania’s population growth is available here.
50 Years of Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Experience of Tanzania – May 2014
Date : 29-30 May 2014
This was a conference promoted by the University of Bradford, England. Several members of the BTS played active parts. Andrew Coulson’s paper “From the Arusha Declaration to Big Results Now: The Political Economy of Tanzania” may be downloaded.
Community Development – April 2014
Date : 18 April 2014
This was built around an illustrated presentation by Julian Marcus, Chairman of the Tanzania Development Trust, who had recently returned from a visit to many of the small projects supported by the Trust. Many in the audience were themselves involved with small development projects, and the discussion allowed a valuable exchange of experience and ideas, not least to ensure that, as far as possible, money gets spent where it is supposed to be spent.
Mental Health in Tanzania: Policy and Practice – March 2014
Date : 10 March 2014
This seminar provided an opportunity to discuss the issues relating to mental health in Tanzania, how they are being dealt with, and what more can be done. The discussion was introduced by Professor John Hall and Tina Everett. John is a clinical psychologist at Oxford Brookes University, formerly at the Warneford Hospital, Oxford. Tina is a physiotherapist, with a longstanding involvement in physiotherapy mental health training. The two have been involved in creating a pioneering post-graduate programme in clinical psychology and physiotherapy at Muhimbili University, Dar es Salaam. The seminar brought out the miniscute resources devoted to formal mental health in Tanzania – there is just one residential mental hospital.