Salma Maoulidi

September, in the Education and Adult Learning and Education (ALE) sector is an important month, mainly because we mark World Literacy Day.

The BBC Swahili and Africa service on the internet is a lifeline for those of us on the move wanting to access regular national and regional news.

After a lengthy process, Kenya’s draft constitution is finally out for discussion.

Some time has passed since we marked 16 Days of Violence Against Women. Uncharacteristically articles are still appearing in the local media about the commemoration.

I have been following closely the deliberations and contestations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference ongoing in Copenhagen, Denmark.

What does racial and religious tolerance signify to a nation like Tanzania? Is it solely the absence of violent conflicts i.e. kisiwa cha amani (‘island/pocket of peace’) as described by the current ‘political speak’; or is it the absence of grievances explained as peaceful coexistence?

Recently I was in the audience listening to a talk hosted by the African Studies Association and the Centre for African Studies at Rutgers University in the US, featuring Paul Tiyambe Zelesa, entitled

It was with great sadness that the activist community in Zanzibar received news of the sudden death of Mwl. Khalfani Hemed Khalfan on 28 March 2009, soon after returning from a trip.

During the January 2009 Tanzanian parliamentary session, to my shock and that of fellow activists and sane citizens, I listened to the incomprehensible.

In 1969 Mwalimu Julius Nyerere offered a framework for transformation when he observed: ‘People's lives can only be improved by their own efforts and through their own understanding…this means that adult education of all types is of vital importance for rapid development.’