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Hadzabe deserve much more than just a glance
2007-05-24 18:40:41
By Rose Mwalongo
I recently came across a story on a Tanzanian tribe known as the Wahadzabe. From what I gather this is one of the most primitive tribes in the country. According to the further sources, the word technology was something new to their culture.
Something else puzzled me as to why they seemed to be allergic to covering their bodies with anything called clothes, while only a handful of them covered their bodies with something similar to the Old Stone Age.
However, what interested me was not only the idea of the tribe being primitive but rather a violation of human rights said to be taken against the tribe. I mean I am told tourists flock in numbers to see them that is fine if at all they are earning something from the visits.
Part of the information read;
``Although no specific organizations or individuals have been linked to the abuses, there are claims that some of these groups have been inspecting the Hadzabe people`s private organs to determine their size for unknown reasons.
They reportedly use a variety of strategies to convince the Hadzabe to undress for the purpose of having sexual intercourse, in attempt to photograph them while naked.
Such allegations suggest that these organizations are generating a lot of money at the expense of indigenous people,`` he said.
There are claims that tour operators are ferrying visitors to see the Bushmen`s primitive way of life and their environment, hence generating money while the Hadzabe themselves get nothing.
What shocked me was the habit of people telling them to strip whatever had covered their bodies to check on their weapons of mass destruction, yes indeed what matters the most.
From what I know, telling someone to strip in public is bad news and indeed a violation of the human rights. They may be primitive alright but that does not imply that they are less human than the rest of us.
Being backward does in no way give any one a right to mistreat them and take them for fools. Certainly, they are no fools and that is why they have been around for such a long time.
I think it is about time the government took some stern measures to protect this small tribe. I believe, through the curiosity of tourists and film makers, the Hadzabe could earn a living and possibly improve their livelihood for better.
Let someone breathe hard on tourists and film maker`s necks to make sure the Hadzabe earn something out of this.
From what I have read, this tribe is no different from the Bushman of the Kalahari Desert who once made a film the Gods must be crazy.
The Bushmen earned quite some money on the movie.
Let us utilize their presence to better their lives rather than letting some few crooks degrade them in the name of research or anything that comes by. They too are human and deserve the right to privacy.
We need to protect them to make them feel part of our society. They are the reason we have tourists and film makers going there in the first place.
They may be strange yet the very same strange part is pulling foreigners and earning the country foreign money.
If that is so, let us give them the respect and the protection they deserve. Let us not move them from their ancestral areas.
Who knows, Tanzania could one of these days become more popular than it was through them. After all, the Gods are not crazy.
rosemwalongo@yahoo.com.
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