After attending a business skills seminar provided by the Sustainable Cites: Plus Network, a talented youth group from the Tandale ward in Dar es Salaam applied their new-found project proposal writing abilities to create and carry out a plan to become a performing arts group. From their origins in a crowded, unplanned settlement where many street youths face unemployment and an uncertain future, the newly christened 45-member Tanhope Arts Group is now performing to audiences throughout Tanzania and meeting their needs today by carrying on the traditions of their elders.
Ethnic Diversity Inspires Eclectic Dance Mix
Tanhope's secretary, Salum Seleiman, who is also one of the principal musicians, suggests that a key reason for the group's success is the diversity of its members. As the youths have roots in many of the regional and ethnic identities that make up Dar es Salaam, members of the group have been able to teach the others the dances from their own cultural background, resulting in a lively mix of dances that showcase customs from across Tanzania. Their performances typically feature routines ranging from the straw-hat dances of the Msalopa people to the initiation and harvest ceremonial dances of the Makonde, Mangaka and Zaramo peoples, with acrobatic talents featured throughout. Tanhope's dancers also accompany their physical movements with songs that tell the story of the dance.
Dance Performance Tours - Serengeti, Zanzibar, Dar, Rufiji
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Tanhope dancers with drum awarded in dance competition sponsored by AMREF (PLUS Network Project Manager Charles Lupilya at rear)
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Since being equipped with business skills training, outfits and instruments from the PLUS Network, the Tanhope Arts Group has gone on to perform across Tanzania for audiences as varied as high-end tourists in the Serena Serengeti hotel to local crowds gathered at the Mnazi Mmoja fairgrounds in Dar es Salaam for Gender Awareness Week in November 2008. At any one time, different members of the group might be fullfilling contracts different parts of the country. During one week, some were performing on Zanzibar Island, at the Blue Bay, Mapenzi, Ocean Paradise, Baobao, and Zanzibar Safari resorts, some were in the town of Rufiji filming one of the dramas they usually perform on stage, and the rest were working in Dar.
Peer Education and Leadership
Both their songs and stage performances often serve as a means of peer education, and Tanhope often presents at national campaigns for HIV awareness and other community benefit events. The story they are filming in Rufiji is a cautionary tale of a young woman who drops out of school and stumbles into a hazardous lifestyle. It is a familiar story and resonates with the members as it portrays a path that could have been their own. “If it were not for Tanhope,” says Jamila, a female dancer, “I would be just waiting at home to get married. Now I can stand on my own.” The financial independence that the income provides has far-reaching implications, especially for the women in the group. Fauzia, a usually joyful girl, becomes somber as she reveals that membership in Tanhope has kept her and others from resorting to prostitution to meet their economic needs.
Community Mobilizers
Apart from providing much-needed income for its members and entertainment for its audiences, Tanhope also contributes to the surrounding community and youth across the nation. Group secretary Salum mentions that they are accepted by the people in Tandale ward and viewed as a beneficial force in society, and they are often requested to act as community mobilizers whenever there are important meetings to be announced.
Youth Mentoring
They have attracted other youths who want to emulate their success, and have trained both individual new members and entire groups in dancing and the business skills they previously received from the PLUS Network. One group, Upendo (meaning 'love'), comes from the neighbouring ward of Sinza, and another, called 'Beekeeping,' is from the Rufijii region. It is not surprising that Tanhope is adept at sharing their knowledge, as they have written successful project proposals for NGOs including WILDAF (Women in Law and Development in Africa), Gender Participation 2000, the Umoja Club, and AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation). Tanhope plans to build on the success they have had with their traditional dancing and stage acting by producing and selling DVDs of both types of performance.
The Tanhope Arts Group was awarded funding of 2 million Tshs (approximately $2000 CDN) from the PLUS Network through its Dar Demonstration Project Fund to purchase dance costumes and instruments, as well as resources for filming their performances.
Contributed by Carl Isaac, ICSC intern in Dar es Salaam |
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