Social Harmony in Northern Tanzania

Without differences there can be no harmony. Perhaps I approach the question of harmony from too musical a perspective, but harmony is not the simultaneous sounding of a chorus singing the same note. Harmony is the seemingly counterintuitive beauty that arises from matter vibrating at different frequencies, that somehow sounds bigger and more beautiful than the sum of its (dissimilar) parts. Harmony vs. difference is a false dichotomy. Harmony is difference. I think social harmony is analogous.

The best examples I have seen of communities that offer social stability without a required homogenizing trend of assimilation were in the northern part of Tanzania, East Africa. In the communities around Arusha, a large town just a few hours drive from Kenya, there is a surprising diversity of peoples. Living side by side with the locals are large communities of entrepreneurs from India and China, Muslims descended from Middle Eastern spice and slave traders, and Europeans, Americans, and Canadians working for NGOs and the United Nations. It is not the diversity of cultural backgrounds found in this area that I found remarkable, but how they get along.

Arusha, Tanzania

For example, non-Muslims in this part of Tanzania consider it impolite to bring pork into their homes. If they want some pork they will go to a bar or street vendor and eat it there. This is because non-Muslims want their Muslim friends to be at ease when they come over for a meal, and by never having an unclean food in their kitchens they feel like their friends can better enjoy themselves. Almost everyone in Tanzania speaks three languages: their tribal language for use at home or in the village, Swahili for everyday use, and English for education and government affairs. The people you will meet in Tanzania are proud of their tribes and their hometowns, but unlike Kenyans these tribal differences are not a cause of discord. They are able to speak a common language, both literally and figuratively.

Inside a Masaai hut, outside of Arusha.

I spent some time in this part of Tanzania working, and my business partner was a local man who I think represented the best parts of his community. He was raised on a family farm, but through dealings with some British folk he worked with he found a scholarship opportunity to study at a university in England. He was from the Chagaa people, but married a woman from another tribe. He converted to Christianity, but the majority of his friends are Muslim. He gained employment with a Western company that sells pedal-powered water pumps through storefronts primarily operated by foreign entrepreneurs. He wears western clothes for day to day life, but when he dresses formally the clothes he wears are traditional Tanzanian. In every aspect of his life there is an apparent confluence of cultural artifacts and influences.

His story was typical of the area. He lived in a community where people from all over the world, and members of different tribes, had found a way to go about their lives not just by glossing over differences, but embracing them. And in their villages, and in the city these people had seemingly found a way to take their pasts and make them work together. It wasn't a forced single note choir. It was downright harmonious.