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At last... Tanzania has rejoined citizens of the small blue planet

Thursday September 30 2021
Dar es Salaam

A street in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam. The global issue of the day now is how we can get a hold of ourselves to try and save the planet through concern for our actions on the environment. PHOTO | FILE | NMG

By ELSIE EYAKUZE

It must be one of the human universals, to look up into the sky and wonder about that vastness. On a bright sunny day it is mostly a pleasantry but at night with the Milky Way on display it can give rise to philosophical thoughts about existence, and in some of us maybe even a bit of longing.

Out there is the great unknown, mysterious and compelling questions about the meaning of life. Out there is very compelling, full of whatever we imagine — be it infinite potential or maybe a whole lot of nothing?

It has been a very mundane sort of week here. Afghanistan is on the news every day being after the withdrawal of occupying troops and the Taliban getting into power. As part of the international community, we will all have to suffer through the appeals for aid in the face of famine, ponder our responsibilities to each other.

Back home Chadema's Freeman Mbowe is on trial for terrorism and real-time court reporting has users of social media hooked to following every utterance. It is such an important trial, with many aspects of our public and social lives also at stake — our collective liberty is being tested.

Meanwhile, a well-meaning Muslim cleric unwittingly caused some offence after he complimented the Roman Catholic Church for its discipline and hierarchy. This occurred after he attended one of our superb ceremonies involving higher clergy, and I cannot blame him for no one does pomp and circumstance like we do. In a country where religion is a crucial aspect of life for the majority of the population, this is going to fuel debate — and in some cases even hostilities — for a while to come.

And quietly, earlier this month the SpaceX Inspiration 4 mission flew an all-civilian crew in orbit around the planet for three days before returning to earth. It was piloted by a woman who never thought she would get the chance to head out there and was paid by a very wealthy man to the tune of about $200 million. The third civilian flight to space in 2021, it was remarkable for the length of the stay that the crew enjoyed in orbit, and for the really big window through which they could gaze at the earth, the moon and beyond while they were up there.

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Like everyone who has ever had the privilege of getting so far off the planet, they have all come back with a sense of the specialness of this planet we inhabit, its beauty and size and its fragility. From what astronauts and now civilians who have been to space say, it seems that we really do benefit from a bit of distance to observe our home and put our quarrels into perspective. A global perspective if you will.

As I sit here marinating in envy, perfectly aware that this is an opportunity that will never be within reach of the 99 percent within my lifetime. I am also deeply happy that the flight happened. In a sense, even if only a handful of people went we also all went. To give some perspective: when I was a child the Berlin Wall was still standing so the Cold War hadn't officially ended — this was the global issue of the day.

Computers existed but they were the size of a building and only available to specialists who did very sciency things. A couple of nerds later here we are toting around personal devices that each have more computing power than the first spaceship to carry humans to the moon, so relaxed that we regularly drop them or get them wet. And the global issue of the day now is how we can get a hold of ourselves to try and save the planet through concern for our actions on the environment.

As I watch leaders from around the world grapple with the issue at this year’s United Nations General Assembly, I cannot help but wonder what would happen if we had the ability to make them all orbit the planet for three days, in small groups, before the meeting kicked off. Would they also have an epiphany? Is this the way to help them see the whole tapestry and how their small threads contribute to weaving or unravelling it?

If things keep going the way they are going I am optimistic that space flight is within reach of the general population within a reasonable time.

Our main constraint seems to be energy. It is very expensive and difficult to get things off-planet as of now but it used to be nearly impossible to fly and we figured that out. I am simultaneously pessimistic that we will actually unlock this achievement for the general population because we're merrily missing every single warning marker that environmental and climate scientists have given us for the end of life as we know it on the planet by privileging profit over communal survival.

But these are big topics with no easy solutions on hand. I will remain content with the mundane, puzzling at the debate that has now been stirred up amongst believers in Tanzania, worried about the effects of climate change and antivaxx on my society but also grateful.

As I write this, we are preparing to watch the President of the United Republic of Tanzania address the General Assembly of the United Nations for the first time since...well, you know what happened.

It might not be space flight, it might not even yield any deep insights into the human condition. But it does mean that at the least we are ready to rejoin our fellow humans across all borders again.

I'll take it, and rejoice that at least in Dar you can still stare at the stars and the infinite potential out there. And hope.

Elsie Eyakuze is a consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report: E-mail: [email protected]

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