Wanawake kwanza

Last Friday was International Womens' Day. Yeah, I know, I missed it too. But on Saturday they were reporting all the various shindigs, with female Ministers doing all the usual blah blah stuff. Don't get me wrong - I have huge respect for the resourcefulness and the sheer sticking power of most of the Tanzanian women I have met, but no respect at all for the intentions of the majority of those in power to improve the situation of women generally- which means improving the situation of children as well. Six or seven years ago, Tanzanian men ( of influence) would always refer to the Beijing international womens' meeting in 1995; yes you'd never heard of it either, but Hillary Clinton was there, and it was a big thing here in Tanzania and in most of the developing world, because it was meant to change the status of women in the areas where they most needed that to happen; however it turned out to be one big talking shop as far as I'm aware. Nonetheless, genuflecting to the Chinese event was de rigeur for many years here as a badge of: "I'm a modern Tanzanian man and I have my right-on credentials". And that was it. No need to change any attitudes - most crucially to the women in their own families.
Anyway, the reports of the womens' rallies were on the front page ( it must have been a slow news day) of The Guardian - same flaghead as the UK version- which is middling in politics: ie more cautious and less scurrilous than some of the weeklies, but not such a lapdog of the government party as the Daily News. It has taken to publishing poems in the top left hand column of the first page. And in honour of International Womens' Day, there were a few verses. These were of no great literary value, and the content can be summed up as - I was your cow but don't you come looking for milk from me now. And who was the poet? - and I use the word in both the gender specific and non specific sense - why, a man of course.