Risky business

I joined a call we’d been told was important for programme leads to attend. A British consultant is undertaking a visit looking into risk management (what else….) in the organisation. She raised various risk scenarios for us to talk through the appropriate responses. One was a scenario in which the organisation’s director was being blackmailed by someone who claimed they had uncovered his involvement in a gay scandal, and had incriminating evidence against him.

I found this culturally inappropriate. The awkward silence among my other colleagues, all Tanzanian, testified to the same. There is a level of homophobia in Tanzania that means it’s better to avoid this theme, even theoretically. I am confident based on that accurate bellwether, social media, that a majority of Tanzanians find homosexuality abhorrent and worthy of judgment. The context of the scenario presented was rooted in different norms. Eventually our director said something in response, but we were all glad to move onto the next part of the meeting and some other innocuous aspect of risk.

My own attitude to tackling homophobia in Tanzania and other hostile nations swings between wanting to challenge beliefs and feeling that I should bury my views, depending on the 5-minute period in question. I invariably take the burying approach in order to protect my own position here and to avoid making my colleagues uncomfortable. When I pop up on blip about this subject, I usually conclude that the prevailing culture is important to consider when attempting to debate an issue.

Typical Masasi scene close to where I’m staying.