You are currently browsing the Day’s Daze in Dodoma weblog archives for the day November 4, 2008.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Oct | Dec » | |||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | ||||||
- Uncategorized (84)
- December 22, 2008: Back in the USSR... no I mean the USA
- December 20, 2008: Trains, Planes and Automobiles
- December 20, 2008: London's Gone!
- December 13, 2008: On My Way
- December 12, 2008: Travelling Shoes
- November 28, 2008: A Thanksgiving Miracle!!!
- November 24, 2008: Kazi Ningi (Kiswahili for much work)
- November 4, 2008: Happy "Election Day"
- October 24, 2008: Comings and Goings
- October 13, 2008: Busy Days
Organizations
Other Missionary's Blogs
Personal Sites
Archive for November 4, 2008
Happy “Election Day”
November 4, 2008 by Stephen Day.
Greetings from Africa.
There has been a great deal of interest here in Tanzania about the American election. The interest is based on at least two main things - first, America is the lone superpower and the US, under Bush 43, has had a close relationship with Tanzania. Bush’s emergency program for AIDS and Malaria has brought millions of needed dollars to Africa and Tanzania in particular. The other major reason for the interest is the fact that Obama’s father is from neighboring Kenya.
Africans are very excited about the idea of black president in America. They are very, very excited. I have had many students ask me who I favor and if I have voted. Most of the Tanzanians I have met are supportive of Obama. I have met one person that supports McCain and that was mostly based on the fact that McCain is old and therefore should be respected. I had a teacher ask me today why it was that only Republicans could vote on Nov. 4 and Democrats had to vote on Nov. 5. He explained that he learned about this from the CNN website. What he was actually seeing is attempts by some people to misinform voters and get them (especially Democrats) not to vote. I was pretty amazed at how successful that misinformation campaign was thousands of miles away.
I wish everyone good voting and good luck. It will be a very interesting day. I also thought I should explain why I put quotation marks around the words election day in the title. I am a little perverse… the presidential election for 2008 is not taking place on November 4. It is taking place on December 15, 2008. That is when the members of the Electoral College meet in every state capital to decide who they will vote for. In the majority of states the electors are under no obligation to follow the popular vote in their state or the nation overall. You can find out more about this process by click on this link.
In other news, I encourage you to check out some pictures I have posted on my website that shows pictures of the distribution of maize to students. This corn was donated by friends of Msalato in England and will be taken back to the villages of the students. Check out these interesting pictures.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »