UWAJIBIKAJI KATIKA KUPATA HAKI - by Azgard Stephen

Ninamshukuru Mungu tena kwa kunipa nafasi hii ya kukuletea waraka ama makala hii muhimu sana katika maisha yako kwa ujumla. Nasema hivyo kwani usipotambua haki yako na wajibu ulio nao kwako mwenyewe, kwa jamii na kwa Mungu unayemtumikia; kuna mambo kadhaa yatakwenda ndivyo sivyo halafu utabaki kusema kwa nini Mungu hajibu maombi yangu, kwa nini serikali hainitendei haki, kwa nini niko hivi n.k.

UTANGULIZI

Wajibu: ni ile hali ya kuhusika na utendekaji wa jambo fulani.

Responsibility is having the duty of looking after someone, something, so that one can be blamed if things go wrong.

Haki: ni faida anazopata ama kile anchopaswa kufanyiwa ama kupata mtu

Rights are the political, sociala and other advantages to which someone has a just claim, morally or legally.

Nimetamani sana kulizungumzia jambo hili kwa sababu kuu mbili. Moja, kuna watu wanapenda sana kudai haki na wako mstari wa mbele kweli, lakini hawataki kuwajibika; yaani inapofikia wakati wa kuwajibika wao wako mstari wa nyuma. Mbili, kuna watu wanawajibika sana , lakini kwa kutokujua kuwa ipo haki kwa ajili ya uwajibikaji wao, wamepoteza haki zao. Kwa hiyo naweka somo hili ili wale wanaopenda kudai haki bila kuwajibika wabadili mtazamo, na wale ambao wanawajibika bila kudai haki zao wajue kwamba wanapaswa kudai haki zao.

Nilipofundisha somo la mafanikio nilisema kwamba, hakuna mafanikio bila mafanikio; hapa ninasema hakuna haki bila wajibu. Sina nia ya kukuweka chini ya sheria sana , ila ninataka nikupe misingi ya kuishi maisha ya uhakika na ushindi kila siku. "A responsibble man always gets succeed" Kibiblia, kila aliyewajibika alipokea.

Sasa naomba tutazame vifungu kadha wa kadha vya Biblia ili viweze kukusaidia kuelewa jambo hili kibiblia maana unaweza kusema sasa nimeanza kuzungumza siasa. Mimi sio mwanasiasa na sina mpango wa kuwa mwanasiasa; ila sio dhambi kuwa mwanasiasa.

Matendo Ya Mitume 10:1-8

Hapa tunamuona Kornelio, akida wa kikosi cha kirumi, maana yake ni kwamba hakuwa myahudi. Huyu ndugu alisikia habari za Mungu wa wayahudi, na Yesu Kristo mwana wake; akavutiwa naye. Akaanza kumtafuta kwa nguvu zote, kwa maombi na sadaka. Katika mstari wa 4, malaika akatumwa na Mungu kwa Kornelio na kumwambia,"...sala zako na sadaka zako zimefika juu na kuwa ukumbusho mbele za Mungu" Kile malaika anachosema maana yake ni kwamba, "uwajibikaji wako kwa njia ya maombi na sadaka umeonekana mbele za Bwana." Ukifanikiwa kuendelea mstari wa 9 hadi mwisho wa sura hii utaona kwamba huyu ndugu alipata wokovu (haki). Kumbuka kwamba huyu ndugu alikuwa anatoa sadaka na maombi, sasa kilichokuwa katika maombi yake ndicho Mungu alicholeta. Kumbuka sana kuwa huyu alikuwa mrumi, anamtaka Mungu wa wayahudi. Na ndio maana sehemu nyingine Biblia inasema, "...mkinitafuta kwa bidii mtaniona." Tena sehemu nyingine Yesu anasema, "...mkinitumikia (mkiwajibika), baba yangu aliye mbinguni atawaheshimu (haki)."

Yohana 1:12

"Na wote waliompokea aliwapa uwezo wa kufanyika watoto wa Mungu..."

Maana yake ni kwamba, ili kufanyika mtoto wa Mungu (kupata haki ya kuwa mwana) ni lazima kwanza kumpokea Kristo (kuwajibika). Sasa unaweza kuniuliza kwa nini ninasema kumpokea Kristo ni kuwajibika, jiulize tu kwa nini Yesu aliwaambia wanafunzi wake wabebe misalaba yao wamfuate. Kwa hiyo unapowajibika kumbeba mwana ndipo unapata neema ya kufanyika mwana wa Mungu. Sasa nizungumze kidogo juu ya mwana. Ukiwa mtoto una haki za msingi kwa baba,kule kwa wenzetu wazungu, baba asipomtimizia mtoto haki zake, serikali inaweza kumfunga jela! Kuna vitu vingine huwezi kuchukua isipokuwa wewe ni mtoto. Hata urithi anapewa mwana, hivyo hata ufalme wa Mungu huwezi kurithi, yaani huna haki ya kuurithi isipokuwa umefanyika mwana. Hivyo Biblia inaposema sisi tukimpokea Kristo tunafanyika wana wa Mungu maana yake ni kwamba tunakuwa na haki ya kwenda kwa baba kama watoto na kudai haki zetu za msingi. Lakini pia uelewe kwamba, kwa mfano; si lazima mtoto amwambie baba nataka kwenda shule, ila ni wajibu wa baba kuangalia kama umri wa mtoto kwenda shule umefika ampeleke. Na ndio maana kuna vitu vingine hatumwombi Mungu lakini unashangaa umepata! Unaweza ukajiuliza, mbona hili hata sijaomba lakini nimepokea? Ni kwa sababu wewe ni mtoto, kuna haki zako nyingine huzijui lakini Baba wa mbinguni anajua; anakufungulia 'Junior Jumbo account', bima ya afya, bima ya maisha n.k. Hiyo ni kazi ya baba. Lakini sasa sikwambii usiombe, kwani si kila wakati baba atakuletea zawadi, saa nyingine lazima "...ulete hoja zenye nguvu..." kwa baba ndipo akupe hicho unachoomba.

Isaya 38:1-8

Hapa tunaona Isaya nabii anatumwa na Mungu kumpelekea Hezekia mfalme ujumbe kwamba atengeneze mambo ya nyumba yake kwani siku zake za kufa zimefika. Hezekia akamgeukia Bwana na kuomba, angalia mstari wa tatu, "...ee Bwana, kumbuka haya nakusihi, kwamba nimekwenda mbele zako katika kweli na moyo mkamilifu, na kutenda yaliyo mema machoni pako..."

Hezekia alikuwa anamkumbusha Mungu jinsi alivyowajibika ili apewe haki ya kuendelea kuishi. Biblia inasema katika mst 5, "...mimi nimeyasikia maombi yako, nimeyaona machozi yako; tazama nimeziongeza siku zako, kiasi cha miaka kumi na mitano." naamini umeona hili, baada ya Hezekia kumkumbusha Mungu juu ya namna alivyowajibika, ndipo hapo Mungu anatoa haki ya kuishi miaka 15.

Angalia jambo hili, kinachompa muda zaidi Hezekia ni kuwajibika katika ufalme wake, lakini pia kuwajibika kumkumbusha Mungu juu ya uwajibikaji wake. Na ndio maana hapo awali nilisema, kuna watu wanawajibika sana lakini kwa kutowajibika kukumbusha ama kudai haki zao, wamezikosa.

2Nyakati1:1-13

Katika eneo hili, Sulemani anatawazwa kuwa mfalme wa Israel baada ya baba yake mzee Daudi. Biblia inasema, Sulemani akapanda hadi Gibeoni, akamtolea Mungu ...sadaka elfu za kuteketezwa juu yake. Mara usiku ule Mungu akamtokea Sulemani na kumwambia, "...omba lolote utakalo nikupe." Sulemani akaomba hekima na maarifa ili aweze kuwaongoza watu wa Mungu. Mungu akampa pamoja na mali .

Ninachotaka uone hapa ni kwamba, Sulemani alimtolea Mungu sadaka (aliwajibika) lakini hakuomba chochote sambamba na sadaka hiyo. Biblia haisemi alitoa zaka, maana zaka ni kwa ajili ya Bwana mwenyewe, huna ushirika nayo, lakini inasema alitoa sadaka. Hivyo Mungu alitegemea kusikia Sulemani anataka nini sambamba na sadaka hiyo, Sulemani akakaa kimya. Mungu akaamua kushuka na kuuliza. Ndipo Sulemani akatoa haja ya moyo wake. Lakini pia anaomba kitu ambacho ni kwa aajili ya kutimiza wajibu ule ule wa Mungu, Mungu akampa na mali . Nataka uone kwamba, uwajibikaji wa Sulemani katika kutoa sadaka ndio uliompa haki ya kupewa hekima, maarifa na mali . Si kwamba hapo awli hakuwa na hekima wala maarifa, ila hekima na maarifa aliyokuwa nayo vilikuwa vinamtosha kujiongoza mwenyewe, lakini sasa lipo kundi la Mungu kubwa; akipima kiwango cha hekima na maarifa aliyo nayo havitoshi kuongoza, hivyo alipopata hii nafasi, alipeleka hoja hiyo ya msingi kwa Bwana. Bwana akampa na mali.

Ukifuatilia kwa makini maisha ya Ibrahimu, utagundua kwamba, alipotoa Mungu alimpa, na kila Mungu alipompa alitoa. Maana yake ni kwamba, alipowajibika Mungu alimpa haki; lakini pia alipopokea haki (ambayo hakuiwajibikia) aliwajibika.

Mwanzo 18:1-15

Hapa tunaona Bwana pamoja na malaika wawili walikuwa wanapita kuelekea Sodoma na Gomora kuangamiza hii miji. Ibrahimu anawakaribisha na kuwaandalia chakula. Walipokula walimuuliza kwa habari za Sara. Wakamwambia katika mstari wa 10, "...tazama nitakurudia wakati uu huu mwakani, na Sara mkeo atapata mwana wa kiume..."

Kilichomfanya Bwana kutoa ahadi hii ni ukarimu (uwajibikaji) wa Ibrahimu. Unaweza kuniuliza, kwani si Mungu alishatoa hii ahadi miaka 19 iliyopita? Jibu ni kwamba, kwa nini asijibu miaka kumi iliyopita ajibu leo, ama kwa nini asijibu miaka kumi ijayo? Tena zaidi ya hapo Bwana akaamua kubaki na Ibrahimu na kumueleza kile alichokusudia kufanya kwa ajili ya Sodoma na Gomora, kwa nafasi hii Ibrahimu akamuokoa nduguye Lutu. Kwa ufupi, Mungu aliona uwajibikaji wa Ibrahimu (kuandaa chakula) akampa haki (mtoto pamoja na kumtoa Lutu katika Sodoma).

Warumi5:1-11

Paulo mtume anajaribu kutueleza juu ya haki kwa njia ya imani. Paulo anasema, ...tumekwisha kuhesabiwa haki kwa njia ya imani. Lakini haishii hapo, anazungumzia maana ya kifo cha Yesu msalabani. Anaeleza kuwa ni upendo wa Mungu kwetu. Lakini swali la kujiuliza ni kwamba; kwani mtu akikupenda lazima afe kwa ajili yako? Inaleta mantiki? Maana leo tunaambiana 'nakupenda'; lakini je, umeshawahi kufa kwa ajili ya unayempenda? Maana utakufa mara nyingi sana kama kila unayempenda unakufa kwanza kwa ajili yake, tena kwa mateso makali mno! Lakini sasa Paulo anasema katika mstari wa 8 na 9, "Bali Mungu aonyesha pendo lake yeye mwenyewe kwetu sisi, kwa kuwa Kristo alikufa kwa ajili yetu, tulipokuwa tungali wenye dhambi. Basi zaidi sana tukiisha kuhesabiwa haki katika damu yake, tutaokolewa na ghadhabu kwa yeye."

Tazama hiki kitu anazungumza, ...Kristo alikufa kwa ajili yetu, tulipokuwa tungali wenye dhambi... maana yake ni kwamba, hatukugharamia wokovu hata kidogo, tumepewa bure! Maana yake ni kwamba, kimsingi hatukupaswa kupewa maana hatukuwajibika hata kidogo. Lakini sasa angalia, ...zaidi sana tukiisha kuhesabiwa haki katika damu yake... Kumbe Yesu hakufa kwa sababu ya upendo tu, ila damu yake ituhesabie haki, yaani tukienda mbele za Mungu kudai haki ya wokovu, uponyaji n.k, Mungu akitazama wapi tumewajibika; damu ya Yesu inasimama na kusema, 'niliwajibika kwa ajili yao !'

Zamani za agano la kale, kila aliyesogea mbele za Bwana ilimpasa kwenda na sadaka ya kuteketezwa ili kumwaga damu. Hizo damu ziliwahesabia haki, yaani zilionesha uwajibikaji wao. Maana yake ni kwamba, kwa yule asiyekuwa na kitu cha kusogeza kwa Bwana hakuweza kuuona uso Bwana. Leo, badala ya kupokea wokovu kwa kutoa damu ya mnyama, ng'ombe, kondoo, njiwa n.k damu ya Yesu ipo! (Sikwambii usitoe sadaka.)

Kwa hiyo, damu ya Yesu inaonesha uwajibikaji wetu mbele za Bwana, na ndio maana popote pale unaweza kuutafuta uso wa Bwana, iwe chooni, barabarani, ndani ya basi, popote! Ukiutafuta tu uso wa Bwana, damu ya Yesu inajenga madhabahu mbinguni, Mungu anakusikiliza; Haleluya!!

Kwa ufupi tu kabisa niseme, Yesu aliwajibika kwa ajili yetu na ndio maana tunayo haki ya kusogea mbele za Bwana. Alipokufa msalabani alisema ...imekwisha... Tokea hapo tukawa huru kwenda kwa Bwana, saa yoyote, wakati wowote. Sasa naamini unanielewa kwamba, hatukupewa wokovu bure kama tunavyofikiri, ila Yesu alilipa!

Wagaratia 6:7

"Msidanganyike, Mungu hadhihakiwi; maana chochote apandacho mtu ndicho atakachovuna."

Kwa lugha ya hisabati (Mathematical language) hata 0 (zero) ni kitu. Maana huyu ndugu anasema ...chochote... yaani haijalishi ni nini. Kwa maana hiyo ukipanda hakuna utavuna hakuna, ama ukipanda 0 utavuna 0. Ukipanda 1 utavuna kadhaa (maana ukipanda tunategemea ulichopanda kizae zaidi ya ile mbegu. Lakini sufuri haizai).

Lakini ninachotaka tu uone hapa ni 'logic' iliyopo katika hii sentensi, "ukipanda...utavuna..." kwa maneno mengine, "usipopanda...huvuni..." Kwa lugha ngumu kidogo hapa Paulo anasema, 'Ukiwajibika...utapata haki" Fikiri kwa habari ya mkulima aliyepanda mbegu halafu akakosa mavuno, utaona jinsi anavyolalamika. Kitu anacholalamikia ni 'haki yake', maana amewajibika lakini hakupokea haki! Lakini pia ukimsikia mtu aliyepanda gunia moja la mahindi na kuvuna gunia moja akilalamika unaweza ukamshangaa, pengine na kumuuliza kwamba, unacholalamika ni nini wakati umevuna ulichopanda; lakini nikueleze kwamba huyu mkulima hakuvuna, mavuno ni kile unachopata nje ya mbegu, asikiaye na afahamu!

Naamini mifano hiyo inaweza kukuonesha uhusiano uliopo kati ya haki na wajibu. ipo mifano mingi sana katika Biblia inayozungumzia jambo hili, ikipata muda mwenyewe kasome habari za Hana, Esta, Daniel n.k. Nia yangu ni kukuonesha jinsi gani Biblia inautazama uwajibikaji wako.

Saa nyingine unaweza kujiuliza kwa nini Mungu hajibu maombi yako, lakini angalia kwanza, je umewajibikaje katika nafasi uliyopewa? Maana Biblia inasema sisi ni viungo vya Kristo, yaani kuna wengine ni macho, wengine ni masikio, wengine ni miguu, wengine ni meno, ulimi n.k. Sasa hakuna kiungo kisicho na kazi. Hivyo wewe kama kiungo cha Kristo timiza wajibu wako, kama ni mguu tembea, kama ni jicho ona, kama ni sikio sikia, kama ni jino tafuna, kama ni ulimi onja! Sasa wewe hujatimiza wajibu, yaani hujafanya kazi halafu unataka ule, kwa namna gani? Unapowajibika ndipo umuhimu wako unatambulika. Kuna msemo wa kiswahili unaosema, "Ng'ombe haoni umuhimu wa mkia wake mpaka siku umekatika."

Kwa kweli Mungu anapotuangalia saa nyingine anasikitika, maana wengine tumeokoka halafu eti tunasubiri kwenda mbinguni, hatufanyi kazi yoyote, tukidai eti hizo ni kazi za wachungaji, wainjilisti, akina Azgard, n.k. Sawa, lakini saa yaja ambapo, labda heshima yako imeshuka katika jamii, hata pale darasani unaposoma ukisimama na kuwaambia waache kelele ndio kwanza wanazidisha kelele; halafu unamrudia Mungu na kudai heshima, eti Mungu naomba uniheshimu mwenyewe. Mungu atajibu hayo maombi ipasavyo, "hizo heshima ni za wachungaji, wainjilisti, akina Azgard..." Ukiuliza kwa nini? Atakujibu, "Kwa sababu, ukinitumikia, Baba yangu aliye mbinguni atakuheshimu." Sasa wewe hujatumika halafu unataka heshima; ipi?

Nikuhamasishe tu kwamba, kila mmoja anayo karama aliyopewa na Mungu, tena Biblia inaiita kito cha thamani, maana yake ukiitumia katika kumtumikia utakula matunda yake. Hivyo kama unakaa ukisubiri kwenda mbinguni, hata kufagia ukumbi wa kanisa huwezi; kaa subiri, lakini mbinguni sio Marekani! Kazi ya karama ni kulijenga kanisa duniani, sio mbinguni!

Mimi siamini kwamba huna kitu cha kufanya kwa Bwana; unacho, hujajua tu unatakiwa kufanya nini. Nikushauri kwamba tafuta Mungu ameweka nini ndani yako halafu fanyia kazi uone kama Bwana hajaonekana kwako. Tatizo ni kwamba tumekuwa wavivu mpaka wa kutafuta vipawa ambavyo Mungu ameweka ndani yetu, hiyo ni hatari. wala huhitaji kwenda kwa nabii akuambie Mungu ameweka nini ndani yako, ila kaa na Bwana, muulize Bwana, halafu jaribu kila ambacho unajisikia kufanya kwa ajili ya Bwana. Kuna eneo utafika kila unachofanya unafanikiwa, kazi yako inakubalika; yaani unaona matunda ya ulichofanya. Ng'ang'ania hapo, muombe Mungu akuwezeshe. Utaanza kuona ufanisi ambao hujauona mwanzo.

Nikuulize, kama hujui kazi uliyoitiwa, ni lini hata ulikaa saa moja kuombea watumishi, uchumi wa nchi, viongozi wa nchi, nchi nyingine, jamaa yako? Maana tunafikiri kumtumikia Mungu ni kuhubiri tu, hata kuomba ni utumishi.

Mwaka fulani nilipanga kuomba kwa ajili ya nchi zaidi ya 100 duniani, yaani, kwa baadhi ya siku za mwaka nichukue kama nusu saa hivi kila siku kuombea nchi moja. Ule mwaka uliisha sikufikia hata nchi 50. Nikamuuliza Mungu kwa nini nilipanga jambo hili jema kabisa na nikashindwa kulitimiza? Roho Mtakatifu akanijibu, "hata huo ni utumishi." Maana yake, kama hujaitwa katika hilo eneo ni vigumu sana kutekeleza, maana hiyo ni taasisi iliyokamilika, ina watendaji katika ulimwengu wa roho, ina jeshi n.k. Ninachotaka uelewe ni kwamba, kama huoni cha kufanya, kwa nini usijaribu na jambo hili? Unaweza ukakaa kwenye hiyo Wizara ya maombi ukajikuta wewe ndio mwamuzi wa mambo yote yanayofanyika Tanzania , ama Afrika Mashariki, Ama Afrika."

Siku moja nikiwa njiani kutoka Dar, maeneo ya Korogwe, Roho mtakatifu akapitisha picha ya ajali mbele yetu, kama mita 200 hivi. nikampa taarifa mwenzangu niliyekuwa naye aombe. Kweli sekunde kadhaa baadaye, tukakuta basi limepinduka eneo lile lile Roho Mtakatifu alilonionesha. Sasa nikamuuliza Roho Mtakatifu ana maana gani kunionesha ajali ile ilyokwishatokea, kwa nini asinioneshe kabla haijatokea; akaniambia, "kuna mtu alipaswa kuomba kuzuia ajali hii, hakuomba." Nilijiuliza njia nzima sasa Roho Mtakatifu ananieleza hilo mimi nifanye nini, je niombe? Lakini niombee nini? Baadaye Roho Mtakatifu akanisaidia kwa kuniuliza, je wewe si mwalimu? Nikamjibu; akaniambia, unauliza nini, ina maana umesahau wajibu wako? Nikaelewa maana yake nini, nikakaa kimya.

Nia ya kukupa mifano hii ni kutaka tu uelewe kwamba kuna wizara nyingi sana katika kanisa la Kristo zinahitaji watu (maana yake kuna employment opportunities), halafu upo na unadai eti huna cha kufanya unasubiri kwenda mbinguni, pole!

Paulo anasema, mtenda kazi astahiri ujira wake. Mimi nakwambia ukiwajibika, kuna mambo mengine hutamwomba Mungu kama mtoto wake, ila kama mtenda kazi. Sasa kawaulize wafanya kazi ikifika mwisho wa mwezi wakidai mishahara yao wakanyimwa huwa wanafanya nini. Kwa hiyo kuna maeneo mengine na wakati mwingine utamwendea Mungu na kumwambia kumbuka kazi niliyofanya, nakwambia Mungu atajibu hayo maombi mara moja.

Kuna wakati fulani nikiwa Tanga, nilikuwa nina maombi ya watu kiasi kwamba nakosa muda wa kuombea mambo yangu binafsi. Yaani, ukifika muda wa maombi, naomba kwa ajili ya mahitaji ya watu, na kwa jinsi yalivyo mengi nikifikia wakati wa kuombea yangu najikuta naparazaparaza tu na kuondoka. Ikafika wakati nikamwambia Mungu, kuna vitu vyangu sitakuwa naombea; kwa mfano, kuombea chakula, safari zangu n.k. Nikamwambia Mungu kwa wakati nilionao sina muda wa kuombea hivyo vitu, hivyo nikila wewe takasa hicho chakula, nikisafiri tangulia hiyo safari! Kweli Mungu alikuwa mwaminifu kwani alifanya hivyo, kuna wakati nikianza tu kula anasisitiza, usile hicho chakula kitakuumiza, tafuta kingine. Wakati mwingine napanga safari, ghafla anasema usiende hiyo safari. Kumbuka kwamba nikipanga safari ama nikila hata siombi, lakini anasimamia yote. Lakini kitu gani anatazama hapa? Uwajibikaji wangu katika hilo eneo. Sasa usije ukajaribu ukifikiri ni rahisi, hayo yalikuwa makubaliano yangu na Mungu. Kitu ninachotaka uone hapa ni jinsi gani unaweza kusimama mbele za Mungu. Unaweza kusimama kama mwana, ukapata haki za kuwa mwana, lakini pia ukaenda kama mtenda kazi pamoja na Kristo, ukapata ujira. Jina la Mungu libarikiwe!

Wakati fulani nikiwa Tanga Tec nilikuwa na huduma katika shule fulani, na niliahidi kwenda. Siku ile imefika na saa ya kwenda imefika; ghafla, ndani nikasikia wito wa kutokwenda! Haikuwa rahisi kukubali, nikabishana na Roho Mtakatifu kwa kumueleza umuhimu wangu kwenda huko, lakini akaniambia; kwani si uliniambia nisimamie safari zako? Ikabidi nikubaliane naye, nikaahirisha. Baadaye nikapigiwa simu na wale wapendwa kwamba siku hiyo kipindi cha dini kiliingiliwa na ratiba za shule, hivyo hakikuwepo! Ndipo nikaelewa kwa nini Roho Mtakatifu alinizuia kwenda.

Hivyo utumishi ama kutumika kwako ama kutimiza wajibu wako ni muhimu sana katika kupokea haki zako kutoka kwa Mungu. Unaweza Ukasema, nitasimama kama tu mwana na nitapewa hivyo vya kuwa mwana. Lakini nikukumbushe kwamba, mtoto anayejituma sana nyumbani, kwa siku za leo; ndiye baba anamfikiria sana na kumshirikisha katika mambo mengi, na saa nyingine kumuachia urithi pamoja na kwamba mzaliwa wa kwanza yupo. Mara nyingi utamkuta baba yupo naye, akimwelekeza mambo mbalimbali, saa nyingine hata kumuomba ushauri. Sasa wewe kaa kama mtoto goi goi uone, utakuwa mzigo kwa mama yako! (Mwana mwenye hekima ni furaha kwa babaye, lakini mwana mpumbavu ni mzigo kwa mamaye)

Naomba niishie hapa kwa leo, lakini najua utakuwa na maswali; kwa mfano, wewe hujawajibika, na uko katika hali ngumu na unataka Mungu ajibu maombi, akusaidie; ufanyeje? Nitakuletea mfululizo wa pili wenye kicha cha habari TOFAUTI KATI YA NEEMA NA HAKI. Pia katika somo ama mfululizo huo nitakueleza jinsi imani inavyoweza kusimama sehemu ya wajibu, yaani kuvuta haki yako kutoka kwa Mungu kwa kutumia Imani. Pia kama una jambo unataka kuombewa unaweza kututumia kwa e-mail hii, partnersprayer@yahoo.com Wapo watumishi wa Mungu waliopakwa mafuta kuchukua mizigo ya wengine kwa kuwaombea.

Mungu ninayemtumikia akutie nguvu katika hayo yote, zaidi sana kuelewa makusudi yake kwako.

Ni mimi mtumishi wako;

Ev. Azgard S. Chamulungwana

sheghwede@yahoo.com

+255713990607.

Dr. CHARLES SOKILE ON CAREER'S DAY - UDOM

ACQUIRING SKILLS FOR CAREER PROGRESSION - DR. C. SOKILE

Acquisition of Necessary Training and Skills

Formal employment uses training as yardstick of potential performance of an employer. Employee is expected to demonstrate acquisition of some sort of formal educational awards such as Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Degree, and Advanced Degrees to qualify for entry into the formal employment. Nature and specialization of the formal educational awards differ across disciplines and are required and recognized differently by employers.  The details of which course one took at the college, where, when, how and why are of paramount importance to employees.

Unlike educational awards, skills are not directly taught but are picked somehow along the career road. Skills for successfully undertaking a task differ a lot. For the sake of clarity, we have grouped them as foundational and specialized skills. Foundational skills are those that are basic to any job, and are expected from any employable person. Specialized skills, on the other hand, are those discipline-specific skills that are acquired and required within a discipline for example, when surgeons refer to brevity or accountants refer to thoroughness and resilience.

There are four groups of foundation skills;

i.                    Basic Skills

ii.                  Thinking Skills

iii.                People Skills

iv.                Personal Qualities

i. Basic Skills

These are the essential skills for performing and any employed work. It is expected that everybody with some sort of formal education and is potentially employable must have them. They include;

      Reading: Ability to identify relevant details, facts, and specification; locate information in books/manuals, from graphs; find meaning of unknown words; and judge accuracy of reports; and use computer to find information.

      Writing: Ability to note down ideas completely and accurately in letters and reports with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation; check, edit, and revise for accuracy and emphasis, use computer to communicate information.

      Mathematics: ability to use numbers, fractions, and percentages to solve problems; use tables, graphs, diagrams, and charts; use computer to enter, retrieve, change, and communicate numerical information.

      Speaking: ability to organize and communicate ideas clearly; speak clearly; select language, tone of voice, and gestures appropriate to audience.

      Listening: ability to pay attention carefully to what another person says, noting tone of voice, and other body language; respond in a way that shows understanding of what is said.

ii. Thinking Skills

Like basic skills, thinking skills are important in performing any work. Employers must look for a demonstration of these skills during interviews. They include;

      Creative Thinking: ability to use imagination freely, combining ideas or information in new ways; and make connections between ideas that seem unrelated.

      Problem-Solving Skills: ability to recognize problems; identify why it is a problem; create and implement a solution; watch to see how well the new solutions work; and revise as needed.

      Decision Making Skills: ability to identify goals; generate alternatives and gather information about them; weigh pros and cons; choose the best alternative; and plan how to carry out choice.

      Visualization: ability to see a building or object by looking at a blueprint, drawing, or sketch; and imagine how a system works by looking at a schematic drawing.

iii. People Skills

These skills are critical because everybody needs somebody. Nobody works alone. They include;

      Social skills: ability to show understanding, friendliness, and respect for feelings; assert oneself when appropriate; and take an interest in what people say and why they think and act as they do.

      Negotiation skills: ability to identify common goals among different parties in conflict; clearly present the facts and arguments of your position; listen to and understand other party's position; create possible ways to resolve conflict; and make reasonable compromises.

      Leadership skills: ability to communicate thoughts and feelings to justify a position; encourage or convince others; make positive use of rules or values; and demonstrate ability to have others believe in and trust you because of your competence and honesty.

      Teamwork: ability to work cooperatively with others; contribute to group with ideas and effort; do your share of work; encourage team members; resolve differences for the benefit of the team; responsibly challenge existing procedures, policies, or authorities.

      Cultural Diversity: ability to work well with people having different ethnic, social, or educational backgrounds; understand the concerns of members of other ethnic, class, race and gender groups; base impressions on a person's behaviour, not stereotypes; understand one's own culture and those of others and how they differ; respectfully help people in these groups make cultural adjustments when necessary.

iv. Personal Qualities

Personal qualities or skills are those inbuilt attributes that makes one employable, and good to work with. They are equally important in career life. They include;

      Self-Esteem: ability to understand how beliefs affect how a person feels and acts. Listen to and identify irrational or harmful beliefs you may have; and understand how to change these negative beliefs when they occur.

      Self-Management: ability to assess your knowledge and skills accurately; set specific, realistic personal goals; and monitor progress toward your goal.

      Responsibility: ability to work hard to reach goals, even if the task is unpleasant; do quality work; and display high standard of attendance, honesty, energy, and optimism.

v. Other Competencies

      Negotiation

      Tack and diplomacy

      Lobbying and advocacy

      Resilience

Personal qualities are perhaps the most important aspect of an employee. Ability to manage self as well as get along well with colleagues is important in establishing work relations. In organizations where there are many employees with more or less similar qualifications, it takes appropriate personalities to climb up the ladder to the managerial and leadership decisions.

 CAREER SUCCESS MODELS

Three career success models are presented in this part; the 5Ps Model and 5E Model. The models are preceded by a brief discussion about career planning.

The SIVA Model argues that Solution, Information, Value and Access to information are key to career progress. 

The 5Ps model is a simple practical model of career progress which demonstrates that career progress is a function of Placement, Position, Profile, Place and Pay. 

The 5E model on the other hand, presents Education, together with Experience, Exposure, Economy and Enthusiasm as a key component of career success.

Career Planning

Career planning refers to a deliberate attempt to plan, organize and execute decisions and actions that influence career growth. Career planning is a subset of career management. It is a process of strategically planning and moving towards the direction of career progress. It applies the concepts of Strategic Planning and Marketing in advancing one's professional future.

Career strategic planning is the formal consideration of an employee’s future course. In career planning an employee asks himself; "What do I do now?" “What will I be doing in the next 10 years”, "For whom do I be working?" "How will I  excel?" and of course "How can I  beat or avoid competition?"

In career planning, an individual defines his career goal, develops hisher strategy to achieve the goal, builds his/her capacity towards the goal, and makes a series of career decisions to pursue this strategy. An aspiring profession needs to make use of various business analysis techniques which are normally used in strategic planning to plan for one’s career. For example, a detailed SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) can widen his scope on the realities on the ground as far as his journey to the topmost job is concerned.

Keys to career planning Vision - Define the vision and set a mission statement with hierarchy of goals SWOT - Analysis conducted according to the desired goals Formulate - Formulate actions and processes to be taken to attain these goals Implement - Implementation of the agreed upon processes Control - Monitor and get feedback from implemented processes to fully control the operation

Career planning can employ all sorts of planning methodologies. However, for the sake of simplicity, I propose a few key methods that can be useful;

i. Situation- Target- Path method

• Situation - evaluate your current situation and how you reached that point.
• Target - define goals and/or objectives of where you want to be.
• Path - map a possible route to the goals/objectives.

ii. Draw-See-Think-Plan method

• Draw - what is the ideal image of my job or the desired end state?
• See - what is today's situation i.e. my job today? What is the gap from ideal and why?
• Think - what specific actions must I take to close the gap between today's situation and the ideal state?
• Plan - what skills, qualifications and experiences do I need close the gap?

A career plan may appear as follows;

Goal	To become a Chief Executive
Objective	To be a Director of Finance and Administration in the next 10 years
Strategies	1.Acquire relevant qualifications 2. Collect required experiences worth a director
Actions	1. Acquire CPA/ACCA 2. Acquire MBA 3. Become head of Finance Department of Chief Accountant 4. Change a job to get more experience

A profession also needs to be tactical.  In fact, majority of those who climb up the ladder faster are not only intelligent and hardworking, they are also tactical and strategic. However, when it comes to career advancement, strategies work better than tact. Strategies are different from tactics in that they are proactive and not re-active as tactics are. While tacts are reactionary in nature, strategies are internal in source and the staff has absolute control over its application.

The Importance of Career Planning

Career planning needs to begin early in life. In fact, as early as in the high school or university to optimize the range of career options that will be available when each student begins the specialty selection process.

      First-year students need to know about the variety of factors that may limit or broaden their "competitive position," to learn about the decision-making process, and to become increasingly aware of the impact of their values, skills and interests on their career decision.

      Second-year students need to begin to survey and evaluate information about specialties and develop the decision making skills that will help them evaluate and narrow their range of options.

      Third-year students need to know how to optimize their clerkship experiences by learning to ask the key questions that will help them to narrow their alternatives, and to make strategic decisions about clerkships and electives.

      Fourth-year students need to strengthen their interviewing skills, finalize their range of options, and develop a realistic strategy for optimizing the matching process.

When choosing elective courses, doing field practical and attachments, a student is supposed to be strategic enough to know and follow the career pathway he would like to take. This should be well matched with one’s understanding of the role of personality type, learning styles, interests, and skills in specialty selection in career progress.

Career Marketing

When we talk about career marketing we refer to self marketing. We refer to a process where an individual professional is building his capacities, creating or directing his skills and is organizing himself to be successful in getting employers or job owners to not only desire, but be willing to employ him at any cost.

As in conventional marketing, career marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) for YOU as a product, and YOUR services or YOUR ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations.

The major difference between product/ service marketing and career marketing is that the latter includes advertising, distribution and selling. Other aspects of marketing such as creativity  and anticipation of the customers' future needs and wants, which are often discovered through market research applies to both career and product/ service marketing.

In career marketing you enhance your capacity compete against professionals of similar qualifications like yours in a market place, as well as abilities to attract and keep employers to like you and ensure your job security.

Your career 4Ps

       (i)            Product (Your skills): Is all that the end-user or employer needs. You need to make sure that your product is superior, and just like any other physical products is warranted, guaranteed, and is anchored to the core business of the employer.

     (ii)            Pricing (Your salary): This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts (in your case–other personal emoluments and fringe benefits). Do take notice of how much the job will cost you in terms of time, energy, psychology or attention.

   (iii)            Promotion (Your job search strategy): This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company. Much as you may not advertise yourself like a physical product, getting key employers know what you can do and that you can deliver can earn you a good job

   (iv)             Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has sometimes been called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or services is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people). For the case of career, having your website, blog or posting your Curriculum Vitae with key professional databases can facilitate your placement.

The business world is now talking about Seven Ps, adding an extra thee 3Ps.

     (v)            People: competitors and complementers of career are important people to your career progress, just like how your peers, juniors, seniors and employers are.

   (vi)            Process: This is the process (es) involved in developing and preparing you for moving up-ladder in your career progress.

 (vii)            Physical evidence: In a simple plain language, employers need physical evidence that you can and have delivered. Stories, reputations, qualifications and skills are just a shadow. Delivery is the real thing.

Consequently, there are currently Four New Ps in marketing, which are complementary to career marketing; 

(viii)            Personalization: refers to customization of products and services through the use of the Internet. Early examples include Dell on-line and Amazon.com. Personalisation further refers to emerging social media and advanced algorithms. Today many employers source for their employers through internet and other personalized job hunt approaches.

   (ix)            Participation: marketers are now talking about democratization of information and markets. More so, employers and job seekers need participative information.

     (x)            Peer-to-Peer (P2P): this refers to customer networks and communities where advocacy happens. Nothing pays job seekers like peer to peer approach.

   (xi)            Predictive modelling: refers to algorithms that are being successfully applied in marketing problems (both a regression as well as a classification problem). The models are able to inform decision makers about future market trends and consumer patterns. Job seekers are better off if they can predict the future of the labour market.

 The 5Ps Model of Career Progress

1. The SIVA Model as applied to Career progress

In 2005 Chekitan Dev and Don Schultz proposed a marketing model called SIVA Model (Solution, Information, Value and Access). The model was published in the Marketing Management Journal of the American Marketing Association, and presented by them in Market Leader - the journal of the Marketing Society in the UK.

The Dev and Schultz SIVA model is literally applicable in career progress. In career development, the four elements of the SIVA model are applicable as follows:

The model captures the relationship between the employer and employee and how they view the transaction;

• Solution: how useful are your skills, experiences and capacities to your employer and organization? i.e., how appropriate is the solution to the customer's problem/need? 
• Information: Does the employers know that the capacities, skills and experiences you have or those similar to yours are part of their solution? Do you know potential employers who are employing people of your calibre? i.e., does the customer know about the solution? If so, how and from whom do they know enough to let them make a buying decision?
• Value: Does the employer know the market value of your skills and the resulting benefits to the organization? i.e., does the customer know the value of the transaction, what it will cost, what are the benefits, what might they have to sacrifice, what will be their reward?
• Access: Are you available? When? How? i.e. where can the customer find the solution? How easily/locally/remotely can they buy it and take delivery?

2. The 5Ps Model of Career Progress

The 5Ps model is a simple practical model of career progress which demonstrates that career progress is a function of Placement, Position, Profile, Place and Pay as illustrated below;

We argue that the career progress is the total sum of one’s personality, position in the organization he works for, the profile he has achieved, the place he is working from and the pay he earns from that job. Similarly, for one to progress in career, he must make sure that all the five Ps are working for him.

I. Personality as a Key Element of Career Progress

Personality is the visible aspect of one's character.  It is an embodiment of a collection of qualities that impresses others. It refers to the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual, and/ or the organized pattern of behavioural characteristics of the individual. There are inherent natural, genetic, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of personality. Although most of personality aspects are genetic, many individuals can further or enhance the image they intend to project to others through some sort of training. Indeed, one can identify conscious traits and contrast it with what he intends to exhibit.  In short, personality is the combination of a person’s characteristics and traits that make him/her a unique human being.

Personality plays a key role in career development by influencing the way people interpret information, make decisions, view the outside world or the inner world, and prefer to keep things open or closed.

To find the right job for you, you'll need to figure out what type of person you are, and what your interests are. If you are already on a job, you may need to re-orient your career direction to match your personality or you may need some personality adjustments. Hereunder are some tips on how to improve on your personality at workplace;

Self awareness

Positive personality starts with self awareness. You need to be aware of your abilities and limitations and work constantly to improve your limitations as you cherish and put into full use your abilities.  You also need to be aware of your goals and continuously ensure that you are working towards attaining them. Understanding yourself and what you want out of your life and your career is the very first step towards career progress.

Presentation and Appearance

The way we present ourselves can make up our day. In fact, even a mad man, if he dresses well and keep quiet, may be mistaken to be wise.  People judge us from what they see us to be. Presenting yourself and your work well will create for you a favourable impression to your boss and your colleagues. Always dress smart (not to kill!), appear well prepared, adopting a good posture and holding your head high. Keep eye contacts when talking and communicate key points clearly. If need be, repeat the key points after you have explained something.

The key secret to maintaining positive appearance is to keep smart as you emulate the dress code of people at a level above you.

Confidence

Build trust among your peers and with your boss by doing what you say and showing that you can be reliable in all aspects. Look out for any clue that may cause doubts about you and deal with them. When working on assignments, update your boss and your colleagues on the latest achievements and hindrances. 

ii. Position as a Key Element of Career Progress

In the wake of my career life, I was made to know that position matters, more so in the public sector. Two staff holding the same qualifications, skills and experiences may be so different in real life due to the different positions they hold. Going by this logic, a first –degree holder Director, Manager or President for that matter, may be more influential and well cared for by the organization than a highly qualified PhD specialist.

Many jobs come up with titles to define positions in their hierarchical or pecking order. Several HR studies have suggested a significant curvilinear relationship between hierarchical position in the work organization and job satisfaction, even when the covariates of age, income, and occupational prestige were considered. Simply said, a position or job title has a potential of motivating the holder as well as influencing next career move.

A story is told about the Copenhagen Institute of Technology coming up with some funny job titles for the future... Director of Mind and Mood Vice President of Cool Chief Imagination Officer Creatologist Intangible Asset Appraiser Director of Intellectual Capital Visualiser Storyteller Chief Enacter Court Jester A couple of years later, the following job titles were actually found to exist, mainly in and around Silicon Valley: Chief Morale Officer Goddess of the People Chief Dreamer Chief Evangelist Chief Catalyst Gun Toting Psycho!

The position or title tells a lot about what the person is doing, his relative importance in the organization as well as roles and responsibilities. It also reveals the level of seniority of an employee and his closeness to the top.

A typical job positioning up the ladder ü  Assistant Officer e.g. Assistant Medical Officer ü  Officer  Trainee e.g. Medical Officer Trainee ü  Full Officer e.g. Medical Officer ü  Senior Officer e.g. Senior Medical Officer ü  Principal Officer e.g. Principal Medical Officer

When applying for another job, in most cases the prospective employee will be interested with your current or former immediate position. This means that, if you were a holding a managerial position, you are likely to attract a similar or higher position. Similarly, if you were Accounts Assistant, chances are slim for you to jump to a Chief Accountant position in your next job. When possible, try as much as possible to bargain for a better and higher job title, even when it does not come with a pay rise as this can act as a future investment.

iii. Profile as a Key Element of Career Progress

In many workplaces, there are employees who are very knowledgeable about the core business of the organization but not are so popular. Then there are those who do not necessarily have specific knowledge over the core mandate of the organization but they have very high profile. Many times, ‘knowledge workers’ do not convey as much profile as they ought to. Knowledge workers are people who know more about what they are doing than their bosses do. In fact, many knowledge workers, especially those with technical backgrounds, have years of education and experience that enable them to come up with great ideas. They are however, ‘nobody’ in their organizations. Nobody knows them! Their profile is very low. The major weakness of the knowledge workers is that they are contended with what they know. They do not know that they are not known. As such they are a little reluctant to invest on their profiles.

The secret of career progress lies in the art of influencing. As time goes by, you need to move up to the level of influence in your organization. Simply said, you need to move to a point where you have attention of your boss, subordinate and peers. In organizations, even the best ideas don't matter if no one pays attention to it and who raises it. Your job needs to give you sufficient profile to earn you a better job in case you move on. The combination of what you do now and who you are in the current organization should be enough to help you move up the ladder, or sell you out there to a higher job, in case you choose to move on.

Profile goes with reputation. Your reputation at workplace can be good or bad depending on your personality and how others perceive you. To manage your reputation, you need to  track your actions and other’s opinions about those actions, honestly analyze the opinions and reacting to the opinions in a corrective and appropriate way.

Watch out! Organizations, like human being also have reputations. Their reputation can be; Excellent i.e. the organization have best corporate governance, high quality of service/product, strong corporate compliance, strong brand values and communication, etc Good i.e.  when most corporate values and parameters are there to a good extent Bad i.e. organization that continuously break people trust in them and they do not bother to rectify the vices Ugly;  this is the lowest depth of reputation, it always happen as a result of a high level of deception by an organization or an individual it will either ruin the organization or the individuals that surround it e.g. Enron in U.S.A

There are two ways to build your profile; building your profile from within, and building your profile by taking a new, high profile job.

Building your profile from within

An old adage goes that why fix it if it isn’t broken! Why change the winning team. If you can build your profile from where you are, you may not need to go through the hassles associated with changing jobs. After all better the devil you know.

Building a profile at a working place involves being smart with dealing with two things; (i) politics (ii) relationships. In many cases, these factors had helped some employees move ahead before others. Simply said, keep politics away from your workplace and limit your relationships to official, formal and casual. Whenever possible, avoid deep friendships and courting workmates. Below, we share general tips of how to build your profile from within the organization:

a. Take responsibility

Take responsibility to market yourself. Think like a salesperson, not a technician. Influencing up is similar to selling products or services to external customers. They don't have to buy - you have to sell. Any good salesperson takes responsibility for achieving results.

b. Sell yourself

Avoid the blame game. No one is impressed with a salesman who blames his customers for not buying his products. In fact, an effective salesperson would never say to a customer: "You need to buy this product, because if you don't, I will resign from job!" Salespeople relate to the needs of the buyers. They don't expect buyers to relate to their needs. In the same way, effective "upward influencers" relate to the larger needs of the organization, not just to the needs of their unit or team. Quite a number of staff in corporations spend more time blaming management for this and that; for not buying their ideas, as opposed to blaming themselves for not selling those ideas.

When influencing top management, focus on the impact of the decision on the overall corporation. In most cases, the needs of the unit and the needs of the corporation are directly connected. In some cases, this connection isn't so obvious. Don't assume that executives will automatically make the connection between the benefits and significance of your unit and your positive impact for the larger corporation, make it clear. Don’t say some ideas and expect someone else to translate it like… ‘I think what Charles meant was……’. Say what you mean; directly, simply and as brief and straight forward as possible.

c. Win the big ticket

Profile and influence is all about subjectivism. You need to play your cards well. It may happen that your immediate boss is a toothless dog who cannot determine much of your stay in the organization. In such case, you should not waste your energy and psychological capital on trivial points and trivial personnel, target the real executive. When dealing with executives, tact, diplomacy and tacit skills are required. An executive's time is very limited. Make sure when you engage him in any occasion, you leave impact, however brief the moment is.

d. Sell ideas

Positive workable ideas are like jewels. They are indispensable-yet not many people have them. Do a thorough analysis of your ideas before challenging the system. Don't waste time on issues that will only have a negligible impact on results. Focus on issues that will make a real difference. Be willing to lose on small points. Make yourself known by selling a point. When opportunity arises, make sure you sell a critically important point. In selling a point, however, present a realistic cost-benefit analysis of your ideas. Don't just sell benefits.

Every organization has limited resources, time, and energy. The acceptance of your idea may well mean the rejection of another idea that someone else believes is wonderful. Be prepared to have a realistic discussion of the costs of your idea. Acknowledge the fact that someone else's cause may have to be sacrificed in order to have your plan implemented.

Be especially sensitive to the need to win trivial non-business arguments on things like politics, sports teams, or cars. People become more annoyed with us for having to be "right" on trivia than our need to be right on important business points. You are paid to do what makes a difference and to win on important issues. You are not paid to win arguments on the relative quality of Manchester United vs. Chelsea.

Building your profile by taking a new high profile job

As noted earlier, profile, like pay and position, ought to grow with time. It is envisaged that at the wake of your career, you start small and grow big. Your levels of influence must grow with time. Sometimes the organization you work for may not offer enough room for such a growth at appropriate time. In that case you need to move on to other jobs. Options may vary depending on the job openings available. Taking a higher profile job may be a better option even when it means slightly less a pay.

Building your profile may require you to continuously address the key concerns; ü  what is the title of your current job? ü  does your designation sound? ü  when you are in a business meeting with your peers, can you say who you are and what you do in a sentence? ü  are you comfortable with your designation in your name tag, as addressed ü  what if you leave the job, will you get a similar, lower or higher job?

iv. Place as a Key Element of Career Progress

Place here refers to physical location, city, town or country where your job is based. In career planning, normally the geographical location of the job in question tends to be neglected. This however, is very important in career development. For the sake of clarity, we will limit our understanding of place to the geographical location of where to work, without going to the detailed ergonomic aspects of workplace.

Working in big cities

Working in big cities is exciting to many. Unlike rural areas cities offer lifestyles that are comfortable, if duly afforded. Well-qualified workers who can afford a choice are normally attracted to cities that offer the most positive benefits, such as, reasonable costs of living, general safety, reliable power, effective transportation..

Most young professionals like to work and live in cities. In geographically large and poor countries, poor communication and transport infrastructure tend to characterize some remote towns and districts. In countries like Tanzania, graduates dread being posted in remote areas such as Mtwara, Ngara, Kibondo, Naliendele. Similarly, graduates in Uganda shun away from working in Bundibugyo, Kibaale or Nakapiripirit or war affected districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, just as they avoid Turkana and Wajir in Kenya. Everybody wants to work in Kampala, Nairobi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa and major towns of East Africa.

Cities are likely to have more job creation and career openings than small towns. Its there where the majority of economic activities are, in the secondary and tertiary sectors, and the population density is high. Such areas offer more opportunities for developing other aspects of career growth i.e. Position, Placement, Profile, Position and Pay. Similarly, working in a city may offer more opportunities for interactions, information and exposure to further studies.

Urban Geographers classify cities for their own purposes, based on the distinctive role they play in the city system as;

i.                    Central places; functioning primarily as service centres for local hinterlands, e.g. Nairobi, Arusha and Kampala

ii.                  Transportation cities; performing break-of-bulk and allied functions for larger regions, e.g. Mombasa and Dar es Salaam

iii.                Specialized-function cities; which are dominated by one activity such as mining, manufacturing or recreation and serving national and international markets like  Arusha and, Jinja.

The composition of a city’s labour force has traditionally tended to be aligned to the functional specialization, and different city types have been most frequently identified from the analysis of employment profiles. Specialization in a given activity is said to exist when employment in it exceeds some critical level. For example, if someone wants to develop critical IT skills, he should be based at the Silicon Valley. If he wants to perfect his acting skills, Hollywood is the place. Similarly, a young, dynamic tour operator will advance more in Arusha, Mombasa or Zanzibar than elsewhere in East Africa. The logic is clear; miners would go to Kahama, divers to coast, agronomists to the farming highlands.

Big cities however, face liveability challenges. Quality of life and environment may not be so friendly to young upcoming employees who do not have enough monies to spend on transport, rent and luxuries of the city life. Costs of living may be higher in terms of food supplies, rentals, and transport and utility bills than in small upcountry towns.

Working upcountry

Small, growing upcountry towns can be a good working place. If you love living and working in cities, here is some bad news; the bad news is that cities are not heaven. They are not a panacea for life. In fact, it’s just too difficult to get all the 5Ps working for you in the cities. A few years upcountry could be a good bargain for attaining good Profile, Pay or Position. One need to be open- minded to seize the opportunity as it comes.

Go up country and come to city with class Upon successful completion of her B.A (Sociology) at the University of Dar es Salaam, Koku accepted an offer to go to work in a Refugee Camp in Kibondo, one of the remotest districts in Tanzania- some 1200Km from Dar es Salaam. Four years later, she made a majestic homecoming to the city with enough savings to buy a car and a good job offer with UNHCR on her hand, based on her track record in the camps.

Indeed, instead of a graduate hanging in the city without a job, he would rather take up an opportunity upcountry.

Pros for working upcountry

i.                    relaxed working life- no hassles of traffic jams, queues, and petty city crimes

ii.      possible and affordable access to housing which may not be the case in the cities for a junior professional

iii.    possibility of climbing up the ladder. There is slightly less competition for posts at the districts. A graduate can easily become an head of department after serving for a few years

iv.    possibility of saving since the costs of living tend to be less than in the cities

v.      it is easy to make a difference- you are a big fish in a small pond

Working in small towns Working in small towns is very interesting. The population is normally small with frequent face-to-face interactions. If you do something good e.g., buy a car, everybody gets to know. Normally, there is little deviation from community norms in a small town. There is little crime, little life competition, little challenge and in fact, in it is easy to become a big fish in a small pond.

Cons for working upcountry

i.        ideally you are cut off from networks of peers, friends and accomplices

ii.      you may be cut off from opportunities for further studies or other jobs due to relatively poor communication infrastructure in the districts

Working abroad

Over the past few years, opportunities to work abroad have considerably expanded. The urge for higher profit margins, coupled with increased labour costs in the developed world has forced multinational corporations to expand to the developing world and to open up jobs for technocrats from the south. The expanded aid work in the troubled countries has further opened more doors for international labour mobility. In Africa, the regional integration efforts through AU, COMESA, EAC, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC has further widened frontiers for international working. 

Globally, the conventional few long-term international jobs seem to be overtaken by short term specific company assignments abroad. Today, international relocation is more characterized by flexible short-term stints of a year or less, usually without a family. The profile of workers overseas is changing, too. Unlike in the past years where elderly, more experienced staff would move, today, international staff tend to be younger than in the past, ranging from their 30s to 50s, rather than their 40s to 60s.

Although some African countries still shy away from international jobs, the oriental world, especially Chinese and Asians are open to taking up jobs in other countries that offer good opportunities for career advancement and provide an improvement in their present financial position anywhere in the world.

It is important to note that working abroad require prior planning, and may not always be rosy as people tend to think. A common trend of African professionals running to the developed world without prior work may result into difficulties upon arrival to the new destination. A brief narration hereunder depicts one of such scenario;

EVERYONE back home thinks this place is heaven,' says Kenyan pastor Paul Akatsa about the US, `but in reality it is not for the unprepared.' Akatsa, who offers Swahili services in a Texas church, has seen several Kenyan students who are lonely, impoverished and disillusioned. He knows three who have committed suicide. Twenty-one-year-old Joan Watoro does not let her family back home know that she works two eight-hour jobs daily or that she faces repayment of a $1,600 medical bill. `I cannot tell them I haven't been in school for nearly a year. It would break their hearts.' Her parents will shortly send a younger sister to join her, yet Joan can't bring herself to explain the hardships she faces’. Source:  www.newint.org/issue305/exposure.htm, cited 25th August 2008

Making the decision to relocate to a foreign country is a monumental leap. Lots of people dream of doing it, but a significant percentage of them get discouraged in the first month or two because they didn't consider the realities of life abroad- especially the costs of living, lifestyle and their own shortcomings. Indeed, moving and working abroad requires an enormous expenditure of time, energy, effort and money; as well as un-guaranteed adventure. Although your destination may be a very simple environment, or a safest, most sophisticated nations in the world; its culture, language and climate may present unforeseen difficulties for a foreigner in the course of everyday life. 

Some of the most attractive countries for working abroad: USA - offers a high standard of living and chances for improved lifestyle for professionals. Dubai & Middle East – offers high income  to professionals with strong technical skills Australia - offers good opportunities for entrepreneurs and professionals in various fields. Good infrastructural facilities are available here. The Tiger city states –Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand - skills in accountancy and technical knowledge can be helpful in building a career here.

Before planning a career abroad and taking up a job in a new country, it is important that the following key factors are taken into consideration;

i.                    Size & type of Company offering the job abroad - It is usually a good idea to join a multinational Company when relocating abroad as they have clear policies which they tend follow well.

ii.                  Duration / Time period of the Assignment - Find out the duration for which you will be sent abroad. It is advisable to look for long term assignments which will provide you a chance for career advancement and growth.

iii.                Opportunities to save - Find out the cost of living in the foreign country and whether or not the company will provide you with housing and medical facilities. Only if these details are taken care of by the Company, you will have the opportunity to save.

iv.                Location and salary structure- To minimize stress in the foreign land, it is far better to go for a job which is based in a city, and has relatively high salary to make you comfortable. Living abroad is more expensive than living at home.

v.                  Tax policies & standard of living- Get to know what you expend in taxes and in living. You will not be amused leaving all your money in the foreign land through taxes and high costs of living

vi.                Political and social situation- Security abroad is a matter of major concern.  Not few experts have lost their lives and those of beloved ones abroad.

It’s a pity that most brilliant African young men and women who go to Europe and the US to study end up doing some menial jobs and failing even to raise money for their ticket back. Many young professionals who struggled to go to the US by all means have lived to regret the ultimate disillusion. Like the cows’ green pasture syndrome, those who are still in Africa are longing to go abroad while those who are caught up abroad are longing to go back home.

`It's a pity that you learn the reality when you are already here,' comments Paul Chesoni. Currently working and living in a home for the mentally impaired, he works nights, attends morning classes and sleeps in the afternoon. Though his life in the US is hard, Chesoni says facing unemployment and his disappointed family in Kenya would be worse: `Even if I wanted to go back home I would have to ask for money to be sent for the air ticket.'  Cited from; “Globalise Me!: A Student's Guide to Globalisation” books.google.com/books?isbn=1863665927...on August, 1, 2008

As a practice, some families have sold off everything back home to cover the fare for their children to send them abroad to some studies.  Upon arrival, they find that reality doesn't match the television images they have seen. In fact, many African young men and women dream about going to UK and USA. Some even believe that those countries give their citizens allowance and life is very comfortable there. The truth here is that the USA system is purely capitalist; you must work to survive. Most countries in Western Europe are quite lenient to its disabled citizens since the system is more socialist

Ugandan Susan Mugizi, who never intended to stay in Canada, says: `I thought Canada was beautiful until I scratched the surface. I found the people incredibly fake and pretentious. I remember my room-mate from Trinidad wondering: "Are those people for real?"' Canadians, Mugizi believes, feel superior to Africans and used to whisper about her when she could easily hear them: `It seemed incredibly racist.'  When Mugizi sought part-time employment, she found herself relegated to factory jobs rather than higher-paying clerical work, despite being more educated than other applicants. One time her British accent so impressed an employer over the phone that she was told an interview would not be necessary and to report directly for work Monday morning. `When I arrived I was kept waiting for hours and all of a sudden the job was not available,' she reveals. Cited from www.newint.org/issue305/exposure.htm, on August,1, 2008

It is important to make enough personal preparations to ensure that you have what it takes to comfortably relocate and settle abroad before embarking upon such a daring venture. Hereunder is a quick checklist to assist in decision making for relocating abroad.

A Checklist for Decision Making for Relocating Abroad- a preferred situation i.                    Your level of education should be Post Graduate Degree and/or TOEFL Certificate ii.                  Your personal savings should be at least  more than $5000 USD iii.                Your physical condition should be excellent in both stamina and overall physical health iv.                 You should be someone who can face any challenge without fear, can get along with foreigners and is  not easily frightened by unfamiliar settings or unexpected events v.                   You should be a person who adapts easily to new situations and enjoys the unfamiliar vi.                 You should be someone who never give up when faced with a challenge, and  work very hard and usually succeed vii.               You must be a good problem solver and trouble shooter viii.             You must be able to find lots in common with strangers and makes friends easily ix.                 You should like to travel and enjoy all kinds of transportation x.                  You must have integrity and honesty and be able to uphold to this at all costs

Furthermore, it will be very good if you already have a job waiting in your destination, and you are able to speak at least few words in the local language. Having relatives or friends living there would be very rewarding. If you have travelled extensively in other foreign countries, you will not  find much shock upon arrival.

The Basic Criteria: Assets and attributes that are essential for a successful and rewarding experience abroad: courage, adaptability, congeniality, perseverance, independence, a love of travel, resourcefulness, a sense of humour, adequate finances, a code of integrity, good physical health, an adventurous palate, at least a college education, a willingness to compromise, a genuine desire to live a life to its fullest

Challenges of working abroad

Conventionally, it is the European experts who come to work in African as expatriates. There is however, an emerging trend of Africans working in other African countries or America, Australia and Europe as experts. Working abroad is normally characterized by several challenges associated with adjustments, especially in the first years of work. Such challenges include:

i.                    clearances and labour-law issues, including work, residence and dependants permits

ii.                  working long hours the first year to catch up with the work environment or just to kill time

iii.                cultural adjustments within the office e.g. “I couldn't leave the office until they did"  syndrome, and outside the office

iv.                getting the spouse satisfied with relocation; e.g. sacrificing his/her job back home to join you, getting a new job, getting new friends, or just mere boredom

v.                  family concerns e.g.  dual careers, family businesses, elderly-care responsibilities, schools for children.

vi.                challenging destinations especially in terms of culture, language, freedom of worship, etc such as in  China, India, Russia, Latin America and Arabic countries

vii.              poor balanced work life as expatriates spend more time hiding in offices due to lack of accomplices

viii.            poor family integration, both when they remain behind and when they join in the relocation

ix.                financial impacts especially due to the fact  in many cases spouses cannot work and the costs of living abroad are higher

My personal experience… It’s approximately my tenth day in Kampala. I still don’t know even the basic Luganda, the language spoken by most people in the streets. The driver could not drop me home this evening. I go straight to board a taxi (what is called Special hire here since taxis are the public buses- the type of Daladala in Dar es Salaaam and Matatu in Nairobi.  I get into a taxi and sign for the driver to get off as I remember that the other time I heard someone say ‘Mmaso Awo’ (read Mu maaso awo). Thinking that the place I alight off is caller Mmaasaawo, I go ahead and instruct the drive who speaks limited English to take me to ‘Mmaasaawo’, my supposedly home area. After several attempts of explaining where exactly I want to go, I remember a benchmark and say ‘Kabira Country Club…’ the rest is done by a show of a finger and finally I arrive home exhausted! The next morning I narrate the ordeal to my office mates who laugh a lot, letting me know that Mmaasaawo is but a common phrase to ask the taxi to stop- literally meaning ‘drop me just up ahead there’!

Benefits of working abroad

People move to work abroad because of the associated benefits which are enormous, including;

i.                    exposure to new environment and work life

ii.                  tax waiver- in some cases international workers are exempted from taxes which is a big saving

iii.                experiences gained to working in new environment with new people

iv.                opportunities for growing further within the profession

My personal experience… Today, being Friday and being in no hurry I chose to go home on public transport- the so called taxis in Kampala. I went  straight to the usual bus stop and hoping to jump to the next bus to Ntinda. Several buses come by, touts shouting ‘Kamwokya (read Kamoocha)-Lusanvu’!  I let go since I do not want to go to Lusanvu. Two, three, …ten… its like all buses are going to ‘Lusanvu’ today! After waiting for about 30 minutes I decide to ask  bystander if I can connect from ‘Lusanvu’ to Bukoto where I stay since all buses are shouting ‘Lusanvu…’ the smart man in a dark suit laughs and ask me weather I am new in Kampala which I affirm with my head. He gently explains to me that ‘Lusanvu’ is ‘seven hundred shillings’ the amount I have to pay for the route since it’s a market day. I shyly get into the next ‘Kamwokya –Lusanvu bus!

V. Pay as a Key Element of Career Progress

Said or not, many people work for pay. The slimness or fatness of pay check influences a decision of many people to take or not to take a job, and the way they perform and become committed to that job.  As such each employee must ensure that he gets pay rise, especially when the costs of living are sky-rocketing and inflations are flying up. Building a pay history is a crucial component of career development.

Two things are normally vital for staff motivation as far as pay is concerned; being paid your worth and getting realistic periodic pay rises. In a crude survey carried out by Knowledge Initiative (KICL) in Tanzania and Uganda in 2008, up to 89% of workers said they do not think they are being paid what they are worth. They felt they deserved more pay and better working conditions. But squeezing more money from employers is not as easy. In fact many employers normally say ‘no’ to blank requests such as 'I work hard ….. Can I have more money?'  or 'so-and-so is paid higher than me, please match up…’  In fact, the best approach is to convince the employer that your services are worth more than he is paying you, and that your future services will be making him more money than your financial package will cost him.

Getting a pay rise depends on a range of issues, including your performance and that of your team, company and even industry. If the company has no money to share, then you don't need to feel insulted if yours is modest.

A pay rise needs to be seen in its proper context. For example, if all employees received a modest pay rise - not just you, there is no need to take the matter personally. Maybe few pay rises were awarded at all so you should feel valued. However, if the salaries budget was blown on just a few senior executives, then you might want to think about moving jobs.

Understanding your worth

The first step towards planning for your pay progress is to understand your worth. When you understand your value in terms of training, skills, experience, and ability to delivery, you will seek to earn to commensurate it. Pay, especially in terms of local currencies may not be a good indicator of your worth. As such, you may need to use a more standard benchmark which may include hard currencies and/or valuing other benefits associated with your pay. When you notice that you earn less that you deserve, it may be the beginning of seeking a pay rise.  Here below, is a pay trend of a Tanzanian profession who volunteered his pay history to us. To illustrate the point, a trend below captures a standard pay rise of a staff for the past ten years.

From the graph above, the employee’s pay rise shows impressive positive growth in the past ten years in terms of Tanzania Shillings (TAS). The same pay, converted into US Dollars, shows decline for the last four years while in terms of Sterling Pounds it shows stagnation for the past seven years.

Negotiating your pay

Since pay rise is an important matter, it should not just be discussed in passing. Do request for a review meeting with your boss to discuss your performance. You may not mention the matter of your pay rise as you ask for the meeting because he may say 'No' there and then. You need to take control of the situation and arrange a meeting which will enable you to make your case and sell your argument.

Facts of pay rise i.                    You are more likely get pay rise by working within the established evaluation or compensation system than you are by trying to get an exception made in your case. ii.                  If your methods of lobbying for a raise are so intense to the extent that they strike your manager as "pushy," you may never get what you want. In fact, you could end up losing ground.