AT A CROSSROADS: Tanzanian women scientists, please tell us your stories!

If you tell a Form 4 pupil anywhere in Tanzania to name leading musicians in the country, names of Diamond Platnumz, Ali Kiba, Nandy, Lady JayDee, Khadija Kopa etc will be mentioned. If you ask them to name Tanzania popular politicians, of course they will be in the know. But if you ask them about Tanzania’s popular scientists, you may not easily get the answer. Take the same question to a Form 6 pupil, or a university student, the answers (to many) may be the same.
Just ask anyone around you to name Tanzania’s popular scientists. For many, they won’t give you a single name. As much as we need Tanzanian artists to be of international repute, we need the same to our scientists.
There is the case of Erasto B. Mpemba, a Tanzanian credited with discovering “eponymous Mpemba effect.” where “hot water freezes faster than cold water under certain conditions.” How well is he known here at dear motherland? If only he was a great “love” singer-like Diamond or Ali Kiba he could have been very famous, and our children would have known him. Yes, about love...may be, it rules the mind of the world. No wonder Valentine’s Day (14th February), a lovers’ Day is very popular, world over including Tanzania.  
Compare that to February 11, the International Day of Women in Science. Few people know about it or even care, to celebrate/recognise women who have done a lot, scientifically for advancement of humanity, at local or international levels. It’s important to give a special thought to women in science as that important field is male-dominated.
According to UNESCO, women in Tanzania represent 40 percent of university enrolment but only about 24 percent are enrolled in science, engineering and technology fields. UN data indicate that worldwide less than 30 percent of scientific researchers are women.
Taking a look in the past things were worse. For example, German astronomer Maria Winkelmann (1670-1720) discovered a new comet (1702) but her husband, Gottfried Kirch, put the discovery in his own name! Only years later did the truth come out.
I love twitter, and I was just checking Feb 11 tweets about the all important day. I realized that a female Dr Constansia Buretta has completed the course in Brain, Spinal cord & Nerves (Neurosurgery), making a total Tanzania female doctors in that field to be four. Canada Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau tweeted “….Canada has had many amazing women in science. But we need more….”  In Tanzania too, we have some amazing women scientists, but we need more.
Online, like at the wikipedia.org, category of Tanzanian women scientists, as at Feb 13, 2020 had only three names, while definitely, I’m sure we have many women scientists, I think it’s imperative; we have more documentation about them.
We have some great stories that need to be told. For instance, Prof Julie Makani, the Muhimbili Sickle Cell Programme (SCP) leader. In 2019, she was in BBC top 100 women. She is recognized worldwide for her groundbreaking work on sickle cell disease.
Previously, this column has written about Joyce Msuya, at the moment the UN Environment Acting Executive Director. In the world of environmental science, she is playing a great role, being at the forefront of telling of how “the soil on which Africa’s civilizations are built is in trouble” and what must be done.
The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Tanzania chapter has 225 members according to their website. We need to have their stories out in public so that they can inspire our young girls.
We need as many female role models as possible who have made it in the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Dear ladies of STEM come out in big numbers and tell us your stories!

Saumu Jumanne is an Assistant Lecturer, Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)