For Mabala, writing is more than a hobby

“I cried when I was writing this book,” says Richard Mabala about his new book Run Free that won him the 4th Burt Award for African Literature (Baal), and got him Sh14 million richer last month.

The title itself is telling of the renowned author, a man whose life is an expression of a free spirit that’s refused to condescend to what seems obvious around him.

When you hear his name it is hard to imagine that it belongs to a white man, a mzungu. But Mabala is indeed a Tanzanian white man, and arguably one of the most talented authors the country has produced in the last decade.

Run Free is the latest offering on the list of the more than 10 Kiswahili and English titles that Mabala, also a columnist for various newspapers including ‘Mwananchi’, has published in recent years.

In it is the author’s conviction about the potential of humanity and his penchant for freedom reflected. And for him, it was living his life again in the world of fiction.

“It is about a character who struggles to walk after they had had an accident. Physical impairment is something that I myself have experienced in my life,” he says in a recent interview.

Re-living the experience was very emotional, says Mabala, whose family members, including his sister suffered physical impairment.

When he came to Tanzania in 1973, he was a volunteer with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). He was one of the first five British volunteers who were allowed into the country after Tanzania broke off diplomatic relations with Britain over the independence of Zimbabwe.

“I call myself ‘Mnyamwezi Mkorogo’ - a skin bleached man of the Nyamwezi tribe,” says Mabala.

He was born Richard Satterthwaite but changed to Mabala, a nickname he was given by Wanyamwezi when he used to sing in a small choir in Ipuli at the edges of Tabora Region.

Since they couldn’t pronounce his name properly, they popularised Mabala, which they told him meant ‘a big open space’ - from London, where he was born to Tabora where he resided. He was nervous about using his new name, but to his surprise, people picked it up quickly.

Tanzanian citizenship

In 1979, he applied for Tanzanian citizenship, which was approved two years later. “I have never regretted my decision, except when I have to go through a long and expensive process to get a visa to go and visit my mother,” he says with a laugh.

His skin colour hasn’t been a hindrance in airing his views as a Tanzanian writer. He counts himself very fortunate to be accepted in different writers’ forums. “Of course some are surprised at my name and I know some people do not like the criticisms in my columns but I have never heard anyone question my right to say these things,” says Mabala, an alumnus of Oxford University.

Between 1961 and 1967, Mabala studied French and History at Oxford, and then did a postgraduate diploma in education. As a volunteer, he started his life in Tanzania at Milambo Secondary School.

His first A-Level class included people such as the late Professor Mwaikusa, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, and the late Ibrahim Ngozi - a talented playwright and actor.

He recalls how at that time literature in English was a hotbed of discussion and how he learned so much from working with those first students and those of the following years also.

“It was a time of great commitment to building the nation the Tanzanian way and I was inspired by the commitment of so many,” he says. He then tutored at Mzumbe Secondary School, Chang’ombe Teachers College, Marangu Teachers College, Kibosho Girls Secondary School and University of Dar es Salaam between 1973 and 1993.

At some point in his life, Mabala realised that he was more of an activist than an academician. He is a founding member of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme and HakiElimu and has been involved particularly in issues related to education, youth development and gender.

As a result of that work, Mabala was invited by the United Nations children’s agency Unicef to set up a programme for young people who were out of school. The project was a turning point in his life.

He worked with Unicef from 1999 to 2007 where he was the main writer of four stories in the Sara Communication Initiative. The stories were also translated into Kiswahili and dubbed into Kiswahili videos.

These included: The ‘Special Gift’ (Zawadi Maalum), ‘Daughter of a Lioness’ (Binti Simba), ‘The Empty Compound’ and ‘Who is the Thief?’

He was later appointed regional adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa on Youth and HIV and head of a youth department in Ethiopia before he decided that he wanted to come home and work with young people in Tanzania.

Giving young people a voice

That was when he joined with two young people to set up Tamasha, a youth empowerment organisation based in Arusha. Tamasha works with young people in Arusha, Temeke, Newala, Kahama, Kishapu, Ngorongoro, Magu and Mwanza to encourage communities, wards and districts to give young people a voice.

It is by no accident that most of Mabala’s books are for adolescents and young adults. “I think they are a particularly neglected group of people particularly in Tanzania. Unless we build a love of reading in our children we cannot expect them to love reading when they grow older,” says Mabala.

In Run Free, the main character, a school dropout, regains her love of life and determination to succeed after the launch of a youth centre in her village. There is a particular emphasis on girls.

Mabala says young girls are still far more restricted than boys when it comes to opportunities in life. In essence, the story is based on what Mabala is currently involved in.

“There are many talented and enthusiastic young people in our communities who are not given the chance to participate in the development of their communities. If they do try and participate they are insulted as ‘bangi’ smokers and told that the old people have a monopoly of wisdom,” he says.

Through Tamasha, Mabala trains young people to have access to opportunities and promote social entrepreneurship. The NGO works with youth centres to reach the most marginalised young people.

Family time

Juggling between consultancy work, Tamasha, columns and writing books, Mabala makes sure his work doesn’t interfere with his family time. Although his wife Etinisimbo is not a writer, they co-authored one of The Sarah Series, The Empty Compound.

“My wife is very understanding, particularly as my writing time is from 3 to 6 am when the rest of the family is sleeping. She is very supportive, except when the bed gets too cold,” he says with a laugh. Mabala’s son, Bahati is following his father’s footsteps. He has written a poetry book called Trail of My Shadows, and continues to write poetry in Swahili and English.

“In fact I have had to retire from poetry as his poetry is much better than mine,” Mabala says laughingly, and adds: “However, when we look at the same issues from the different perspectives, we see the possibility of writing a joint book of poetry, using the different styles according to our ages.”

Mabala recalls his first encounter with writing, “I wrote my first poem when I was in primary school on the death of President Kennedy and wrote intermittently throughout school as well as producing a children’s book as a part of my education diploma,” he says.

But he recalls that earnest writing started when he was working with his former students to produce Summons, a poetry anthology published in 1982.

One of the writers, Kajubi Mukajanga, had told Mabala that it was unfair of him to criticise other people’s poetry when he had none of his for others to criticise.

And although his mother told him that she always thought he would be a good writer, it was Jwani Mwaikusa who gave him the idea to get involved in writing.

Mwaikusa had sent Mabala two poems. “They were so good that I was determined to get them published. So, I went round trying to get the right people interested,” he recalls. When that failed Mabala wrote to all his ex students and their friends who enjoyed writing poetry, and that is how Summons: Poems from Tanzania was born.

To Mabala, writing is not a hobby but a way of provoking discussion. He says “Most of my early writing has been reactive, in that I respond to a particular issue or situation. I wanted to see that my students’ poems were read, that there were books that tell stories in a Tanzanian context, that there are other voices heard – other than that of party leaders”

People’s reactions to his writings gave him the courage and strength to continue. “I must have written about 700 Makengezas now and 500 Binti Hidayas over a period of more than 20 years. I feel I should give more time to it to try and share my ideas as part of a contribution to debates on development, gender, and young people. I do not think I have a ‘great message to give the world’ but I think I can provoke more discussion,” he says.

His next project, something on the cards, is collecting the best of his stories in a book, for an autobiography.