AGEN’s Member of the Month is Dr. Elinami Swai

This month’s AGEN member of the Month is Dr. Elinami Swai. She is not a doctor by accident; Dr. Elinami holds several titles: AGEN Assistant Executive Director- Women and Advocacy ; Senior Lecturer and Dean of School of Curriculum and Teacher Education at University of Dodoma, Tanzania and Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Toledo, USA since August 2007 . Dr. Elinami is a fulbrighter (Fulbright Student Program) who holds Doctor of Education, Adult Education, Gender Studies from Penn State University, USA.

At the US Department alumni website, Dr. Elinami present us with a short and clear message, “I now know that the world we are living in is diverse and there is nothing valuable than appreciating our cultural diversity.”

This intelligent professor has been playing a very instrumental role on strengthening AGEN Headquarters in Dar Es Salaam. She doesn’t tolerate easy going behavior. In a recent communication, she presented a following argument, “...cry for money is none issue when everybody has a cry for more money. I have not come across anywhere in the world where money was enough. If we pay so much attention to this cry, are we able to change the situation? How much money is enough? Even those who said 2,000,000 [Tanzanian shillings or around $1333.333333333333) will that change the situation? What I consider to be more important is how the recipients used the money to change the situation, hata kama ni kwa kupanuka mawazo tu (in English , the loan should be used to develop an entrepreneurial mindset). “ In an academic setting, Dr. Elinami recently wrote, “On the one hand, women are not victims, unaware of the structural cause of their situation and thus lack of options to achieve their dreams. On the other hand, women recognize the oppressive structures working against them. Nonetheless for many women, experiencing a sense of powerlessness they not only advocate for their individual needs, but also defend their families and community. Yet at the same time, paradoxically reproducing their own powerlessness. ” Despite being extremely knowledgeable on gender issues, Dr. Elinami exercise humbleness as she mentors junior Ageners; Juniors like Rasel who, like other young folks, would like AGEN’s activities to be accomplished with the speed of light. However, good things come with patience.

Most importantly, Dr. Elinami introduced AGEN to the Tanzania public in a very famous TV show on October last year. The DVD showcasing this historical event has been archived at AGEN headquarters in Dar Es Salaam. She has recently presented at a reputable African international conference and her work can be downloaded here Dr. Elinami Veraeli Swai most recent book is “Beyond Women's Empowerment in Africa: Exploring Dislocation and Agency” published by Palgrave Macmillan

Congratulations Dr. Elinami! AGEN will always count on you.