He explains the importance of his project as follows: 'I'm trying to develop an small-scale approach to allow chemistry teachers to do practices with a small amount of material and involve the students in the classes. This method will provide the teachers with the opportunity to save time and money and the students with the opportunity to do experiments, something that is impossible sometimes because of the cost of material'.
The project Fidely is developing will be applied in his country and he thinks that that is the main advantage of doing a PhD in the Netherlands: 'You do your thinking and then you produce something that you will try in real life, it is very realistic and useful. On the other hand, as I'm a chemist, I think I need more theoretical background in education. In this sense, I prefer the way it is done in the United States, where you have to take courses while doing your PhD'.
Fidely's interest in the topic began while he was doing his Master in Educational and Training System Design at the UT, two years ago. By that time he stayed in the Netherlands for eight months and when he went back home he noticed that his absence had affected his family a lot: 'I saw that my wife had lost considerable weight because we used to take care of the children together but then she was alone and had to manage everything by herself; she didn't want to worry me, she is very supportive. I really missed my family a lot. Now, the agreement is that during the four years I have to stay here six months and then go to Tanzania six months. I hope that at the end I will be able to bring my family here so they can be with me during the final dissertation phase and see the results of our efforts'.
After finishing his PhD, Fidely will be able to get a position as a lecturer in University of Dar es Salaam. There, people from more than 100 different tribes live together and in peace, united by the national language: Kiswahili. Fidely explains something about the tribes as follows: 'The tribes are determined by your place of origin inside the country. They have different traditions, different ceremonies. I belong to a tribe called 'he he', and, for instance, when I asked the parents of my wife if I could marry her, I couldn't say it directly, I had to go and say: 'I have seen a very beautiful flower in your house and I would like our family to join yours...' Then, thefather will discuss the matter with the other members of the family and, after that, if accepted, you have to pay something to the parents of your fiancée. In my tradition, that was always 4 cows, but nowadays these cows have a symbolic price that you give to your future parents-in-law as a present'.
Fidely likes to tell things about his country but he also feels a great responsibility about it: 'As I'm in an international environment, I feel I have to be very careful and well informed about my country to be able to give a realistic picture to people who have never been to Tanzania.'
Fidely Mafumiko
