STORY: Former TAZARA railway construction worker recalls old glory days
SHOOTING TIME: Aug. 12, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:44
LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the TAZARA railway
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver

STORYLINE:

Donatus Ngonyani, a former TAZARA (Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority) railway construction worker, walked forth and back at the boarding platform of Tanzania-Zambia railway passenger trains at Dar es Salaam Station with nostalgia.

Seventy-year-old Ngonyani joined TAZARA in 1971 as he realized that the railway was of great significance for Tanzania.

Ngonyani, who initially had no knowledge of railway construction at all, vividly recalled his journey of learning from the Chinese experts.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver
"Working with Chinese experts, I have benefited from the following things.
Firstly, I have benefited from gaining knowledge, I know of building railways and driving a locomotive train.
Secondly, I have benefited by getting a job at TAZARA.
Thirdly, I have benefited from the training. The Chinese experts taught us about work safety, and hard-working spirits."

During the construction of the TAZARA railway, the bond between the Chinese experts and Tanzanian workers grew stronger. As the construction progressed, the Chinese supervisors trained Ngonyani as a locomotive driver.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver
"During locomotive driving training, they would give training with all their heart. 
The Chinese experts respected us and treated us like family.
Then we ate the same food, and we all enjoyed the moments of being together."

The TAZARA railway was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, with commercial operations starting in July 1976. 

It covers 1,860 km from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Swahili): DONATUS NGONYANI, Former TAZARA railway construction worker & locomotive driver
"TAZARA has helped Tanzania because the primary goal of building TAZARA was to transport cargo. We transported all kinds of cargo, but copper and oil from Zambia were the biggest ones.
There were a lot of areas where the railways were crossing, and there were no roads, which means there were no buses or any other form of transport. So people highly relied on the passenger train, and it was their lifesaver."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
(XHTV)