THE ONE AND THE ONLY POGORO CULTURE

It was an honour to the Tanzanians having the privilege to present and share more concerning one of the cultures in the motherland, Tanzania in the cultural evening. Happiness and joy was vivid on every members’ face in the community, some hours before the event commenced. We all enjoyed listening to our two brothers, Evodius Lihiru and Aloyce Libongi, who shared about the Pogoro Culture. Historical background and culture teachings about Pogoro People were well narrated and I can bear witness, it was fabulous.

Here is a short history about the Tanzania, the country and the Pogoro culture.

Tanzania is a rich country which has many natural resources like Gold, Tanzanite, Diamond, Iron Ore, and other minerals. It has also got tourist attractions such as the Norongoro Crater, Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Mikumi National Park, as well as Zanzibar Island. The natural resources enable the country to earn a lot of money to run the government programs.

Tanzania is estimated to have more than forty million people and more than one hundred and twenty tribes within the country. This is according to a census in 2012. All these people have their cultural practices and beliefs. Some are similar and others are not, but for this day, we had the Pogoro culture.

It is one of the famous tribes in Tanzania and is approximated to have more than six hundred thousand people which is approximately two percent of the population. Among these people, about five hundred thousand live in their original place (Ulanga District) and more than one hundred thousand live in town centers and few outside Tanzania. 

Pogoro are originally from Ulanga District in Morogoro region, southern part of Tanzania. The cultural practices like respect for elders, being hardworking, agriculture and circumcision have been so much appreciated by other tribes, even the government. 

Agriculture is the major means of production for Pogoro People. The main food is rice, posho (ugali), fish and beans. We do both small and large scale farming and also depend on natural vegetation because the land is very fertile, and with this we are able to get food throughout the year. The existence of a brotherhood spirit facilitates unity among people, and members always work as a team even in hard times.

We were also privileged to have a clip concerning the Pogoro traditional dance, sangura, was the most enjoyable part of that evening. It was really fun, superb and very interesting, especially the dancing styles. I am not incensing the event but the truth remains that, we really enjoyed it. It was a moment of reimbursement of the aliveness always present in the community. 

On the same evening, as Lavigerie fraternity, we were blessed by the presence of Fr. Charles Obanya, the East African Province Provincial.

Evodius Lihiru.