Tedys Portrait

Shooting: Marera Valley, Tanzania 2023 11

Tedy is actually lucky. Unlike many other girls in Tanzania, she received a reasonably good education. After 7 years of free primary school in Karatu, she was allowed to attend secondary school for four years and then a college for English and hotel management. This is only affordable for a few young people in this country. High school costs, a lack of internships and jobs prevent young people in Tanzania from having a fair chance of advancement.

The fact that 27-year-old Tedy got a job as a waitress in a lodge on the periphery of Karatu two years ago makes her absolutely proud. At first glance, she and her colleagues look really chic, when they welcome arriving tourists. However, during our photo shoot, I noticed that the poorly sewn dress looks more like curtain fabric. Compared to the colorful khangas, with which the East African women usually start the day with such grace, the crudely sewn uniforms of the lodge are more of a degrading outfit.

In both their professional and private lives, the everyday problems faced by young women are even more fundamental than those faced by men. These include traditional roles and cultural humiliation as well as a lack of contraception and sexual violence. There is still a long way to go to achieve equal rights in Tanzania.

But Tedy wants to make progress: Her next plan is to take a German course. For now, she is looking forward to getting her first smartphone in two weeks‘ time. Then she will be able to download the pictures from her first photo shoot.