Marisa, Reflects On His Journey In The International Day Of Forests
A forester by fate, not by choice;
Growing up and being raised by parents and relatives who have a concrete white collar job mindset has somewhat made me to see the world in one angle. I remember when I was 9 my dad would take me and my other two siblings to his office to show us how he received and replied his official emails, this was inspiring though and with all due respect this made me so entitled with white collar jobs. Navigating otherwise has been so unreal to me I would say, because at the tender age me and my siblings were entitled to white collar jobs and it’s now making a hell of a sense. Well, there is nothing bad with this though!
My white-collar immediate family always inspired me on how they carried themselves typically, American I would say. How they made appointments and met deadlines, how they made their investments and off-course the type of friends they had were so hard to reach “you what I am saying”. It’s obvious that they have assisted me to dream for more, I am told it’s possible to earn a living that I can afford to buy one apartment in a month if I persist in the corporate world, I developed a desire to sit in boards, managerial positions and off course to become this dude who can move around here and there to fix stuffs in the corporate world.
In my high school, was such an immense pleasure seeing my aunt working in an energy industry and she is on top of her game in one of the largest oil and gas company in Africa. Drive that big posh 4-wheel car she drove and living large was so much entitled to me; was so compelled to study what she studied and knock doors where she previously knocked, and where she ‘was about to and I had no problem with that really. Though I had graduated from SUA, her alma mater with a Forestry badge that wasn’t a problem between me and her at all.
My hope was so gone, during my first day in the forestry class. Everyone was so weird to me, didn’t speak what I spoke genuinely. I would say nothing resonated with me, how they viewed stuffs, communicated, not even the tutors and you name it. Getting, on random calls with her; she kept on telling me trust the process and there is a way you can do what I do, Just chill. Yaay, this made me a big-time dodger and took schools things so casually because I didn’t like forestry at all. For me forestry was like a baby dropped on my door and I was so desperate to raise a child and you name it.
During my academic breaks, she would take me with her to the operations and insisted me to meet her colleagues that was so breath taking. Time by time kept on learning on how HSSEQ is linked with oil and gas operations, I would say I was full time gofer in HSSEQ and I saw the magnificence few were granted to see those times and there is a story behind this I will share some other day.
During my soul searching at school, I was so certain that I am not going to fully practice forestry because of the diversity I had and I knew that I seemed so ungrateful and crazy at the same time. Surprisingly I kept on doing forestry related things, my guts kept on telling me that I can’t be lame but I can still do something with my profession just to keep myself busy. Now guess what? Whatsoever I did?I wrote my name in the lights in the skies and I was an inspiration awhile my machine kept on telling me there is gat to be more.
I remember being bullied by many and trust me the list is endless, that forestry doesn’t look like me and so many people even my tutors, friends and my random seniors who I passed onto their hands here and there judged my intelligence and questioned my expertise on my face and some were wise enough to reserve their comments but I felt their energies by just talking to them, Oh ‘Yes that dude. I am telling you, with all these shenanigans I could still bit their doubts 10 times and carry the flag to the pick. Few came back to me with a very honest feedback on how they perceived me on how I did my stuffs and how they feel after working with me. It was such a trouble dealing with such threats in my life but as I kept going, I knew I am called to do my stuff in a weird way.
All these drama around me, of “he doesn’t like a forester” was rather a fuel and a chance for me to improve myself and find alternatives to raise my game 10 times. Because I know people will always tell you who you are, its up to you to believe and be confined but I knew its my job to tell everyone even my own mother who I’m because define and I carry me.
Frankly speaking it has been a lonely journey, navigating in this global stewardship and communicating my forestry expertise as a global citizen never resonated to my very own environment I knew would happen for sure and I know that I am special and weird at the same time. Simply it wasn’t what my environment wanted me to be, hence faced maladjustment so many times. It is not that easy doing my stuff on my way going against the odd, you will be surprised to learn that the number of days I convinced myself to dim my light to do what everyone is doing are countless compared to those days I encouraged myself to keep going.
Running my practice as the Founder and Lead Scientist at the Environmental Conservation Network the being employed as Regional Youth Forest Officer, serving as the Project lead at Restoring nature program at the Dar Global Sharpers community an initiative of the World Economic Forum, being involved in the secretariat of the national task force of forming the forestry urban investors hub, being the all-time citizen sciences story teller, making an history as the Vice chairman of the Tanzania Forestry Students ‘Association well just to mention a few and doing a lot in the humanitarian space making a total of 20 different projects on my wall, Meeeen!!!!. I confess by saying navigating to all these spaces wasn’t easy at all, the machine in me struggled and off course it is still struggling to figure out whether my game is in forestry or corporate world per se.
What an inspiring story, a weird dude doing all these? I know it’s a lot but my people do this. People inspire me to be more, hunger for more and reclaim my global forestry expertise. Family, I know in Tanzania being a tree lover and a tree solider you’ve to be like Tarzan (I don’t have a doubt with this though). The other part of what still I think I should make a great partnership with the pharmaceutical companies to engineer a DNA that sees inner beauty in people. I find it so ancestry, to be a forester locked in a forest, bounded to bring light and beauty to world in a completely different way.
My friend, today on the international day of forests I am daring to step in spaces that will allow me to join in all natures as a forester, succumbing less and less to the rat race of my life and I also want to inspire young people who think they way I do. On a very serious note by challenging the social contexts that do not host active minds and people who want to take charge on their own but their immediate surroundings assist them in the process of being mediocre, and they are convinced to be very intentional about it. SAD, isn’t it?
A couple of days ago I met the Chief Engineer consulting the World Bank Group in Tanzania, to see a number of sites they have been working on, I was called to represent the organization I work for by taking some few samples. I was truly, inspired by myself “I said to myself that I broke my own ceiling, and this is what I graduated for”. Yes, because in so many ways I was convinced with some adult foresters that I can not do what I am doing now and without no reason, Period. Its, a shame isn’t it?; Few are now coming for consultation though.
In closing, dear forester I know you’re inspired with this piece of writing but trust me this is just 40% of what me and you can do. I am a big believer that we can do more only if we collaborate not compete because collaboration creates more avenues to have the answers that were never tapped for ages, create more genius and increasing the circle of great thinkers.
Dear Scientists, I was sober when I was writing this piece.
