Gendering the cookstove

described as follows: one charcoal stove (the cost depends on the type; the one I built for him with double pots cost around 40,000 TZS (17USD); benches and tables made from recycled construction wood (I estimate that these would cost 20,000 TZS (7USD) for four benches and a table); and cups (these cost 10,000 TZS (4USD) per set; Jiongeze had around two sets of both coffee and ginger cups).

Like crafters at Mahakama Ya Friji, Jiongeze’s income over the past 5 years has allowed him to purchase 20 cattle back home in Dodoma and has provided a livelihood for his immediate family—a wife and two kids—and for his extended family. Kijiwe is not only a place for men to talk or discuss politics, it is also a vibrant business. Vijiwe vya kahawa¹⁹ are everywhere in Dar es Salaam, even in the city centre where government and business offices are located. Vijiwe vya kahawa are part of the lively cultural fabric that is supported by the charcoal stove. It’s important to note that vijiwe are not permanent places— brewers open early in the morning and close late at night, which means they have to carry all of their utensils with them. The charcoal stoves, with their mobility and wind-tolerant features, are the only stoves that can be used in these places.

still, Mama Lishe labour, or cooking in general, is regarded as women’s labour, as I will show with further examples below.

The food shack of Pili and her group is located at the front of the workshop. Pili, who is from Iringa in the southern highlands of Tanzania—like George and other guys at the workshop—left home after finishing primary school to come to Dar es Salaam, searching for a better life. As I showed in the introduction, people move from rural areas to urban centres following their kin or members of their kabila. Their starting point is usually to help or join in the activities that their hosts do.

Pili joined her aunt in the food business before joining hands with three other young women her age to start the food shack next to the workshop. Pili knows what kind of food everyone at the workshop likes. When everyone arrives in the morning between 7 and 9, Pili

Figure 29 Pili and her team preparing a meal

and her crew have already been there for at least 2 hours. Breakfast will be ready, and she will ask everyone who arrives, ‘kama kawaida?’ (the usual?). I adopted Salum’s menu, a bowl of beans and two chapati; but always finish with ‘chai bila sukari’ (tea without sugar). In the beginning, Pili found it weird that I took my tea without sugar. Pili always made sure everyone had breakfast before starting the day. ‘I am having a bad day’, Dinho told Pili one day. He meant that he did not have money for breakfast, so he would go without. Pili walked up to him, asking, ‘Is that all you can say? You do not have money?’ Pili brought his breakfast and told him, ‘Eat first, then we worry about money’. I am trying to show here that Pili, her team, and the other Mama Lishe are an essential part of the workshop. Without the Mama Lishe’s labour, it would have been hard for everyone else at the workshop to perform their labour. It is unfair to separate the labour of Pili and company from the labour of scavengers, cookstove artisans, and scrap dealers.

Pili’s food shack is located on the other side of the road, just a few metres from the Mahakama Ya Friji workshop. It is part of a long building running parallel with the road, with five rooms next to each other. Each room has its own large door, which means the rooms are meant for business activities. The first door, close to the workshop, is the car garage, followed by a barber for men, a women’s hair dressing salon, and then Pili and her companions’ food shack. Inside their room, there is a long table with plastic chairs scattered around. However, because of the heat, people rarely sit inside. When Pili wasn’t delivering food to the workshop, we would sit outside at two long tables with benches on both sides.

During lunch time, the benches would be occupied with people who work nearby, including officers from the District Occupational Safety and Health Authority office, which is located in front of the food shack. While eating, people engage in small talk; many times people will come in groups and converse while having lunch. The kitchen is half covered by a corrugated iron sheet that allows the heat from the charcoal cookstoves to escape and the breeze

to enter. Inside, Pili and her companions have two cookstoves and two small stools. Usually, two cooks would be inside wearing white aprons and finishing cooking as people arrive at noon. There are always jokes directed at the cooks while they are busy serving the food.

If we focus on the relationship between Pili and other Mama Lishe and their customers, it is clear that this group is connected to the cookstove. Other type of stoves would be too expensive for the Mama Lishe to run their businesses. These kind of food shacks are everywhere in the city, providing food services for thousands of working people. The cookstoves that the artisans produce out of materials collected by scavengers are used by the Mama Lishe, who in turn make food for everyone.