By Diana Nyakyi
Somewhere in rural Tanzania, in a tiny village called Jitazame, temptation, greed and scandal are shaking up community life. Yet in the midst of this, some inhabitants are trying to make a difference. Lessons are learned and sometimes progress is made, changing the village for the better.
Jitazame is a fictional village, but to listeners of the local radio soap opera Pilika Pilika, its characters reflect real life people living real life stories. For the past few months, those real life stories have included some stirring storylines that tackle multiple concurrent partnership. This June, more drama unfolded and the stakes have been extra high.
As a partner of Pilika Pilika, Femina HIP , the OneLove partner in Tanzania, has been working with the show producer Mediae to develop messaging around the risks of MCP.
From late last year, several situations have evolved in Jitazame, where characters have been tempted to stray from their partners and audiences have been left wondering whether village rumours of secret love affairs are true.
Nyambura & Msafiri
Listeners have followed the story of Nyambura, a well respected woman whose husband is away in prison and who has managed to fend off the seduction attempts of Busara, a well-known local man with two wives.
But when Nyambura employs the penniless and desperate young Msafiri, tongues begin wagging among village gossips, implying that the betrothed Msafiri has found himself a sugar mama.
In June, the tension and temptation came to a head, with Msafiri approaching Nyambura for sex, “reasoning” that they might as well do what people claim they are doing.
Nyambura chased him away and later pulled a bold move: She took on her matronly role, calling both Msafiri and his fiancée to her home. She scolds him about the risks of having many partners and encourages the young couple to protect each other and not sleep around, claiming that her husband is her one love and she will wait for him.
What will happen between Msafiri and his fiancé Anna in the coming episodes? The audience is left wondering whether they will break off their engagement forever, whether Anna will forgive him and whether Msafiri has learned a lesson.
Pilika Pilika broadcast times
On TBC Taifa
Soap airs 18:45 to 19:00 on Fridays.
Repeats on Sundays from 20:30 to 21:00 with the magazine segment.
On Sauti Ya Injili (local FM station in Moshi)
Soap and magazine segment air from 19:30 to 20:00 on Thursdays and from 20:45 to 21:15 on Mondays.
Learn more about Pilika Pilika
