Bringing gender balance via stories

Dar es Salaam. Studies show that gender inequality is still rife in Tanzanian society. Under these circumstances, there are fewer opportunities for women and girls compared to those available to men and boys.

Despite these challenging circumstances, Tanzania continues to witness women moulding themselves into impactful leaders.

One of such women is Tulanana Bohela. She is the co-founder and director of operations and immersive media at Ona Stories--a storytelling company that pioneers the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).

Tulanana is also a journalist, filmmaker and digital content producer with about 10 years of experience in the media industry.

“Growing up and being the firstborn in my family, I had access to good education and I was exposed to different opportunities. In a way, my life started to make me think of other people who have been made to believe that they are incapable of being ‘someone’ or creating ‘something’ for themselves. So I decided to pave a path for young talents that seek betterment of their lives,” explains Tulanana.

In Tanzania, there is a widespread belief that for a person to succeed all that matters is not about their knowledge but rather the sort of people they are connected to. Tulanana decided to be a person young people can get connected to in a way that will lead to success.

In 2014, Tulanana and Princely Glorious, the other co-founder of Ona Stories, saw an opportunity in establishing a company that would focus on content creation and storytelling about Tanzania supported by Extended Reality technology.

“We were both intrigued by how the use of technology to create a story could impact people’s lives. In 2016, we both travelled to South Africa for a conference called ‘Media Party Africa’. We met different stakeholders from different countries who easily understood our language and encouraged us to work on our ideas,” she says.

By that time, Tulanana was working with the BBC as a multimedia journalist and producer. Princely was working for Nabaki Africa as a communications manager.

Shortly after, both tendered their resignations and made a debut in the storytelling and technology world by releasing their first work dubbed ‘Dodoma Kunani?’ which highlighted the relocation of capital city from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma.

“Before ‘Ona Stories’ establishment, I was in a stable job for about eight years. So, leaving that job and becoming a part of a company that was developed from scratch was a very challenging thought. I was so energised and hyped that I was finally going to change the game! Little did I know that it takes more than willingness and knowledge to make a company stand on its own,” Tulanana explains.

Despite the challenges that she and Princely encountered, Tulanana reveals that what keeps motivating her to work towards the company goals is the team they formed.

She explains that seeing young creatives grow up at Ona Stories is one of the things that keeps motivating her to work and see their dream come true.

“It is a beautiful sightseeing young creatives being experts at their work as they also become multitaskers in different fields. It is even more encouraging having a hand in moulding their work,” she says.

“For instance, we now have a university student who has been working at Ona Stories for two years as a financial officer. Seeing her response to all challenges thrown her way is the same as witnessing her growth in her profession. I honestly envision her as one of the biggest players in the country’s financial sector in future,” Tulanana explains.

Being among the growing number of corporate women leaders in the country, Tulanana says that Tanzania is still lagging behind in terms of gender equality.

“We are still in the times when the society gets oddly shocked or awed when a woman is chosen to be a leader. This shows that the number of women in top leadership positions has to increase to the extent that those leaders will only be identified as leaders and not ‘women leaders’,” she argues.

Tulanana recalls an intriguing incident when she and Princely were travelling upcountry with a private driver. She was seated in the backseat and Princely sat in the passenger seat next to the driver.

“I remember asking the driver to stop the car about three times for a short call. He did not even look my way. But when Princely asked him once, the car was stopped. I was pissed and gave him a piece of my mind, so did Princely,” she says.

According to her, gender inequality comes from the family institution and is a tradition that has been handed down through generations.

“We’re brought up differently and the upbringing stage is one of the most impacting stages to a person as they grow up.

Things people are told and see in their families affect the way they see the world and perceive ideas. For one, I was privileged to grow up in a family in which men and women are perceived the same.

“When I was chosen to be the head girl at my school, my father told me ‘that’s good, you are one step from being the nation’s president’. He encouraged me that as much as I was excited for a mere position of the head girl, there was a bigger position that I could be one day. It usually starts the way individuals are brought up,” she says.

For women to be at the highest peaks in leadership positions, Tulanana says that it will require dismantling the structure of misogyny and inequality.

“There has to be a strategic movement that will pave way for equality between men and women in Tanzania. We see countries like Rwanda that has the ’50-50’ strategy in Parliament.

It will be ‘an uncomfortable situation’ to many people seeing an increase in number of women leaders in the country but it will certainly be one of the best decisions to be ever done,” she explains.

To every girl child who aspires to one day become a leader; a government leader or a business founder, Tulanana advises that it usually starts from within.

“They should first observe their surroundings and things they are consuming and align them with their goals. This includes friends, things they read, things they expose themselves to and the like. These things subconsciously affect the way they view life in general,” she says.

Tulanana further emphasizes that “Women should do things that scare them in a good way. You may be scared to stand and talk in front of a crowd, do exactly that. You may have a business idea that gives you insomnia, establish it. You will discover the greatness of it all as you do it.”