DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 10 -- DEAR nephew Milambo, Receive warm greetings from your uncle in this confused city of Dar es Salaam, where human beings compete with daladalas for road space, dust competes with sunlight for a place in the sky and everybody seems to be in a hurry even when they have nowhere important to go.

I greet you in the mighty names of all our Nyamwezi ancestors, from the youngest souls resting peacefully in the world of the departed to our fearless and legendary Chief Mirambo, the great warrior who made his enemies tremble as though they had accidentally stepped on a sleeping lions tail.

May his courage continue to inspire us, his descendants, especially those of us struggling to survive in this modern jungle where a man ...