Protest Results - did the students really win?

Did the students really win? That is my question...and I am having the hardest time answering it! All the excitement came to end last Tuesday night. The student representatives meet with the government to work out some sort of deal and here is what it was:

• each student will receive 100,000 shillings like they wanted to eat for the rest of the semester
• catch - this 100,000 shillings is coming out of the loan they will get for next semesters classes
• there was no agreement made on a living sty-pin increase  
• the student representatives are receiving 150,000 shillings and it is not clear if that money is coming from their loans for next semester

In other words I believe they got completely screwed over and the independent American woman in me is furious at the student representatives! How could they do that! 42 of their fellow students went to jail over this sty-pin increase; 2 students were shot; countless went to the hospital for injuries; I mean come on!! What makes it even worse is that the students are going to be in worse shape sooner next semester because they are starting the year off 100,000 less! This is not factoring  in that most students don't even get the full loan from the Government like they are promised anyway!!

This also strikes another cord of frustration in me regarding corruption! Almost all of the current Government officials, including the President, have graduated from UDSM. This means that the current student government at UDSM will probably be the next Government of Tanzanian! And they are already scamming and taking deals for themselves and forgetting their job to represent what the people want! Don't get me wrong, this happens in the US too, but we are not afraid to call them out, threaten to take them out of office, through a fit, protest! The students on campus think there is nothing they can do anymore about. The student reps meet with the Government and life goes on! It makes me so sad that the students believe the cannot go to the representatives and say no- that is not what we were protesting for!

So now on the other side; life and thinking in Tanzanian is very simple and day to day. There is not a lot of thought or concerned put on the future... so maybe there is nothing wrong with the results because who is to say that my US way of thinking is the right way. At the same time is the lack of looking into the future part of the "under development" of the country. I don't know...the girls in my hall are happy to be getting the money. The one was sort of concerned when I brought up that they would be even worse off next semester, but they seemed to not worry about. There was nothing they, especially as women, could do about it.