FIFTH NEWSLETTER OF THE CULTURAL TOURISM PROGRAMME

PO BOX 10455

Arusha

Tanzania

e-mail : info@tourismtanzania.org

website : www.tourismtanzania.org

Cultural Tourism Entertains Dignitaries : Clinton, Ambassador of Japan, Luhanjo and Lady Mkapa

The Tanzania Cultural Tourism  Programme received a big boost during the past months with the arrival of several key dignitaries.  On August 28th, 2000, President Bill Clinton made his historic first visit to Tanzania.  The E.N. Masarie dancing group had the honour of welcoming   Mr. Clinton at the Kilimanjaro Airport.  The E.N. Masarie group,  led by Mr. Eliakimu  Laizer,  (coordinator of the Ilkiding’a module) has been entertaining tourists for the past year.   The group can be seen on arrangement during visits to Ilkiding’a.

Not to be outdone, Longido had the honour of welcoming a group of several high-ranking officials from Tanzania.  In October 2000, a group including  the Permanent Secretary of Tourism, Mr. Luhanjo, Director of Tourism Department, Mr. Pamba, Director of TANAPA, Mr. Melamari and the Managing Director of the TTB, Mr. Mwenguo, all  had the privilege of enjoying a cultural tour of the Longido area.   After a  briefing from the tourism co-ordinator Ally Ahmadou, the group enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the FARAJA’s women’s group.  After lunch, led by chief guide Elisha Siyanaga,  the tourism dignitaries became tourists themselves and were taken to a Maasai boma and shown the cattle dip.   Overall, the officials were very pleased with their visit to Longido and commented that it was one of the few occasions witnessed where a community  benefits first-hand from tourism.

Similarly, the Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania,  had the honour of visiting Mbaga in the South Pare Mountains.  The visit made a lasting impression as, the Ambassador promised to assist in transport infrastructure to improve the accessibility of Mbaga on Tanzania’s tourist map.

A final honour for CTP was given in November, 2000 when First Lady Anna Mkapa paid a special visit to the community of Gezaulole.  Gezaulole  has been making efforts to introduce projects in the local primary schools.  One of these initiatives started from the Village Development Fund. Collected from tourists it has been used to supply tables and first aid kits to local schools.  Lady Mkapa had the honour of recognising CTP’s  efforts in improving education in the Gezaulole community.  Based on these and other events the past year was an eventful time for CTP. Lets hope we can enjoy similar success in the new year.

TACTO : Steps of DevelopMenT  by Gervase Tatah    

In December 2000 the organisers of Cultural Tourism in Tanzania  had a magic moment: sitting in their first Annual General Meeting (AGM) sin Arusha to answer together one business question: “The formation process of TACTO is now over, what next?”

Conceived in a workshop of the co-ordinators of Cultural Tourism Modules held in Longido at the end of 1999, TACTO (i.e. Tanzania Association of Cultural Tourism Organisers) has been assigned to take over the activities of a five year project on community based tourism that was started by SNV (the Dutch Development Organisation) in collaboration with TTB ( Tanzania Tourist Board) in 1996. Because the project is expected to end in December 2001, members to the AGM found themselves busy completing Association’s Business Plan, rectifying their constitution, discussing operational issues within the modules, within the Association itself, and creating a liaison with the Director of  SNV Tanzania, Mr. Eric de Milliano.

Nevertheless, with all the obligation of the AGM, the members had a magic moment to think of the achievement of TACTO in its first year of formation. The following  attempts to record this achievement:

1. Nov 1999 Longido Workshop

*Decision to form an Association uniting all modules of Cultural Tourism in Tanzania is reached.

*An interim committee is elected .

2. Dec 1999–Feb 2000 Interim C.

*Designs a constitution.

*Suggests the name :Tanzania Association of Cultural Tourism Organisers TACTO.

3. March 2000 General Meeting

*Founder Members of TACTO bless the constitution.

*The office bearers of TACTO are elected.

4. March 2000 Mini Fair Arusha

*TACTO advertises itself through the Mini Fair with an exhibition.

5. June 2000 Registration   

*TACTO is officially registered.

6. Sept – Nov 2000 Business Plan

*Executive Committee prepares a 3 year business plan.

7. Nov 2000 Task Forces

*Clarify branding Cultural Tourism and designing LOGO.

*Identify the quality of product expected from every module that is member of TACTO.

8. Dec 2000 AGM of TACTO

*Discuss the Business Plan .

WALKING FROm Ilkiding’a TO Ng’iresi

Hike on the trails used by the  Wa-Arusha tribe on the slopes of Mount Meru, journeying from their fields to their houses and their daily farming activities. Ilkiding’a offers a more traditional atmosphere with round, dung-glued homes and natural roofs where extended families live together. Once in Ng’iresi, you will observe contour farming and other ecologically innovative practices realized. You are welcome to meet the guide at the Tanzania Tourist Board office in Arusha town. From here you can arrange transportation to the Ilkiding’a primary school, our starting point for the full day hike. Your visit includes a local household where you can get a glimpse of the lifestyle of an extended family. Higher on the slopes you pass a water tank, supplying 12 villages. Further on, you approach the Themi River Valley. A small  path leads you into the canyon. In the canyon’s depth you walk for 30 minutes, until you reach the canyon’s  mouth. Here the NAVURU waterfall greets you after many stream crossings of the trail. After leaving this magic place you enter Olgilai village as you pass Kijenge river. Close to the Kivesi Hill you arrive at Mzee Lotti’s House, where you can have dinner prepared by the Juhudi‘s women group and  spend the night at the camp-at-the-farm-site. With this hike the visitors, paying the Village Development Fee, are contributing to the improvement of the primary schools of Ilkiding’a, Olgilai and Ng’iresi.                                   

 Make arrangements at the TTB office, Boma Road, Arusha.

 Take your lunch box and put on your walking shoes!         

 Traveller’s Code

 Numerous tourists have commented about the warmth they felt in being welcomed by local people during visits to CTP communities.  Local villagers enjoy receiving tourists but it is important to recognise some important cultural considerations which help maintain the “people to people” component of cultural tourism.  Although local Tanzanians rarely comment on the behaviour of visitors, many have traditions and customs which distinguish themselves from tourist cultures.  In an effort not to offend anyone in the community, it is strongly suggested to learn appropriate codes of conduct before entering in a village.  Such codes include, clothing, picture taking, gift giving, and greetings.  It is advised that both men and women avoid wearing shorts along with shirts which expose the midsection.  If in doubt it is always better to dress conservatively or adopt local attire such as kangas.  At the same time, permission should always be granted before a picture is taken.   And it is best to have cameras concealed before permission to take any photographs are given.  Gift giving is a common concern with tourists.  It is advised that tourists decline requests from beggars and keep any gifts for schools or organisations which can be identified by local guides.  Finally, local people are always appreciative when visitors greet them in their own language.  Although some villagers may understand English, even a few words of the local language can go a long way.  Local guides are more than happy to teach tourists words in their local language and are pleased to answer all questions to ensure that cultural tourism remains a respectful exchange.

Meet a village creative inventor.

By Isubha Nsajigwa from ‘sisi kwa sisi’ Mbeya

Are you familiar with the story of Thomas Edison ? The American innovator– a master of the trial and error approach to inventing things, who innovated a device to make electricity cheaper. By doing so he was able to illuminate the cities of the USA. Electricity became attainable to everyone. That was back in the late 19th century. Now in the village of Iramba. 22 km from Makambako (going to Iringa), there is a Tanzanian boy of Thomas Edison’s calibre. Mr. Harun Mdemu who has been able to invent,  by the same trial and error approach, the device of tapping the wind power using bicycle rejects to generate electricity. Harun is a standard 7 leaver, who after finishing his primary education decided to learn bicycle repairing skills to earn himself a living. Through dexterity, he mastered his skill to become a dependable “technician” to his whole village. But while immersed in his craft, he got a curious thought, a  revelation of connecting the following ideas logically; that bicycles, if pedaled, can produce electricity in the form of light. He started imagining what it would be like if he were to propel his bicycle  not by pedaling, but by wind power. Thus back in 1997 he started experimenting with “crank ideas”. He gathered all the required materials: the bicycle tyres frame, the dynamo, the propellers he made out of rejects of iron, plastic sheets and the long-strong poles to which the whole devise is mounted. The wind power would rotate the propellers which would rotate the bicycle tyres frame that would in turn, rotate the dynamo to the appliances, which were the bicycle bulbs and also the radio (through a car battery). It worked. He installed his house with wires and has been using this electricity for light at night and radio since then. Mr. Harun pointed out that his whole devise is cheap, obtainable for only 10 000,- Tsh., thus much more affordable to many people. So far 2 villagers have inserted the device. Harun is a visionary, optimistic that as time goes on, many villagers will be able to afford adopt his technology. “ I dream of seeing as many propellers coming out up in every home stead here in the same way that I have observed the antennas whenever I visit the town houses. By that time I will have turned my whole village into a tourist and traveler’s attracting destination. After traveling hundreds of kilometers from Dar, one can have a stop and rest in a village of windmills… for that’s what Iramba, my village, will be known as one day tomorrow. “

MACHAME IDEAL PLACE FOR ACCLIMATIZATION   By e. Ulomi

Machame lies at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro with beautiful valleys, rivers, waterfalls and farms.  The mountain itself  attracts many visitors but there are other treasures which also await discovery. One unique situation happened to a recent group of Australian tourists tackling the Machame route. They were a group of seven but after only one day of climbing,  the group was reduced to four.  All climbers were strong, healthy and capable of reaching Uhuru peak but just on the way up the weather changed and the tour leader advised four tourists to be taken back to the starting point. However, by the time these tourists were at the gate,  conditions returned  to normal!  They were disappointed by not being able to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro but the KINAPA staff advised them to substitute their trip by participating  in cultural tourism activities organised by the people of Machame. Their comments are as follows:  "We are a group of tourists from Australia who experienced great times with the Cultural Tourism Programme at Machame.  Monday 18th December 2000 was noted as a real nice day for us who failed to climb the mountain but decided to enjoy the beauty of it from down below.  We visited the Machame Cultural Tourism Programme office at Kialia, where we booked a one-day tour to Nronga Women's Group.   It was affordable too, compared with what we had to pay for the mountain.  It cost us a total of Tshs 31,000/ = for the four of us.  We started the hiking around 9 00 a.m. accompanied by Mr. Rodney, a new local tour guide,  towards Nronga village. The guide began with a brief description of the physical nature of the area and the climatic conditions that support the tourists to finish their hiking tour.  That's when we realised that we should have started with this exercise before attempting the mountain.

Hiking took us almost 1.5 hours to the Nronga Women's group.  There, we were given the insights of the women’s activities and tasted their products - milk.  Women also explained to us how the dairy co-operative empowers women and stimulates the local economy.  Machame, like other places, has its main market.  Market days are every Monday and Thursday and on these days Chagga women drop in from all directions with their baskets of produce. The colourful market environment were like Christmas trees.  Not only are the fruits and vegetables of every hue, but the women are all dressed in Khangas that cover the area in a mosaic of multi-coloured brightness. We went around to the market and the people were very welcoming. We managed to purchase a few souvenirs for our friends like Khangas. From Nronga we continued with our tour to Kalali Women's Group, specialists of cheese production in the near by Kalali market. Our guide asked us to hurry ... because the Kalali Women’s Group had already prepared a wonderful meal which was ready and waiting for us on the table. We enjoyed the delicious local food which was a great way to end our tour.  In the end we realised that Machame was a place where you can get a nice view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, quality food, wonderful homestay visits, and  the peace of the nature which we were looking for.”  Next time you plan climbing the KILI, make sure you get a chance to learn the life-styles of the people who built it. KARIBU SANA!!!

PROGRESS

Cultural Tourism seems to be getting more  popular. The increase of 1000 tourists in one year’s time, or a 20 % progress, is a major event. It proves that community service providers are delivering quality. The use of the Village Development Fee is taken seriously. The visitors are invited to witness with their own eyes the development of projects for which they contribute. The visitors can also have a look at the record keeping books.  The increased number of visitors shows that foreign tourists are looking to meet village people in a respectful way. We are happy with this development. Still, work has to be done. Now that Cultural Tourism Programme is penetrating the market we have to stay serious to maintain our reputation. In this kind of tourism, many  people are involved at different levels. The co-ordinators (16) are the key players, supervising the tourism activities within their communities. The guides (87)  handle the tourists in a knowledgeable, friendly and creative way. The women’s groups (6) deliver catering services. The villagers (numerous) accept and tolerate the presence of foreigners within their environment.

IS the community benefiting from cultural  tourism ?        By Tatah Gervase Mlola

Ann Shauri, is a female tour guide working with one of the most known Cultural Tourism Module in North

Eastern Tanzania, West-Usambara. Having worked with the module since its inception, Anna has become a notable guide of rich experiences. In an exclusive interview, Anna spoke both of the development of the module and of her career.

Tatah: “How have you come to work for this Cultural Tourism Module ?”

Anna: “When the Cultural Tourism Programme started here in the Usambaras, it aimed at benefiting  the local people. The guides are important people in this form of tourism. The guides have to come from the same community, the community they know very well. When the programme started, they were all selected from the ex-students of Shambalai, our Community Secondary School. I was thus selected to be a tour guide for the Programme because I was born here and I had completed my school at Shambalai.

Of course, I had first to attend an interview and also undergo a short course on tour-guiding.”

Tatah: “Since your West-Usambara CTP started in 1996, how can you sum up the progress of the module ?”

Anna: “Actually we started the module from grass roots. When Marcel from SNV came here with the idea of Cultural Tourism, it was a complete dream. We worked with him, to set the routes, to prepare advertisements, to talk to the people and even to open a little information centre at the bus stand. That was in 1996. At the end of that year we received our first clients. It was a small group. But the group meant a lot to us. It was actually at Christmas when this group came and it was so exciting for us to do this work for the first time. And from that Christmas Tour, we got the spirit to go on and on. I think now we have made Usambara a leading module of the Cultural Tourism activities. Every year we get over a thousand clients, some of whom stay with us for more than three days. But a big thing I would say about our module is that the guides are quite active. They have joined hands with the lodge owners of this place to form the Friends of Usambara Society.”

Tatah: “What is all about this society ?”

Anna: “I can say that the Friends of Usambara takes care of the Programme in the whole of Usambara. It oversees that the community is the one that benefits from Cultural Tourism. This society unites everybody here who has interest in improving the communities of Usambara through Cultural Tourism. And as a registered society, it is the organ that connects us with other agencies dealing with developing the rural communities.”

Tatah: “As a guide who has worked with the Programme since its inception, how can you show that the community is substantially benefiting from Cultural Tourism ?”

Anna: “There are several ways through which the community benefits from this form of tourism. And one of these is employment which we get as children of Usambara. One major area that I see as a example showing that the people are getting something out of Cultural Tourism is from collection of Village Development Fee which every client pays for visiting the villages of Usambara. This fee directly supports small development projects of local people. So far the development fee has enabled us to buy building materials like bags of cement, roofing sheets, timber and nails for Muhelo and Kwamongo Primary Schools and Mambo dispensary. At the moment we are buying materials for teachers houses at Mtae Primary School.”

Tatah: “I understood that at the moment you are the office in charge of this Programme. How do you compare office work with the field work ?”

Anna: “Really I enjoy myself more to go out for the trips with clients then sitting here in the office. But this office needs a person to receive those clients, to arrange the trips and to keep records. Because I had taken secretarial courses after my secondary school, I fit to be the person to deal with these office matters.”

Tatah:  “Personally, how do you assess your achievements with Cultural Tourism?”

Anna: “First of all I have learnt more about the world through interaction with different people from different nations. I really like this job. But on the part of income I’d say things are not certain. There is a high season and there is a low season. For the office work I only receive ten percent of what the guide is paid and this does not substantially enable me to cover all my family needs.”

Tatah: “Are you then seeking for employment elsewhere?”

Anna: “Not really. Not with the promise Cultural Tourism is showing. I am hopeful things will be better in future.”              

‘Usangi was a great experience. All the people of the programme we met were friendly and helpful. The guide was extremely interesting, he knows everything there is to know about Pare Culture, he likes talking and discussing and is also very interested in comparing his culture to Western culture and values. He was everything we expected of a ‘cultural’ programme. The food was excellent and the accommodation basic but perfect. We also met and talked with a lot of local people in the village, and were invited inside a dozen houses…’ Pieter De Gryse 28 Oct 2000

 ‘Last summer we visited the Cultural Tourism Programme in Ilkiding’a. We had a very interesting visit and it was really ‘people meet people’. We are sure that many tourists are interested in this way of tourism and want to know about people in your country and their normal way of living. You gave us the opportunity to meet them.’        Riek Wijsen 8 Nov 2000

We value all  comments from tourists,  your feedback is appreciated:

info@tourismtanzania.org  

ATLAS CONFERENCE : Cultural Tourism in Africa  Strategies for the New  Millennium, Mombasa, Dec 2000    by vibhor garg 

From December 14 to 16^th, 2000, the Cultural Tourism Programme was represented at the Atlas Conference, “Cultural Tourism in Africa: Strategies for the New Millennium”, which took place in Mombasa, Kenya.  Attending the conference on behalf of CTP were Eunice Ulomi, the tourism development advisor, Vedasto Izoba, the official tour-guide trainer of CTP and the secretary of the new association TACTO and Vibhor Garg a former volunteer with CTP who has since returned and has been involved in research for his masters thesis while continuing to assist with various CTP activities.

The conference was the first cultural tourism conference of its kind on African soil and was an excellent forum for CTP to exchange ideas with researchers, workers, organisations and students involved in tourism on the African continent.  During the conference, several workshops were held which provided discussions and debates regarding Cultural Tourism happenings throughout the African continent in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, South Africa, Eritrea and Malawi.  At the same time, the workshops enabled CTP members to exchange ideas with the various African representatives as well as  participants from The Netherlands , United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, who have been actively involved in Cultural Tourism both in Africa and overseas.  Some of the important themes raised at the conference included: the impacts of cultural tourism, developing and marketing of Cultural Tourism, image and identity of indigenous cultures on both  foreign and domestic level, education and training of tour-guides, the cultural tourist and the role of Cultural Tourism and the community.  During the workshops there was a strong focus on some of the problems and opportunities which other communities have encountered regarding cultural tourism and how strategies can be developed for the future development of cultural tourism.

During the conference, Eunice Ulomi and Vibhor Garg also had the opportunity to give a presentation about CTP regarding the development of cultural tourism.  Eunice presented background and a general framework of CTP while Vibhor provided findings from his research in Longido to illustrate specific examples of the how the CTP model works and some of the benefits which local people have realised.  CTP’s workshop was well attended by many conference delegates and generated much interest, as many people mentioned that they were already planning to visit CTP modules during their next visits to Tanzania.  There was much positive feedback regarding CTP but some key issues were discussed which CTP will examine more carefully.  Some tourism experts raised the issues of CTP’s rapid growth and how growth will be controlled in the future, the links between communities and the international market after the phasing out of CTP, and the impact of community dependency on tourism for the future.  Many of the issues raised at the conference will be discussed in upcoming meetings with TACTO and we encourage anybody to submit further comments or suggestions regarding any of the issues discussed above.

Cultural Tourism Regretfully Announces the Sad Loss of a Close Partner and Friend

The Cultural Tourism Programme team and TACTO members are deeply saddened by the news of director of Easy Travel, Mr. A. P. Carneiro, untimely passing away.  It was a privilege to receive Mr. Carneiro’s positive energy and professional advise when he participated in different workshops of the Cultural Tourism Programme.   It was Mr. Carneiro who introduced the transparent booking and receipt system which is now in use by all CTP modules.  Mr. Carneiro had a strong interest in developing Cultural Tourism and was one of the first to adopt our modules in his tour packages.  During our association with him, we felt free to pop in at his office where he always received us in very warm and charming way.  He transmitted professional tools and philosophic ideas which will not be soon forgotten.                                                                   

Our deepest condolences go out to the Carneiro family and we wish his family strength and courage in this time of deep sorrow.        

HIGHLIGHTS!! 

Village Development Funds – Dreams become Reality

During the past two months, two CTP modules completed development initiatives from village development funds generated by tourist visits.  On December 18, 2000, the long awaited cattle dip in Longido became operational.  No time was wasted, 1,975 cows and 984 goats  were washed on the first day alone!  Villagers cheered and queued to wash their livestock.  Happy Washing!

Meanwhile, Ng’iresi fulfilled its own dream when construction of a house for teachers was completed in January, 2001.  If that was not enough, in Olgilai, an adopted village of the Ng’iresi Cultural Tourism Programme, a classroom of the primary school was built.  The children of the Ng’iresi area will now enjoy an improved educational environment thanks to the efforts of all people involved in the Cultural Tourism Programme.

 GEZAULOLE

On Thursday the  26th of October,  Anna Mkapa visited  Gezaulole Cultural Tourism Programme.

 ENGARUKA

Previous concerns about security in the Engaruka area have finally been resolved.  After completing an intensive training program a security force is now permanently situated in the Engaruka region and has drawn away potential dangers.