Arrival in Zanzibar

Welcome to Zanzibar, the spice island, commonly known as ‘Unguja’.

Zanzibar has the most beautiful unspoilt beaches you will find in any part of the world with clear waters and soft white sand. However it is not the glorious beaches that lured me here for the past 5 years. It is the warm, friendly and hospitable nature of the locals that keep me coming back.

Zanzibar is a very safe place to be and once you set foot on the island and get to know the people, you will not want to leave and if you do, it is with the intention of returning to serve the people of Zanzibar.

I began working on project activities immediately after I arrived as there is so much to and so little time to do it in. I sit with them, eat and laugh with them and sometimes when I see their sad situations, I cry with them.

• Almost 90% of Zanzibaris in the villages do not have electricity so they make the most of the daylight hours- their day begins at sunrise at 6 and ends at sunset at 6 p.m.

• Almost 99% of Zanzibaris are Muslims, so the 5 daily prayers, fasting and other obligations are taken seriously. Most shops in the villages close briefly when the prayer is called. Some small kiosks are left unattended while the owner goes to pray in the local mosque

• The main income is subsistence farming, selling little ‘odds and ends’, and fishing. Seaweed farming is common in the South East part of Zanzibar, and so is making rope from coconut husks. These 2 professions involve women working 6-8 hours under the hot sun at low tide (see pic).

I am here and with the help of Abbas Syed Kazim and his family and local volunteers, we hope to focus on the following:

Education:

We work with the schools in and around 3 villages, namely Makunduchi, Nungwi and Uroa.

I teach Math, and science subjects at some of the secondary schools whenever I get the chance. The standard of education here is unfortunately very low. There is a considerable lack of trained and committed teachers, and about 1% of the students pass form IV (grade 10) exams which means that more than 99% of the students’ education ends here. We are working hard to change this by employing teachers to tutor form IV students to better prepare them for their exams in October.

This is an on-going program, the results of which we will inshallah see when they write their exams in October.

We are also working on equipping the schools with laptops, photocopier machines and printers to enable the teachers and students to learn to use computers.

We also provide the students with school bags filled with writing books, school supplies and basic stationery. As always, preference is given to orphans, the disabled and the very poor.

Relief of Poverty:

Feeding Pilau to 220 nursery children last week. They were so excited about their lunch they had to be reminded to eat slowly. They sang all the way home so the entire village found out about their lunch.

Currently, we are working towards feeding the poor during the month of Ramadhan. Our volunteers are busy buying, packing and preparing sacks of basic staple items like rice, beans, flour, sugar, oil, tea, dates and noodles. The sacks filled with the above items will be distributed during hroughout the holy month.

We are also working on developing and establishing sustainable employment programs and helping young adults set up their own little sustainable businesses.

These funds are given as interest free loans to be repaid within the next 5 years.

Health:

We are working with 2 different government hospitals run by British volunteer doctors.

Funds will be used for purchase of essential equipment, medication, training of local staff, educating new mothers on health, nutrition, and care of new-born. Currently we are also working on renovation of delivery and children’s wards.

Construction of Wells:

There is a huge shortage of water in Zanzibar especially in villages where villagers walk for miles to obtain a couple of buckets of water.

We have built more than 10 water wells most of them with electric pumps to help alleviate their problems. I am constantly directed to sites where there is an acute shortage of water and asked if we can build wells there.

Disaster Relief:

We hope to provide necessities of life and relief to victims of disaster, should they occur.