Going to Tanzania and Mozambique

July 8th I leave for East Africa. I will be going first to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania, near Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam was the capital of Tanzania until a few decades ago when it was moved to Dodoma. However, Dar remains to be the most bustling of Tanzanian Cities. I am going to Zanzibar because from July 11-22nd is the 11th annual International film festival. ZIFF, as it is called, was the first film festival in East Africa and is not only an important African film festival, but also one that celebrates the cultures of the Indian Ocean. My two friends and classmates, Agazit and Glenda are joining me in Zanzibar to experience the unique culture of the Swahili people, as well as to attend the film festival and watch many great films from Africa, Asia, the US and Europe.
For the past year I have been studying Swahili language and culture. Swahili is the official language of Kenya and Tanzania. It is also spoken as a second or third language in Eastern Democratic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Southern Somalia, the islands of Comoros and Mayotte and parts of Oman. The Swahili language is the first language of the Swahili ethnic group, which has historically inhabited the coastal areas from Northern Mozambique to Southern Somalia. The non-Swahili ethnic groups of Tanzania and Kenya learn Swahili in school and speak it as a second language. This is true for the other mentioned countries. Most viewers of the Lion King may recall the phrase “Hakuna Matata” which really does mean no worries, about the only culturally-correct part of that Disney disaster.
Additionally, I am set to join forces with an incoming Masters student at UCLA who has been living and working in Zanzibar for the past year. He has a small NGO that works with local artists to transfer henna body art onto canvas. Like my photography project in Brazil (see Bahia photo project 2007), I am bringing a few cameras along to introduce the artists to a few photographic techniques to add to their artist’s portfolios. We are also hoping to build some online portfolios. I will keep you all updated on this.
In mid-August I am heading to Mozambique. As you know, Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese, and is one of five Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries in Africa, the other four are: Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Angola. I will be going to the capital, Maputo, which is in the very south of the country. When the Portuguese people first arrived in Mozambique they placed the colonial capital in the North at Ilha de Moçambique (Island of Mozambique), an Island just off the coast, which they used for trade with Goa, the former Portuguese colony of India. They later moved the capital to the south to block other European powers from encroaching on their colony.
I am going to be working with a friend of a friend with AIDS education. I am a newbie when it comes to “NGO” work, although in 2006 I took a fabulous course on AIDS and NGO’s in Africa when I was finishing up my BA at UC Berkeley and leaned all about the politics of grass roots organizations, etc. In fact, my research was on the role of condom social marketing in Mozambique and Angola so I feel like I have a small clue about what needs to be done, but clearly I am no expert. I was given a donation from Over the Rainbow of 1000 condoms, which will be brought to Mozambique, in addition to 200 toothbrushes from Over the Rainbow’s oral health initiative in Brazil. This work-in-progress project is more of an initiating step for 2009’s Mozambican internship program, which would allow students to volunteer in Mozambique for credit through the University of Northern Iowa (where the founder of Over the Rainbow is a graduate student).
In addition to some NGO work I am attending the 3rd annual Documentary Film Festival in Maputo. This festival is held from the 16th – 21st of September in the Mozambican capital and will include films from the continent and beyond. This is the second part of my summer research on the two African Film Festivals, which will be the first part of my Master’s thesis.
I have been planning my trip to East Africa for a long time and am so thankful that it has finally come together. Here’s to amazing adventures! Tchau! Kwa Heri!