Zanzibar rising

More than a year ago, Pullman native Kenn Scott moved halfway across the world to the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania. He’s the president of Welcome Ideas, an international nongovernmental organization.

Scott said the goal of the nonprofit is to educate local women and youth, who are often left out of the tourism economy, to start their own small tourism businesses and reduce some of the associated economic leakage.

A board of directors in the U.S. and a board of trustees in Zanzibar make the organization possible, Scott said. It is also registered with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar and has received local community aid, available through GuideStar and GlobalGiving.org.

His friends and family back on the Palouse have gotten behind his efforts.

“This experience has shown the amazing hearts and hospitality of the local Pullman-Moscow community,” Scott said. “Community members have raised enough money to buy 12 computers for an IT lab, and my Pullman High School classmates of 1993 raised enough to furnish a classroom with 24 chairs and 12 tables.”

Scott visited Zanzibar originally in 2009 as a volunteer to complete training, teaching and village cleanup. He then earned his master’s degree in responsible tourism management from Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom.

Culturally, Scott said, there is a stigma comparative to prostitution for women working in tourism and hospitality in Zanzibar.

“Tourism is one of the largest economic drivers on the islands between beautiful white sand beaches, turquoise water and focuses on agriculture, clothes and spices,” Scott said. “The problem is a majority of the tourism businesses are owned by people outside of Zanzibar, including Europe, North America and mainland Tanzania.”

The short courses offered by Welcome Ideas are designed to help locals create and run their own businesses. He said some classes include food safety, cultural heritage and economics of tourism.

The nonprofit fills in the gaps of locals’ business plans with safety, marketing and financing direction, which helps students get up and running. He said students experience excursions and field trips to learn more about what tourism means in their own country.

In-country director Abdul Mohamed said his daily responsibilities include teaching classes and maintaining the curriculum with Scott. He said his main goal is to raise awareness for tourism in a mixed-culture community, allowing women the opportunity for careers in tourism.

Mohamed said courses individually are three months long, the certificate program a year and the diploma three years. As an instructor, he ensures all aspects of owning a business are met, from financing, human resources and marketing.

He said it was his long-time dream to work for his community. He was a tour guide and consultant himself and wants his own Zanzibaris to be of priority and appreciate the tourism at hand.

“I’m happy that I’m helping my community and doing what makes me feel good,” Mohamed said. “That is seeing Zanzibaris helping their own community.”

He said one student already opened up a juice bar, finding enough success to participate in a popular international music festival on the island. Another started their own tourist company, organizing tours of the island. One student, Ashrina Khatibu Iddi, founded her own spice farm and organizes tours of it.

Khatibu Iddi, 23, says Welcome Ideas helped make her a different person, encouraging her to find her own value through her business. She said she was eager to learn before, but Adbul and Kenn skilled teaching provided an opportunity she considers a blessing.

She said she applied for the institute, filled out the forms and was accepted after the interview process. She was hopeful to earn her certificates and was filled with joy at the prospect of starting her own business, but she felt resistance.

“It was hard to start my own business, especially when I tried to involve my close friends and family and they discouraged me by saying I’m not capable of farming activities, especially vanilla, because a good number of people had tried and not met their goals,” Khatibu Iddi said.

She said she is able to reduce unemployment by hiring others in the community and encourages self-employment because she believes it creates strong and successful people. She said it can be nerve-wracking to follow one’s dreams, but a wonderful dream dies without any action.

She said she is now looking forward to expanding her farm to make her own cosmetic products and spices. She is expecting to make natural soaps, food ingredients from vanilla, and also cultivate other spices such as ginger and turmeric.

But cultivating vanilla is hard work. Not many people grow it and it needs to be completely natural without any chemicals.

“I feel so excited to share vanilla with others because I need them to be amused to cultivate their own, because they say seeing is believing, so once they see my progress they will be encouraged too,” Khatibu Iddi. “Dream big, start small, act now.”

Allison Spain is a journalism student at the University of Idaho. She’s writing feature stories for the Daily News this spring. Send Allison story ideas to editor@dnews.com.