Garden Party and Benefit

On Tuesday night, about a hundred friends of FoTZC came together to celebrate community development projects and to kick off COCOBA (community conservation banking) in the Loliondo area. We had a silent auction including paintings and paper art by three Tanzania artists we know, as well as a stunning selection of African masks from the Private Collection of the late Dr. Farish Jenkins. We also had Thomson Safarisstaff members selling jewelry and other beaded handicrafts made by Tanzanian women.

The main attraction was our panel of speakers, which included Dr. Ken Dial, a Conservation Biologist at the University of Montana, Daniel Yamat, a Maasai elder from Tanzania, and video interviews with Atwitye Makwetta, the Dean of Business at Mount Meru University. WBUR’s Tom Ashbrook led a lively discussion on empowering women in Tanzania, and how conservation and tourism both play a role in this type of development.

We’ve included one of the video clips of Atwitye speaking about women in Tanzania so you can get a feel for the issues that the panel addressed.

Orkiu Classroom Dedication

On a brilliantly clear day in early May, we went to the dedication ceremony for the two new classrooms at Orkiu Primary School. We were welcomed by women singing and dancing in their finest shukas and jewelry along with the elders and village leaders. After greeting everyone, the guests of honor, including two of our representatives and two Thomson Safaris guides were seated on the veranda of the new classrooms for the ceremony. The District Commissioner of Ngorongoro District, Hashim Mgandilwa, was the guest of honor. He thanked FoTZC for our dedication to completing projects in Loliondo, and noted that Orkiu now has enough classrooms for the entire student body. Prior to the construction of these classrooms, half of the students had to wait outside while the other half was in class. At an elevation of almost 8,000 feet, Orkiu gets cold! The students are happy to have more time in the classroom. Eliza, the FoTZC Director of Operations spoke about how much we value our partnership with Orkiu, as well as our incredible partnership with Jane Moore. Jane raised the majority of the money to fund these classrooms through her effort called Pencils and Dreams. We are grateful to have Jane helping us with our projects, but the students are especially grateful!