KUSHILAND

EXPEDITIONS & TOUR SAFARIS LTD

KILI CHARITY CLIMB

KILIMANJARO – THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE 2016

PROJECT

BY: CHRISPIN JOSEPH BEER-SHEBA

Founder/CEO

July, 2015

www.kushilandtours.com

1. INTRODUCTION

Mt. Kilimanjaro which is in the northern circuit of Tanzania tourist attractions stands at height of 5895m ASL, which makes it to be the highest free standing mountain in Africa. It is among other country’s tourist attraction along with Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater both in the northern circuit. Despite its world recognition and its uniqueness, Mt. Kilimanjaro has remain to rank number four (4) on the trend of visitors arrives at our National Park from 2005 to 2011 financial years.1 But even with its trend, Mt. Kilimanjaro has continues to contribute significantly on our foreign earning and to the overall GDP from tourism to our National Economy which in its totality marked 17% from the last fiscal year. On the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro lie various villages of the chagga land in areas of Marangu,

Machame, Rongai in Rombo, Machame, Umbwe, Mweka, and Lemosho which are also the

main ascending and descending routes on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Before the tourism boom in our region, the socio-economic activities of these villages were

on agriculture in coffee plantations, sugar plantation, banana, maize, paddy farms, diary and

flower farms; industrial – in coffee curing, sugar production, tanneries, and match

production, beverages and food-stuffs; others were commerce, and transportation.

Over 85% of these village dwellers were mainly engaged their labour force in agriculture and

in informal sector. Though these sectors were poorly promoted, but yet supports a good

number of families particularly those engaged in coffee, maize, paddy, sugar, vegetables and

horticulture crops, and animal husbandry.

The rest of population labour force was engaged in non agriculture wage employment,

commercial self-help, and in public sector employment.

After the tourism boom to our region, it deploys the energetic labour force from these

sectors and employs it into the industry on indecent minimum wage with irresponsible

industry stakeholders turn our youths to highly depend on tips and turns the youngsters into

baggers.

This labour force deployment has caused and characterized majority of the energetic youth

not to participate into decision making in civil, social and cultural life from village to National

levels.

Impact on environmental degradation especially that caused of carbon emission has yet to

receive its desired attention to the ground handlers and service providers.

The impact of HIV/AIDS which in one way or the other, directly or indirectly resulted from

the tourism boom in the region can also be easily seeing with the naked eyes on the orphans

1 Table 16: Trend Visitors Arrivals at the National Parks Pg 27 – Tourism Statistical Bulletin 2011 by Ministry of

Natural Resource and Tourism.

cared by their grandparents in all the villages surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and

various orphanage homes in Kilimanjaro.

Much as we cherish the positive impact of tourism industry into our country, our Kili Charity

Climb “Kilimanjaro – The Ultimate ChallengeTM” is one of our core social responsible and

noble call that we share with our responsible visitors, responsible climbers, responsible

travel partners and all well wishers in addressing and combating the negative impact that

are brought with the tourism in our country.

Kilimanjaro – The Ultimate ChallengeTM is an annual event on every July starting on 17th –

24th July.

2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Poverty is an extremely complex issue and from it various manifestations and time, one

should not expect it to be thoroughly discussed here.

Poverty on the villages surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro has different causes and

dimension. In some cases, it has been difficult to distinguish clearly between problem,

symptoms and the cause of Poverty.

The main cause of poverty to these villages is poverty itself. Poverty like wealth is inherited.

It is legacy of poor health and education combined with limited access to only the bare

minimum asset that places children born to poor parents at serious and lifelong

disadvantages. They carry through successive burden of the status they inherit. Unless

critical and collective institutional factors and distributive changes occur in responsible

manners, their status will not improve.

Poverty in Chagga land which surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro is also result from lack

of the poor (youth) to access of productive assets and economic opportunities which would

help them to escape from the perpetual disadvantage. Land for example, which could

potentially contribute directly or indirectly to improve well being of the youth are still in the

hands of their fathers. This is despite the deployment of energetic labour force that has

being deployed from other productive works to work on walking around with tourist at the

minimal wage.

Reasoning based on the notation as poverty as obstacle of collective development of these

village communities that surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro seems so appealing and

more promising on our times. As responsible community, let us see level of education - both

formal and non formal as the principle tangible cause of poverty and to see more education

to these communities as the best single solution. We can then perceive the link between

education and development in terms of the quality of labour force and our national

economic competitiveness.

As responsible community, if we’ll help the people help themselves to know the root of their

poverty, weakness and backward in places that we are attracted and visiting; and motivate

them to do all that they can to improve their lives in the lines of self reliance, then they’ll get

rid of their present apathy and adopt as the new way for their own betterment.

3. PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE

The opportunity to present our thoughts and call to you has come at the right time when

poverty in places that we visit has touched the heart of every responsible traveller, than it

has ever touch before – the time when a fellow poverty is apathy to a fellow who is

concerned.

You, as our responsible visitors, responsible travel partners and responsible well wishers had

an opportunity to hear the fate of poor individuals scattered in the villages surrounds the

slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro without proper education that guarantee them the demand of

tomorrow. People that are desperate need to be given hope, hope that can only be attained

by giving them education that can take them into great future.

4. PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

2016 Kilimanjaro – The Ultimate ChallengeTM aims to reach the following beneficiaries:-

i. Marlex Secondary School:

Marlex Secondary School is at Mamba Village, Marangu. The school is government

owned by the local authority, established in 2007.

The school has a total of 200 students mostly coming from hard socio-economical

environment that they are either HIV/AIDS orphans – guardian by their

grandparents, who are out of the economic mainstream; or from economical poor

families where their fathers has directly or indirectly deployed from household

economic activities to work in the tourism industry as a porter, guide or cook.

What We Wish To Support

a. Office Equipments

Currently the school administration did all its daily secretarial works and

internal examinations are typing, printed and photocopied in Moshi Town,

almost about 39km away from the school.

Projected Costs:

Total

2 Dell Computers core i3 @ Tzs. 1,200,000/= 2,400,000/=

1 Canon IR 2420 P/copy @ Tzs. 2,000,000/= 2,000,000/=

1 P2035 HP Printer @ Tzs. 400,000/= 400,000/=

Total for Office Equipment 4,800,000/=

b. Revolving Fund

As a pilot study for the rest of the schools that we’ll enrol into our

Kilimanjaro – The Ultimate ChallengeTM campaigns in the future we

wish to start and established the School Revolving Fund that will be

managed by the school board and parents themselves while the

management of Kushiland Expeditions & Tour safaris Ltd will remain

being the fund raiser, overseer and adviser of the fund.

It’s our anticipation that, the establishment of this School Revolving

Project will enable Parent who cannot afford to pay their children

school fees at the opening of the school to be able to borrow money at

the School Revolving Fund and repay the loan in instalments and at a

possible minimal interest rate that will keep the fund rolling and

sustainable.

Currently the school has 200 students most of whom are coming from

hard socio-economic families.

The highest school annual fees is Tzs. 256,000/= (for a student of Form

Four).

If three-third of these students are coming from hard socio-economic

families, then we have a projected the parents of 150 students cannot a

pay their children fees timely which hinders them to have undisturbed

access to formal education.

Projected Amount:

Total

150 students X Tzs. 256,000/= Tzs. 38,400,000/=

ii. Uparo Secondary School:

Uparo Secondary School is at Uparo Village, Kirua Vunjo. The school is government

owned by the local authority, also established in 2007.

Like Marlex Secondary School, Uparo students can be categorized much more or the

same basing on their socio-economic background.

What We Wish To Support

a. Office Equipments

The school administration did all its daily secretarial works and internal

examinations are typing, printed and photocopied in Moshi Town, almost

about 21km away from the school.

Projected Costs:

Total

2 Dell Computers core i3 @ Tzs. 1,200,000/= 2,400,000/=

1 Canon IR 2420 P/copy @ Tzs. 2,000,000/= 2,000,000/=

1 P2035 HP Printer @ Tzs. 400,000/= 400,000/=

Total for Office Equipment 4,800,000/=

5. TO ACHIEVE THIS

In looking at Mt. Kilimanjaro as the one among the major tourist attraction in our country

and our social responsible role towards poverty reduction through education is the vital

strategy of our time by giving the poor an opportunity to access to formal or non formal

education that will provide the villages surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro an economic

performance and dispelling ignorance.

Mt. Kilimanjaro has been a home of many charity walks and challenges but which have not

touched the lives of common man in these villages that surrounds its slopes.

Having noticed and realised this significance role, Kushiland Expeditions & Tour Safari Ltd

with our Kili Charity Climb campaign “Kilimanjaro – The Ultimate Challenge” we aim to

support the initiatives of our local communities that surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro

- being in the formal or non formal education programs as our role of giving back to our

community. In the long-term, our challenge intends to support the building of classrooms,

adding of additional latrine pits, desks, and setting of parents’ revolving funds to support

their children in time of difficulties to continue having access to formal education to various

schools.

And for those who have already being left behind with our formal education system, it’s our

intention to support their vocational training in agriculture, carpentry, masons, and in motor

vehicle mechanics.

Mt. Kilimanjaro as a tourist attraction will remain as the best possible and available natural

resource that will attract funds and human resource with the like-mind to invest in

Education meant for changes and in development in social, culture, and economic aspect

from personal to society level.

It should be agreed that, the most essential development on the progressive development of

the local communities in the villages surrounds the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and lower areas

will be the ability of its people in interacting development programs as the whole, particular

in increasing production and overall improvement of living condition of the people.

In a nut shell, we expect if these local communities will be participated and empowered with

their own natural resource in matters relating to education, they will even prosper in:-

Human Development

Economic Development

Social Development

Good Governance

Environmental management

Other Poverty Reduction Strategies

6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

A tourist attraction like Mt. Kilimanjaro for example, has an important role in overall poverty

reduction strategies both for the ability of people surrounds it and their economic

performance.

From the 2002 Cape Town Declaration of Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourism with its

bundle of various manifolds of any tourist attraction will remain creating a better place for

people to live in and a better place to visit.

Creating a better place for people to live in and visit requires a long term investment of

education to its people which will later guarantees the nearest return to all benefactors of it.

The fact that Responsible Tourism is fast becoming a global trend, we argue that all of our

stakeholders – responsible visitors, responsible travellers, and responsible well wishers to

join us in our on-going development programs that will ensure a change of direction of this

natural resource to contribute plausible of the well being of the hosting communities.

For mountain enthusiastic, please join any of our Kili Charity Climb – Kilimanjaro – The

Ultimate ChallengeTM on this link http://kushilandtours.com/charity_climb.htm

You might not able to attend on any of our expeditions and our charity climb, but you are

touched and you are willing to give us anything you can to support our cause. Would like to

tell us how you can support our noble call, please drop us a line at info@kushilandtours.com

and we shall be happy to partner with you.