A beautiful end to a fantastic trip. Asante sana, kila mtu!
0 Comments
Tumbatu is the third largest island of Zanzibar, located north-west, less than two kilometers off the main island Unguja. Yet it is rarely visited by tourists and even residents of Unguja need an introduction to be allowed on the island. The history of the island is uncertain, but there are ruins from the 11th century. It was on this island that the first ships from Persia have docked. All this we wouldn't know, if we didn't fall upon these leads of beautiful tumbled glass beads. In every shop in Stone Town, you can buy them, always the same color but different every time.
The story tells us that the people of Tumbatu find these beads on the northern beaches. For centuries thes beads wash ashore and are worn by the ocean waves. It seems an incredible story, but the quest of Hamad to get the leads directly from the island for us, yet strengthened us in our faith. There are two versions: in the first a large vessel full of beads was destroyed in front of the Zanzibar coast. In the other version, many centuries ago the beads were used as means of payment. In a tsunami the warehouse of the beads (the National Bank of Tumbatu...) was dragged into the sea. We had the honour to make our Habela in mosaic on the personal piece of art of Aida. Hilde Catherina and Mieke each have worn two pairs of knees by making our common drawing, our Habela and 'Z7' in mosaic and leaving our footprint forever in Zanzibar. Our own Habelas will be exhibited in my studio. These form a whole by their lines but are each a unique work of art because each used a different technique and color palette. I certainly do not want to be too emotional but the previous sentence describes our group Z7 during the recent weeks.
Our Tanzanian Shillings were burning in our pockets. We already went to some nice shops... spice shop, African fabrics , the Indian with his antique shop (behind this one little window appeared the cave of Ali Baba). When wandering through the alleys we still discovered some hidden gems. There seemed to be even more creative workshops than we thought. Each time these are places where women can get an education, show their meticulous work(wo)manship and hence regain their pride.
Take a look at their websites . The pictures below are taken in the studio and shop of Upendo . Upendo Fahari Zenji Moto A fantastic 'mess' with fabric paint , gelliplate and natural stamps from 'the garden' of Panga Chumvi .
For our project , the presence of Rebecca was a godsend. Since 2012, Rebecca and her Zanzibarian husband are the owners of our hotel, Panga Chumvi. They live in Stone Town but Rebecca divides her time between Stone Town and Matemwe. They have two adult sons , the eldest lives in London, the youngest is still looking to settle down. She worked in London as a sound director in the film industry, later on she gave training to minorities, especially women and migrants, and most preferably to female migrants. She continues with this commitment here in Zanzibar. It's great that they mainly recruit people from the village. The employees do not come from expensive hotel schools from the mainland as is the case in other tourist resorts in Zanzibar. Rebecca is trying to run the hotel in the most sustainable way as possible, the water in the kitchen and the rooms for instance, is heated by solar water heaters. This requires a lot of engagement because these devices need a lot of maintenance. With her professional knowledge, organizational skills and commitment she is invaluable to the organization SEA (Sustainable East Africa), where she works as a volunteer. In this way she will make from Panga Chumvi (and Matemwe) a second center (next to Stonetown) of art, culture and sustainable development. Also, Matemwe is home now to the Creative Water Festival. In this village there is an agreement between hotels and the local community to clean the beaches and the village every day. On our walk along the beach we have indeed seen that it is not always obvious to get rid of the waste from the villages and the garbage that is drifted ashore. We cannot imagine that a government is not responsible for waste treatment. Only in the historical tourist triangle of Stonetown the government guarantees the cleaning. Elsewhere, the small private initiatives are mostly run by volunteers, who sometimes pick up the waste door-to-door and sort it afterwards. Also here, SEA gives support. The people are well aware that recycling is necessary. The bottles go to Aida and Hamad also gets his share, the plastic bottles are already re-used by the population.
Princess Salme was born in the Mtoni Palace (1844), as daughter of the first Sultan Said and one of his 75 concubines, a slave who bought in Circassia (Southern Russia). Salme went to school, just like the other princes and princesses. Like a real princess, she had a few slaves at her disposal (ed. to tickle her toes). When she was 22 years old she fell in love with a German merchant, Heinrich Ruete. He was her neighbor and they learned to know each other from window to window (ed. pure romance). Sometimes they made a trip to 'the countryside' and then suddenly she got pregnant. They settled in Hamburg, Heinrich died five years later in an accident with a tram. Salme was no longer welcome in Zanzibar, she died when she was eighty years old. In her legacy they found a little bag with sand from Zanzibar. (ed. Hilde has a jar with sand from Zanzibar, she hopes that her bereaved will once find it). The life of Salme is known in detail because she has written a book about her life as an Arab Princess in Zanzibar. (ed. for the hot details in this book, please contact Hilde). Find the seven resemblances with Poetin.
Furthermore, thanks to Katrien, she was our paparazza during the first two weeks (specializing in people and fish markets) and to Hilde, who has a lot of patience and a sharp eye for details in nature. By the way, Hilde also makes a little report of every trip.
Furthermore blog-mommie Rika took care of her little bloggers. No blogging during diner and bedtime at 10pm. Looking at a screen too late and too long is not good for sleeping. But she had too much fun while blogging and finally she was also bitten by the blog microbe.
August 12th, Stonetown Z7 and Rahma Dr. Livingstone, to whom Stonetown was a place to relax during his adventures in Africa, urged the British government to abolish the slave trade. Bishop Steere was his fellow-thinker. Symbolically, he built the Angelican Cathedral in Stonetown on the market for slaves. Where currently the altar stands, the slaves were sold by auction. They were beaten, who wept was not worth a penny. The red marble of the altar symbolizes the blood of slaves. Here you can also find the reconstructed slave cellars. These are awfully small rooms where slaves were crammed with just enough food to survive so they would stay alive just until they were sold. Watch the scaffolding, that is built with mangrove wood and rope. Since 1997, there is a monument dedicated to the slaves, just in front of the church. The chains are supposed to be original. You can not visit an African city without going to the market. In Stonetown this the Darajani market. Fish, meat, chicken, vegetables, herbs ... whatever you want. The smell is for free. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsvZcXUHexQ August 15th, past glory along Mizingani Road We were dropped at the mint green Old Dispensary, once the home of a wealthy Indian merchant. He had it built in 1890 and was already annoyed by it after nine years. He donated the house in order to use it as a hospital. We walked along the Big Tree, a 100 year old tree that was once used as a landmark by ships who entered the harbor. We also visited The Old Custom House, another jewel of the Arab culture in Zanzibar. Too bad there is not enough money for restorations. In the courtyard is a small art gallery, especially with paintings. An artist was working there and used a beautiful range of shades. Since 1994, the Palace Museum is open to the public. You can learn the history and the daily life of the sultans of Zanzibar. There is still a lot of furniture from previous centuries. The first sultan, Said, had it buit in 1827. The last sultan, Jamshid, left during the Zanzibar revolution in 1964. Our guide was great, he especially overwhelmed us with his knowledge of dates and made sure we will NEVER forget some of them. From the balcony of the Palace Museum you can see the ruins of the oldest palace of the sultans of Zanzibar, the Beit el-Mtoni Palace, which we also visited. The last picture is the toilet of the seventy-five (75!) concubines of the first Sultan Said. One of the best-known descendant of Sultan Said is Princess Salme, she is the daughter of a Russian slave. We find that indeed she looks a bit like Poetin. She was born in the Mtoni Palace. Tomorrow more about the soap starring Salme.
We woke up with the red glow of a beautiful sunrise. And we ended the day with a beach run in a similar magnificent scenery. This Sunday we wanted to make a long walk on the beach, to the south. Going: two hours and return trip: three quarters. We could not resist looking down and searching for shells all the time. The catch of the day .
|
Z7Seven Belgian women found each other through the love for Africa and textile art. |