Community
Giving back to our Tanzanian community is integral to the philosophy of One World Safari Tours: we believe “that just as the experience of tourism enriches the lives of travelers, it should also enrich the lives of the indigenous world.” In addition to sharing our community and environment with our responsible tourists in a way that is respectful, fair, and non-exploitative, One world Safari tours donates a portion of its revenue to support those who are supporting our community.
A rarely matched 10% of our revenue goes to the projects of Tanzanian non-Profit organization Wewe Na Maasai. Additionally, One world Safari Tours coordinates with Wewe Na Maasai when developing many of its cultural excursions and all of its Voluntourist trips. Maasai tribes people are the traditional caretakers of the African savanna, living in harmony with nature; One world Safari Tours and its predominantly Maasai staff are proud to give back to their community.
Wewe Na Maasai (WeMa)
WeMa, an abbreviation of our full name, Wewe na Maasai, or ‘You and the Maasai’, is also the Swahili word for kindness, and reflects the philosophy of our organization and the welcoming spirit of the Maasai people. We believe ‘wema’ represents the thing often missing and most needed in all of our life transactions: business, tourist, community, environmental, personal. WeMa was created to instill this spirit of kindness in the relationship between tourism and the local Maasai of Lake Manyara, Tanzania.
Donations from One World Safaris assist Our Esilalei Water Project.
Maasai tribes-people are semi-nomadic pastoralists, they move many miles between homes, or bomas, as they graze their herds of cows and goats on the African savanna. For young children, this mobile life makes attending primary school regularly very difficult. Daily, children in the Manyara district walk many miles to school, and sometimes walk even further as they try to locate their family on the return walk home. Ideally, Esilalei primary school would like to provide boarding to the children whose families are the most nomadic. The main impediment to this possibility is the school’s lack of water supply. WeMa’s current project is to build a stable water supply system for Esilalei Primary School. We are developing a reliable, economical, and sustainable system that combines a water-catch method that collects and stores rainwater during the Wet Season, and an electricity-powered, ground well pump.
We encourage the guests of One World Safari Tours to undertake a Cultural Excursion in addition to their safari or mountain trek, and visit our project at the Esilalei primary school. There they will see firsthand how their Tanzanian experience through One World Safari Tours is enriching the lives of others, interact with local Maasai people, and understand that the splendor of Tanzania includes both natural beauty and cultural richness.
Support Local Art
In addition to partnering with grass-roots, Tanzanian non-profit organizations, One World Safari Tours also strives to support local Tanzanian artists. For our in-country guests, we offer the opportunity to visit fair trade craft centers and interact with local artists at their workshops and studios (For more information, please see the Cultural Excursions section of our website).
The Art of Emmanuel “Baba” Lobulu
One such of these very talented local artists is Emmanuel “Baba” Lobulu, an indigenous Maasai who rose from traditional cow-herding roots to become one of the most gifted modern painters in Tanzania.
Baba Lobulu, unsure of his actual birthday, believes he is around 50 years old. After leaving his family boma in the 1970s, he came to Arusha town. There he discovered trousers, electricity, and batik painting, a cloth art of wax and dye originally imported from Indonesia. After a few years, his renown as an exceptional batik artists got him a 6-month exhibition in the Gold Coast of Australia. There, Baba Lobulu was introduced to acrylic paints and canvas, a medium he enthusiastically adopted and brought back to Tanzania.
Now, Baba Lobulu’s unique acrylic style is unmistakable; large, abstractly colorful, and yet intensely realistic, his portraits of his Maasai countrymen are dramatic pieces. His use of international technique and aesthetic to depict subjects from his indigenous heritage is a beautifully successful blend of the modern and traditional. Baba Lobulu’s work is proudly shown throughout Tanzania.
For more information on “Baba” Lobulu, his work, and purchase information, please click here