Tanzania 2019

This presentation is a summary of various subjective observations and insights I gathered during my short stay in Tanzania. I express these observations and feelings through both photographs and text.

Through my work, I strive to help the local population, raise awareness of their issues, and thereby eradicate certain racial prejudices. I also believe that Europe should take a cue from this country in many respects.

There are two main religious groups in Tanzania—Islam and Christianity. Although the coexistence of these two groups may be hard for the average 21st-century European to imagine, local Muslims and Christians live here in peace and respect one another.

Personally, I don’t like people in uniforms (police, soldiers, security guards...). At least not in the Czech Republic. I believe that the authority entrusted to them breeds arrogance. However, my aversion to uniforms was not entirely justified in Tanzania.People in uniforms there seemed kind to me and were always accommodating.

The locals strike me as very welcoming and friendly, even outside of tourist areas. Whenever I visited a local village, people greeted me with “Jambo!” (which translates to “Hello!”). Many of them even struck up a conversation with me.

“These people from those warm regions seem to smile more than we do” (a snippet of a conversation among several passengers that I overheard on the plane on my return to the Czech Republic)

Thanks to globalization, tourism is also emerging in Zanzibar, bringing many advantages but also disadvantages. The main advantages are economic growth and rising educational levels. Another advantage is increased global awareness of this country, but unfortunately, this benefit is often negated by the massive walls of hotel complexes that many tourists never step beyond. I consider the destruction of local culture to be a disadvantage. An example of this issue is the migration of many Maasai from mainland Tanzania (primarily from the area around Kilimanjaro) to areas with a high concentration of tourists (the beaches of Zanzibar). These Maasai sell trinkets there and are merely a tourist attraction. The Maasai believe that if someone takes their picture, they are stealing their soul. In tourist areas, however, they’ll happily let you take their picture for a few cents.