MAGAN'S WORLD: Manchán Magan's tales of a travel addict
LAST MAY I found myself visiting a local community project in Zambia run by a safari lodge. Two open-topped safari jeeps full of tourists pulled up outside the community school to see the results of the funding provided by the guests and the lodge. It was impressive to see how the school had been able to employ extra teachers, add classes and buy equipment. We handed over the crayons, paints, books and balls that we had been encouraged to bring from home and by way of thanks the teachers and children launched into an hour-long display of ebullient singing, dancing and storytelling for us.
As our jeeps roared out of the school grounds again, I asked the wildlife ranger who had accompanied us whether such tourist visits were frequent. "Just a few times a week," he replied. I was dumbstruck. He told me that the children got a chance to study in the morning, then went home for lunch and in the afternoon they made the long journey back again to perform for their white donors.
It was worth it, he claimed, for the abundance of books, balls and donations the school received. Meanwhile, just down the road the next school was in penury, as were schools right across Zambia. The initiative was well-meaning, but these things always become so much more complicated in Africa.
It got me thinking about community tourism, and whether there was anywhere local communities were equitably and tangibly benefiting from tourism, or if they were running their own development-focused tourism projects. It became apparent that white investors had cornered the market in the prime locations of Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and my only hope of finding authentic grassroots initiatives was in poorer, more forgotten areas.
That was when I heard about a man from Navan named Simon Cumbers. He had had a passion for documenting the world, and had filmed all over the planet from the Amazon to Indonesia, to India and Africa, until 2004 when he was murdered by terrorists while filming a report for the BBC in Saudi Arabia. He was only 36 years of age. A year after his death, the Department of Foreign Affairs established the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund. It's a grant scheme aimed at promoting more and better quality media coverage of development issues. Already it has paid for journalists to report and research stories in Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, Mauritania, East Timor, Angola and Zambia.
I received a grant from the fund and as a result was able to travel to Uganda and Ethiopia earlier this year. I came across some truly inspiring community tourism projects which left me brimming with enthusiasm about their potential: lodges, camps, hiking trails, tribal ceremony tours, craft initiatives - all run directly by communities for the benefit of the locality. Together they make up an impressive range of tourism opportunities that are accessible, affordable and enable one to get deeper into a culture than any white-run project could ever hope for.
Unfortunately, we rarely get to hear about these projects because they are small-scale and lack international promotion. Over the next few months it's my intention to sing about them from the highest tree tops. Getting a grant from the Simon Cumbers Fund brings with it the legacy of the passion, resolve and ambition of the man who inspired it.
* As part of Irish Aid's Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, on Sunday, May 24th, Manchán Magan will host a workshop on Travels Through Africa at the Spoken Word marquee at 4.30pm. Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens is one of two flagship events being organised by Irish Aid in 2009. Gates open at 12 noon and admission is free. www.irishaid.gov.ie/africaday.