Premature Evacuation

To our friends, families, followers and assordid miscreants-

I regret to inform you that this instalment is being written from the cozy comforts of our Montreal home. My mother is suffering from mid-level dementia, living at home surrounded by a wonderful cohort of caregivers.Due to holiday scheduling and a lack of other sources of support, Lori and I set out on this voyage with a fair degree of trepidation, knowing that a potential recall was not only possible but probable. Turns out we were right. I will be posting various elements of our trip to Zanzibar that I had hoped to be spreading out over the upcoming days. 

Let's begin with our primary purpose for being there -  World Unite, Mother Nature Camp volunteer program situated in a small village, Matamwe, on the northern coast of the island. The area itself has become an attractive tourist destination. Great beaches, warm water, nice hotels.

 Its mission is to help the local community reach a sustainable way of living, raise community awareness about marine and coastal life, and to protect and restore the marine ecosystem in Zanzibar. I asked about the air force, army, and navy ecosystems, but they seemed focussed entirely on the marines.

The project has been in existence for merely one year. However, the level, quality and facilities associated with it make it appear as if they have been around significantly longer than that.

The campus' infrastructure, (offices, kitchen, living quarters, showers, toilets, etc.) have been built quickly, with quality and much forethought; antithetical to how almost every other development in the area has taken shape. However the bunk beds were about 2 inches too short to allow for a full stretch out. 

There is a financial benefactor behind the project who is keen, organized, wealthy, and generous. We have high hopes for the long term success of this NGO.

The village is a warren of unpaved, rutted roads. 

The residences are cinderblock and rebar, usually unfinished, often without electricity, plumbing, covered windows, etc. 

The only other building in the vicinity that comes close to the quality of our encampment in the local mosque.

The programming is well thought out but somewhat overambitious. The leaders of the organization are generally in their late twenties, long on enthusiasm, energy and vigour, but a tad lacking in experience and dealing with the types of situations which do not regularly appear in "How to Fix the World' manuals. 

One of the primary targets is the cleansing of the streets and assorted dumps. Plastic  and glass bottles, old sandals, plastic sheeting, cloth remnants, etc. are strewn about with reckless abandon. Much of the garbage results from local hotels not respecting guidelines, choosing to dump their refuse into the wild, rather than paying for containers and proper disposal. 

The major beneficiaries are the neighbourhood goats.

While certainly laudable, expecting the local populace to be able to differentiate hard, soft, and non-recyclable plastics and placing them in the appropriate bins is likely a stretch seeing that the vast majority of the locals are barely literate. Distributing differently coloured buckets for the purpose of segregating recyclables requires drilling holes in their bottoms (buckets, not locals). Otherwise they would be used solely for collecting water. A much greater buy in from the local village leaders is  required to obtain a successful result.

A second project integrates the group with a local glass recycler. The established entity is well organized and very successful. The mission is to repurpose used bottles. Chako employs 40 local women and produces a collection of glassware resold and used in international markets.

Lori with finished product

Another aspect of their mandate involves sea life. There is a turtle rehab aspect involving monitoring egg laying habits. When nests are found, the eggs are carefully removed and placed in a supervised hatchery to maximize survival levels. For every thousand eggs laid, one turtle is likely to survive to adulthood. The biggest challenge is making it from the nest, across the beach, and to the ocean. They face the gamut of predators, mostly birds. The scene of carnage on the beach brings to mind every movie portrayal of D-Day that you have ever seen.

While moonlight provides guidance for the new hatchlings to find their way waterward, the recent installation of artificial lighting in hotels and other land based entities has created confusion in determining direction. So if you see a few hawksbills 

or leatherbacks

in line ahead of you at the local McDonalds, you now know why. Buy them a milkshake.

As is the case everywhere, coral are suffering from heated waters, overfishing, algae, and an increase in predators. One in particular, a starfish known as a Crown of Thorns, decimates the local populace. 

They are a new arrived and very nasty species with limited natural predators. Additionally if a spine is touched by a human, the painful sting will likely evoke the name of the individual most closely associated with its biblical version. The rescue programme is twofold. Regrowing new coral from small fragments in a controlled environment is working well. Injecting the Crown of Thorns with a 10% vinegar solution also has a detrimental effect. It kills them. Do not try this at home.