Zara Tanzania Adventures to celebrate 62nd Anniversary of Tanganyika Independence along with 200 Tourists on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro

Zara Tanzania Adventures, is set to embark on “TWENDEZETU KILELENI” celebrating the 62nd anniversary if Tanganyika Independence along with 200 tourists on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Tanganyika first gained independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961 as a Commonwealth realm headed by Queen Elizabeth II before becoming a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations a year later.

The director of Zara Tanzania Adventures Company, Zainab Ansell, said in the campaign that every tourist who climbs the mountain will plant one tree.

“In the run up to the 62nd anniversary of the Independence of Tanganyika, our company Zara, will take 200 out of 320 Tanzanians to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, before starting the journey to climb this highest mountain in Africa, we will have a tree planting exercise in various areas around Mount Kilimanjaro,

Ansell called on all Tanzanians to fully participate in the “TWENDEZETU KILELENI” Campaign to preserve the environment of Mount Kilimanjaro with the aim of protecting natural vegetation and living organisms.

“I am asking to my fellow Tanzanians to be able to participate fully in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as it is the 62nd anniversary of the Independence of Tanganyika,” she emphasized.

Also, Ansell congratulated President Samia Suluhu Hassan for promoting tourism sector properly where the company continued toappreciate her contribution in tourism sector.

Inauguration the campaign, Nurdin Babu, Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner Nurdin Babu, asked District Heads, Directors and Leaders of all levels to participate in the campaign by encouraging citizens to plant trees in their areas.

“From now on, all roads built by the Urban and Rural Roads Agency (TARURA) and TANROADS in the region will be planted with trees on the right and left,” said RC Babu.

Babu added the tree planting campaign will start from Bwiko Village which is located on the border of Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions.

Speaking earlier, the Acting Head of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA), Gladys Nng’imbu, said the climbers will climb through the Machame and Lemosho routes, due to the fact that those routes have many tourist attractions.

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world, is one of the most adventure enthusiasts, which gives a truly unique wilderness experience  and a chance to marvel at its unique vegetation away from the hustle and bustle of civilization.

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Zara Tanzania Adventurers Covers 1,200 Porters with Health Insurance

Required throughout Europe and North America is the benefit for the working ppulation to be covered by health insurance. This is not the case in most African Countries, including Tanzania.

Whopping 1,200 porters operate on Mount Kilimanjaro and Meru have been enrolled in a health insurance, offering them a ray of hope, thanks to a responsible travel company.

Zara Tanzania Adventurers, through Zara Charity, has enrolled the porters into Tanzania’s National Health Insurance Fund, in an effort to improve porters’ access to medical care.

Billed as incredible move, the pioneer porters health cover, not only addresses historical injustice for poor mountain crew, but also significantly raises the Zara’s profile as the dedicated, responsible and ethical travel company.

Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society (MKPS) Vice-Chairman, Mr Edson Matauna said Zara Company has become a role model for pioneering the heath insurance drive for porters, imploring other tour firms to emulate the spirit.

“We are very grateful to Zara as it becomes the first tour company in Tanzania to cover mass low-income earner mountain crew with health insurance” Mr Matauna explained.

A report of the commission of inquiry the Kilimanjaro regional secretariat formed few years ago to establish the porter’s welfare shows that a significant number of tour companies have reportedly do not cover porters with health insurance.

“Nearly 53.2 per cent of porters questioned said they have been footing medical costs themselves,” the report reads, adding that porters also complain of working under extreme environment putting their lives in danger.

Contacted for comment, Managing Director for Zara Tanzania Adventurer, Ms Zainab Ansell confirmed to insure porters, but she declined to divulge details on ground that her faith doesn’t allow to make public offerings.

“I am a Muslim daughter who taught to extend a helping hand and not to make details public. It’s sufficed to tell you that it’s true I have covered the porters with health insurance” Ms Ansell noted.

Ms Ansell is probably one of unsung heroines of our time. Being a lady in the tourist business she fought extremely hard in a male-domain society to emerge successful.

Visit Zainab’s office on the workdays, you will be shocked to see long queues commonly found at health facilities in African rural outfits.

People from all walks of life throng Zainab’s office, each seeking to consult her, as is the case with a medical doctor.

But unlike a medical doctor, Zainab often wears an infectious smile instead of the much-dreaded stethoscope, as she serves one person after another with great humility.

In fact, some people never notice that she is at the helm of Zara Tanzania Adventurer — one of the biggest and prominent tour companies in the natural-resource richest East African country.

The rare personality traits in most Tanzanian chief executive officers have enabled her to touch thousands of lives, particularly those from vulnerable groups.

Her gifted hands have changed thousands of lives in Tanzania, as she directly employs nearly 1,410 on both permanent and seasonal basis, sustaining thousands of families in a country where unemployment is a hard nut to crack.

Official data puts the rate of unemployment in Tanzania at 10.7 per cent. According to the World Bank, each year about 900,000 youthful Tanzanians enter the job market, which is capable of generating barely between 50,000 and 60,000 new opportunities only.

Besides addressing unemployment, Zainab is also at forefront in extending a helping hand to the surrounding indigenous persons, mostly Masaai.

In her effort to support members of the pastoralists community, she has built a school where children under seven years of age are educated free of charge.

Zainab has not only constructed the school and left, she also runs the facility, with 95 kids, all from the Maasai nomadic pastoralists, pursuing their dreams in life. Without the school, the Maasai kids would have nowhere to study.

She has also developed a special window for helping marginalised Maasai women in her fresh bid to liberate them from harmful shackles of their traditional norms.

Zainab is single handedly struggling to address historical injustice compounded by oppression and exploitation towards women.

She has, in addition, been financially empowering the Maasai women to buy raw materials for making beads and selling them to foreign tourists.

As we speak, hundreds of Maasai women are benefiting from tourists’ dollars by hawking beads and carvings along the roads heading for key tourists sites.

Thanks to Zainab’s quest for seeing members of local communities directly get returns for conserving for ages tourist attractions surrounding them.

Zainab has bankrolled first aid training sessions, beginners’ English courses, HIV and AIDS education and financial management training, to mention but a few to nearly 900 porters.

She has initiated Zara Charity with an eye to stimulate a global movement on sustainable tourism by giving back to the community through the network of the travel industry partners, organisations, travelers and global citizens interested in reaching out to and supporting vulnerable groups in Tanzania.

Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), CEO, Mr Sirili Akko said his association is proud of Zara MD for her generous heart to support the poor.

Zara Tanzania Adventure invests in education to support children from herding communities

Zara Tanzania Adventures Founder and CEO,  Zainab Ansell

 Zara Tanzania Adventures one of Africa’s Leading Tour operators based in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region through its organization Zara Charity has invested in the education sector so as to support young and vulnerable children from herding communities living in the Region.

The female-owned outfit, based on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, Zara Tanzania Adventures spends the funds it gets from its business and gives it back to the community around its business with the goal being to supporting all children and young people from herding communities to have ambitions and the best opportunities so they can reach their goals.

The tour operator firm has established Moshi Kids Center an educational centre to cater for the needs of kids who are being prepared to join Primary Schools, an area that has succeeded in having a friendly and safe environment.

Prominently known for its tailor-made travel package in the East African region with more than three decades of experience, Zara Tanzania Adventure has also established another education centre in Karatu where two schools were built with a great contribution to the children of the herding communities while other stakeholders benefited from the existence of health projects.

Zara Tanzania Adventures Founder and CEO, Zainab Ansell has to be applauded for establishing such an organization, Zara Charity to give back to the community as many young children from poor herding families are now benefiting from the education facilities.

Speaking with East Africa Now, Zara Charity’s Moshi Kids Center Manager Peace Festo Mugele said the centre was established in the Pasua, Kaloleni in Moshi to enrol children from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially from herding communities from the ages of three to five.

According to Mugele, Moshi Kids Center officially started its work in August last year as one of Zara Charity’s projects where children who join the Centre are enrolled after being visited by their families.

The manager of Moshi Kids Center says that they started with one class with 25 children and this year they have added another class with a similar number of children, but saying that there is a need to add more classes.

The children’s education centre that supports poor families’ kids has two teachers, one cook, a security guard, and one young man who deals with environmental sanitation, thus making the staff up to six including Mrs. Mugele.

However, Mugele concludes that there is still a need for one more class while expressing gratitude to Mrs Zainab Ansell who donated her plot in tandem with the construction of the centre.

Although Zara Charity has been continuing to serve children with food, education and other basic needs through its Moshi Kids Centre, there is still a need for stakeholders to come forward to continue supporting the initiative.

Zainab Ansell, popularly known as Mama Zara, says that everything supported by visitors and contributors has been made public.

Why has Zainab Ansell been known by the famous name of Mama Zara?

This is because of her contribution to social activities and she has been in years supporting the communities with her compassionate heart.

Mama Zara’s contribution to social activities has been seen in various places as she has managed to support volunteer programs for ‘Tour Guides’ whose Zara Tanzania Adventure has been empowering professionally.

As a Woman who is doing well in the Tourism Industry, Zainab Ansell urges other Tanzanian Women not to give up when they intend to start a business.

Mohamed Abdallah a veteran ‘Tour Guide’ describes Mama Zara as being compassionate for her employees and many of them have seen her as their Mother.

Abdallah says that Mama Zara has become their guardian who should be supported to continue helping communities in the country, especially the poor ones.

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Zara Tanzania Adventures ( Zara Tours) is a local company Ms. Ansell founded and established in 1986 in Moshi, Tanzania, providing high-quality travel and tour services in East Africa. Zara has over 30 years of experience in the region’s Travel and Tourism industry

Today, Zara has evolved into Tanzania’s largest Kilimanjaro outfitter and one of the largest safari operators in East Africa. It is a one-stop shop offering experiences and accommodation in Tanzania’s tourism hotspots.

It has been widely recognized for its efforts in promoting Sustainable Tourism Development in Africa, with Zainab being a multi-award winner.

She received over 16 local and international awards, including the World Travel Market (WTM) Humanitarian Award and the Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2012), the iconic Tourism for The Future Awards (2015), African Travel top 100 Women.

Ansell has been recognized and awarded for being the Most Influential Woman in Business and Government by CEO Global for her achievements in East Africa’s Tourism and Leisure Sector 2018/2019 during the CEO GLOBAL Pan African Awards; Tanzania National Parks has also recognized Zara Tours as the country’s best Tour Operator in 2019, 2020 and leading outfit for Mountain climbing in 2022.

East Africa Now.