Pro
Poor Tourism in Africa
(Reality Tourism in Africa)
This
tourism is set up in developing countries as a means to improve the
local economy for local poor people. It enhances the linkages between
tourism businesses and poor people; so that poverty is reduced and poor
people are able to participate more effectively in Tourism Development.
The aims of pro-poor tourism ranges from increasing local employment
to involving local people in the decision making process. Victoria Safaris,
being a tour Operator based in a third world country - Kenya is determined
to improve the lives of the poor both in urban and rural Kenya. The
most important factor is not the type of company or the type of tourism,
but that poor people receive an increase in the net benefits from tourism.
Africa
Slums Tours
These
are escorted tours into the impoverished communities of Africa living
within the urban and rural areas. The concept of pro poor tourism in
Africa is not new as it has been and is being practiced in South Africa.
Soweto and Shanty tours in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively are
not new tours but have been ongoing slum safaris that are changing the
face of South Africa’s Slum areas. Kibera Slum dwellers in Nairobi –
Kenya are gradually beginning to reap the benefits of Kibera Slum Tours
just as other Kenya Slums dwellers, courtesy of Victoria Safaris.
Africa
is the poorest continent in the world with its large number of poor
populace living on less than a-dollar-a-day. At the same time Africa
is the most toured continent due to its massive and abundant wildlife,
daily 12 hourly sunshine, rich natural resources, mountains, lovely
beaches and welcoming cultural people. All these tourism revenue earners
to the African continent, most individual African countries, are yet
to plough the tourism revenue towards the alleviation of poverty among
their poor communities - not to mention the wiping out of Slums in the
Africa continent.
“Imagine
Africa without a slum. A continent where every individual is accessible
to basic human amenities such as, adequate health facilities, adequate
housing and sanitary facilities, adequate food and clean drinking water.”
This
is what Victoria Safaris is advocating for through tourism business
as a part of contribution towards wiping out slums and poverty in
Africa, including Kenya, cannot be left to the individual governments
alone to clear but rather be should be the priority of those corporate
firms that contribute to the improvement of the economies of these
states including players in the tourism sector. Visitors who come
and see these slums are sure to contribute to the upgrading of the
African slums.
Kenya
Slums Tours
(Reality tourism in Kenya - these are escorted tours of the slums
of Kenya to sample first-hand the difficulties faced by the poor in
Kenya’s Urban Cities and Rural areas)
Kenya
has its fair share of the world's poorest people.5.4 million Kenyans
live in informal settlements. A large number of Kenya's poor, living
on less than a-dollar-a-day, stay in the urban centers such as Nairobi
and Kisumu. It is estimated that it may cost 12 billion US$ and approximately
13 years to eradicate slums in Kenya. That is over a decade. Nairobi,
the capital city of Kenya is home to some of the richest and some
of the poorest people in the country. The greatest population of this
booming metropolis of over 3.5 million people stays in the slums without
the necessary amenities such as adequate housing, adequate food and
clean drinking water. These pro-poor tourism activities takes Victoria
Safaris clients to these rarely visited regions and enables interaction
with the local people even as the guests experience first hand the
problems that these urban people face in their day-to-day living.
Victoria
Safaris has come up with this new noble idea of Kenya Slum Tourism
as a means of creating awareness of the plight of the poor in Kenya
to both foreign and domestic tourists with an intention of wiping
out the slums in Africa and Kenya in particular as a long term measure
by using tourism business, the highest Kenya government revenue earner,
and reducing poverty by engaging the poor participate more effectively
in tourism development in Kenya and at the same time receiving an
increase in the net benefits from tourism as a short time measure.
As the aims of pro-poor tourism ranges from increasing local employment
to involving local people in the decision making process, Victoria
Safaris has hired and is continuing to recruit its local staff for
the Slum tour programmes among the inhabitants of the slums areas
where it performs the Slum tours.
These
include the Tour van drivers from the affected slums, the slum tour
guides among which are the community leaders who understand the slum
community locations better and the Slum Community policing security
teams. All these personnel live within the Slums where the escorted
tours are performed. . Let us take you for a pro poor tourism in Kenya
as we have the Know how and the capacity to deliver these services
to both foreign and domestic tourists in Kenya.
We
have three types of Clientele for the pro poor tourism in Kenya. These
include;
-
Individuals:These
include individuals who are interested in visiting the poor in their
various locations and sharing their experiences in order to understand
the difficulties of the poor as they contribute towards the alleviation
of poverty. It counts when you have a day or and hour with the less
fortunate of a community. From our experience, these individuals
contribute their unwanted house hold items to the poor, foods stuff
to the individual family members, clothing, beddings, cutleries,
books and bicycles from their residences.
-
Groups:
These
include groups of individuals such as churches, welfare associations,
Non governmental Organizations’, social welfare organizations, colleges,
students associations. These contribute foodstuff, build schools,
provide feeding centre’s with foodstuff, build health centres and
provide sanitary facilities, build churches and community based
centers. A group can offer to prepare lunches for the school going
students. Colleges and youth groups perform cleaning activities
within the slums and along the river banks that pass through the
slums. Some groups build toilet facilities. Victoria Safaris organizes
pro poor tours around Lake Victoria for the benefit of the rural
poor along and around the lake basin.
-
Corporate
Bodies:
These include the limited Companies, the Parastatal and government
departments. From our experience, the corporate bodies contribute
foodstuff, build infrastructures and sponsor students to higher
learning institutions not to mention offering employment to the
slum bright students. The hotel industry is encouraged to donate
used beds, beddings, linen, and used cutlery to the slum based community
institutions. Victoria safaris organize corporate slum tours with
the assistance of the community leaders within the slums and the
poor rural areas.
Itineraries:
Nairobi
City Slum Tours – Excursions; 2 Hours – 4 Hours
This
is a customized Escorted - Charity Slum tour of the Nairobi Slums including
Kibera, Korokocho, Mukuru and Mathare Slums. The tour starts from a
designated agreed point in the city of Nairobi then it proceeds to the
particular slum amongst the named above where you will be escorted by
the local inhabitant tour guides of the designated slum. These are usually
the community leaders of the slums. You will be taken to the various
house holds for you to sample their daily routine life. Then you will
be taken to witness projects being undertaken by the other organizations.
After the tour, you will be handed back your contribution for you to
donate it to a project of your choice. You will then be driven back
to your destination back to the City centre.
This
tour can be combined with the other regular Safaris to the wildlife
lodges or any others.
VSS
45X - Nairobi Pro-Poor Tourism Adventures
(Community based pro poor tourism which covers the main urban poor
areas)
Day
1-Nairobi - Kibera Slum Tour
Upon
arrival, you will be met by our tour manager who will take you to
your hotel to check in. After which you will be taken for a brief
tour of Nairobi city before heading to the sprawling Kibera Slum considered
the biggest slum in sub Saharan Africa. while in Kibera, you will
be taken to meet the HIV orphaned children's homes, the Kibera Olympic
primary school and the Baraka Za Ibrahim School where you will see
how crowded the class rooms are, due to free primary school system,
the day to day activity of the residents, the type of housing and
the unavailability of sanitary facilities, lack of normal feeding
timetable, the flowing sewage and the businesses undertaken by the
local residents. After Dinner we have an overnight stay at a hotel
of your choice in Nairobi.
Day
2-Nairobi-Mukuru Slum Tour
After
breakfast, you will be driven to the Nairobi's industrial area, then
into the Mukuru Kayaba where you will visit the local NGO center which
has a school, feeding center and the women group activities in the
slum. Lunch is taken at a hotel in the industrial Area. In the afternoon,
proceed to Kiambiu slum next to the Kenya Air Force base in Eastleigh,
here you will meet the slum dwellers, those who do not go to the Nairobi
central business district, the primary school and the community leaders
who will brief you on the daily chores of this slum. Return to your
hotel for dinner and overnight.
Day
3-Nairobi- Mathare Slum and Korokocho slum
After
breakfast, you will be driven to the Mathare slum where you will see
the new housing development project in the slum. Visit the drug addicts’
rehabilitation center; the school for the HIV orphaned children, and
the bank of Nairobi River. Lunch is taken at the nearby Utalii Hotel.
After
Lunch proceed to the Korokocho slum where you will be amazed with
the number of the roaming children in the slum. Visit the local NGO's
poverty rehabilitation project, the Catholic secondary school, the
Market , the local police station and then proceed to the Nairobi
city refuse dumping site in Dandora where you will see the biggest
heap of refuse in Africa which acts as a source of food and as well
as income to the poor who scavenge there everyday. Return to your
hotel for dinner and overnight.
Victoria
Safaris offer customized tours of the Kibera slum and its facilities
all year round. All profits made are donated to a specific slum activity.
