Description
Chole Island is in the Mafia Island Marine Park in southern Tanzania about 125km south of Dar-es-Salaam. In 1994, the Project was started with the objective of bringing direct benefits and empowering the community to manage change.
Established in the mid 1990s the Project, which has its origins in a partnership continuing to this day between the community and a Lodge, has become a model of open ended social development which could be adopted by other isolated African communities. The focus is on empowering the community to shape its own self sufficient future, rather than imposing solutions from outside.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
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What's this?
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
By coming to our place, you'll have the opportunity to meet a community of exceptional kindness and enrich yourself with the people who have lived on this island for generations.

For those who love art and DIY, you can learn ancestral traditions such as coconut fiber ropes making or the weaving of baskets and mats called 'mikaka.'

For nature lovers, you'll have the opportunity to observe hundreds of different birds, monitor lizards, bush babies, and other various animals that populate our jungle.

For ocean enthusiasts, we are fortunate to have very healthy coral reefs teeming with turtles, dolphins, hundreds of tropical fishes, and nudibranchs.

We also have the privilege of hosting a large population of whale sharks between September and March.
Help
All skills are welcome in our project:

- Since Covid, the trust is in desperate need of donations to reopen the kindergarten. Skills in communication, whether on social media or with hotel guests, to raise awareness about the link between the hotel and the trust would be greatly appreciated.

- Many other projects are on hold, such as the creation of a permaculture garden for aromatic herbs and some vegetables for the hotel and the village,

- The women in the village have only one means of livelihood: harvesting alien algae for Carrageenan extraction. The cultivation of this algae is increasingly encroaching around Chole Island and destroying the coral reef. We would like to teach the women of the island to use the island's natural resources (such as aloe vera, coconut oil, baobab or moringa powder) to create a range of beauty products that they could sell to the hotels on Mafia Island, earning them more money while causing less harm to their environment. We have the chemical and pharmaceutical expertise; we just need someone to oversee and bring this project to life.

- We also have a project studying whale sharks, which are the main source of income for the island through tourism. We need guides who can educate our guests about the importance of responsible tourism and their biology. WWF and Marine Megafauna associations regularly study them on our island, and we would like to create more links with them.

- All ideas that can help the local community are welcome.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Swahili (Kiswahili): Fluent
Accommodation
Depending on the project you choose to join, you will either stay in Kilindoni, which is the main town of Mafia Island, where you will have a private twin room located 50 meters from the beach. The second option would be a treehouse on Chole Island, also located near the beach. Both accommodations include full board.
What else ...
During your free time or on your days off, you can join activities with the guests such as swimming with whale sharks, snorkeling on the coral reef. You can explore the islands of Mafia, Chole, Juani, or Jibondo where you will find cenotes, pristine beaches unknown to tourists, ruins from the Shirazi people, or relax on the sandbank. Mafia Island is particularly popular among scuba divers.
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Very decent internet / wifi connection in common area. Possibility to buy a local sim card for other areas use as rooms
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week