millennium village tours an innovative tourism product at the crossroads of development, education...
TRANSCRIPT
Millennium Village ToursAn innovative tourism product at the crossroads of development, education and community-based tourism
New Dawn [email protected]
List of contents
• Introduction to NDA
• Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project
• Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village
• Millennium Village Tours
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Introduction to NDA
New Dawn Associates Ltd:
• East African service provider, headquarters in Kigali (Rwanda)
• Rwandan-European partnership
• Responsible tourism – consulting services – event management
• Tourism focus: Educational travel in Rwanda, community-based tourism, project tourism, responsible volunteering, special interest travel, general tourism services
• Consulting work: Several innovative community-based tourism projects in four Rwandan provinces
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project
Background:
• Goal: “To end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor throughout Africa, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.”
• Millennium Villages Project: Partnership of Earth Institute (Columbia University), UNDP, Millennium Promise, national/local governments, country-specific partners (like NDA in Rwanda)
• Currently 12 clusters of villages in 10 African countries (400,000 people)
• Target: To achieve the MDGs within 5 years.
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project
Concepts:
• Set of interventions based on the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project: Food production, nutrition, education, health services, roads, energy, communications, water, sanitation, enterprise diversification, environmental management
• Participatory community decision-making
• Use of improved science-based technologies and techniques
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village
“If it can be done here, it means it can be done elsewhere.”(Gaspard Musonera, Mayor)
• Mayange: Community created after the 1994 genocide, half the households live in settlement housing (imidugudu) built by the government for survivors and returnees
• Very dry area with severe water shortages and frequent periods of hunger
• Pilot efforts since January 2006 (5,000 people), considerable scale-up to 50,000 people in December 2006
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village
Interventions:• Community mobilization: Creation of committees (water, agriculture, health), mass sensitization campaigns (use of fertilizer, micro-finance loan schemes)• Agriculture and water: Use of fertilizer and fast-maturing seeds, micro-finance loan schemes, terracing, extensive training• Health: Permanent doctors, trust, 100% health insurance, distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, education on family planning• Education: Kindergarten, school garden, computer training for teachers• Business development: Basket weaving (training programs, micro-finance loan schemes, formation of associations), orchards• Infrastructure: Repair water infrastructure, electricity and water tanks for health center and school, study on use of cook stoves
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Millennium Village Tours
Concept:• Educational and experiential excursions with small groups of interested visitors who want to learn about the development challenges and successful interventions of the MVP
• MOU between NDA and the MVP: • NDA engages in developing micro-enterprise opportunities through community-based tourism• NDA becomes the exclusive agency to operate Millennium Village Tours in Rwanda
• Official start: April 2007
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Millennium Village Tours
Tour:• Welcome: Guide at MVP headquarters in Nyamata, introduction• Visit to Nyamata church (genocide memorial)• Fields of intervention: Health, education, agriculture, water, energy, fuel-saving cook stoves, etc• Women‘s cooperative for lunch• Weaver association, including gift• Final interaction with community leaders in a traditional way (ubusabane), cultural experience (dancing), refreshment (fresh fruits and juice, corn on the cob)
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Millennium Village Tours
Implementation issues and key success factors:• Mobilization and awareness raising• Institution building: Tourism cooperative• Capacity building: Formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers, dancers etc• Product development at the various intervention stations• Quality control: Interpretation, hygiene etc• Market research
Major obstacles:• Understanding about and attitude towards tourism• Inadequate entrepreneurial skills• Language barriers• Mentality (e.g. food)
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Millennium Village Tours
Contribution to an African agenda for peace through tourism:
• Improving the standard of living (“poor minds think of evil”)• Creating micro-enterprise opportunities for 155 people directly (and benefiting their entire families), including formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers and dancers• Building a Rwandan identity through the interaction with foreigners• Supporting reconciliation• Educating visitors and raising awareness in their home nations about development challenges and best-practice solutions
Millennium Village Tours
Contents:
• Intro NDA
• Intro MVP
• Mayange
• MV Tours
Thank you for your attention.
Murakoze.