WEP is a result of cooperation between Kiruna municipality in northern Sweden and Makunduchi Wards in the south east of Zanzibar. The project started in 2013 with research and recruitment of students for the project. The students are women from 18 until 25 years old and joined the program because they want to learn more English, computer, entrepreneurship and more about human rights. They are part of this project prepare for further studies and to get jobs within different projects and sectors. Some of them want to start their own businesses.
In January 2014 18 volunteers from Malmfältens Folkhögskola in Kiruna arrived in Makunduchi to teach a group of 12 women from different villages in the area. Each of the 12 students had their own teacher, which made the learning very individualised. The subjects the students were taught was English, Computer and Entrepreneurship and trough these subjects they learned more about empowerment, democracy, human- and women’s rights. The rest of the volunteers worked within different projects and sectors in the community; waste management, teaching at a nursery, handicraft, teaching project management and courses in English.
The teachers from Kiruna all have different background; one is a nurse, one is a social worker, two work as journalists and so on, but they all have one thing in common; they all want a world where the resources are shared equally and where every human being, irrespective of gender, place of birth, or ability, have the right to choose their own path.
After four months they went back to Kiruna to inform people there about their work and to work against xenophobia and discrimination.
The idea of the festival came from members of the Makunduchi committee and Nasima Haji, a journalist in Zanzibar Leo that is working on a cookbook with recipes and stories of the traditional dishes of Zanzibar. The students and teachers immediately started to prepare because they saw this as a great opportunity to learn more about project management and entrepreneurship.
In June two of the Swedish teachers came back to assist in the work and in September two more will come to continue teaching for three more months.
In January 2015 a new group of teachers and students will start their path towards more knowledge, not only in the subjects taught but also about each other, themselves and the world we live in and are supposed to share.
The students from this year will be a great resource for the new students and also good role models for them and other young women in Makunduchi. They are strong, independent women with the will and ability to make a difference in their community and in the world.