Teaching JTTI Zanzibar

Dear Colleagues and students,

Best regards from beautiful Africa!
I finished my teaching at JTTI in June and I enjoyed some holiday time, traveling around in East Africa (Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi). Now I am back in Stonetown (Zanzibar) where I am working for an other school, Kawa training centre (www.kawatrainingcenter.com), I will update you later about my experiences here. Now I want to tell you something about my experiences at JTTI.

The 4 weeks at JTTI were great. It was good to be back and to see how the students had developed themselves, especially because of the internet access they have had since December last year. My American colleague Kenn spent a lot of time with both diploma and certificate students in the ICT lab, teaching them how to use email, browse the internet, use booking websites, use facebook ect. For most of them it was the first time they used the internet and learned about email. For the destination marketing classes the diploma students made a website about the village of Jambiani (the place where the school is located). They investigated the different components of the destination and put all the information together on this website. They also developed a logo and the site gives information about the students and teachers. Please have a look at www.visitjambiani.com. This is a very tangible result of the Pancake/Gluhwein fundraising we did last year and seeing this result makes me very happy.
On the ITM facebookpage you can see a short movie in which the students explain what they have learned from the ICT classes.
https://www.facebook.com/202352413116339/videos/988171381201101/?pnref=story
(copy the link in your browser)


I took 2 suitcases of old tourism management books with me and I gave half of it to JTTI. The other half I gave to the Kawa training centre in Stonetown, where I am teaching now. Both schools were very happy to receive the books, basic tourism books like Page & Connell provide very helpful information for both teachers and students.
JTTI has had some good results, all the graduates from last year found a job in the tourism business and also this year, almost all diploma students already found a job. I talked to several hotel owners and they said they like to hire the JTTI students because of their skills and professional attitude (e.g. being on time, calling in sick ect.).

In the first week I was teaching at JTTI we helped a lot of students completing their CV’s. The diploma students needed this because they are applying for jobs after graduation and the certificate students need to find a place where they can do their internship.
We practiced job interviews too.

During this first week we also did a fieldtrip with the diploma students to the newly opened Hyatt hotel in Stonetown. The director of the hotel gave a guest lecture at the school last year and this time she organized a career day for our students. They got the opportunity to talk with the managers of the different departments of the hotel (kind of a speed-date). Some students were interviewed by the HR manager and this has resulted in 2 internships for the certificate students and three jobs for the diploma students.
We also got a guided tour in the hotel, which is located in a Unesco World Heritage building. Interesting to see how the historical character of the building is preserved. It was also interesting to hear that the room prices range from 400 USD for a normal room up to 1300USD for a superior room (prices per night). Our students only earn 75 euro a month for a fulltime job, so one can understand how much money Hyatt can make at such a destination. Leakage is a major problem on Zanzibar.
After a long but interesting day we went back to Jambiani with our minibus. It was already dark when our car got a puncture, caused by a hole in the road. So there we were standing still, in the dark, with no alarm lights or jack, just a couple of branches on the road to warn other cars. Luckily an other car stopped and these people did have a jack and helped us to change the tire. We arrived home safely, but it was quite an adventure for me.
In the 2nd and 3th week I did classes about volunteer tourism, dark tourism, animals in tourism, cruise tourism and ethics in tourism. It was so great to notice that the students remembered almost everything I taught them last year, so I could start off from a different level. Concepts like leakage, authenticity, staged authenticity, host-guest relation, psychocentric and allocentric tourism types; it was still in their minds. That’s the greatest reward you can get as a teacher.

At the end of the third week the graduation ceremony took place where the diploma students finally received their diploma, after two years of hard work. The certificate students received their certificates for the courses they took.
Like last year, the ceremony started and ended with a prayer, there were many speeches and the event was attended by government officials and parents and friends.
For Kenn and me the most memorable moment was the day that we had our last class with the diploma students. We took them to a restaurant nearby to have an ice cream and suddenly one of the students started talking and thanking Kenn and me for our input. Each student gave us a personal speech, thanking us for our support, and especially thanking Kenn, who has been with them for two years. The students said to me that it was very unique opportunity to learn about tourism management topics and about sustainable tourism development. They feel it is important for their country to be aware of the impact of tourism. I feel grateful that I have been able to share my knowledge with them.


At the moment the school also faces some difficulties. The school received money from the Worldbank to build a guesthouse next to the school where the students could get more practical training and which could ensure the financial sustainability of the school. Due to corruption the school never received this money and has to close down in the next 6 months. In January 2016 the school will reopen again, hopefully. The director of JTTI tries to find alternative resources to continue the project.

At the moment I am working for another tourism institute in the capital of Zanzibar, Kawa Training Centre, which is sponsored by the TUI care foundation (www.kawa.org). I will lead workshops for tourism stakeholders about Unesco World Heritage and Destination Marketing. I will stay there till mid august.

I wish you a great summer,
See you all in August!
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you want to know more about the schools or about Zanzibar,
Best regards,
Maaike