Our project aims to develop additional sources of income for economically-disadvantaged young men and women through establishing an astrotourism programme at the Mount Meru Astronomical Observatory (MMAO) in Arusha, Tanzania.
Tanzania has among the highest rates of vulnerable employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Workers in vulnerable employment often have inadequate earnings and have to rely on multiple sources of income to meet their daily needs, as single sources of income are often unreliable. Young people and women, in particular, are most susceptible to vulnerable employment. The rate of youth in vulnerable employment is almost twice as high compared to older adult workers in Arusha. In the same region, women face both higher rates of underemployment and vulnerable employment.
For the first stage in our proposal, we will start running stargazing tours at MMAO and train four disadvantaged young women and men to be stargazing guides in Ngongongare, a rural village in Arusha’s Meru District where the observatory is located. When conducting tours, these guides will be compensated above Tanzania’s living wage, improving their financial stability. Youth will receive quality training from our team of astrotourism industry professionals and experienced educators, and learn how to explain astronomical objects, use binoculars and telescopes, and deliver inspiring and entertaining tours at MMAO. To drive visitor numbers and the paid opportunities we can provide to youth, we will open multiple booking channels and form commission-based partnerships with local accommodation providers and tour operators for guest referrals.
In our proposal’s second stage, we will train four additional youth as stargazing guides, and partner with accommodation providers outside Meru District interested in running stargazing tours at their establishments. These partners will mainly be safari lodges in Tanzania’s national parks, whose guests are largely out of our reach from Ngongongare. We will start with MMAO guides running paid stargazing tours at lodges, reaching them with a mobile stargazing outfit that is easy to transport, set-up and use in remote, off-grid locations. The model in this stage can be scaled, allowing us to expand our initial cohort of youth. As we improve the livelihoods of additional guides, others in their traditionally-underserved communities will be inspired to learn astronomy to improve their livelihoods, driving economic transformation in these regions.
Furthermore, most of the profits from this programme will help maintain and expand our existing educational programmes. Public schools in Tanzania face some of the lowest rates of government education spending in the world, leading to very high student-to-classroom ratios and insufficient resources in the classroom. MMAO has 10+ years experience in resolving these issues and delivering science education through our teacher training programmes (TTPs), MMAO ambassadors & astroscience clubs.
