rontiers Following the success of World Female Ranger Day,
Laura French speaks to guides in Kenya and Tanzania to find out how they’re inspiring women to enter the field
SALEH SEIF, COLLEGE OF
AFRICAN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
Saleh is course coordinator at the College of African Wildlife Management
(CAWM). The course provides training for female guides under the Mountain Lioness Scholarship, which was set up in partnership between Exodus Travels and the Robertson Outdoor Bursary (ROB) to support women entering the field.
Q. What does the Mountain Lioness Scholarship involve? A. The scheme offers women in Tanzania the opportunity to train to become fully-licensed guides on Kilimanjaro. Exodus approached ROB to create a scholarship specifically for women and has committed to funding 30 places over a three-year period. In 2020, its first year, 108 women were recruited and undertook their guide training in October. Nine have
now been awarded their full licences and the final lioness will finish her field module this September.
Q. What was the motivation behind the programme? A. The work of the three partners over the past few years has highlighted the inequalities between the number of men compared to the number of women working as guides on Kilimanjaro. We wanted to empower Tanzanian women to access guide training, providing them with the chance to have a career and earn a salary.
Q. What have been the key challenges and how has Covid affected opportunities for employment? A. Tanzanian women are motivated to improve their lives, but convincing them that they are capable of becoming guides and encouraging them to apply for the scholarships was initially a challenge. The travel restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic have also had a massive impact on tourism in Tanzania, so finding work as guides is a challenge in the current circumstances. At the moment, the lionesses are ²
travelweekly.co.uk 12 AUGUST 2021
DESTINATIONS FEMALE RANGERS | ACTIVE & ADVENTURE
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