A NINE-YEAR-OLD, repeat nine-year-old,
Standard Four schoolgirl in Moshi has achieved a feat of a lifetime by
climbing Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, claiming a right of
inclusion into the books of records.
The girl, Idda Baitwa, a pupil at Moshi Airport Primary School, has
probably been seeing the mountain from afar daily as it sparkles under
the glittering sun on cloudless or less cloudy days, beaming its
splendour over the municipality.
Idda pulled yet another notable feat by scaling the "Roof of Africa"
via the complicated Umbwe-Kibosho route, making her the first female to
scale the "Kili" through that route.
This is the story of one courageous girl, at nine years a child in
fact, who attempted what most children or even some adults would not
think of doing.
By doing what others would deem "impossible", Idda has sent a message
that nothing is impossible; it just needs the willpower to do it.
The rare feat also helped send a message across the country on the
need for Tanzanians to sample their own tourist attractions, which
abound in the form of national parks that teem with wildlife; lakes,
mountains, rivers, nature parks and the fabled spice islands of
Zanzibar.
It is at absurdity's height to see foreigners in their thousands
arriving in the country and make their way to the game parks, Mount
Kilimanjaro, the islands of Zanzibar and other numerous tourist
attractions when Tanzanians, more so those who live the attractions'
near vicinities, have never been there!
It reminds many Tanzanians of the primary school history lessons'
crap that it was the likes of the Rebmans and Kraffs who "discovered"
Mount Kilimanjaro as if the resident Chagga had been so blind not to
have seen it!
There is, for example, this local driver, who was heading to Moshi;
who shouted in awe as he saw a glittering snowy object up on the skies
ahead somewhere in Mwanga District, wondering what was that he was
seeing.
He was seeing the Kilimanjaro for the first time! Efforts by the
government to promote the country's tourism abroad should be
supplemented by a special campaign to "sell" Tanzania to Tanzanians
through a deliberate publicity campaign to boost domestic tourism.
It's high time we ceased paying lip service to this and embark on domestic tourism on a more serious note.
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