ZANZIBAR, THE BACKYARD

​

Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago in the Indian Ocean, is a province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is well known for its picturesque white beaches and turquoise color water. Zanzibar's main industries are spices and tourism and its fancy retreats attract many tourists from across the world. Those retreats are often surrounded with high walls, hiding from the tourists the poor, primitive villages which are literally the backyard.

​

The villagers, Muslim by religion, hardly have any electricity, pump water from wells, use camp fire to cook their food and live in various improvised homes in great poverty. Most children walk barefooted and men and women are often witnessed idle.

​

Those who are lucky, work as fishermen or in the tourism industry as drivers or waitresses.

​

​