Off the coast of Tanzania, welcome to the Zanzibar archipelago, “the pearl of the Indian Ocean”! Heavenly beaches, transparent waters, dolphins, fish, turtles… The archipelago is the new fashionable destination for newlyweds and wealthy tourists. Zanzibar belongs to Tanzania and, more generally, the entire country is experiencing a tourist boom. More than a million visitors each year. A figure that is constantly increasing: in ten years, the number of travelers has tripled. Tanzania has even dethroned its prestigious neighbor, Kenya, regularly hit by terrorist attacks.
But today, this paradise, classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO, is in danger. The political will to increase tourism has led to the establishment of infrastructure on the territories of indigenous populations who very often find themselves expropriated, with paltry compensation.
This is the case of the Maasai chased out to make way for safari 4x4s. Some of them say they were chased from their ancestral lands with guns. Others chose a different path than that of resistance: they headed towards the cities and began mining tanzanites. This fine stone, the country's jewel, which is sold in the most beautiful jewelry stores on the planet, makes the fortune of a few men, but also the misfortune of several dozen children who dig every night with rudimentary tools to find the stone. who will get them out of poverty. If the country attracts highend tourism, Tanzanians still live in precarious conditions. 28% of the population lives below the national poverty line. And only 28% of young people were enrolled in secondary school in 2009. This lack of education is certainly one of the factors in the perpetuation of macabre traditions.
The country's albino children are still regularly considered "lucky charms" once dead. An arm or a head can be exchanged for gold. We were able to enter the closed centers which house blond and white children in extremely precarious conditions. They are imprisoned to stay alive.