The National Monuments authority of Tanzania has requested a Paris-based French non-governmental organisation, Chantiers Histoire & Architecture Medievales (CHAM), to participate in conservation programmes on the two UNESCO
World Heritage Sites on Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara in Kilwa District, Lindi Region, with an aim of exposing Kilwa to the global tourism. Staff Reporter, PETER TINDWA reports on the proposal.

Chantiers Histoire and Architecture Medievales (CHAM), a Paris-based French non-governmental organisation, manages a three-year work— training project, providing supervision to a local team engaged in conservation of the monuments and establishing visitors’ trails.

CHAM’s International Co-ordinator, Louisa Crispe, told The Guardian in Kilwa, late last year, that the aim of the project on Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara islands was to train 15 local youths and a local team manager on techniques and management of conservation work so as to ensure local autonomy afterwards.

Crispe, says from its knowledge and experience gained in France, CHAM has been transferring its know-how to conservation volunteer activities and heritage training whilst adapting its projects to local contexts such as the ones in Kilwa District, Lindi Region.

“Our aim is to reinforce heritage conservation capacities and skills in order to facilitate local management of Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara World Heritage Sites,” she stated.

Through inclusion of volunteers from Kilwa District and neighbouring areas, projects of Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara might in the near future become heritage sites for regional training programmes, Crispe adds.

Offering conservation training to local people requires special attention, she said.

CHAM pays special attention to local community involvement, especially that of young people so as to ensure that its activities are part of a sustainable development process.

The operations are run in partnership with State heritage services such as Tanzania Antiquities Division in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism together with local authorities.

The CHAM’s International Co-ordinator commended the United Nations Education, Scienfic and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for being a special partner in a number of heritage partnership projects in Africa, including those in Kilwa, Tanzania.

In African continent, a number of projects in conservation of world heritage sites and the two projects on Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara are supported by the French Embassies in different countries.

CHAM has been established with a view to bringing together motivated people, particularly youth to take action to preserve built heritages. For over 20 years CHAM has been contributing to at least 50 heritage sites in France through participation of thousands of its volunteers.

The organisation operates on these sites at the formal request of public authorities which own them and each project is approved by the relevant State bodies dealing with youths and heritage.

A French Work Supervisor based permanently in Kilwa-Kisiwani, Eddy Herque, says that CHAM’s French heritage conservation activities were of three main types:

‘Youth volunteer projects like the one in Kilwa-Kisiwani and Songo-Mnara which bring together young people for a few weeks to do conservation work on a site through supervised team,’.

Another French Architect also based in Kilwa-Kisiwani, Pierre Blanchard, added that the second type of activities involve historical monuments training sessions.

“Such kind of historical monuments training sessions are short courses which include practical conservation work as well as theoretical units on historical monuments and conservation techniques,” he said.

Students from the University College of Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS) in Dar es Salaam have already started to benefit from historical monuments training sessions offered to them in Kilwa.

Other activities involve work training projects w-hich are specifically based on-job training courses for unemployed people over long periods.

The French Attache for Development Cooperation in the French Embassy in Tanzania, Adrien Haye, noted that the heritage founded in the 9th Century, was the most important City-State along the East African Coast by the 14th Century when it was at the height of its power.

Haye observed that such power was possible because Kilwa had secured commercial contacts by which goods, notably gold from the African interior were traded with countries as far away as China.

He said that from the 15th Century, with the arrival of the Portuguese and then Zimba invasions, Kilwa had to decline though there were some revival during 18th Century by Arabic Sultans through Slave Trade.

However, Haye said that the importance of Kilwa was still reflected in its spectacular stone-built monuments.

The monuments include Gereza Fort which was first built by the Portuguese in 1505. Great Mosque, an exciting piece of Islamic architecture on the East African Coast and Makutani which was an 18th Century Palace surrounded by walls with towers.

Other monuments are Husuni Kubwa, one of the largest East African monuments and an early 14th Century Palace and Trading Centre with numerous courtyards.

Songo-Mnara is an extensive remains of a city that competed with Kilwa-Kisiwani until 14th Century. The impressive houses today in ruins are a testimony to its former wealth.