The issue of women’s rights in Islamic countries like Tanzania can be a sensitive topic but brave young muslim mothers like Aiysha Mohammed are making a difference. Marianne from Green Diosa was visiting Tanzania and spoke with Aiysha about how she started her own foundation focusing on female empowerment and became the first woman to become a certified tour guide in Zanzibar.
Aiysha works as an independent guide offering personalised private tours in Zanzibar that include historical and cultural tours around Stone Town, visits to Prison Island, nature safaris and boat trips including snorkeling and dolphins. Not only is she really friendly, warm and speaks English but she has a wealth of knowledge and has been helping visitors discover the wonders of Zanzibar since 2012.
Aiysha organised an amazing snorkeling trip for us to a place called ‘The Safari Blue’. These are sandbanks that emerge from the sea at low tide and we also enjoyed a delicious lunch on the beach that included fresh tropical fruit.
Aiysha also told Marianne what life was like growing up in an Islamic country and her road to becoming an entrepreneur in a male-dominated society. “When I started my job, there were a lot of challenges I faced but I love my job – really it’s my dream job so I had to overcome those challenges,” she recalls. “In the beginning, I felt like a prostitute because it was rare to see a woman walking around with tourists. I felt a lot of challenges having to deal with hotels, tour companies and different communities but I was really looking for this type of job so I never gave up.”
The traditional role for women in Zanzibar is to stay at home, look after the children, cook, clean and do household chores. Aiysha explained why she wanted to break the mould. “The idea of the foundation is really to help women to be able to work in the places they want to be or aspire to work in,” said Aiysha. “I started my own foundation because after I became a guide I also wanted other women to be able to become guides too or do something they want to do. Being a guide shouldn’t be a job that is just for men in Tanzania. The foundation is also about helping and empowering other women to get a job which men think is just for them but a woman can also do this kind of job.”
Aiysha is clear about what’s required to create a more equal society. “My message for all women is that we don’t have a job according to our gender,” she states. “We can get a job, any job in the world. If you want to be an engineer, a captain (of a boat), a pilot, if you plan to be a driver – any job, if you feel like doing it, it can be yours. So it’s up to you to get up and go and get the job that you would love to do!”
It’s all about what women want, says Aiysha. “Maybe you plan to have your own business or to start your own thing in order to help yourself – you can do it! There’s nothing that is impossible even if you are married, not married or have kids, just understand that you are a woman and if you want to start a business you can do it. What is important is to understand what you need. Maybe you want to be a chef, you want to be a carpenter or if you want to do something else – you can do it. It might not be easy but the important thing is to know what you really want.”
Aiysha, is mother to a young daughter and son from her first marriage and has a son Zahid, 6, and daughter Raya, 5 from her second marriage. “As a parent, it’s not about whether your child is a boy or a girl, it’s about the equality of the jobs they want to do and the skills they have to learn,” she says. “The first thing is education. If education is going well for the community, everything will be easier. In maybe 10 years, I think half of the local people will understand about the equality of the jobs and what a woman’s position is because we play a very important role in life, family and even in the community. Without a woman, you can’t do anything. Many women think you can’t do things because you are not like a man, maybe they think men are stronger than women, but if you look in general you cannot do anything without a woman. In the family, for example,, the woman is number one for everything.”
As a brave, young independent woman wanting to follow her own path in a muslim patriarchal society, family values and relatives can bring more pressure. “From the point of view of my divorce, I was the one who divorced, it was not because my husband wanted it – but because I wanted to be by myself and because I wanted freedom,” states Aiysha. “Freedom is everything in this life. At the start of my marriage, it wasn’t easy for me to chase my dreams or search for my future life but as soon as I got divorced that’s how I started dreaming and now I’m a freelance tour guide!”
“I don’t want to say I’m ever totally satisfied but I am proud of where I am right now because of my decisions,” reflects Aiysha. “It wasn’t easy because the family didn’t support me due to the divorce and wouldn’t allow me to do it but I’m looking to the future. Honestly, being a wife with kids, I’m happy with that and I’m also working with my own business, my own company and I’m looking to empower others also.”
She added: “Marriage is not the end of your life, marriage is just the beginning. Anything that you want to do in your marriage you can. And also a man needs to understand the good things that a woman needs. This is good for life and the community. It’s much better than to just be only at home.”
If you are looking to book a private tour in beautiful Zanzibar and want to help local women, there’s no better way to do so than booking with Aiysha! You can contact her here: facebook.com/discoverzanzibarwithaiysha or via WhatsApp +255 716 199 415
