The Wana Wake project is an initiative of the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Girona, aimed at opening a new pathway for employment for women from local communities in Kigoma, Tanzania, through responsible tourism. To this end, it supports a small cultural tourism agency, the Eco Cultural Tourism Office, which hires women to offer local experiences to visitors or travelers arriving in this remote area. Kigoma is a peaceful region on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and, far from the usual tourist routes, has great potential for tourism.

 

Wana Wake, in collaboration with the University of Dar es Salaam and focusing on the Kigoma Tourism Office, seeks to address challenges such as the feminization of poverty, gender-based violence, and barriers to education, improving the economic and social situation of local women through responsible tourism initiatives. Dr. Konstantina Zerva and PhD student Luisa Díaz have been responsible for auditing the tourism offerings of the office, the only one in the area run by a woman, in order to redirect them when needed and make them more attractive.

 

This website and the Instagram channel of the Eco Cultural Tourism Office are the result of three consecutive final degree projects (TFGs), which aimed to give greater visibility to the work being done in this business. With direct and clear communication, based on a contemporary and strong graphic design, the students of the Advertising and Public Relations program at UdG – Maria Franco (2022), Berta Tarradas (2024), and Laia Cosculluela (2025) – directed by Dr. Sílvia Espinosa, are the authors of these results.

 

Wana Wake is funded by the Social Commitment and Career Guidance Unit of the University of Girona, through the call for grants for development cooperation projects.

 

The Wana Wake project has been showcased in Girona through exhibitions such as these.  

 

The first (2023) supported the Duhamabi sewing project of the NGO Karibia, located in Kigoma. It was displayed at all UdG campuses and at the Girona Journalists’ Association, among other locations.