Haji was the first person from
Couchsurfing whom I agreed to stay with after I got his couch invitation. His
profile showed that he was no longer available for hosting, however, he sent me
an email saying that I could stay with him at Zanzibar, an outlying island at
the east side of Tanzania. His profile was full of very very positive comments
and I was looking forward to meet this person.
Helping
Others is the Source of Happiness
Haji was a very generous and humble
person. He hosted me at his rented apartment at Stonetown for a few days, took
me to his village Jambiani which located at the east coast of the island and
stayed at his friend’s seaview villas, served me with all kinds of seafood and
even took me on a sailing trip, everything free of charge even though he was
running a tour company. When walking on the street Haji seemed to be a famous
person as he was greeted by almost everyone. His favorite quote was “po le po
le” which means “slowly slowly”, I felt so connected to this uncle-like friend
as doing things “po le po le” was what I like as well.
Haji shared with me how he is living and
achieving his dreams now. He was deeply affected by his parents since young. His
parents were one of the famous people in the island as they were doing businesses
and had a lot of connections with the locals and the foreigners. They were also
running a union which greeted in the Zanzibar radio and had many fans. When Haji
was young he was writing postcards for posting in the radio, and got to know
many people from his dad’s network.
Co-living
with the Nature
Haji left his village Jambiani and went
to Stonetown as he was chosen to study
Fishery to learn about seamanship in the
secondary school. He stayed in the school hostel for 4 years and met many
people from different schools. Then he went to the National Service which was
like a social camp and he learnt how to live with different people. After that
he joined in the fishery industry for more than 13 years. He kept on improving
himself by taking many short courses. He also joined a big company which got
different fish products in the deep sea and exported to foreign countries. However,
a prawn project his company was involved in started failing Haji decided to
quit his job.
While Haji was in the fishing industry,
he founded a NGO in his spare time to work with different Commuity-Based
Organizations from the local villages in Zanzibar. His NGO used to get fundings
from the western countries, however, political crisis aroused and EU stopped
their funding in 2000. Haji decided to start his own Eco-Cultural Tour company
and stood on his own leg. The main idea is to help people to have sustainable
and ecofriendly way of living. He knows Zanzibar very well and has started
different projects according to the needs. He works with both locals and
foreigners, connects investors to the locals so that one can start a project
one can get a job. He deals with different activities like nursery,
handicrafts, Zanzibar arts, seaweed plantations, sea turtles protection,
plastics recycling, etc. He helps the locals to improve their works on finances
and techniques. Local women and youths are also involved in his projects. Haji
likes nature very much and so far has already planted more than 1600 trees in
the island.
The
World is a Village
Although Haji is no longer working in
the fishing industry, he still describes himself a fisherman. He doesn’t like
to be called a businessman because he would rather deal with fish than money. In
his mind there are only the sea and the local communities. He called all people
from the villages his people, and always thinks about balancing things to
different people. He believes the world is a village now.
Haji also call himself a designer
because he designs life, he has many ideas in his mind and puts them all
together. Like an octopus with a lot antennas, even one antenna is cut he can still
live on.
Teachers
are Everywhere
Haji truly believes in a philosophy “whoever
you meet are your teachers”, a quote told by his parents when Haji was leaving
his village to Stonetown for secondary school when he was 13. As a tour
operator he has met so many people, he got to know about couchsurfing 7 years
ago and has hosted 45 people of different nationalities. He is happy he could meet
and learn from all kinds of people and gains different knowledge. In order to
remember everyone, Haji asked each guest to plant a coconut tree in his
plantation, and to send their national flags over so that he can keep and decorate
his new house.
Haji gave me a wooden keychain of the
shape of Zanzibar island as the present for exchange. A keychain is a chain and
fixes people together to the same goal, which is achieving dreams. The wood is
called Mninga, a very strong hard wood from the biggest forest conservation in his
island. Haji welcomes everyone to visit Zanzibar, as the main purpose of a key
chain is for keeping the key which is to open the door to this beautiful island.
Haji是第一個主動給我發借宿邀請而我又答應的借宿主人，他在借宿網站說自己現在不方便接待客人，可是，卻給我發了電郵說歡迎我到他在坦桑尼亞離島Zanzibar的家中借宿，他的簡介寫滿了非常正面的評價，於是我也很有興趣認識這位借宿主人。
助人為快樂之本
Haji是一個很慷慨和謙虛的人。他讓我在他位於小島市區石頭鎮租住的單位借宿數天，帶我到他成長的農村Jambiani，一個位於小島東岸的地方，一起入住他友人管理的海景度假屋，給我款待各種海產美食佳餚，還帶我坐帆船出海，這一切一切都是免費的，但他明明是做旅行社生意啊！走在大街上Haji像個名人一樣，大家都像認識他都跟他打招呼。他最愛的口頭襌是 “po le po le”，就是慢慢來的意思，和這位叔叔年紀的借宿主人在一起我感到很親切，因為我最愛也是凡事慢慢來。
Haji跟我分享他追夢的故事。他說從前父母跟很多本地人和外國人有生意連繫，他們參與工會和間中在小島電台做節目，Haji小時候就幫忙寫明信片在電台做點唱了。父母在島上也算是有名氣的人，自少受父母影響下，於是他也認識了很多人。
和大自然互賴生存
Haji離開自己農村來到了市區石頭鎮唸中學，學習捕魚和航海的知識，在學校留宿了四年認識了來自不同學校的同學。然後當了一年兵又學會了怎樣跟不同人相處。後來他當了十三個年頭漁民，期間不斷參加不同短期課程進修，更曾受聘於大公司做深海捕魚出口生意，可是，公司最後卻開始經營不善於是他決定離職。
當Haji在當漁民的同時，他成立了一間非營利機構，跟當地農村的社區組織合作。本來機構是依靠西方國家的資助，可是2000年國家的政治危機卻令歐盟決定不再給予他們資助，因此Haji決定自己創立一間生態文化旅遊公司為生。公司的理念主要是幫助人們採取可持續發展和對生態有善的生活方式，由於他對自己的小島十分了解，更能夠按需要開發不同項目。他跟本地人和外國人合作，幫助外國人做投資讓本地人受聘。他從事各式各樣的項目，如幼兒園、手工藝、本土藝術、海草種植、海龜保護、塑膠回收等。Haji更幫助本地人做財務和技術支援，本地婦女和年青人也有份參與他的項目。由於喜歡大自然，他已經在島上種植了一千六百棵樹木了。
地球 是一條村落
雖然Haji不再從事捕魚業，但他仍然稱呼自己為一名漁夫。他不喜歡生意人的名稱，他還是喜歡跟魚打交道多於跟金錢打交道。在腦海中只有海洋和本島村民，他稱呼所有農村的居民自己的人民，時常也在思考怎樣平衡不同的人和事，因為他相信整個世界其實是同一條村落。
Haji說自己也是一位設計師，因為他一直在設計自己的生命。他腦海中常常有很多點子，他會把它們重組演繹出來。他說，他要像一條八爪魚，就算一條觸鬚斷了還是可以繼續生存下去的。
總有我師焉
Haji的至理名言是「無論你碰到誰，誰都可以是你的師長」，這是他十三歲離開家鄉到石頭鎮上中學時父母跟他說的。由於經營旅行社他有機會接觸很多人，七年前開始接觸借宿網站更跟有機會接待了四十五個不同國籍的人。他很高興能夠與不同人相遇和在他們身上獲取知識。為了記得每一位來賓，他每次叫大家幫忙在自己農莊種植一棵椰子樹，然後回國後給他寄一支國旗，讓他可以好好佈置新居。
Haji給我送了一個Zanzibar小島形狀木製鎖匙扣作交換禮物，鎖匙扣就是把擁有相同追夢目標的人扣起來的意思。木頭是來自小島最大的保育森林的硬木。Haji歡迎大家到他的小島作客，就像鎖匙扣的用途是扣起鎖匙，而那就是開啟這個美麗小島的鎖匙。
