WORDS by KATARINA MANCAMA | ORIGINAL CONTENT AND IMAGES SUPPLIED by ASILIA AFRICA
‘An empowered woman can do anything she sets her heart on,’ says Angel Vendeline Namshali.
With no formal training, Angel entered the hospitality industry sorting linen in the laundry. Today, she is the Camp Manager of Asilia Africa’s exclusive Dunia Camp in the Serengeti.
Rural Tanzania, like many other places in Africa, is a patriarchal society that considers a woman’s role to be at home; caring for her husband and children as well as the ageing generation, cooking, cleaning, fetching water and everything else that the reality of running a household in this harsh environment entails. Despite these odds, Angel is one of few women from her village who has managed to challenge this assumption, and in doing so has become a powerful role model for women and girls, both in her profession and at home.
Angel puts her success down to her family, who supported her to reach for her dreams in every way they were able to. She could not to go to university, because her brother’s fees had to be paid first. “I cried for weeks when I found out,” she says. But her family supported her in her quest to get a job in the hotel industry, although society at large was expecting her to take on the duties of a wife and mother like other women in her situation. “My community was very dismissive of my choice in the beginning. They’re not laughing anymore; now my parents and my community look to me as a mirror and I am constantly asked to give advice to young girls. I tell them all: make sure you finish school, don’t let men take advantage of your bodies. Sometimes I use my own money to reward girls who have passed an exam well.”
There is no doubt that Angel is a strong and unique woman. So it should come as no surprise that despite having never been to the bush before, she kept her calm even in the event of a face-to-face confrontation with a lioness on one of her first guest call-outs. The nervous guest didn’t feel quite the same way, and, refusing to open her tent, left Angel outdoors to deal with the situation! Despite the inherent dangers, Angel loves the bush. “It’s such a harmonious environment to live in and I never get tired of it,” she says.
This article is part of our Women’s Month series about extraordinary women in Africa. But truth be told, every day should be Women’s Day. In the words of George Monbiot:
“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.”
Dunia is a tranquil semi-permanent camp with just eight spacious tented suites, each with expansive views of the pristine wilderness and game-filled plains from a large private veranda. Attention to every detail is balanced by a graceful simplicity in harmony with the serene location.
Asilia Africa is a regional leader in sustainable tourism development. They view each area where they operate as a whole – places where people and nature are inseparable partners. By collaborating with communities, authorities, non-governmental organisations and other tourism companies, Asilia achieves the best possible long-term outcomes for all concerned.
More information about Asilia Africa and Dunia Camp
