Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2011

Photo by Fanny Schertzer. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Digital communications may have made the world feel a lot smaller, but when it comes to forming human connections, there’s no substitute for being physically in the same place. Such was the inspiration for Open Mind Tanzania (OMT), a Dar es Salaam-based NGO that aims to make it easier for field researchers to come to the African country—with an emphasis on Japan.

OMT is all about person-to-person contact. The group has organized an intercultural exchange that brings together volunteers from Tanzania and abroad to work on social and economic development activities. To encourage applicants, it is serving as a kind of research concierge, setting up local contacts in line with a volunteer’s area of study, lining up accommodation, and suggesting places and activities of cultural significance. Individuals are still responsible for preparing and funding their research, but OMT will facilitate the planning and arrangements.

OMT calls the initiative Tanzania-Global Volunteers Link, and project director Sukemoto Yamashita is particularly eager to get his Japanese compatriots to participate.

If Tanzanians have had any contact with foreign visitors, it was probably with Europeans or North Americans. However, Yamashita thinks his fellow countrymen and -women can offer a new and worthwhile perspective. “If Japanese volunteers came here, it [would be] an excellent opportunity for the local community to have a cultural exchange and to learn about real Japanese culture,” he explains.

Of course, local communities aren’t just getting to meet Japanese people; they’re also having the chance to work with volunteers on grassroots projects that improve their quality of life. OMT focuses on initiatives promoting education and entrepreneurship among Tanzanian youth, such as business planning seminars and microfinancing projects. Organizers also expect the increased tourism to provide a boost to the local economy.

According to Yamashita, they are hoping that visitors’ input will have a positive knock-on effect. “In dealing with development issues in Tanzania, the local community is focusing on the domestic perspective,” he says. “By involving the international community, they would be able to receive a global perspective.” In addition, the research conducted by visiting students and professors will serve as a resource that can be used in creating new programs.

So everybody wins: the Tanzanians can forge connections with the outside world and create projects that benefit local communities, researchers will be able to make the most of their time in the field, and OMT gets access to information that will help them to better serve the public. How’s that for real-world connectivity?

To find out more about Open Mind Tanzania, see http://e-kankanderi.com. If you are interested in participating, email Yamashita at omt.projectmanager@gmail.com.