In most countries in the world tourism has come to a complete standstill during these last few months. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced most hospitality businesses to shut their doors temporarily, resulting in a massive loss of income and jobs.
For the Selous Safari Company, the well-being of our team remained a priority. Even though we are also severely affected by a loss of income this season, we are doing everything we can to still support our guides and other team members going forward.
Based in Tanzania, many of our guides come from small rural villages where they support multiple families in their community. Guides have been working on a rotational basis with some spending time at home for a few days and then rotating back to the camp. It has been a key priority to keep the team motivated and connected during this time.
With the help of Brian Bode our experienced guide training consultant, we check in online with all our guides every afternoon regardless of whether they are at home or at work. During this time, we have focused on various forms of training and have motivated our guides to stay focused during this difficult time.
Part of this training has been to empower guides by teaching them how to use technology to share their interesting stories and experiences via video that can be shared online. For many guides, especially those who have not grown up with technology this is a daunting task. We have been blown away by their tenacity and willingness to embrace this new challenge.
An outcome of this training is to give our guides the confidence to share their stories and heritage with others. In return we’d like to instill a sense of pride by showing them they are valued and that their stories are appreciated by others. We are really proud of the team and have enjoyed watching their videos and their confidence grow by this process.
This is John Selemani's first video. He is one of our dedicated Selous Safari Guides. Here he tells the story of why he loves Wild Dogs so much. He is presenting from his home in Sambuwanga in Tanzania.
During the next few months we will be regularly sharing these videos with you. We invite you to join us on this journey as you get to know our guides better. The training will continue for the rest of this year and we look forward to sharing our progress with you as we go along.
Even though technology is a great way to share our stories with you, we cannot wait to welcome you back to our camps in person again. We have to admit a story is just so much better when it is told while enjoying sundowners under African skies. If you are lucky you might even hear the distant sound of lions roaring.
We hope to see you back soon!
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