Spotlight: Aang Serian

The House of Peace in Tanzania

CLAIMING AND PRESERVING CULTURAL IDENTITY IS A value that is shared by almost everybody; from the small-town farmer in lowa to a shaman in Peru, most people believe in their way of life and have the fundamental idea that their lifestyle is of the best on Earth. Some cultures, however, have the tendency to impose their beliefs and values on other people who, in their eyes, are less "civilized" and "savage". The aggressive methods and attitudes of these imposing cultures tend to weaken, and often destroy, traditional culture, and societies across the globe without preserving the integrity of indigenous values and way of life. While some people rush to embrace the "modern" ways, others understand the importance of keeping their culture, and they form alliances and organizations to further their protective efforts. In Tanzania, Aang Serian ("House of Peace") is one such organization.

Aang Serian is a global NGO (non-governmental organization) that was founded in March 1999 in northern Tanzania.

Aang Serian believes that self-esteem can be built by refusing to be labeled "underdeveloped" and that identity can be built by rediscovering traditions. They also hold firm that the economy can be built by using the skills and knowledge of the ancestors and that a peaceful society can exist by promoting dialogues between ethnic groups. The organization is non-political and non-religious and does not promote any specific religion or belief system or political movement.

Aang Serian Peace Village members have committed to various goals and objectives, including:

• Promoting friendship and understanding between people of different backgrounds and cultures

Adopting indigenous knowledge and skills to solve

problems like poverty, education, and disease

• Protecting the environment and indigenous intellectual property rights

• Furthering spiritual development

• Fighting stereotypes and discrimination and resisting materialism and consumerism

• Promoting honesty, openness, and unity

• Furthering equal opportunities for women and minority

To date, there are 600 members of Aang Serian, and the group is very active. Some of their programs include a community school, a medicinal plant handbook, international outreach. fundraising, and a recording studio. The organization is not funded by donor agencies; it is funded by a fair trade shop that is run by the group (and also by individual donations). The Aang Serian Fair Trade shop offers space to sellers for their wares, and Aang Serian makes 15-20% of each sale.

AANG SERIAN

COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Aang Serian has opened a school that teaches not only the national courses of study in Tanzania, but also the indigenous knowledge. Currently the school teaches about seventy students.

The school "exposes students to our local systems of knowledge that have been ignored for so long," says Mohamed

Yunus, a founder of the organization. The indigenous education in the Aang Serian Community School is broad: "The course is comprehensive and touches on a wide range of subjects, such as traditional laws, uses of plants, traditional systems of health, marriages, sayings, tongue twisters, and proverbs. The course is topical and thematic, and the student is expected to conduct his own research and investigation," explained Yunus.

Indigenous education at the school includes learning from elders.

Each student receives a list of questions to ask their parents, grandparents, and other elders. Topics treated are personal and local histories, oral literature, ceremonies, daily life, health, and the environment.

Students are also offered the opportunity to document their life with a video camera. "Currently we have stories made by Masai, Segeju, and Chagga youth about their lives and the villages they come from. Some of the documentaries are about medicinal plants, rituals, cows, and other important elements of traditional life," says Yunus.

Documentaries are screened in towns and are sold in the Fair Trade shop. Some are marketed abroad as well.

AANG SERIAN

COMMUNITY STUDIO

Hannah Wheatley, an American student who came to Tanzania to do research, donated a microphone, tape recorder, and a mixer to Aang Serian.

With these modest materials, a recording studio was started. The studio "records and documents traditional and modern songs. Songs are our books and the memories of the ancestors," said Yunus.

Recordings are not limited to music, however - interviews, proverbs, field participate in and design a mechanism to own their resources and protect it from exploitation," Yunus explained. "Most plant knowledge is retained by elders, and the youth need to be involved in this important work."

Compiling a handbook of traditional herbs is an invitation for European exploitation, and such a project must be handled very vigilantly.

How is Aang Serian protecting their knowledge?

According to Yunus, they are sharing information about biopiracy and exploitation to the public and have created an Intellectual property rights charter that must be signed by any visitor. "The document is an agreement between the visitor and Aang Serian that the visitor will not exploit the community in question and his/her capacity is just as an observer. It is not a legally binding document and this may be a weakness," he said.

The fact that the charter is not legally binding is a huge weakness, and one that is sure to be exploited. By making this knowledge available to others, Aang Serian is risking their knowledge and culture in a most detrimental way.

"The concept of ownership of land or knowledge by individuals in our society is still problematic. Traditionally, land and knowledge belong to everyone, so there are no rigid structures to protect information. Of course, healers are very careful not to reveal their secrets to any person they don't know or trust.

Traditional healers work on unwritten rules that can be easily abused. Our cultures did not evolve with concepts of in-dividual owner-ships," Yunus said.

Unfortunately, these issues are the cause of thousands of cases of traditional medicinal knowledge being stolen from indigenous people throughout the world. If an organization truly wishes to protect their knowledge, culture, and in-terests, much more work is needed to ensure this result.

Aang Serian does not start a project without a complete consultation and agreement with local communities involved.

As an independent organization, Aang Serian is one example of indigenous people taking their future into their own hands.