Throughout the centuries of the colonial age, Zanzibar was claimed, conquered and held by Portugal, Oman and, most recently, Great Britain. The island gained its independence in 1963 and merged with Tanganyika to become Tanzania in 1964. It’s obvious that Zanzibar’s place in the Omani Empire has the strongest historical and cultural impact on the island, despite Britain’s close temporal tie. Over 95% of Zanzibar’s 1.3-plus million people are Muslim. The traditional dress – schoolgirls and women with covered heads – and minarets dominate the island. Read full post…

Working through Fisher College’s Global Applied Projects (GAP) Program, GWI has commissioned a team of six MBA students to do some field-testing of our franchising concept for sustainable water services in Tanzania. These blog posts reflect their experiences as they spend three weeks doing research–and some sightseeing–in various regions of the country. Funding made possible through Ohio State’s Office of Energy and Environment.