Fundu Lagoon resort hotel, Pemba, Zanzibar

Fundu Lagoon is on the Wambaa peninsular on the Western coast of Pemba island. There are over 6 small villages on the peninsular, and the nearest one is Kutukuu.
There is a very poor road to this village, but no running water or electricity. Subsistence farming and fishing is the way of life here, unchanged for hundreds of years.
Many of our staff come from the area of Wambaa peninsular, and we are the only employers here. This puts Fundu Lagoon in the responsible position of being the only source of income to a great many people who benefit both directly and indirectly from the tourism that we bring to the area.
The owners and management of the hotel are committed to helping the local community in whatever way we can - where possible we buy fresh fish daily from Pemban fishermen and our fruit and some varieties of vegetables come from around the peninsular. During the build of Fundu Lagoon in 2000 we dug a well for the village and provided their first ever tap and in 2005 the intention is that the well will now be deepened. We are also currently encouraging the formation of a women's co-operative for the growing of vegetables so that we can buy more fresh organic produce from our doorstep.
Occasionally our guests enjoy walking around the village, accompanied by a member of staff from the hotel who will advise on etiquette and translate for the village children who are always very excited to receive visitors.We also arrange fishing trips in the local trimaran 'ngalawa' boats, which can be an interesting cultural experience, and which often return with a fresh catch for our chef to cook.
In 2006 the village built a school totally funded by guests' donations over 12 months, so there are now 200 more children on the Wambaa peninsular who have education available to them. Thanks to help from guests, school books and equipment has been supplied, as well as bicycles for the teachers to travel to work. This year Fundu is funding the build of a further four classrooms as demand for places has been high.
Each year Fundu Lagoon also invites medical experts to tour the village and identify cases on children with congenital malformations. So far 8 children have been sent to Zanzibar or Dar-es-Salaam for corrective surgery, all sponsored by staff or guests of the hotel.
Another well near the new school is being surveyed, we hope to complete the borehole in four months.
The people in the village would be extremely grateful to any visitors planning to come to Fundu Lagoon who can bring out spare exercise books, used English encyclopaedias, maps, football or other sports equipment, old text books in English, and of course ballpoint pens.
Thank you very much - see you at Fundu Lagoon!

Fundu Lagoon Community Projects update 2006

Fundu Lagoon is a 16 room hotel in Wambaa, Pemba, established in 2000. It is privately owned by three British directors. The philosophy of the hotel has always been to support the local community of Wambaa villages, of which there are six, with a population of approximately 3,000 people. After opening the hotel, as a goodwill gesture, the hotel paid for a village well to be dug which six years later is still supplying Wambaa with fresh water. The villagers are welcome to use the hotel supply boat as a means of transport from Mkoani. The Fundu Office also runs an unnnofficial clinic for any sich employees or villagers, and emergency medical cases from Wambaa, of which there can be up to three a week, are sent to the hospital at Mkoani by fast speedboat. Therefore the relationship between the directors and management of the hotel and the Sheha of Wambaa and the village councils is one of mutual respect and co-operation.

Pemba School Project

In September 2004 a village fund was set up to build a primary school in Wambaa. The only previous school was at the eastern side of the peninsular, and too far for most of the children to walk. Within 12 months, a total of US$15,000 was raised from donations given by guests visiting the hotel. The management arranged with the village to build a 4 classroom primary school. Thus Kungule shule ya msingi was built, and in January 2006 was openend.
The Shehe of Wambaa and future teachers in front of the new school, August 2005
On the opening day, four boxes of donated stationery was taken up to the school, four bicycles were pledged for transport for the teachers, and 172 children in their new uniforms were very excited to begin their education.
The opening ceremony of the school First day at school Bicycles for the teachers. There are no previous school leavers in Wambaa so the teachers have to travel from other areas on Pemba. Eventually there will be local teachers. Fundu Lagoon is now paying for an additional 4 classrooms to be build which will extend the capabilities and the capacity of the school. Eventually it is hoped it will be able to take senior pupils.

Project mboga mboga

The hotel buys as many local products as possible, from farmers and fishermen and craft workers in the Wambaa area. Many vegetables however have to be bought from Tanga on the mainland, by Jihazi dhow, as there are no local suppliers. A womens’ co-operative was encouraged in the village to provide the hotel with the necessary vegetables. Two acres of hotel land was set aside, seedsnprovided, water pumped into a nearby tank, and advice taken from the ministry of agriculture, and the shamba for vegetables, or mboga mboga, was started. Much experimenting laster and there have been some successes and some failures, but the hotel is persevering with the project. It is hoped that the locally grown vegetables will be able to keep the swimming pool area self sufficient in vegetables for guests. Early days – the vegetable plot as it started, now it is thriving with 12 kinds of vegetables The gardening mamas – the hotel supplies all the seeds and equipment, and then buys the vegetables off them at market prices

Operation Village Kids

There are a number of children in the village who have congenital malformations of one type or another, also a few eye and teeth problems. This sort of specialist treatment is not available in Pemba. Fundu Lagoon put aside US$5,000 to help these children. An occupational therapist was brough over from Unguja to identify which children needed the most help, and ‘operation village kids’ was born. Two groups were identified, one who could be looked after at the Mnazi Moja hospital in Unguja, and four who needed to go to the CCBRT hospital in Dar es Salaam. Many of these children had never been out of the Wambaa area before. March 06 – first four little boys with eye, teeth and bone problems are sent to Unguja, accompanied by their fathers. They returned treated in two or three weeks. April 06 – four more kids suffering from club feet and rickets on their way to Dar es Salaam, accompanied by their grandmothers. They were in hospital for 6 weeks. June 2006, pictured with Fundu manager, the same four children return to the hotel from their hospital adventure. One of the kids was Tatu Suleiman, a five year old with two badly developed club feet. Her transformation is evident: She was in pain and unable to walk at all in April as she left us, and then grinning with happiness in June when she returned with both of her feet straightened out and wearing her first pair of shoes. She can now start to attend school.

Current and Future Projects

Fundu is funding a four year old boy with a bone marrow problem to go for specialist treatment. The management has also put $1,000 into a pool of available funds for loans to staff, in order that they can put their siblings through school, or help building their parents’ homes. This cash is given as interest free loans paid back out of wages and approximately 12 staff benefit from this facility every month. The school has also recently had electricity brought to it so that it can offer adult educational courses in the evenings. The main project for ’06 is the digging of a new village well near the school. This will cost $6,000 and funds are being raised to start this in September 2006. We will update on these activities later in the year. General Manager, Fundu Lagoon
August 2006 Fundu lagoon is off the coast of east africa, situated on Pemba Island, the sister island to Zanzibar lying across the Pemba Channel to the north. The hotel is situated on a remote and beautiful beach on the south western side of the island and is only accessible by boat.

There are sixteen tented bungalows, offering spacious accommodation inside and out, set under makuti (thatch) roofs on wooden decks and each with a view over the ocean. The rooms are equipped with large double or twin beds, mosquito nets, ceiling and standing fans, and indoor and outdoor seating areas. Each has an ensuite bathroom with fresh hot water shower, toilet and basin. The rooms are connected to the main buildings by sand walkways. Some rooms are situated along the beachfront with the remaining on an elevated position overlooking the ocean.

Four of our sixteen accommodations are suites with their own private chill out decks and plunge pools. Two of which are superior beach suites with extensive space to relax and a large plunge pool.

We aim to provide the perfect environment for an idyllic vacation, an untroubled haven of tropical sunshine.

The resort offers two bars, a games and television room, an excellent restaurant serving local and international cuisine and a massage and treatment room.

Listed as one of the top diving locations in the world, we also cater for the more energetic holiday-maker with a fully-equipped PADI Resort Diving Centre and a range of watersports including snorkeling and kayaking.

Fashion designer Ellis Flyte and property developers Alex and Marcus Lewis are the directors of Fundu Lagoon.

Fundu Lagoon is a member of zati - the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors.

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