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Wonders of Manka village where German built buildings abound
2007-10-19 09:56:48
By Special Correspondent
Manka is a small village located 40km from Same at an altitude of 1500 mt. above sea level (asl) in Kilimanjaro region. It is a very welcoming village in unforgettable green setting scenery and in the most favourite climate you could hardly imagine.
Same the starting point to this village hosts the most important tourist road in Tanzania when travelling between Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Nairobi. The village is located in Mbaga division in the mountains overlooking Mkomazi Game Reserve and Kisiwani village.
Visitors to Tanzania may easily pass by the southern Pare Mountains. They lie nestled between the icy lure of Kilimanjaro and the warmth of the Indian Ocean. They are not on the famous Northern Safari circuit.
But for the traveller who has the time and inclination to venture off the main roads, these hills offer a warm welcome, a fantastic landscape and group of people with a fascinating history.
Manka is unique in the South Pare Mountains and the local people call it ``Mkoani``. When trying to show pride to visitors that they have almost all basic services which are available in all regional towns.
The services include primary and secondary schools, dispensary, running water, electricity, guest houses and cultural tourism activities organized and co-coordinated from this village.
No one could tell exactly the origin of the name of village Manka and in our search we found out there are other settlements far away in Usambara Mountains also called Manka.
The Chagga call the second born girl child - Manka. We are convinced that the name came from two Chasu/Kipare words-`Mama` and `Nka` meaning mother give me.
The uniqueness of this village is further confirmed by the number of German built structures almost 100 years ago and most of them are still in regular use.
The Lutheran Church is still in good condition being used along with the new church. The building believed to be the oldest is a small stone house which today serves as a village post office. It is said this is where the first German to settle there lived.
Rev. Dannholz lived here when building an executive cottage for himself and family.
The cottage was built with attractive architectural design such that it is hard to believe that there is no one living in the village today who saw it while under construction.
The cottage serves as a mission guest house.
The Germans preferred to live in the mountains where the weather is much cooler and in the same village at an altitude of 2,000mt. asl there are German ruins at a place called Tona which served as farm houses while cultivating wheat and potatoes.
There are also other ruins on the lower slopes of the village which served as farm house for a German called Herrman. This was a German settler who established a rubber plantation whose hopes were extinguished by the 1st world war.
Today there are rubber trees scattered in the area reflecting what went on in the past.
Further down on the plains is another village called Kisiwani which used to serve as a centre for slave caravan route and elephant tusks.
When these places were invaded the local people hid themselves in caves in the mountains which today are a tourist attraction under the cultural tourism programme.
There was a big sisal plantation in Kisiwani run by Greeks and after independence the land was given to the local people and now Kisiwani is becoming a big settlement.
Looking at Kisiwani village from Manka village you will probably be viewing a landscape that could be one of Tanzania’s most dramatic scenery.
The mountain chain around this area and the hills around Mkomazi Game Reserve give an impression of a `Crater’ like formation unique to the area.
There is every reason to believe that the Germans chose settlements in mountains with great care for economic and strategic reasons.
Manka village was left with a heritage of several building after the First World War which to a large extent continue to be in use almost 100 years on.
Whereas in many areas especially in big towns such buildings have been demolished to pave way for sky scrapers the people of Manka have continued to preserve the building as part of their history.
As mentioned earlier it is from this village that a cultural tourism programme is run and looks like what is happening there is in line with guidelines of World Tourism Organization Article 4 section 2 which among others emphasises on preservation and socially responsible tourism in Archeological and historical sites.
The first German to establish the Manka Lutheran Centre was Rev. Jakob J. Dannholz who lived in Manka for almost 10 years and died in Cairo, Egypt on 25/8/1918.
This is the author of the most authoritative book on customs, traditions, cultural beliefs and saying of the vaasu/wapare.
The book was written during his stay in Manka and the manuscript rescued from war captivity in Heliopolis near Cairo Egypt by other prisoners of war from Germany.
In the manuscript a note was found asking his family to make sure that the manuscript is prepared in the form of a book and returned to the vaasu/wapare because it is their history.
It took the family 71 years to make the wish a reality in the book called Lute-Lwedi na Luvivi- the curse and the blessing.
Dannholz was taken as a prisoner of war from Manka and passed through the port of Tanga before he met his death in Cairo Egypt.
It was through other missionaries taken along with Dannholz who made effort to reach the family of Dannholz in Germany.
As part of commemorating the good things that were established by the German missionary work e.g. schools, hospitals, building techniques etc. the people of this village are preparing for celebrations to mark 100 years Jubilee on 2nd February 2008.
Part of the celebrations include the launch the book written by Dannholz in the Kiswahili language. Currently the book is available in an English translation.
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