By
Ben Kangwa
All
in a one day tour, Embassies from more than seventy (70) countries from Africa,
Oceania, the Middle East and the Americas, participated in the sixth annual
cultural tourism event dubbed “Passport
DC – Around the World Embassy Tour”
in Washington DC on 4th May, 2013.
Passport
DC is based on the European Union’s Open House, which was first held by the EU
member states’ embassies in 2007 and then absorbed into Passport DC later in
2008. The first two years, Passport DC was held in the first two weeks of May
with three events that attracted twenty eight (28) embassies. Three years ago,
in 2010, it expanded to be a month long and took on more than one hundred (100)
smaller events.
This year, from Africa, Zambia was joined by
Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa
Passport
DC is an international event that showcases Embassies based in Washington DC.
The Embassies open their houses to a wide range of tourism attractions such as tourism,
culture, art, music, textiles, jewelry.
Linda
Harper the Executive Director – Cultural Tourism DC, which sponsors Passport DC
adds, “In DC, we can easily identify connections to even the remote places
simply by passing a building with a foreign flag in front. Passport DC
strengthens those connections by providing opportunities to interact with
people from around the world and by starting a global conversation that fosters
curiosity about other places”.
One of the main objectives of any diplomatic
mission is to promote its country given any little opportunity and Passport DC
proved to be a huge opportunity. For that reason, the Zambian Embassy in
Washington DC played perfect cultural
diplomacy.
Said
First Secretary (Immigration), Ms Beatrice Mwendela, “ We want to promote our
country to visitors, people who live in DC, those visiting DC so they can know
who we are, where Zambia is and what our country can offer in tourism and
culture”.
Delicious,
sumptuous ethnic or traditional food was offered for free at many of the Embassies
and Zambia in particular. The long line that formed outside the Embassy was sign of appreciation of what Zambia
offered by attendees that have been part of Passport DC since its inception.
As
the guests entered the Embassy door, they were greeted at a front desk (by two staffers) whose backdrop was a huge Zambia Tourism
Billboard depicting the colorful Victoria Falls with the inscription on top
‘Zambia, Let’s Explore’ and right at the bottom with a signage – ‘The
tourism icon of the world’
As
the ladies handed over the tourism brochures, the introductory phrase went
something like this, “Welcome to Zambia and enjoy an exciting opportunity to
sample our culture, tourism, exotic cuisine, images and music as we take you on
an unforgettable tour.”
The
visitors were then led to the adjacent board-room whose long table had been totally
transformed into a crafts attraction with a wide range of handicrafts, curios
and Zambian works of arts depicting traditional carvings of animals, masks,
drums, baskets, decorated drums, spoons and stools.
As
the visitors admired the crafts and arts, both diplomatic and local staff were at hand to answer questions or give
guidance about Zambia, making the whole one time visit memorable. What made it
more enjoyable was the fact that an overhead white screen had been positioned
at the end of the hall and a laptop had been connected to the overhead
projector which then beamed a ‘looped’ five minute ZTB tourism DVD to the
excitement of the visitors.
The
DVD mini-documentary captures
traditional ceremonies, wild life, Zambia’s waterfalls, lakes, adventure
activities such as canoe safaris, white water rafting and bungi jumping all in
five minutes and four seconds.
As
the visitors ‘snaked’ their way on the long table full of crafts and curios to
the back of the hall into the library where the food station was positioned,
there was a sweet aroma of tasty , sumptuous Zambian dishes.
The
menu was typical Zambian. It consisted the following:
·
Ifinkubala (caterpillars)
·
Vitumbuwa (fritters)
·
Vingobe(dry corn) mixed with
groundnuts, peanut butter and some just plainly boiled.
·
Tute(boiled cassava)
·
Sweet potatoes as in boiled,
baked and cooked in peanut butter sauce
·
Nsahaba zo kazinga (peanuts
fried without oil)
·
Ichiwaya or Viwaya (Dry
fried corn without oil)
·
Inondo (chicken gizzards)
·
Mponda (boiled pumpkin)
·
Kapenta (small fried fish)
·
Chicken wings (baked)
·
Meat balls
·
Water
With
such delicious food, it was no wonder that the long que kept forming from
opening time at ten hours in the morning to closing time at sixteen hours. The
tourism display, the music and the food paid off with 3, 198 guests having
passed through the Zambia Embassy. The Embassy had reached out to the
Washington metro population and beyond.
------------------------------------------------------------
The writer is Deputy
Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Washington DC
No comments:
Post a Comment