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| Features | | Danish Royal Couple recalls its memorable stay in Tanzania | TUMA ABDALLAH
Daily News; Friday,October 31, 2008 @20:00
| The Danish Queen, Margreth II, is expected to start a four-day state visit to Tanzania on Monday on the invitation of President Jakaya Kikwete. She will be accompanied by her husband, Prince Henrik. Staff Writer TUMA ABDALLAH who was among four Tanzanian journalists who visited Denmark recently gives a highlight of how the Royal couple sees Tanzania and what is their expectation…
We all have memories of places we have stayed or visited. The Danish Queen Margrethe II and her husband, Prince Henrik have no exception.The queen and her husband set their feet on the country’s land for the first time in early 1970’s by then as a Princess and Prince.
The royal couple’s visit to Tanzania came out of an offer extended by King Frederik IX at the end of his state visit to Tanzania.
King Frederik and his wife Queen Ingrid were so overwhelmed and delighted to be in Tanzania especially with the beautiful wildlife and therefore wanted their three daughters and their sons in law to have the same experience.
That was about 40 years ago, a long period by any standard, but Queen Margrethe and the prince Consort still have fond memories of Tanzania. This is because there is for virtually everyone a deep association with and consciousness of the places we visited and especially where we have had particularly moving experiences.
Human beings find the places where they have spent parts of their life preserved in their memory, but also find imprints of their past selves preserved in these places.Therefore, no matter how much Tanzania has changed over the years, I believe the queen’s memories and her imprints preserved in Tanzania will enable her see herself at the age of 30’s when she first visited the country.
“So what has remained in my mind since then are the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park. It was wonderful to see with our own eyes what we only heard about and saw their pictures… incredible wildlife, seemingly limitless plain of mountains…. It was really overwhelming,” says the queen.
She also recalls their visit to the Olduvai Gorge, which was also particularly interesting to her as an archaeologist.“We are therefore very excited to see Tanzania again after so many years and witness so much that has happened since then…we believe things have developed very much indeed,” says the Queen.
Prince Consort says although they may fail to recognize the country but for the landscape due to lots of developments that have taken place, he believes they will experience the same atmosphere and the kindness they were received with over 40 years The Queen says she is particularly looking forward to see again what they experienced so many years ago.
“This time around we have a chance to visit Zanzibar which is completely new to both of us, and is a different world. We are looking forward to visit the place as well,” she adds.
The queen told a team of Tanzanian journalists who visited Denmark recently that this time around she will also have a new experience of Dar es Salaam where she had never been before.
Queen Margrethe says she is coming to Tanzania with a call to further enhance the relationship that has existed between the two countries for many years.“It is a good will visit. We very much appreciate what the people of Tanzania are doing nowadays. We are therefore coming with an encouragement and perhaps an inspiration,” she says.
The Prince says they want to open new ways of seeing each other. “We are coming there with hopes that we will open new ties, new visions with your country so that Danes and Tanzanians can exchange views and experiences and see what the two countries have to exchange in various fields…social, cultural, economic and political,” he says.
Denmark has been engaged in Tanzania since early 1960’s. “Tanzania is one of the first places where people in Denmark were aware of through DANIDA and what they were trying to do. I am delighted to have this long standing relation between Tanzania and Denmark,” she says.
She is also eager to see the outcome of her government’s engagement in various development fields through DANIDA and private businesspeople. “In Denmark we hope that the business sector will be developed further,” she says.That is why perhaps the queen’s delegation involves about 40 Danish businesspeople who she hopes, will definitely strengthen the links that already exist.
The relationship between Tanzania and Denmark which dates back to the country’s Independence, is one of Denmark’s longest lasting friendships in Africa. Tanzania was among the first countries to become a development partner with Denmark. Records indicate that Many Danes have come to Tanzania over the years, among the first were missionaries who arrived here in 1800.
For several years, Tanzania has been among the largest recipients of Danish development assistance, and Denmark is among the largest bilateral donors to Tanzania.This year for example, Denmark expects to disburse DKK 500 million (about 100 million USD) to Tanzania.
The Danish development assistance to Tanzania is aimed to support the country’s attain sustainable and socially balanced economic growth and improvement of the living conditions of its people especially the poorest.
Danish development assistance to Tanzania is part of a considerable foreign assistance to the country, which is disbursed within the framework of Tanzania’s National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty, “Mkukuta”. From 2007, most of the foreign assistance to Tanzania is disbursed in accordance with the Joint Assistance Strategy for Tanzania (JAST), which has been developed by the Tanzanian Government together with the external development partners.
Danish development assistance to Tanzania f under the joint strategic framework, for the period 2007-2011, will focus on promoting a dynamic business sector and improving general health conditions and the environment.Denmark will also support activities to promote democracy and good governance, improve the road network, promote co-operation between Tanzanian and Danish companies, and support refugees and their host communities. | | View Visitor's comments on this Story
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