Farafina Travels
Elements of Farafina Travels
Certification of participation.
Learning and exchange around special interests, e.g. youth work, health, education, entrepreneurship, agriculture, environment, migration through peer visits and organized observations.
International peer-to-peer experiences.
Learning about local culture, history, society and current affairs through workshops, organized visits and discussions with local stakeholders.
Objectives of Farafina Travels
Enable visibility of and exchange about innovative and functioning approaches and practices in the social, economic (and other) fields in the hosting African countries.
Exchange and improved intercultural understanding between international participants.
Improve participants’ knowledge about culture, history, society, politics, environment, and current affairs in the hosting country.
Background of Farafina Travels
Interest in African transformation from all around the world is growing following clear efforts of Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora to lead the way towards wellbeing on the continent. It is welcoming that other citizens of the world are willing to learn from and make meaningful inputs in diverse ways.
However, many people in and outside of Africa do not have the chance to gain first-hand insights and experience the status of wellbeing and processes of transformation ongoing in different African countries so as to learn from, make meaningful inputs, to reflect on and rethink prominent (mis)perceptions. Farafina Institute (FI), in keeping with its goal to support wellbeing in Africa through research, exchange of ideas, good practices and intercultural understanding, organizes Farafina Travels (FT) (study tours) to offer opportunities to interested individuals and groups to visit different African countries in order to learn, share experiences, and exchange good ideas and practices with its people.
It is the conviction of FI that direct contact with Africa enhances appreciation of the diversity of African societies, and a reflection on and rethinking prominent (mis)perceptions about African societies. FT make visible the potentials in countries that are targets of development policies (away from the limiting views about Africans as ‘in need’, but rather towards viewing Africa endowed with sources of innovations and potentials).
Types of Farafina Travels
Footsteps & Handshakes
- Footsteps: we take you out of your comfort zone, away from the ordinary, touristic places and routes, away from mainstream media images and perceptions, away from the comfort of high-class transportation and accommodation.
- Handshakes: we enable you to meet the people of the country you visit, learn from them and about them, exchange ideas and perceptions, familiarise yourself with local cultures and lifestyles.
- This travel will give you a local experience of reflection and learning for a well-affordable budget.
Experience with Expertise
- Study programme for specific interest groups (migration, history & society, social work, education, entrepreneurship, local policy) consisting of field visits, peer visits, workshops and sightseeing,
- Facilitation of learning experiences and exchanges are on the centre of the travel,
- Participants are encouraged to reflect on their experiences (e.g. through a paper, article, presentation).
Locations
Our program currently includes Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe. In the near future, Farafina Travels will be implemented in other African countries as well.