By Hilton Mwabili
A new research has been unveiled within the Mida creek to unearth the rich ancient maritime and terrestrial cultural heritage to be used for building resilience in the community through tourism.
The research done by the National Museum of Kenya (NMK) revealed that the area has rich underwater and mainland heritage that dates back many centuries which can be used as a source of livelihood for the community by adding them to the existing tourism circuits in the country.
Authorities sourced funds for the research and are using a group of women called Bidii na Kazi to promote the sites and enable them to get income from it.
Dr. Purity Kiura the Director of Antiquities Sites and Monuments toured the Mida creek and met the women who have undergone diverse training on how they can benefit from the resources available.
She said NMK found it necessary to work with the women because it was an ongoing women group established 16 years ago and had never had a success story.
The aim she said was to create cultural related sustainable projects which can enhance tourism and the livelihoods of those groups of people.
”We wanted to enhance specifically ocean-related or maritime related culture of tourism and within the Coast of Kenya there are a lot of Cultural sites some of them are already discovered and some are not,” she said.
Kiura said they realized within Mida Creek, a lot of research had not been done in terms of what are the cultural and tourism sites that people can visit and how they could be brought on board to form part of the tourism circuit in the country.
She said in the project they developed will be showcasing some of the cultural and historical sites within Mida creek.
The Director said research has already been done and NMK discovered three sites which are of historical importance.
”These are mainly historical settlements where people lived in the past like if you compare them to Gedi Ruins, so they are that kind of settlements some of them have even evidence of wells which were being used then and have been abandoned,” she said.
The further added that their aim is to bring the community which live within the Mida creek to see the value of cultural tourism and what they do as an institution.
Other aspects of environmental conservation include developing nurseries from mangrove seedlings and planting them within all the area threatened by erosion and human activities.
Ciza Bita an Underwater archeologist from the NMK who is the lead researcher in the project said their aim is to utilize maritime cultural heritage to better or create resilience among the community in Mida Creek.
Bita said the project began in 2015 after doing underwater archaeology that included diving from Watamu creek to Mida to map and identify submerged underwater cultural heritage.
