Our Values
Our Team
Duma is deeply committed to supporting and preserving the economy and environment of East Africa. We use local suppliers and renewable products whenever possible. Since our beginning, we have hired and trained local staff. Guides, cooks, and porters attend language workshops, Wilderness First Responder courses, wildlife training, and driving classes. All staff are trained to follow park regulations as set by the National Parks Associations.
We are one of only six Travelife certified tourism companies operating in Tanzania. Becoming Travelife certified required a rigorous yearlong sustainability certification process involving extensive work and expenses as we addressed various impacts of our business. The certification integrates both management and performance criteria and is based on leading international sustainability and CSR standards and guidelines. To comply with Travelife certification, we overhauled all of our employee contracts and ensured we had proper checks in place for the health and safety of our employees.
KPAP Founding Partner
We are one of the original ten founding partners of Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project. KPAP is the only recognized organization monitoring the fair treatment of porters on Kilimanjaro, and we continually meet or exceed all requirements of fair treatment of our porters. KPAP sends an investigative porter on each and every one of our climbs to ensure that we meet their guidelines for staff safety and support.
Environment
To date, Duma Explorer has offset 155,550 liters of diesel fuel with Carbon Tanzania. This offset helps protect ancestral forests of the Hadza hunter-gatherer tribe. Carbon Tanzania is an innovative organization working with indigenous communities to protect the forests they rely on for survival by securing and strengthening land rights.
Community Investment
Duma Explorer started and built a kindergarten in a rural village on the slopes of Mount Meru. Starting as an unfinished brick structure without windows or a roof, the kindergarten is now fully operational with 85 students. We have built two classrooms, a teachers’ office, kitchen, water tower, and fence. We constructed a pipeline that brings water from a source four kilometers away to the school and local community. We helped two teachers complete two year courses in Montessori education. We have also purchased land adjacent to the school to build the community's first playground.
Volunteer groups arrive each summer to assist with new construction and other projects at the school. Volunteers also tour the village and visit with local families. If you are interested in volunteering, visiting the school, or making a monetary or in-kind donation, please let us know.