Dalla: Making the connection between communities and conservation

Posted on 22 August 2012 |

Innovation and innovative ideas aren’t always welcomed because they change the status quo. The homestay program in Dalla, which was established in 2010, is an example of such an innovation which was actually rejected in its initial phases before being fully accepted by the community.

Homestay is a form of tourism which allows the visitor to live with a local family in their own household to get better acquainted with the local lifestyle, culture and environment.

“My first reaction to a homestay being built in Dalla was a straight no! I thought a homestay would involve a lot of construction and that I would have to sell my land in order for a homestay to be built here,” was what Mangal Tharu, a member of the Dalla community felt initially. “Another fear that I had was that a foreign culture would corrupt the women of my community. The last thing I wanted was for them to adopt a culture that wasn’t even ours,” continued Tharu.

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