Sharon Mowo: A young tourist on a big mission

Exposing your child to new things, cultures and lifestyles is one of the things that can assist them to explore their life goals and hobbies. Had it not been for early life exposure, 11-year-old Sharon Mowo’s name would have been new in the tourism industry in Tanzania and East Africa.

By the time she was 3, her father, Ringo Mowo started taking her and her brothers on road trips around Dar es Salaam. These road trips were first meant to be family time and they slowly turned into one of Sharon’s favourite things to do.

“I would drive them across the city for the fun of it and to make memories with them but as they got older, I realized that Sharon became more immersed in nature, wildlife and environment. My other two children started developing different interests,” he recalls.

One year ago, Mr Mowo started to take his daughter’s passion to new heights by sharing her travels on social media.

By the time she hit 10 in 2021, Sharon’s name started getting mentioned in the halls of tourism industry. Different tourism organizations started understanding her language. Her influence spoke millions of words, just like her posts do.

“My love for the environment is also a result of art. I have been painting things related to the environment since I was much younger. The way I drew beautiful mountains, trees and animals made me appreciate them more when I got to see them all physically,” says Sharon.

She narrates that she has been able to meet people of different cultures and backgrounds and has tasted different foods in the places she visited.

“Tourism has made me appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature and why we should all fight for her survival. I have been able to visit different national parks including Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Sadaani, Manyara, Mountain Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. They were so beautiful to the extent I had wished all places looked like that,” Sharon narrates.

Her favourite traveling experience is when she travelled to Zanzibar where she went snorkelling, food tasting at Forodhani night market and island cruising.

Her exploration in different tourism spots in Tanzania have led Sharon being appointed as one of the tourism ambassadors in East Africa, making her the youngest person to be in that position.

Sharon is also one of the youngest environment activists advocating for a healthy environment free of pollution and she is now on a yearly mission to plant 2 million trees across East Africa and she has so far planted 10,000 trees; some in Kilimanjaro National Park and others in places around Dar es Salaam.