This is a letter from Nicola telling us about her time as a volunteer for Trade Aid in Mikindani, in southern Tanzania.

After eight months in Mikindani I am preparing to depart with a mild sense of apprehension about returning to cold and grey Old Blighty, finding work and somewhere to live and dealing with the fact that the Little Chef breakfast I’ll be treated to on the journey back to Norfolk will cost the same as a week’s wages here. Oh well, Qué sera sera. Homeless and jobless, but plenty of tales to tell the girls over a few glasses of wine and a pizza.

I think they’ll be surprised to learn that despite the daily toil required of rural women in Tanzania they do not appear to allow themselves to be overcome by any negative spirit of bondage. Life is incredibly hard, no doubt about it, but the ‘fairer sex’ dominates hardship by accepting it as necessary for survival and embracing friendship and humour as a way of enriching their lives.

It has been with a rather embarrassed awkwardness, so typically English, that I have donned my kanga and flip-flops and taken part in women-only activities.

Despite this, the fact that my Kiswahili is still appallingly bad and that their encouragement was largely for the entertainment value of seeing a ‘mzungu’ woman display her incompetence in performing basic tasks I definitely experienced a deeper sense of what is called ‘female bonding’.

I have learnt to cook chapattis, mandazi, ugali and coconut rice and to prepare an exquisite dish of pilau rice under the patient guidance of Mama Mohamedi, Mama Abuba and her 13-year-old daughter Fikira. Standing outside in the midday sun stirring a pot of sizzling oil over red-hot charcoal left me light-headed and parched, but whilst I fussed about the heat the others just wiped the sweat from their faces with a corner of their kangas and laughed and gossiped.

I have been to a couple of funerals, but visiting Mama Abuba as she lay swathed in a kanga in a darkened room grieving for her father on the day of his burial was an especially significant occasion as my own grandmother had died just a week earlier. Many women resplendent in a myriad of colourful kangas lined the street where the deceased had lived. Most were just chatting or reminiscing, but a group of about 12 women were standing and swaying in time to the deep, guttural mourning chant redolent of primeval times. It was International Women’s Day and being one of them felt hugely symbolic.

A morning’s work at Zainabu’s shamba caused much hilarity amongst our neighbours, but left me tired and my hands blistered. Five of us walked a kilometre to the shamba, hoed out the weeds between the maize and picked cassava leaves and pumpkins whilst being attacked by armies of ferocious ants. Zainabu had lent me her boots, but they were so badly split that my feet were filthy. So, before we headed back to the village she brought me some water and washed my feet for me, not out of deference, but friendship. Walking back we shared the load of the fruit of our morning’s work and carrying firewood on my head I (almost) felt part of one of the hundreds of thousands of small groups of women on whose labours so many people depend.

More recently I finally plucked up the courage to get my hair braided. I sat on the stone seat of a crumbling colonial house and as Mama Fatuma meticulously braided each strand of hair three or four other women took turns to hold down the rest of my unruly locks. While I enjoyed the chat of the women as they gossiped about what they’d done the night before and commented on every passer-by I realised that this was not so dissimilar from a visit to the hairdressers at home!

At the risk of seeming naïve and sentimental I have to say that I am happy to have been able to break through some of the cynicism about cultural barriers with which I arrived in Mikindani and shall leave with an enduring respect for the resilience and strength of spirit of the women of Tanzania.

Thanks to Sherie at Trade Aid. For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com

There were five low cost airline carriers in the UK: Easyjet, Go, Buzz (owned by KLM), Ryan Air and BMIBaby. Easyjet has just announced that it is paying £374m ($524m) for its rival, Go, (which used to belong to British Airways before they sold it to a Venture Capital fund).

The consolidated airline will still be called Easyjet and all Go planes will be resprayed with the orange Easyjet livery and logo. The Chief Executive says that prices will not rise and they expect to face more intense competition from traditional airlines such as British Airways and Air France.

Both companies are still operating exactly as they did before the deal was announced. They will continue to accept bookings over the phone and via their websites. Go and Easyjet will probably continue with their separate bookings systems until at least the end of October 2002. Between them they fly 78 routes. Easyjet says there is little overlap and they have no intention of dropping any of the destinations. They will also continue to operate from their all their existing UK bases.

In early April I took a Eurail/backpacking trip solo through Western Europe. I had the opportunity to travel throughout Switzerland. I gained a great deal of knowledge about Swiss bank accounts and procedures for securing greater financial privacy. I also passed through the tiny independent Principality of Monaco on the French coast near the Italian border.

While in Spain I visited the Andorra Tourist Office in Barcelona. It is located in the mall area of a prominent office complex at the Port of Barcelona. Andorra is located at the very top of the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. It recently won its independence from France and Spain and has since become a tax haven for many Spaniards and other Europeans. Tourists often make a trek to Andorra, 2 hours by train from Barcelona, to purchase duty free goods.

But it was the discovery of yet another tiny tax haven on the Swiss/Italian border that really caught my attention.

Anyone who has ever flown into the Airport at Omaha, Nebraska has had the experience of having to pass through a tiny strip of Iowa after they leave the airport, to get to the city of Omaha. Carter Lakes, Iowa is a geographic anomaly. The town is completely isolated from the rest of the State of Iowa, surrounded by a lake on one side and Nebraska on the other.

Like Iowa, Italy has its own Carter Lakes anomaly in the Alps. Campione D'Italia is completely surrounded by the Lake of Lugano on one side, and the Italian-speaking Swiss Canton of Ticino on the other. The closest point on the Italian border is 11 kilometres away. But the Village has been a part of the Italian State of Lombardy (also home to nearby Milan), for over 7 Centuries.

It is relatively easy to get to Campione. Just take one of the wonderful Swiss trains from Geneva, Basel, or Zurich to Lugano. From Lugano it's just a ten minute ride in a taxi or a rent-a-car to Campione. Or, it's a 45 minute ride – all highway – from Milan.

Its isolation from Italy has given it a very unique status. It is almost like being in another country. It is similar to Monaco in that the town sits on a very narrow strip of coastline surrounded by cliffs. It even looks like Monaco with a Casino, boat docks, and a small palm-lined beach. The population of the town is just over 3,000. The total area is 1.7 square kilometres. Italy administers local governmental functions. However, Campione uses the Swiss banking system, currency, and post office.

It is their system of taxation that outsiders, particularly for those who are interested in financial privacy, may find of greatest interest. Basically, there are no taxes. Campione's only Casino makes enough revenue to support the town. Residents do not pay local municipal taxes, Italian income or VAT (Value Added) taxes, nor are they subject to the onerous taxation from Switzerland.

What's the catch?

Establishing residency in Campione is a little difficult. I speak fluent Italian. So, I was able to converse with some of the locals. They are a little suspicious of outsiders, with the exception of visitors to the Casino. They even seem to be a bit secretive about Campione and it's unique status. They have a good deal and they want to keep it that way. For example, it is not easy to purchase land in Campione or even an apartment, which is the only way to gain residency. Real estate is quite expensive. Though, if you are able to purchase a little land you will receive automatic residency. They say that about 1,000 foreigners now live in Campione taking advantage of its unique opportunities for avoiding taxes and corporate protections.

Libertarians and other financial privacy seekers have searched the world for attractive havens such as Campione. Purchasing a plot of land in the town could prove quite pricey. But this could be a very attractive option for a joint venture?

Note – Eric Dondero R. is the author of the “Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book” – www.portsidelanguages.com. He is an interpreter in Houston and speaks over 20 languages. He is also active in libertarian politics and is an avid proponent of global freedom.