First Day of Teaching

Jambo!

Yesterday i had my first day of teaching at the ahuropeak elementary school. It is a private school, where the kids have to buy school uniforms, so the family is decently well off. But during recess, when they kick off their shoes and run around, you can see most have holes in their socks, and shoes that do not quite fit. and at the end of school you see seven year olds began the long walk home alone, along streets rushing with daladala traffic and bicycles.

The faculty at ahurupeak are so welcoming and friendly, and accomodated my every request. Soon i was in front of thefifth grade, reading from their english text book. When called on, each child would stand up and recite the answer. after english i started an arts and crafts project, and the kids were very excited by all the supplies. Each kid made a paper craft project of their home or whatever they liked - some of them were quite good!

After class the kids fought about who got to carry my bag, and then we went outside for friday afternoon recess. I was immediately swarmed by an army of children of all ages, and guided over to a stone wall. As i sat down, kids started climbing all over me, grabbing my hands and pushing themselves on my lap. 5 girls went for the hair. soon it was a complete mess of braids and knots, and my scalp ached. each kid that came over at least touched it, and then examined my hands, turning them over to examine my creases and veins. thankfully i was wearing long sleeves, because my volunteer partner tyron kept having kids pull at his arm and leg hair.

the children are absolutely adorable, shy and curious, some of them fearless as they immediately claimed my attention. i took out the crafts project of the older children and showed them to the younger ones, and each kid watched, captivated, as i rotated the pictures. i took out my comera to take pictures of them, and they were amazed by the device. soon i had to put it away becuase they had created a cocoon around me, dark and sweaty, perfect for screen viewing, but difficult for breathing. when i left with the other volunteers we waved goodbye, and i promised i would try to get to all of their classes at some point during my stay.

Tyron, Eric and i headed to the widow's project, an event created to raise money for widows and orphans. the place was magical: located in a remote area, a few miles from the street along dust, pocketed roads. as we approached the project we were surrounded by fields and grazing goats and cows, and a group of maasai children folllowed us down the path. as we entered, tanzanians came rushing to us, welcoming us and showing us around. it was like a little day camp, with gardens and a small model of kilimanajaro and mt meru, a nearby scenic mountain. they also had many animals, including four monkeys that they had captured from a nearby forest. each person got to feed the monkeys bananas, and if you could hold on long enough, you felt their little fingers on yours, grasping for the peal. as we sat down and got food and comfortable, a performance began, with acrobatic and native african dance. three boys and two women emerged in tradition dress, accompanied by drums and a xylophone. the performanc went on for hours. it was a wonderful taste of african culture.

this weekend i am traveling to moshi with a group of volunteers, and then to a nearby waterfall. I'm excited to get out of Arusha and see some more of Tanzania.

Yours,

Ariel

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