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Published: July 11th 2010
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R is taking me to Jecaan (G-can) Mission School to be introduced this morning. I go downstairs to a breakfast of fried eggs and bread with peanut butter. Now this is no ordinary peanut butter. It's in a bucket and is thin and watery on the top and very thick on the bottom. Luckily, SK, a fellow American, warns me to stir it first. Actually tastes pretty good ,but really sticks to the roof of your mouth. SH mentions that I can start teaching today. (Guess I better go back to my room and get some resources. lol. Nothing like jumping straight in.) It's quite a ways down Tegeta Road, about 35-40 minutes, then we turn on a side "road"/path (like on of the trails off the main trail at Rock Cut) and down just a bit past a few businesses in shanty type buildings. We turn right down a dirt/grass road and the school is very nearby.
It has a nice outdoor area with a wooden swingset and slide and quite a bit of grass. The school building itself consists of 4 open-air rooms with no lights or fans. It's made with concrete with wood panel dividers between the
rooms. One room is used for an office/kitchen and the other 3 are classrooms. It's been painted by AIT volunteers with ABC's, numbers, parts of the body, rainbow w/colors, etc and looks quite nice. I'm introduced to the headmaster and superintendent type person. Both are very gracious in welcoming me. I talk with SL, the superintendent, for awhile while we eat tea and scones (like donuts sans frosting--yum). I learned a lot about the town of Tegeta. The sign posted on the office wall shows the town has about 11,000 people--60% men, 40% women. The children's parents have to pay for them to go to school there and they all wear uniforms and all walk to school. Children are not required to go to school in Tanzania and the government doesn't subsidize schooling. Most children, he says, go to school from 6-14 and begin working at 18. He tells me Tanzanian women bear many children. His wife had 4, but many village women bear 10 or more. It's a sign of strength and womanhood. He also said that if God wills it, he'd like to have a wife from my country and asked if I thought that was possible. (Um,
uncomfortable?) Well sure, I say, God can do anything. He brought me and my husband together and he's the love of my life. Time to head to the classroom now.
I choose to teach English in Grade 1 which ranges 3-6 in age and there are about 22-25 children. Teaching is a bit scary since they know little English. We focus on ABC's and I have the students do a trace worksheet of the alphabet. Then we do flashcards of beginning sight words. The older kids know all the letters but only some repeat the words. I'm sweating buckets and wishing like hell I'd bought another bottle of water, when SH and C from Real Gap stop by. I feel a little bit of pressure, but they're both so nice it almost helps to have them there. SH offers to stop back by and pick me up when they return from Tegeta--sounds perfect! I do a quick lesson on numbers where the children get to color and the LOVE it! Then the children eat porridge (which looks absolutely disgusting) and play outside for about 20 minutes. By this time, the teacher has disappeared and the two helpers want me
to continue teaching. My lesson was about an hour and a half long and my bag is out of tricks for the day. After all, I'm teaching only one of several subjects they have there and then I'm supposed to assist the teacher with the other lessons. So, I ask if I can watch them teach and help the students. One of them has the students take turns reading what's on the baord and the other talks on her cell phone then comes back and has them sing a song. (Shake your body or booty, I couldn't quite tell, but they all shook it) Soon, SH and C were back to pick me up and head back to the hotel for lunch.
The afternoon brought Adult English which was awesome!! The classes are held at Bahari which is only about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. I had the intermediate and advanced classes combined. There is a Masai tribesman in traditional garb that is possibly the coolest thing I've seen so far. I was really nervous about planning a lesson on the spot right after lunch, but one of the team leaders, E, helped me come up with
an idea for a debate and stayed with me during class. The debate question was, Is education the best way to end poverty? They were SO lively and very passionate about their discussion. I spoke briefly about American education prior to the debate and they went on for over an hour. After class, several students walked E, AL, the young brit teaching the begginers class, and myself to the main road. They said they liked the lesson and E said I did really well. If I could do that the whole time, I'd be thrilled. But I suppose that would be less of a challenge.
Dinner is chicken (possibly from the hotel. lol) and chips. The chips were SO delicious and I don't even eat french fries at home! Sitting at the long row of circular homemade coffee tables, eating off of hand-me-down mismatched plates, I was a bit awestruck by the fact that I was having dinner with 20 people and besides a few Americans, everyone else was from different parts of the world--Denmark, Finland, UK, Germany, Sweden, Canada--and we were all in Africa!
Oddities--You have to get toilet paper from the bar. You also leave your
room key there every time you leave since there's only one key per room. They have cable on the bar TV including Nickelodeon and several MTV stations. (I heard "Just a lil bit" by 50 on MTV bass>) I was also surprised at how much American music is played on the radio stations there. At breakfast I heard "Summer of 69" which, of course, made me think of dancing to it with my girls, which made me miss home and my Dan terribly. Fighting back tears at the breakfast table was quite possibly the most difficult task of the day.
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Sandra
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Mambo!
Angi, interesting read and I'm so looking forward to your updates! It's great to hear that you had an amazing time, it was challenging but you know, it's all part of the experience :) You've been a fantastic volunteer and Tanzania misses you! Sx