Well hello there.
I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself today- bear with me! If feel like so much goes on that I can’t remember what I’ve already said.
I’ll begin with school in the past few days. I’ve been getting more one-on-one time with certain kids during their break. I think the children are starting to understand, though being left alone with one child for more than 5 minutes is still kind of a miracle. I work the weaker kids on math, and I bring in some colourful foam cut-outs of animals and shapes that they can use to count (they are from the resource centre here at CCS). They really like that but it’s hard because I don’t have enough to bring for everyone- just enough to bring for 1 or two kids and the others get very jealous. Some of the kids just really can’t associate counting with the actual number yet. I need to be more creative so I get through to one child specifically because my teacher, Betty, says that other volunteers have tried very hard with him in the past to no avail. A lot of them don’t have their own pencils so Betty has to give them out for each lesson, but often kids take them and lose them so I brought nice new ones today from the resource centre. The kids were so excited to see these nice pencils and of course they started fighting over them. They fight physically with each other a lot and I can only attribute that to part of the culture here that hitting is ok. Our English lesson is going well, we’ve started working on names of animals. My other class, the standard 1’s, are really benefiting from the English number sounds I made and put in their class. I don’t teach them as often but each time more seem to get it which is a good sign. Something really funny about Tanzanians: They put the sound “ee” after almost every word in English. When I say “Snake”, the kids repeat, “Snakeeee”, no matter how many times I say it! It’s actually so funny. Another example, people say “beachy” instead of just “beach”. And not one person can pronounce my name. I’m “Gel” here, or even just “dada”, which means sister.
On Thursday I am running a discussion at a secondary school with just the girls there. The ratio of girls to guys is so low and I know that many girls don’t end up finishing school or end up having children young. I want to tell them how much potential they have and I want to express how much is out there for them to aspire to. I’m bringing 3 other volunteers with me to help facilitate the discussion- I really hope it goes well, and if it does, hopefully I can do it again.
I’m also really pumped becaused Mama Thea (the Tanzania Program Director- most inspiring woman I’ve ever met, I will write about her later if I have time) arranged a meeting for me with the District Education Minister. I think I’m going next week. There are so many things that bother me about the primary education system and I just really want to meet with this woman and ask her questions. The challenge will be not to criticize but to just ask questions to find out the reasoning behind everything.
Tomorrow all the volunteers are going to help build a chicken coup for a lady who is very sick with AIDS. She has children and cannot support herself so she has the kids sleep in one room of the house and she sleeps in the other with the chickens. I’m looking forward to helping because I think this will make things a lot easier for her.
Some other fun highlights last week:
I taught our program director (Mama C) how to swim. We only had 1 lesson but I’m hoping we can get back to the pool for more. We went to a hotel pool for the afternoon and had a great time. I taught her how to float on her back and she was absolutely adorable.
Last week was had a Swahili cooking lesson. And, well, I’m in love. You are all invited to the Rodaks post-trip for some chipati. It is this amazing bready thing and I cannot explain until you try. WOW. That same night we had a performance at our home base. A while ago I wrote about a home we went to whose family is a very popular music and dance group. They came with their instruments and costumes and did a while performance. I loved it. They really are talented.
THE SAFARI!!
Wow. Amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever go to a zoo again.
Our guide picked us up in the jeep Friday morning (we could open the roof and stand up and outside the top during the safari drives- it was awesome) and we drove to the Mikumi Wildlife Camp, about 5ish hours from Bagamoyo. We stop in Dar Es Salaam on the way to change some money, and he took us to this beautiful mall. I was so happy to see it because my perception of Dar thus far has been pretty negative. Anyhoo, the mall had a grocery store!!!! And what do you think I bought? Cereal of course. And wine ( I know I make you proud ma). As we approached the camp we saw baboons just chilling in the middle of the road. It was hysterical. We got to the cam around 3:30 in the afternoon and went for our first drive around the park which ended at sunset. It was so beautiful. The land are for the most part made up of very tall grass but somehow our guide managed to see a lion!!! There aren’t many lions in that camp so we were all very excited. He was lying down but we saw his face at one point and with our guide’s binoculars we could see everything in detail. I never realized how scary lions faces are! I should break for a moment to tell you about our guide. His name is Ali Billali. HAHAHAHA. We just called him Bill. He was so knowledgeable and his claim to fame is that he was one of the guides on Geore Bush’s safari when he came here. We really lucked out with Bill. On Saturday we did an early morning drive and another sunset drive and in between had a few hours to just sit at the pool and read and listen to music. It was so nice. The had all meals prepared for us which were pretty impressive for being in the middle of nowheresville, Tanzania. Our lodge-house thing was pretty creepy but I’m glad we stayed there because I really felt like I was roughing it. There were some really strange looking bugs in our rooms ( I happened to shower with one so we became close quite fast). They turn off the electricity at 10pm so there was absolutely no light. To top it all off, our lodge was right in the camp. AKA animals could very easily walk around and pay us a visit. Actually, on the Saturday night, I stayed up reading a bit after the others went to sleep. When I got in to bed, about 5 minutes later I heard some banging on the door. And it was nothing light- this was intense banging and I heard some fiddling with the locks and stuff. My mouth went completely dry and I was shaking all over. It was pitch black, I didn’t want to wake anyone up to scare them, so I just lay there shaking for about 15 minutes until it finally stop. My mind was racing a mile a minute. I started praying to god a lot, all I wanted to was to wake up in the morning in one piece! After an hour, I calmed myself down and fell asleep, though I kept waking up. When our alarm went off in the morning, I felt this wave of relief flow through me. At breakfast, the manager told me it was probably a baboon!!!! Those angry beasts!!! (I thought baboons were supposed to be nice- Rafiki from the Lion King was a baboon). Definitely one of the scariest things that’s ever happened to me.
The animals were beautiful We turned a corner at oen point and came face to face with an elephant standing in the middle of the road. That was insane- it was so so close to our car. There were elephants all around us and they were protecting their children so they got kinda angry and made some loud toots so we drove off quite soon after. We also saw impala (beautiful deer-like animals), giraffe, wildabeasts, buffalo, some beautiful birds (which I now have an appreciation for), Jackels (kind of like foxes), HIPPOS (which are huge and just laze around in the water all day. They are apparently very vicious animals and when I saw one yawn I got pretty nervous looking at its gigantic mouth!)). We saw crocodiles too. I know we saw more but I can’t think of them right now!. All in all, giraffes are my new favourite animal. They are stunning and graceful and have the nicest eyelashes (I guess when you see them up close you notice strange things like that). I got some amazing pictures that I’m excited to show. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I would definitely do another one in other part of the country if I can get back here at some point.
My birthday!!!
I had a fantastic day. Last week I spotted a painting that I really loved and planned to buy it. I went to another store for about ten minutes and when I got back it wasn’t there anymore. The head guy, Mrisho, said that he had just moved it and that it wasn’t gone. I came back the next day and it was gone!!! I was so sad about it all week because I actually really loved it! Long story short, on my birthday (yesterday) I woke up, went to wash up, and when I got back to my room the painting was sitting on my bed. Kara was sneaky and bought it for me. What a fabulous start to the day. School was really nice and calm which was good- I realized that the best way to calm them down is to sing a song. The kids get into that really easily. In the afternoon we went to the art centre to have a ‘batik’ lesson. Batik is a type of art that is very similar to tie-dye. We each got a piece of fabric, drew a design, and then traced the design with wax. They then dip it in coloured dye and you end up with your design being the only white part, while the rest is the colour of the dye. It looks pretty nifty- I made a sign for my door which says “karibu”- welcome (chibbs that does NOT means you can barge in and jump on my bed whenever you please). We had a fantastic dinner (with chipati and guacamole among other stuff) and then the coking staff made me such a pretty pink cake and they sang this birthday song (I had no idea what it meant). I was sitting there enjoying the song, but they just kept repeating it over and over again until I realized that it meant “we’re waiting for you to cut the cake!” hahaha. It was pretty funny. The cake was really yummy and obviously I ate too much of it. Then all of the volunteers had planned a little surprise for me. The got a daladala (a big white van that people use for transportation all over Tanzania- they are always packed with people) and had the guys from the art centre pile in with their drums and guitar and all of us and we went down to the beach and had a dance party! It was really amazing, definitely a birthday I won’t forget any time soon. Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes, I checked them today felt very loved.
So, I’m past the halfway point which is so crazy. On one hand it feels like I’ve been here forever but it’s only been two weeks! Crazy.
I hope everyone is well.
Love love love,
Jillian
p.s., the favourite saying around here is "Hakuna Matata”- THIS IS NO JOKE. I love it!! I keep forgetting to write that but I’m glad I finally remembered.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Hi!!
I hope everyone is doing well. It’s been over two weeks now and I feel so used to life around here already. I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote, but I’m going to pick out some things from my journal….
SO.
School. I learned very quickly that my kids (my kindergarteners) are not as “advanced” as their textbook says they should be. After speaking with other volunteers, I’ve come to the conclusion that the curriculem for each grade has standards that are much too hard. I still can’t fathom the idea that my kids should be learning to subtract. Either way, I’m teaching words very slowly – pretty much a new word each day. By now, the kids have learned mother (mommy I put up a picture of you and me in class!), father, brother and sister. Each class I teach them the word, i come prepared with a display of a picture and then the english word on top. We review it and repeat it a lot so they get it, and then I hand pieces of computer paper that I cut out from our resource centre here at CCS. I give them each one of the markers that I brought, and it has become routine to go to the front before they open the markers, everyone raises their markers in the air, and then we count to three and open up the marker together. They seem to really enjoy this, since opening up (let alone using) a marker is a new concept for them. They really like my markers but I will have to get some new ones when I get home! I’m also helping one on one with math problems as much as possible. It truly is hard because all the other kids crowd around but I try my best. I try to work with the weaker ones on simple counting. As I mentioned, the age range is 4-7, but my teacher (Betty) told me that they just keep re-doing the year until they pass. I just don’t understand the point in that. My school, Mwmbao, is actually supported by a school in Germany. So in comparison to other classes, we are actually pretty lucky in terms of our supplies if you can believe it. We had a CD player which is a big deal here. For my sports/music class, I decided to introduce “dance freeze” to the kids. I had no idea how it would go. I explained to Betty so she could give the kids instructions, and another volunteer here had an African Cdthat he just got so he lent to me. WELL. The kids had an absolute BLAST. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in so long- they were so adorable and just really enjoyed it so I will defiintely be doing that again. Don’t worry- I took videos of them. (Kids here love when we take pictures- they will randomly run up to you and yell “picha! Picha!” because they love seeing the pictures after on our cameras.
I have only taught the standard 1 class a couple of times, but I made some flashcards and signs spelling out numbers in english and the teacher, Sylvera was so appreciative. I can’t remember if I wrote this last time- but teachers use sticks to hit children for discipline here. Both my teachers happen to not do it, but the majority does. It really bothers us and some people are planning on speaking with the teachers about it before we go. The kids don’t really know discipline which makes sense because if they are taught violence by their own teachers then of course they’ll think it’s okay to do with each other. I’m trying my best to be fun with them well using discipline, and I actually think I’m getting somewhere. Today I gave one of my favourite kids a time out hahahaha. He is such a mischevious little guy but such a charmer and so adorable so I have trouble gettting mad at him. Picking up swahili is definitely helping me get my messages across better!!! I’m certainly no good at it- but it gets me by which is all I need.
Some cultural activities that have stood out lately:
We had some guys come from the art centre 5 minutes down the road come to do teach us wood carving, beading and drumming. It was very cool- we did carving for so long and iwasn’t very good so I gave up after a bit. It really got me too appreciate how hard it is to make those things so perfect!!! I then made a bracelet with the incredible help of an extremely talented guy named Dixon who helped make the final prduct look awesome. I love it and I’m really excited about it!! We didn’t get a chance to drum because we ran out of time which I was kinda sad about, but I can always go to theart centre whenever I want to learn!!! The centre is amazing because they give free art, music, dancing lessons to children (mainly orphans) and the guys that run it sell their own art. The money they make goes straight to the art supplies. It’s pretty awesome so I’m definitely going to go back and buy some stuff.
I wanted to mention something about time. I forgot to last time. Here in Tanzania there is a word that bascially means “white person”- “mzungu”. Chldren love calling us that, and it’s supposed to be some type of praise. I really didn’t like it at first but I’m so used to it now! Anyhoo, there is “mzungu time” and “TFT- Tanzania Flexible Time”. SO, if you have a meeting at 3:00pm and you want to make sure that the person comes on time, you must say “3pm MZUNGU time”. Otherwise, they’ll likely come a couple hours late- TFT. It’s basically a play on the fact that Westernized culture is waaaaaay to uptight about it. It’s good for me. I need to learn that being late is okay (right dad?!) and I think I’m slowly progressing!!
Last week we went to visit a secondary school which was actually incredible. I was so interested and really impressed. Most of the secondary schools here are boarding schools. And while they are overcrowded, the standard of learning seems to be quite high and extremely impressive. The age range can go from 18-25, or even larger. It’s very expensive to attend which is why most don’t. It’s 83,000 shillings, which is just less than $83.00. Can you imagine!? There are 3 boys for every girl. Everyone seems very bright and motivated. We spoke to the head of the HIV/AIDS club at their school. All secondary schools here are supposed to be taught in english by the way. Not all are strict about this, but you can tell who went to secondary by how good their english is. Anyways, so we met the head of this club and it was just awesome to see these high school kids taking action and being role models for other kids around the school. The club is meant to educate others and help prevent HIV/AIDS but they also discuss other issues. We alll loved it so much that we went back tonight to watch the club’s meeting. They did a skit for us about Alcoholism and Drugs. They were so great. I definitely was not that mature in high school. I realized how often we are so focused on the main issues is developing countries such as AIDS, malaria,poverty – that we forget that there are also the same issues that teens face at home, like drugs and alcohol. While everything is so different from home, it’s things like this that remind me that the world isn’t as divided as we often believe.
Random fact: Most people don’t know what Jews are here. Ha! Actually, one of the main staff members here, (whom I absolutely love) named Didase told me a few days ago that when he met me he knew right away that I was Jewish. I laughed and asked him why. He said, “because you are so sensitive all the time”. Well, I’m not sure what being sensitive has to do with being Jewish but I had a good laugh anyway.
I’m writing way too much so I’ll write a little bit about my weekend in Zanzibar. The Island is stunning. It was a key location for slave trade transport because it served as a stop on the way to Asia and Europe. We stayed in an area called stone town, which has several old palaces (now museums) in it which date back to the time of the slave trade. We had to take a 2 hour ferry on some very bumpy waves to get there but we made it! Our hotel was so cool- very Aladdin-esque the way it decorated. The restaurants were nice and the beaches are as well. My highlight was definitely the Jozani forest. I read in my guidebook about this place and suggested we go there. I was nervous because my guidebook is a couple years old so I had no idea if the place was actually legit- but everyone had faith in me (there were 7 of us) and we got in a cab and went. It is a jungle that you can walk through and you are VERY upclose and personal with MONKEYS!!! They were like walking around us, jumping on each other and it was actually crazy. We had a very knwledgeable guide walk us through. I was a little nervous but it was really cool. We saw some other cool creatures and some beautiful scenery and that was it. We weren’t really wearing the appropriate clothing for a jungle but that’s ok! Everyone really enjoyed it.
OK.
I’ll stop there.
Missing you all and thinking of everyone.
Lots of hugs and kisses :)
I hope everyone is doing well. It’s been over two weeks now and I feel so used to life around here already. I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote, but I’m going to pick out some things from my journal….
SO.
School. I learned very quickly that my kids (my kindergarteners) are not as “advanced” as their textbook says they should be. After speaking with other volunteers, I’ve come to the conclusion that the curriculem for each grade has standards that are much too hard. I still can’t fathom the idea that my kids should be learning to subtract. Either way, I’m teaching words very slowly – pretty much a new word each day. By now, the kids have learned mother (mommy I put up a picture of you and me in class!), father, brother and sister. Each class I teach them the word, i come prepared with a display of a picture and then the english word on top. We review it and repeat it a lot so they get it, and then I hand pieces of computer paper that I cut out from our resource centre here at CCS. I give them each one of the markers that I brought, and it has become routine to go to the front before they open the markers, everyone raises their markers in the air, and then we count to three and open up the marker together. They seem to really enjoy this, since opening up (let alone using) a marker is a new concept for them. They really like my markers but I will have to get some new ones when I get home! I’m also helping one on one with math problems as much as possible. It truly is hard because all the other kids crowd around but I try my best. I try to work with the weaker ones on simple counting. As I mentioned, the age range is 4-7, but my teacher (Betty) told me that they just keep re-doing the year until they pass. I just don’t understand the point in that. My school, Mwmbao, is actually supported by a school in Germany. So in comparison to other classes, we are actually pretty lucky in terms of our supplies if you can believe it. We had a CD player which is a big deal here. For my sports/music class, I decided to introduce “dance freeze” to the kids. I had no idea how it would go. I explained to Betty so she could give the kids instructions, and another volunteer here had an African Cdthat he just got so he lent to me. WELL. The kids had an absolute BLAST. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in so long- they were so adorable and just really enjoyed it so I will defiintely be doing that again. Don’t worry- I took videos of them. (Kids here love when we take pictures- they will randomly run up to you and yell “picha! Picha!” because they love seeing the pictures after on our cameras.
I have only taught the standard 1 class a couple of times, but I made some flashcards and signs spelling out numbers in english and the teacher, Sylvera was so appreciative. I can’t remember if I wrote this last time- but teachers use sticks to hit children for discipline here. Both my teachers happen to not do it, but the majority does. It really bothers us and some people are planning on speaking with the teachers about it before we go. The kids don’t really know discipline which makes sense because if they are taught violence by their own teachers then of course they’ll think it’s okay to do with each other. I’m trying my best to be fun with them well using discipline, and I actually think I’m getting somewhere. Today I gave one of my favourite kids a time out hahahaha. He is such a mischevious little guy but such a charmer and so adorable so I have trouble gettting mad at him. Picking up swahili is definitely helping me get my messages across better!!! I’m certainly no good at it- but it gets me by which is all I need.
Some cultural activities that have stood out lately:
We had some guys come from the art centre 5 minutes down the road come to do teach us wood carving, beading and drumming. It was very cool- we did carving for so long and iwasn’t very good so I gave up after a bit. It really got me too appreciate how hard it is to make those things so perfect!!! I then made a bracelet with the incredible help of an extremely talented guy named Dixon who helped make the final prduct look awesome. I love it and I’m really excited about it!! We didn’t get a chance to drum because we ran out of time which I was kinda sad about, but I can always go to theart centre whenever I want to learn!!! The centre is amazing because they give free art, music, dancing lessons to children (mainly orphans) and the guys that run it sell their own art. The money they make goes straight to the art supplies. It’s pretty awesome so I’m definitely going to go back and buy some stuff.
I wanted to mention something about time. I forgot to last time. Here in Tanzania there is a word that bascially means “white person”- “mzungu”. Chldren love calling us that, and it’s supposed to be some type of praise. I really didn’t like it at first but I’m so used to it now! Anyhoo, there is “mzungu time” and “TFT- Tanzania Flexible Time”. SO, if you have a meeting at 3:00pm and you want to make sure that the person comes on time, you must say “3pm MZUNGU time”. Otherwise, they’ll likely come a couple hours late- TFT. It’s basically a play on the fact that Westernized culture is waaaaaay to uptight about it. It’s good for me. I need to learn that being late is okay (right dad?!) and I think I’m slowly progressing!!
Last week we went to visit a secondary school which was actually incredible. I was so interested and really impressed. Most of the secondary schools here are boarding schools. And while they are overcrowded, the standard of learning seems to be quite high and extremely impressive. The age range can go from 18-25, or even larger. It’s very expensive to attend which is why most don’t. It’s 83,000 shillings, which is just less than $83.00. Can you imagine!? There are 3 boys for every girl. Everyone seems very bright and motivated. We spoke to the head of the HIV/AIDS club at their school. All secondary schools here are supposed to be taught in english by the way. Not all are strict about this, but you can tell who went to secondary by how good their english is. Anyways, so we met the head of this club and it was just awesome to see these high school kids taking action and being role models for other kids around the school. The club is meant to educate others and help prevent HIV/AIDS but they also discuss other issues. We alll loved it so much that we went back tonight to watch the club’s meeting. They did a skit for us about Alcoholism and Drugs. They were so great. I definitely was not that mature in high school. I realized how often we are so focused on the main issues is developing countries such as AIDS, malaria,poverty – that we forget that there are also the same issues that teens face at home, like drugs and alcohol. While everything is so different from home, it’s things like this that remind me that the world isn’t as divided as we often believe.
Random fact: Most people don’t know what Jews are here. Ha! Actually, one of the main staff members here, (whom I absolutely love) named Didase told me a few days ago that when he met me he knew right away that I was Jewish. I laughed and asked him why. He said, “because you are so sensitive all the time”. Well, I’m not sure what being sensitive has to do with being Jewish but I had a good laugh anyway.
I’m writing way too much so I’ll write a little bit about my weekend in Zanzibar. The Island is stunning. It was a key location for slave trade transport because it served as a stop on the way to Asia and Europe. We stayed in an area called stone town, which has several old palaces (now museums) in it which date back to the time of the slave trade. We had to take a 2 hour ferry on some very bumpy waves to get there but we made it! Our hotel was so cool- very Aladdin-esque the way it decorated. The restaurants were nice and the beaches are as well. My highlight was definitely the Jozani forest. I read in my guidebook about this place and suggested we go there. I was nervous because my guidebook is a couple years old so I had no idea if the place was actually legit- but everyone had faith in me (there were 7 of us) and we got in a cab and went. It is a jungle that you can walk through and you are VERY upclose and personal with MONKEYS!!! They were like walking around us, jumping on each other and it was actually crazy. We had a very knwledgeable guide walk us through. I was a little nervous but it was really cool. We saw some other cool creatures and some beautiful scenery and that was it. We weren’t really wearing the appropriate clothing for a jungle but that’s ok! Everyone really enjoyed it.
OK.
I’ll stop there.
Missing you all and thinking of everyone.
Lots of hugs and kisses :)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
My first report from Bagamoyo
Hi there!!
Wow. where do i start??? So much to say and not enough time!
(by the way, please excuse my spelling- i'm going to type fast and not check it after so i can save time!)
This country is truly incredible. If you look at a map of Tanzania, i'm right on the coast of the Indian ocean in a town called Bagamoyo (Arabic for "Lay Down Your Heart"). The town is rich in art and music and its history dates back to slave and ivory trade from the 1800's. The people here are the friednliest i have ever met. Everywhere you go, you are greeted by someone. The children run up and always want to hug you and play with you and they are absolutly adorable. I really didn't realize that the place i am staying (we call it "the home base") would be right in the town, neighbouring regular people's homes, shops, and schools. I didn't expect that right when i walked outside there would be kids running up to me wanting to play. I didn't expect to feel so safe here- but i really do. The program's security is amazing but even walking alone I feel safe. (Don't worry mom i don't walk tooooo far alone, and definitely not at night).
It is SOOOO hot here. It rains for an hour or so on some days, but for the most part it's just been really hot. We have fans in our rooms though which is helpful. Around town, everyone wears bottoms past their knees and usually shirts that cover their shoulders. We are expected to wear skirts to school every day and t-shirts so it gets really really hot. The food they make is pretty good. Some meals not as good as others, but the overload on the carbs is insane. I've been eating lots of rice here which i don't normally love but it's good here! I don't like the types of fruits they have here and when Mama C (one of our staff) found this out, she made sure there were bananas for me every day since. All of the staff are incredible and they are each so interesting andwonderful to talk to. The other volunteers (there's aound 15 of us) are so nice really great to learn from.
A day in the life of me so far:
I get up at 6am, get dressed, have some breakfast (i won't lie, i missing my cereal :) ) and everyone gets dropped off at their volunteer placements. Some people help at elementary schools, others and daycares, others at orphanages, and one at an HIV/AIDS organzation. I'm woking at an elementary school that is right on the ocean. I'm in a kindergarten class, but the kids range from 5,6,7, years old and it is such a challenge because their academic levels differ so widely. I teach an english class, help with math and also do a period of music and sports. While i really enjoy spending time with the kids, i leave every day feeling quite emotional about the terrible situation of the Tanzanian education system. Hopefully i will get a chance to write more about that later. The teacher that I work with also works at the home base doing laundry so we walk back together. She is very nice but I think a little bit sit. I'm going to be working with her to teach her how to type. We all eat lunch and then after have a swahili lesson (most days). I'm really catching on but because we are learning so much so fast i need to spend time practicing (there isn't much time at night because I like to plan my lessons for the next day. I also just took on another class - grade 1, which i will be starting tomorrow. They are learning how to spell numbers in english). Anyhoo, after swahili lessons, we have a few hours of cultural activity. Thus far, we have visited a high school, met the principal and talked about their system. We met some students who are very motivated (only 20% of elementary get to high school). We have visited the house of a large family that is also a music group. They served us incredible tea and roasted nuts and told us all about their family's way of life. They did an incredible dancing and singing and instramentl performance for us and there were about 40 people all dancing an d going nuts! (us included). They are so increbily talented (one actually can move better than Beyonce) and have been to Japan, Germany, and the UK to perform. Tomorrow we are doing drums lessons and beading so i'm very excited about that. After the cultural lessons we have dinner and have the rest of the night free. Some volunteers go to the bar most nights. I've gone once and it's really nice because it's outside and around the corner from us. Normally i plan my lesson, hang out with the other volunteers, shower and read. We all go to bed pretty early because we wake up at 6.
On weekends people usually travel. Our first weekend is coming up and 7 of us are travelling to Zanzibar. Zanzibar is an island right off the coast and is apparently very touristy. I'm really excited about it.
My swahili is improving every day, because i always need to learn new words to communicate with people around the town and the kids I'm teaching. I've learned a couple of songs that the kids LOVE to sing with you which i will teach you ALL when i get home.
A couple of things that have stood out to me:
Some of the kids in my class can subtract perfectly, others cannot even count. I try to sit alone with a child that is weaker, but all the other kids come around and distract because they are so excited to have a volunteer. The weaker kids can't really learn because the older ones just tell the mall the answers. Each child has a workbook, for thaose that can't afford one there are mini chalkboards they can use in class. The teacher, Betty, puts questions in their books, the kids answer them, she checks them, and that's pretty much it. There isn't any evaluation really, and they kids are quite undisciplined when it comes to working alone at their desks. On my first day, i noticed a child who was having trouble and seemed sad and always alone. I spent some time working with him and had trouble getting anywhere. He seemed happy that he was gettiing some attention though. When i spoke with the teach after class about him (his name is Shadrika), Betty told me that he is HIV positive and is really not well. This was really hard for me to take, though it seemed so normal for her to say. I now just try to make happy and smile. or teach him very simple things. It's hard knowing his fate and being able to smile around him. The kids have to pay about 6.5 thousand shillings each year for elementary school, which is is $6.50 U.S., which seems like nothing. While it isn't considered a lot here either, some parents cannot afford it. Most kids are served just one meal a day. They give them porridge at school, but if the lady doesn't come with the porridge, they go home at 10am and are done for the day. For the last few days there has been no porridge. They have clothes that are often much too big for them and sometimes boys wear skirts. There is one textbook for the whole class. My class is quite small- only 30 kids, when most classes here are about 50-60 kids. In those classes, groups of six or seven have to share textbooks. There is so much development that needs to go on here that I feel my work for just one month in just a couple of classes each day is not doing much- but i know that my staff here would tell me that I am so i'm trying to keep very positive about it. Today i took markers to class to get the kids to draw a picture and gave each kid a different marker. The all seemed very confused and then I realized it was because they have never seen, let alone used a marker before. I had to stand at the front of the class and demonstrate opening a marker. They all repeated my actions right away. This is just one of the many eye-openers I've had here so far.
I think I'll leave it there for now.
I hope everyone is well and I'm thinking about al of you :)
Lots of love,
Jillian
Wow. where do i start??? So much to say and not enough time!
(by the way, please excuse my spelling- i'm going to type fast and not check it after so i can save time!)
This country is truly incredible. If you look at a map of Tanzania, i'm right on the coast of the Indian ocean in a town called Bagamoyo (Arabic for "Lay Down Your Heart"). The town is rich in art and music and its history dates back to slave and ivory trade from the 1800's. The people here are the friednliest i have ever met. Everywhere you go, you are greeted by someone. The children run up and always want to hug you and play with you and they are absolutly adorable. I really didn't realize that the place i am staying (we call it "the home base") would be right in the town, neighbouring regular people's homes, shops, and schools. I didn't expect that right when i walked outside there would be kids running up to me wanting to play. I didn't expect to feel so safe here- but i really do. The program's security is amazing but even walking alone I feel safe. (Don't worry mom i don't walk tooooo far alone, and definitely not at night).
It is SOOOO hot here. It rains for an hour or so on some days, but for the most part it's just been really hot. We have fans in our rooms though which is helpful. Around town, everyone wears bottoms past their knees and usually shirts that cover their shoulders. We are expected to wear skirts to school every day and t-shirts so it gets really really hot. The food they make is pretty good. Some meals not as good as others, but the overload on the carbs is insane. I've been eating lots of rice here which i don't normally love but it's good here! I don't like the types of fruits they have here and when Mama C (one of our staff) found this out, she made sure there were bananas for me every day since. All of the staff are incredible and they are each so interesting andwonderful to talk to. The other volunteers (there's aound 15 of us) are so nice really great to learn from.
A day in the life of me so far:
I get up at 6am, get dressed, have some breakfast (i won't lie, i missing my cereal :) ) and everyone gets dropped off at their volunteer placements. Some people help at elementary schools, others and daycares, others at orphanages, and one at an HIV/AIDS organzation. I'm woking at an elementary school that is right on the ocean. I'm in a kindergarten class, but the kids range from 5,6,7, years old and it is such a challenge because their academic levels differ so widely. I teach an english class, help with math and also do a period of music and sports. While i really enjoy spending time with the kids, i leave every day feeling quite emotional about the terrible situation of the Tanzanian education system. Hopefully i will get a chance to write more about that later. The teacher that I work with also works at the home base doing laundry so we walk back together. She is very nice but I think a little bit sit. I'm going to be working with her to teach her how to type. We all eat lunch and then after have a swahili lesson (most days). I'm really catching on but because we are learning so much so fast i need to spend time practicing (there isn't much time at night because I like to plan my lessons for the next day. I also just took on another class - grade 1, which i will be starting tomorrow. They are learning how to spell numbers in english). Anyhoo, after swahili lessons, we have a few hours of cultural activity. Thus far, we have visited a high school, met the principal and talked about their system. We met some students who are very motivated (only 20% of elementary get to high school). We have visited the house of a large family that is also a music group. They served us incredible tea and roasted nuts and told us all about their family's way of life. They did an incredible dancing and singing and instramentl performance for us and there were about 40 people all dancing an d going nuts! (us included). They are so increbily talented (one actually can move better than Beyonce) and have been to Japan, Germany, and the UK to perform. Tomorrow we are doing drums lessons and beading so i'm very excited about that. After the cultural lessons we have dinner and have the rest of the night free. Some volunteers go to the bar most nights. I've gone once and it's really nice because it's outside and around the corner from us. Normally i plan my lesson, hang out with the other volunteers, shower and read. We all go to bed pretty early because we wake up at 6.
On weekends people usually travel. Our first weekend is coming up and 7 of us are travelling to Zanzibar. Zanzibar is an island right off the coast and is apparently very touristy. I'm really excited about it.
My swahili is improving every day, because i always need to learn new words to communicate with people around the town and the kids I'm teaching. I've learned a couple of songs that the kids LOVE to sing with you which i will teach you ALL when i get home.
A couple of things that have stood out to me:
Some of the kids in my class can subtract perfectly, others cannot even count. I try to sit alone with a child that is weaker, but all the other kids come around and distract because they are so excited to have a volunteer. The weaker kids can't really learn because the older ones just tell the mall the answers. Each child has a workbook, for thaose that can't afford one there are mini chalkboards they can use in class. The teacher, Betty, puts questions in their books, the kids answer them, she checks them, and that's pretty much it. There isn't any evaluation really, and they kids are quite undisciplined when it comes to working alone at their desks. On my first day, i noticed a child who was having trouble and seemed sad and always alone. I spent some time working with him and had trouble getting anywhere. He seemed happy that he was gettiing some attention though. When i spoke with the teach after class about him (his name is Shadrika), Betty told me that he is HIV positive and is really not well. This was really hard for me to take, though it seemed so normal for her to say. I now just try to make happy and smile. or teach him very simple things. It's hard knowing his fate and being able to smile around him. The kids have to pay about 6.5 thousand shillings each year for elementary school, which is is $6.50 U.S., which seems like nothing. While it isn't considered a lot here either, some parents cannot afford it. Most kids are served just one meal a day. They give them porridge at school, but if the lady doesn't come with the porridge, they go home at 10am and are done for the day. For the last few days there has been no porridge. They have clothes that are often much too big for them and sometimes boys wear skirts. There is one textbook for the whole class. My class is quite small- only 30 kids, when most classes here are about 50-60 kids. In those classes, groups of six or seven have to share textbooks. There is so much development that needs to go on here that I feel my work for just one month in just a couple of classes each day is not doing much- but i know that my staff here would tell me that I am so i'm trying to keep very positive about it. Today i took markers to class to get the kids to draw a picture and gave each kid a different marker. The all seemed very confused and then I realized it was because they have never seen, let alone used a marker before. I had to stand at the front of the class and demonstrate opening a marker. They all repeated my actions right away. This is just one of the many eye-openers I've had here so far.
I think I'll leave it there for now.
I hope everyone is well and I'm thinking about al of you :)
Lots of love,
Jillian
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Flight
SO, after a long 25 hours (ish) we have finally arrived here. A flawless flight (thank you mom!) and a really cool experience!
Our swiss flight provided us lots of fattening food and some delicious chocolate. When we got to Zurich, I could see the swiss Alps from the airport windows. It was really really beautiful. There were surprisingly alot of people on our next flight (from Zurich to Nairobi)- the plane was completely full. When we arrive in Nairobi, everyone got off except for about 20 of us!! Arriving in Dar Es Salaam was really exciting. From the plane window I could see Mount Kilimanjaro- although the sun has pretty much set, the mountain was the only land that was still compltely lit. It was incredible. Right from the time we got off the plane everyone was incredibly nice and friendly. I've been using some of my Swahili words and no one has made fun of me yet!! Our hotel room is great- a few bugs here and there but overall we are good and happy!
Hope everyone is well :)
Our swiss flight provided us lots of fattening food and some delicious chocolate. When we got to Zurich, I could see the swiss Alps from the airport windows. It was really really beautiful. There were surprisingly alot of people on our next flight (from Zurich to Nairobi)- the plane was completely full. When we arrive in Nairobi, everyone got off except for about 20 of us!! Arriving in Dar Es Salaam was really exciting. From the plane window I could see Mount Kilimanjaro- although the sun has pretty much set, the mountain was the only land that was still compltely lit. It was incredible. Right from the time we got off the plane everyone was incredibly nice and friendly. I've been using some of my Swahili words and no one has made fun of me yet!! Our hotel room is great- a few bugs here and there but overall we are good and happy!
Hope everyone is well :)
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