Author: Jessie Neece

Mambo! We had a very eventful second week. The Monday after the workshop concluded, we met up with our professor, Mary Raber, and Ewald Tesha of Asante Africa. Together, we drove around the Kilimanjaro area to visit all of the schools we would be attending later in the week.  Unfortunately we still couldn’t cut a break from being jammed together as Tesha’s car only had enough seats for five people, so Tesha and Mary got to sit very comfortably in the front while the four of us where packed into the rear like sardines. Tesha first took us to the district offices, where we had to get approval from the higher-ups in the education system to work in the schools. Upon receiving that we visited the first school: Nkwamakuu Primary School. Nkwamakuu has Standard 1-7 students, which is about equivalent to 1st through 7th grade in the American education system. We met with the headmaster, had Chai (a sort of breakfast), and toured the school. Before we left, the teachers gathered all of the students in the yard and then sang welcome songs and introduced themselves.  After we introduced ourselves to them (which included Andrew doing a backflip) we packed back into the car and left for Orkolili Secondary School.  At Orkolili we were given a brief tour of the school by Mama Mcha, the founder of the school. The school is unique because it not only teaches academics but also vocational skills such as culinary, electronics, and auto repair skills. This allows students to be well prepared for life after secondary school, whether they get a job or go to university. After a short visit at Orkolili, we all went to Moshi, which is the second town we will staying at in about two weeks. We were able to meet with the organizations we will be working with while we are there. We first stopped at Amani’s Children Home, which houses homeless children and tries to reunite the children with their family members, if possible. After a short visit there, we visited the Old Moshi Hotel, which is the hostel we will be staying at while in Moshi. They will also be organizing the work we will be doing there. After returning back to Boma, we decided how we would be splitting up for the week, since we had planned to send two team members to Nkwamakuu Primary School and two team members to Orkolili Secondary School.  We decided that splitting up would allow us to spend more quality time at both of the schools.

Nkwamakuu Primary School

Andrew and Lauren spent Tuesday through Friday at Nkwamakuu. On Monday we had discussed with the teachers that they would like us to teach some math, science, and English classes at the school. We agreed that on Tuesday, we would observe some classes to get an idea of what the students were learning and what the teaching style was at the school. However, we soon realized that the school had something else in mind (we would also quickly learn that this would become a common theme throughout the week). As soon as we arrived on Tuesday, the teachers asked us which classes we were teaching. We responded by asking if we could observe the class first, and they agreed. But, we are pretty sure that they did not entirely understand because they still proceeded to set up the Standard 3 (3rd grade) class for us to teach. Luckily, this is something we had kind of prepared for. Prior to traveling, one of the projects that we had identified was a way to make math classes more fun for the students, since many Tanzanian classes are heavily lecture based. We decided that one way we could do this is by playing some math games with cards. We brought several decks of cards over to Tanzania and were able to introduce the game that morning. With the Standard 3 students, we worked on basic subtraction and addition skills. The game is kind of like war, where games are played with two students and one deck of cards. Each student flips over a card and then the students add or subtract the numbers on the cards. Both the students and teachers responded very positively to the game. The students said that they had fun playing the game, while the teachers said it helped the students learn math skills quickly. We ended up showing the math game to Standard 4 and Standard 5 students also, but instead of addition and subtraction we did multiplication and fractions. Along with math, we also taught some science classes. In science, we played Jeopardy with the students. Although none of the students had heard of the game before, they overall seemed to really enjoy a new teaching method (and also really liked the candy we gave to them for participating).

Additionally, on Tuesday, we asked the headmaster if there were any water, sanitation, or hygiene related problems at the school. The headmaster then walked us over to one of the hand washing stations, which consisted of a bucket with a twist nozzle. He explained that these current stations were unsanitary because the students have to touch the dirty nozzle to close it after they wash their hands. We then agreed that we could work on a project together to create a more sanitary system. After some research and discussion with the headmaster and teachers, we designed a Tippy Tap system that was modified to meet the school’s needs. As shown in the video below, the design allows the children to wash their hands by simply stepping on a wooden lever, so they do not have to touch anything after they wash their hands. It took a couple days to buy the materials, including some metal bars that the hardware store employee cut with just a simple handsaw, which still baffles us. On Friday, we were able to build the three stations and test them with the children. In this upcoming week, we still need to test the stations more and gather feedback to ensure that they will be used effectively by the children, and then we will adjust accordingly.

One of the biggest challenges at Nkwamakuu is the language barrier. Most of the students (and teachers) only speak Swahili. Luckily, we had a translator with us, however, we struggled sometimes to communicate with the students. Although the language barrier has been difficult, it has been a good way for us to learn a lot of new words in Swahili (especially lots of new math words!). Also, in our free time at the school, we had lots of fun playing Simon says and soccer with the kids, as well as pretending to be lions eating each other (which the kids found oddly entertaining).

Orkolili Secondary School

Jennifer and Ian spent their first week (Tuesday through Friday) at Orkolili Secondary School. The structure of the school is very similar to a typical high school in the United States, with four main class groups, called Forms. Going into Tuesday, Jennifer and Ian were unsure of what the week at Orkolili would entail but they were looking forward to the possibilities that laid before them. Upon arriving on Tuesday, they met up with their main contact, a teacher by the name of Joe, who proceeded to explain a little bit about what they would be doing before taking them around to each of the classes to introduce themselves (stating their names, ages, and what they are studying at Michigan Tech). Each classroom has about 37-58 students since each classroom houses one form, except for Form 4f, which is housed in two classrooms, making each class size about 37-38. In the Form 3 class, Joe asked the students to assign Jennifer and Ian Swahili names. Ian was named Mushi (Moo-she) and Jennifer was named Manka (Mah-n-kah). Throughout the week, they switched between their U.S. names and their new names, many students and teachers just called them Mushi and Manka. they quickly grew accustomed to responding when their new names were called.

Throughout the week, Jennifer and Ian taught a few classes. their teaching, though slightly unconventional, seemed to work. they started out their teaching adventure with English to Form 2, with the topic of “How to Properly Answer a Telephone Call”. At first, they thought this would be simple, but it proved to actually be quiet challenging, since Jennifer and Ian soon realized that they did not usually make phone calls and, when they did, usually did not use proper answering techniques. They did their best and Ian taught the class to say “WASSUP” when answering a close friend’s phone call. Tuesday afternoon was spent presenting their areas of study to each Form 4 class. Ian discussed Engineering in General along with his specialty of Material Engineering, trying to build up enthusiasm within the students. Jennifer discussed Psychology and the jobs that are available. The first Form 4 class seemed to be interested in knowing about Jennifer and Ian, whereas the second Form 4 class spend their entire time asking questions about science and engineering, allowing Ian to excitedly explain many concepts to them. Since Jennifer did not get a chance to present on Psychology, she got an entire class period to present on Thursday. On Wednesday, they observed a Form 4 math lesson and Ian taught Trigonometric Functions to Form 3. The students responded very well and enjoyed Ian’s lesson so much, that he was asked to teach again on Thursday. He decided to continue onto Trigonometric Inverse Functions on Thursday and, again, the students seemed to enjoy his lesson. Thursday afternoon, Ian taught Chemistry to a Form 4 class and, again, the students enjoyed it so much that he was asked to teach the introduction to Organic Chemistry on Friday morning, which was also a very good lesson. Though Jennifer did not do much teaching, she got to watch the lessons and how Ian’s excitement of the subjects was passed on to the students.

On Fridays, Orkolili ends classes around 12 pm and has various activities in the afternoon. At 12, the students break off into different classrooms, according to their religious background, to have a worship service. Jennifer and Ian were asked to join/observe one of these groups and they both obliged. The students sang songs of praise, said prayers, and were lead in devotion by a pastor (probably) or leader. The lesson they got to hear, and slightly understand thanks to a helpful student, was on Ruth 1:1-18. It was a really cool experience, hearing all the different groups in the classrooms singing and watching the group they were sitting in singing songs of praise. The religious services were followed by a short break, and then the students broke into different clubs until lunchtime. After lunch, all the students gather at the sports fields near campus to participate in different sports. They have basketball, football (soccer), and song and dance circle. While Ian ran off to play football on the Form 1-3’s team against Form 4, Jennifer walked around with a few of the girls and took pictures of some of the activities. Though Ian got exhausted and cut up from playing, he had some fun playing with the kids. Jennifer got a chance to talk to the girls about the sports that they liked and learn some more Swahili. It was nice to get to know some of the students.
Jennifer and Ian had a few struggles to overcome during their week at Orkolili, the biggest being the language barrier. Even though Orkolili pushes the students to speak English, they still had to make sure they spoke slowly and emphasized certain words to ensure that they were understood. The smaller struggles were being asked to prepare for a class within an hour and then teaching, since they both have limited experience in teaching, they both picked it up quickly though and Ian’s enthusiasm spilled into the classroom igniting the students interest in their studies.

Weekly Blooper Reel

Andrew: After being dropped off by the bus when returning from Nkwamakuu, Andrew and Lauren were berated by dozens of bajaji drivers trying to give them rides. While Andrew was turning around to tell them “Hapana Asante” (No thank you), he was nearly hit by a bus, which wasn’t following the traffic laws (but then again, neither does any vehicle here…at all).

Lauren: After apparently not learning from her mistake from last week (responding with “Si”), Lauren responded to a student on Wednesday by saying, “Bien.” Again Lauren, that is SPANISH, not Swahili.

Jennifer: On the very first day of teaching at Orkolili, Jennifer had already received a marriage proposal, which wasn’t asked in the way you would expect either. She was specifically asked how many cows would be enough to have her hand in marriage (Ian was secretly jealous, and also wondering the same thing).

Ian: After an already exhausting day of teaching on Friday, Ian was asked to play a 90 minute game of soccer. Yeah, that did not go well. He obtained several cuts and bruises, which he mistakenly thought could be cleaned with Lysol wipes (you know, the wipes you use to completely disinfect kitchen counter tops…and that have a big warning label saying “Do not put on skin”).

All: While waiting in downtown Boma for our Bajaji driver George (who is our hero) to pick us up, we witnessed probably the funniest thing we have experienced this trip. A bus was pulling into the parking lot when it suddenly stopped, causing the motorcycle behind it to suddenly stop as well. The motorcyclist became frustrated, and although he didn’t have a horn, that didn’t stop him from releasing his anger out onto the bus driver by yelling, “BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP” with the funniest angry face. We (especially Andrew) cannot stop mimicking it and laughing constantly.

Asante Sana (thank you very much) for reading our blog! Check it again sometime next week when we have wifi to upload our week 3 post!

Very First Experiences

Four days in and our experience has already been incredible.  We arrived in Boma on the fourth (after a full 24 hours of travel) and have been crazy busy since the second we stepped off the plane.  After being held up at the airport for three hours, we met our host, John, who took us back to house for the night.  There we were treated to dinner and had our first experience with the culture.  John’s home is very nice and John has taken great care to help our adjustment as much as possible.  We woke the next morning and had our first Chai, a meal that acts as breakfast here in Tanzania.  We took a bajaji (see below) to a local hotel to meet our second contact, Joel, who works for the Asante Africa Foundation. We will be working with them for our first 3 weeks here.

Joel led us on a bus ride to the nearby town of Arusha where the Asante offices were based. After receiving an orientation from the staff, Joel took us to a local market. At the market we were able to buy local cloths and art. It was all a bit overwhelming at first, especially since we know very little of the language (Swahili) and were attempting to barter in the local currency (Shillings). After the market, Joel helped us get our Tanzanian phone set up and then sent us back on the bus to Boma.

Tarangire Safari

The next day we met up with our professor who is here for a couple days and went on a safari. It was an amazing experience! We had to wake up at 5 am, which was not the most enjoyable, but it was definitely worth it. We drove three hours to the Tarangire National Park and spent most of the day there, driving around with our guide. We saw tons of animals, including elephants, lions, impalas, zebras, warthogs, vervet monkeys, baboons, wildebeests, ostriches, a hippo, and others. We also saw some cheetahs, at first from a safe distance with the rest of the safari vehicles. Then, our tour guide asked us if we would like to get closer to the cheetahs. We responded that it was okay, we were comfortable where we were. However, he may have misinterpreted, as he drove us within 5 feet of the cheetahs, where no other vehicles dared to go. After a short visit with them and some pictures, we went on our way. We took all sorts of pictures and then headed back to our homestay.

One struggle of many this week was navigating our driver back to our homestay in the dark. We had only been driven there one time in the daylight, so we were very unsure of how to direct the driver. We managed to get two of the turns correct, and then lost our confidence in where to go. Luckily, our driver was very resourceful and was able to talk to a random person in a nearby shop and call John, so he could direct our driver to get us home. We’ve learned to be adaptable, flexible, and how to navigate through challenges as they come. As each day goes by, we become more confident and independent and know we will be comfortable here soon.

Workshop With Asante Africa

This weekend, we worked with a leadership team from Asante Africa, a foundation that empowers youth in Tanzania with educational opportunities and leadership skills. We met with Erna Grasz (the founder of Asante), Ewald Tesha (the local program manager), and twelve youth leaders, all of whom were extremely friendly and welcoming. Along with our professor, we assisted in conducting a workshop that focused on teaching the youth the process of Human Centered Design (HCD). HCD is a tool that focuses on solving problems effectively, by working in teams to research, brainstorm, and prototype new solutions. We split up into four groups, each working through the stages of HCD on a real problem in their community. The solutions that we came up with involved sharing leadership skills with local entrepreneurs and persuading secondary students to pursue STEM and teaching careers. By the end of the workshop, we had all learned a lot more about how to solve community problems with design thinking. We especially learned that it might take a few iterations of the process to narrow a solution down to a workable plan of action. Additionally, we learned A LOT more Swahili from the new friends we made!

End of Week Reflection

Even though we are very sleep deprived and a little dehydrated (we found a place that sells water now, so don’t worry), we have very much enjoyed our first week. We are learning more and more about the cultural norms, the language, and daily life in Tanzania. We have also reflected more on the projects that we will be working on in the schools, which we will start in this upcoming week. So please check this blog again next week to learn about our progress!

Funny (and maybe embarrassing) moments of the week:

Andrew: Our Bajaji driver explained that even though he was the same age as Andrew, Andrew was much bigger than he was. He then attributed this to the fact that Andrew “probably ate a lot more than he did,” basically calling him fat (in a jokingly way…we hope).

Lauren: When we went to the local shop to get water, the vendor (who did not speak any English) asked us if we wanted bottled water. Lauren initially responded with “Yes.” When this was met with confusion, she realized that she was speaking English, so she then responded with “Si” (Yes in Spanish, not Swahili).

Ian: When we were going through the market in Arusha, the vendors were very, very, very adamant that we buy something from their shops. Like VERY adamant. And Ian ended up paying a lot more than he should have after the first ten minutes of “looking around.” He got a pretty nice elephant shirt.

Jennifer: Jennifer has been absolutely ruthless in her funny backhanded compliments to the rest of the group (Just kidding Jennifer…maybe).

Hello everybody!

We have departed Tanzania after 5 weeks of incredible cultural immersion and sustainable project development. The experience of traveling to a foreign country and working with the people is something that we will never forget.  We learned so much from all of the Tanzanians we met along the way and we hope that you got to learn something from us.

Asante Africa, Tesha, Joe, Mama Mcha, Mama Faraha, Mama Cecilia, thank you for welcoming us into your homes and schools in Boma. We enjoyed the time we spent working, playing and dancing with your students.

Eva and the Foot2Afrika foundation, thank you for hosting us for our time in Moshi, and for providing us the opportunity to work with the administration and youth of Tumona Secondary School and KITAYOSCE. (As a side note, the food at the hostel was amazing!)

We are so tired, and happy to be going back to our families, but at the same time sad to be leaving the places we’ve called home in Africa for the last 5 weeks.

Asante sana, thanks for going on this adventure with us through our blog posts, and we hope you all had great summers (or winters, if you’re in Tanzania!)

Team Tanzania, signing off

Hello all,

We have almost reached the end of our international experience here in Tanzania, and the pace certainly hasn’t slowed down. Read about our continuing adventures below:

We closed out our time at Tumona Secondary School this week. We continued working on some computer skills with the students, as well as physics lessons in topics such as Archimedes’ Principal of Buoyancy, work, energy, and power. Beyond our lessons, we also spent some time talking with the teachers. On Wednesday, we did a short Q&A session with the teachers on computers, including how to clean off viruses with Windows Defender, and afterwards we were invited to tour the town with some of them the next day. On our walk on Thursday, we spent the afternoon learning about them and their views of us and Americans in general, and had a bit of dialog back and forth about some of the finer points that were brought up. It was a very good way to close out our time spent at Tumona.

Continuing our work at KITAYOSCE this last week, we worked more with the youth on their football skills, and especially stressed teamwork and communication, both on and off the football pitch. As the kids got more comfortable working with us, the games and scrimmages got a lot more laid back and enjoyable. KITAYOSCE, in addition to working with youth to develop their skills, also have a young adult team, and are a feeder for some of the Tanzanian professional teams. As such, they are always looking for ways to improve their online image, as well as their football skills. To this end, we were able to leave one of the KITAYOSCE executive board members with two action cameras, as well as instructions on how to use them. They will be able to use the cameras to capture game film for later review, as well as make promotional videos for their Facebook page. We know they will be well used!

To cap off our final weekend in Tanzania, the team, accompanied by ‘the Germans’ also staying at the Foot2Afrika hostel, traveled to visit the Marangu gate one more time at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We then went to visit the Kilasiya Falls, where we waded in the gentle, cold rapids as well as climbed through the rocks and took photos. Next on our itinerary for the day was to visit the Chagga Caves. The caves were created by the Chagga tribe of northern Tanzania about 200 years ago to protect themselves from the Maasai, an enemy tribe. Although very cramped, these caves/tunnels housed many people, and the team had the opportunity to learn a lot about the history of the two native Tanzanian tribes during the tour. Overall, it was a great way to cap off our adventures in Tanzania; we will definitely have plenty of stories and pictures to share with our family and friends upon our return to the States!

Once again, thank you for reading, and please feel free to comment on and share the post!

Team Tanzania

Hello everybody!

We have just reached the beginning of our final week here in Tanzania, and are looking forward to continuing our projects for these last seven days. The previous week has been a change of scenery, as we moved from Boma to Moshi and began working with Foot2Afrika, Tumona Secondary School and KITAYOSCE. To keep you all up to date, we’ve summarized some of our projects and adventures here in Moshi thus far below:

One of the education topics that the Tumona headmaster had requested we work on with the kids at the secondary school was basic physics concepts, since they currently do not have a physics teacher at the school. So far, we have worked with the Form One students and introduced mechanical forces and the units and equations related to that topic. With the Form Two students, we worked on pressure (specifically atmospheric pressure) and began to introduce work and energy. One of the best examples we came up with relating the topics we were covering to the kids’ lives was when we were talking about atmospheric pressure and how it changes with elevation: we solved for the pressure difference between the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and down here in Moshi. We were reminded of this concept a few weeks ago when we were climbing down the mountain and our empty water bottles started deflating!

The other subject we have been teaching at Tumona is computer skills. After ridding the school’s computers of numerous viruses, likely caused by unsafe internet use, we started teaching the students about computer basics, such as the physical components of the PC and a few simple applications such as File Explorer. Some more classes that we are planning to teach include how to use SD cards, how to explore the internet safely and how to search for and get rid of any viruses that may have been downloaded accidentally. This will hopefully reduce the amount of viruses that take up residence on the laptops in the future.

After school, we have also been working with KITAYOSCE in the evenings. KITAYOSCE stands for KIlimanjaro TAlented YOuth Sports CEnter (find them on Facebook here), and is a local organization dedicated to helping underprivileged youth discover their potential as football athletes. In recent years, some of the youth in the program have gone on to play professionally for national Tanzanian teams, and KITAYOSCE’s older athletes recently brought home the East African Cup. The team has been working primarily with the 17-and-under age group, helping coach them through their drills and practices, as well as guiding them towards better teamwork and communication. Last Friday, we held a nutrition seminar, and (with the help of a translator) talked to the youth about proper nutrition and fluid intake guidelines, centered around preparing for a large workout or big football game. On Wednesday, all the kids had an after-school program, so the team went with Ellie (the director of KITAYOSCE) to a local football matchup between the two powerhouse clubs in Moshi. It was very interesting to see the different culture of sports-viewing in Tanzania; they are very passionate about their favorite football clubs! The team looks forward to continuing to work with KITAYOSCE throughout this upcoming week.

Wrapping up the first week in Moshi, the team traveled to the village of Mto wa Mbu to partake in a walking safari of the local culture. Mto wa Mbu is about a five hour drive from Moshi. The name literally translates to “River of Mosquitos”, and even in the non-rainy season, there were plenty of them. During the walking safari of the village, we saw many different local homes made of sticks, mud, and banana leaves. The main crop growing in this region is 27 different varieties of bananas, all serving different purposes. We had the opportunity to try red bananas, which taste very similar to the ones we are used to back in the States. We also witnessed the wood carving of the Makonde tribe and the beautiful paintings of the Chaga tribe. The following day, the team traveled another hour to explore the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and had the pleasure of participating in a game drive. A game drive is a term used to describe what Westerners would call a safari. The beautiful landscape as well as the abundance of animals within the caldera (collapsed volcano) was stunning. We were able to see lions, hippos, hyenas, jackals, wildebeest, zebras, cape buffalo, and many more species of large mammals and birds in abundance. Overall, this was an amazing experience that no picture can fully describe. It is definitely something to put on a bucket list!

Thank you all for reading, and please feel free to share and comment; we will answer any questions you have!

Team Tanzania 2017