And so my journey begins!

Hi everyone and thanks for visiting my blog!

During my stay in Tanzania I will be using this site as a place to update all of you about what I'm doing in Tanzania! :) Please feel free to post comments, thoughts, suggestions, words of encouragement (I love positive reinforcement, haha), etc. while I am away! Even though I will be far from home does not mean I will not hold you closely to my heart (cheesy, I know, but eat it up!).

I cannot believe I leave in less than 24 hours from JFK to go to Tanzania - finally! :D It has been such a long time coming! BIG SHOUT OUTS to everyone who donated and also mentally supported me throughout my journey preparing myself to become a WorldTeach volunteer. I would never have been able to do this without you and I cannot thank you enough, honestly.

In case you're wondering what the hell I'll be doing in Tanzania and what the specifics are of where I'm staying, here's an email I received a week ago from the Resident Director for the WorldTeach Tanzania Program, Ashley, who will be taking care of all the other volunteers and I while we're in TZ:

"Dear Megan, Alice and Abby, (the two other American girls who I will be living with!)
I am so happy to give you the good news of your teaching placements! Sorry it took so long, I’ve only just returned from all the site visits yesterday! What a fun trip. J

You three will be placed at Dakawa High School, an all girls school located just an hour outside the town of Morogoro. The environment here is truly incredible- the headmistress, Mrs. Mariam Mtima, is one of the sweetest, warmest, liveliest women I’ve ever met! She is so dedicated to the school, to the girls as well as to her staff. She is keen to improve the girls’ already above average performance and her teachers appear to have strong work ethics, no doubt following her example. Mrs. Mtima is industrious and makes things happen- given budget constraints to build a new girls dorm, for example, she hired local staff to build a dorm using cheaper, local materials. She is a solution-oriented woman! The teaching environment here is going to be really rewarding, I think, and I am so excited that you three will be there.

I placed you here because it gives you the best of both worlds. Morogoro is nearby and has all the typical city amenities- it has internet access, cold beer, a big supermarket (that has cheese, red wine and pate! Hello!) and other urban comforts. The mountains in Morogoro provide respite from the heat and will give you a beautiful, varied geography. An hour away, easily accessible by local bus, is Dakawa. This area is Massai country- it’s full of cattle, nomadic villagers, grassland savannas, small huts, bright stars and peace and quiet. It’s said to be Tanzania’s “breadbasket” because the land is so fertile. Fresh veggies and fruit are abundant here!

The school is located in the Dakawa Development Center, an area run by the Ministry of Education. It’s a total education-focused community. Within its vast grounds is a primary school, two secondary schools, a teacher’s college, a school for vocational training, a health dispensary, along with a football pitch, countless trails and back roads to explore and even a historical site dedicated to the ANC Freedom Fighters. Each teacher and every student from these schools, along with occasional workers like cooks, cleaners and guards, also live on campus. The Ministry has plans to expand this area. It’ll be exciting to see how they develop it.

I thought that Alice, you might be interested in community development projects here, and it satisfies your desire to live in a small town. Megan, you are so close to Morogoro that you will have a taste of city life after a short bus ride to town. Abby, I know you wanted internet access and there isn’t any here, yet. An NGO called NO PC has donated ten new computers and has plans this year to get the school connected. With your teaching experience, Abby, I thought you would really flourish here and that the staff would benefit from your teacher education.

Dakawa has 320 girls, all boarding in nearby shared dorms. The curriculum at this school doesn’t include math or sciences, only languages, geography and history. I met with Mr. Kasembe, the head of the English Department and he informed me that you’ll be responsible for teaching 30-40 students per class in 80 minute ‘double’ periods. Each class is 40 minutes long, and you’ll teach for 80 minutes at a time. You are responsible for 5 double periods a week, teaching both Form 5 and Form 6 students. Their ages range from 17-20.

This school is so on top of things. I didn’t have to ask for a time table, a copy of the syllabus/curriculum or a school calendar. All were posted on the bulletin board. They have a photocopier, administrative computers, printers and a decent supply of books (although more are wanted and needed). They don’t have any audiocassettes though, and you might want to bring a small recording device along with you. The English staff complained that the speaking and listening parts of the curriculum are lacking. The topic called “Listening to speeches and lectures” is skipped entirely because they have no speeches to listen to you and can’t record any of their own. Cassettes also help with pronunciation practice. It’s not a requirement that you bring these things, but it is specifically what the school needs.

In case you are planning on visits from friends or family, I can tell you now the school schedule for the remainder of this academic year: From September 11 until October 11 you have a long break. Then from December 23 to the January 3 there is a short holiday. School closes again on February 19 for a long break. The new academic year begins in April, but they don’t have the dates yet.

Housing-

The teacher housing is spacious- you will all share a three bedroom house. There is a kitchen, bathroom, living room, front porch, running water and electricity (lucky ducks!). Your house is connected to the Deputy Headmaster’s, Mr. Gilangwa. He lives with his three children, and when I visited the house they were blasting bonga flava from their stereo while they washed clothes outside. They have a TV, stereo and a fun atmosphere it seems. The grounds are kept very clean, and they’ve decorated it with a lot of potted plants. The teachers houses are all in the same area, so you won’t be lonely, but you’ll have the privacy and respite of your own house.

You will have to cook each meal on your own. This is the only issue with this placement- it’s not as though the other schools have meals provided for them; each volunteer will have to cook his/her own meals. But, in the case of Dakawa, you will have to buy your groceries from Morogoro. There are no shops/stores in the Development Center. There were occasional men on bikes carrying baskets of watermelon, or pineapples, or onions for sale. But for your main supplies, you’ll have to go to town. The school has a vehicle and lifts to town are a possibility. Otherwise, the daladala passes the front gate of the school so access to transport is right there.

I am so excited about this placement! I think it’s one of the strongest and will be very rewarding, teaching-wise. The staff and students will really take care of you guys!

If you have any questions, please email me or each other. I hope that your last few days in the States are full of fun and good memories.

I can’t wait to meet you next Friday!

Best,

Ashley"

So there you have it - you know just about as much as I do about my placement! I am so happy about where I will be and I know I will be extremely successful and content there - or maybe just down right thrilled. You all know I love smiling, so everyone in Tanzania will have to get used to me doing that for a long time this next year! :) I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

For the next three weeks I will be keeping busy with orientation activities in Dar es Salaam before I actually head to my school to teach for the next year. I'll be traveling around, undergoing an intensive teacher training course, and getting an introduction to Tanzanian society, culture, and language (Swahili). Ashley has carefully prepared sessions and activities to help all of us adjust to living and teaching in Tanzania. Even though I've been to Tanzania twice before, I was only there for brief periods and I'm excited to get a more formal and thorough introduction to TZ (and that's pronounced tee-zed for all of us from America who pronounce it tee-zee," lol).

I'll end my message here, but know that my thoughts will be with you as you embark on the next year of your lives and that I'll still be thinking about you even though I'll be on the other side of the world! :) Keep in touch and please feel free to email me your mailing address at some point so I can send you a postcard! My email is illumiantelives@gmail.com. Much love to all of you and speak to you soon! Baadae! (See you later in Swahili!)