I cannot believe that I have already been in Tanzania for over three weeks. I really don't know where the time has gone.
Here are some highlights from the past couple weeks:
We got to shave the kids heads. Last time I showed pictures everyone thought they were all little boys, but they all have shaved heads, its less maintenance and kids spread this weird infection on their heads to each other so shaving their head makes it easier to see if a child is infected. Shaving their heads was fun, for a few of them I would shave it into a mo-hawk just to see how it looked, it was cute!
A lot of volunteer left this past week. It is not only hard for the kids to say goodbye but, its hard to the volunteers who are staying to say goodbye too :( There is an immediate bond with most volunteers, you get close real quick. You spend most of your days with them and nights too and you get used to having them around. Two of the girls that left will be coming back at the end of August so I am happy I will see them again. Anna, one volunteer from England who I share a room with will be leaving on Tuesday, we've pretty much shared a room the whole time I've been here so it will be weird to have my own room.
Last week was examination week for the kids. This is one of my least favorite weeks, there is not much to do because the kids take tests all day for4-5 days. After school they have a lot of energy and they enjoy playing games to get that energy out! This week was the last week before the kids go on holiday in August. Yesterday was closing day at Yakini school, we had an awards show, and the kids sang many beautiful songs. During holiday, the boarding students will go home, with the exception of class 4, and 7 who will stay at school the whole month to prepare for their national examinations that are in exactly 37 days according to the teachers! The students, and teachers take national examinations very seriously. Last year the students did very well which put Yakini on the map for a good school to attend, the students this year are feeling the pressure, and are expected to do very well. I look forward to helping the students prepare for their exams during August.
This weekend is a busy weekend. On Saturday I am going to visit a school that is in the process of being built by a teacher(teacher Peter) that I have been working with at Yakini school. Peter is really excited about showing all the volunteers, and we are excited for him. He is the only teacher that I think would be able to teach in America, he understand the importance of hands-on learning, something that unfortunately, many teachers here don't practice.
After visiting Peter's school, I am going to a meeting with various volunteers from around Arusha. It is a group that meets once a month, as a network among all the volunteers around the area. It will be great to meet more volunteers and talk about the work they are doing. It is just a casual meeting that is at a restaurant, and all the volunteers bring a book to exchange. I am excited because I just finished the book I brought, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I need to start a new book asap. After the meeting we are celebrating a my roommates 18th birthday, she is from England and their 18th birthdays are like American's 21st birthdays so I am sure it will be an interesting night!
Sunday morning I will be up early to go with my friend Diane to visit her husbands village. Diane is originally from Canada and as been working for the Kimaro family for about a 1 1/2. She lives in Tanzania and has been married to a Tanzanian named Malik for about 7 months now. I am excited to meet Malik and to see his village, I will let you know how it goes!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Pictures
Game day Friday....playing tug-of-war!
Our BBQ/bonfire outside where we live
Cooking "magic food" for our neighbors in the village we live in. The "magic food" was grilled cheese and pasta.....I didn't do much cooking but I definitely at and it was delish!
Class 6 working on writing about their favorite activities at school
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tanzania Trip 2
So far things have been very busy in Tanzania! There are nine volunteers staying with the Kimaros minus myself(3 from Canada, 2 from England, 1 from Norway, 1 from US, and 2 from Germany). There is also a group of 14 teenagers from the US doing a program through various high schools across the country. They will be leaving this Sunday and then a new group comes in for 10 more days. I have gotten to know a few of the high school kids, we have been running a few times in the morning. They are on a different schedule then the volunteers because there are certain things they have to do with their program(cook their own meals, attend swahalli lesson etc).
A few nights ago all the volunteers, high school kids, and Kimaro family had a big BBQ. At breakfast time there were about 10 chickens tied up in front of the house, and by lunch they were plucked and sitting in the kitchen ready to be grilled! Christian( the second youngest son) made a bet with me that I can't kill a chicken, so I've got that going....I will keep you posted.
Sunday night was the World Cup Finals. Avi, a volunteer from Canada really wanted to go out to watch it, and the rest of us were on the fence about going out. We ended up going and I am so glad that we did. We went to a local bar with Ray(the Kimaros cousin). It was packed there were no places to sit and pretty much everyone was standing up for the game. A few people had those obnoxious horns that you hear throughout the game on TV and they kept blowing into them throughout the night-many people were annoyed but I thought it was funny and a part of the atmosphere. I decided about 5 minutes into the game that I would cheer for the Dutch, but when they lost I wasn't too upset. The bar went crazy there was a group there from Spain, that went nuts, it was a really fun atmosphere, and I am glad that we decided to go out to watch it. How many times will I be in Africa to watch the world cup?!?
My first week here David(the oldest son) and I have been working on the Living Water Newsletter, that gets sent out about every 4 months. I am almost finished with, and then I should be able to post it when we are done. I have also been working in a variety of classrooms at two different schools. Once I get the newsletter done I will be able to focus more on some writing and reading projects, which is what the family wants me to spend the majority of my time doing here. The volunteers have also been working on homework help after school, and making sure all the kids get their homework done. It actually amazes me how many of them take the initiative to start their homework with no adults asking them to.
I have really enjoyed meeting all the volunteers. We spend our evening sitting around eating dinner and talking about whats "normal" in the various countries that we live in. One of the boys from England, Tom, asked Sachie(the other volunteer from the US) and I if Oprah is like the US version of the Queen. We started cracking up, and then that started a whole group discussion on how more people probably like Oprah than the Queen. It is really interesting to hear about different cultures and to learn their views on Americans (that we are fat, and that Bush sucks.....but we already knew that :) we spend a lot of our nights discussion the differences in our cultures, and were we grew up, and stereotypes that people have on other cultures, it is very interesting!
A few nights ago all the volunteers, high school kids, and Kimaro family had a big BBQ. At breakfast time there were about 10 chickens tied up in front of the house, and by lunch they were plucked and sitting in the kitchen ready to be grilled! Christian( the second youngest son) made a bet with me that I can't kill a chicken, so I've got that going....I will keep you posted.
Sunday night was the World Cup Finals. Avi, a volunteer from Canada really wanted to go out to watch it, and the rest of us were on the fence about going out. We ended up going and I am so glad that we did. We went to a local bar with Ray(the Kimaros cousin). It was packed there were no places to sit and pretty much everyone was standing up for the game. A few people had those obnoxious horns that you hear throughout the game on TV and they kept blowing into them throughout the night-many people were annoyed but I thought it was funny and a part of the atmosphere. I decided about 5 minutes into the game that I would cheer for the Dutch, but when they lost I wasn't too upset. The bar went crazy there was a group there from Spain, that went nuts, it was a really fun atmosphere, and I am glad that we decided to go out to watch it. How many times will I be in Africa to watch the world cup?!?
My first week here David(the oldest son) and I have been working on the Living Water Newsletter, that gets sent out about every 4 months. I am almost finished with, and then I should be able to post it when we are done. I have also been working in a variety of classrooms at two different schools. Once I get the newsletter done I will be able to focus more on some writing and reading projects, which is what the family wants me to spend the majority of my time doing here. The volunteers have also been working on homework help after school, and making sure all the kids get their homework done. It actually amazes me how many of them take the initiative to start their homework with no adults asking them to.
I have really enjoyed meeting all the volunteers. We spend our evening sitting around eating dinner and talking about whats "normal" in the various countries that we live in. One of the boys from England, Tom, asked Sachie(the other volunteer from the US) and I if Oprah is like the US version of the Queen. We started cracking up, and then that started a whole group discussion on how more people probably like Oprah than the Queen. It is really interesting to hear about different cultures and to learn their views on Americans (that we are fat, and that Bush sucks.....but we already knew that :) we spend a lot of our nights discussion the differences in our cultures, and were we grew up, and stereotypes that people have on other cultures, it is very interesting!
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