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They. Love. Pictures. |
I sit writing this as twenty of my sweet students dance and
laugh around me, screaming out “Teacha Chaaleene, take a pitchaa!” They braid my hair and sit on my lap and tell
me they love me, and my heart is so full.
Sometimes I just cannot believe that this is my life right now. But I also cannot imagine being anywhere
else.
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The rainy season made this place green and beautiful. |
Well it’s been a while since I have written. Scott and I went on vacation for a month and
it’s been a whirlwind ever since. Our
Christmas and New Years’ was spectacular.
We ate on a boat overlooking the Eiffel Tower in Paris, walked through
Westminster Abbey on Christmas in London, stared up at
a monstrous Golden Buddha on New Year’s Eve in Bangkok, swam and bathed with
elephants near a Thai beach to ring in 2015… it was the adventure of a lifetime. I did get my wallet pick pocketed in Paris,
which was and is very inconvenient, but I didn’t let that spoil even one day of
my trip. I just felt so thankful that I
had the chance to travel to so many amazing places. I honestly never thought that would have been
possible (and those that used to know me would say they never thought it was possible either). But God’s plans and
designs usually exceed my own, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I will admit, I felt a bit guilty for leaving
the village for that long to spend so much money. But I was encouraged again and again to go
and refresh my spirit. Sometimes I
forget to take care of myself here because I am so invested in the children,
and as worthwhile as teaching them is, I needed a break. I had been getting burnt out there at the end
of the school year. By the end of our
travels, I felt unbelievably rejuvenated and was ready to come back to Tanzania
to work.
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Where one of my students lives. |
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Goofy girl Gile, with the most precious smile. |
Our journey to Europe and Asia was somewhat of a shock to my
system. To be around so many people, all
those buildings, the traffic and the variety of food… it felt surreal after 6
months of dirt roads and mud huts. It
was difficult at times, comparing the affluence of such big, developed cities
to the poverty ridden state of Berega.
How come there is such a disparity between the two? Why are there hospitals and schools and clean
water over there, while the people here struggle to survive? When will more people start sharing their
wealth and technology with this side of the world? These are some of the questions I couldn’t
stop asking myself.
But I did force my
mind to turn off sometimes so I could forget about the problems here and enjoy
my holiday. Analyzing and worrying it to
death was definitely not the solution.
So I did have a wonderful time, experienced three amazing countries and
met with lots of great people. I am so
so glad I took that opportunity to travel. That being said, I did miss the village life. I missed my students, I missed my home, and I
missed the simplicity. Here, the only
money I spend is $3 a week at the market for rice, beans, and vegetables, I
don’t worry about my appearance or whether my clothes match, and I can walk
everywhere I need to go. There is a
certain freedom in living in the ‘bush’, away from the grind and the
expectations, the constant hustle of trying to keep up with those around
you. I don’t feel the need to be
anything other than the best version of myself and that feels pretty good. More than anything though, I missed my
kids. Those little ones hold the keys to
my heart and no fancy vacation could compare to spending time with them.
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Watching a movie at my place.. special moments. |
It’s weird.. when I first got here, I felt like a year was going to be this astronomical amount of time, it felt like forever. But now that I am more than halfway through
my commitment, I realize that the time is literally flying by, so much faster
than I want it to go. Since I’ve gotten
back, I have made a conscious effort to savor every moment of my life
here. I used to get so caught up in day
dreaming about America, cheeseburgers, medical school, my friends and
family. Now I remind myself that in six
months, when I’m back home complaining about iphones and gas prices, I’ll be
dreaming of being back in Tanzania, wishing I could play with my students and
eat rice and beans for dinner. One of
the most important things I have learned here is how to live one day at a
time. I used to say it all the time back
home but now I actually try to live it.
Because I know that this is one of the most defining experiences of my
life, and I don’t want to waste a single moment thinking about things I can’t
control. For the first time ever, I’m
not trying to plan and fix what hasn’t happened yet; I just sit back and enjoy
whatever is happening at the time, because it’s special and won’t last forever.
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Sweet Abby wearing my glasses wr |
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Standard one improving their English with storybooks. |
Sometimes I think I am becoming desensitized to many of the
day to day events that occur here. But then
there are moments that amaze me and blow my mind, and then I know I’ll never
get completely used to it. Like the time
I threw a bag of beans in my yard because they were infested with hundreds of
bugs… a few minutes later I found three women scraping them out of the dirt and
putting them into a basket. In my
limited Swahili I explained that there were bugs in them, but they just begged
me to let them have the beans. Of course
I said yes, and as they walked away I felt a mixture of amusement and
sadness. I’m sure they thought I was
nuts for throwing any kind of beans out, insects or not.
Then there was the time I was in the shower
and the electricity went out, so I called Scott to hold a flashlight so I could
finish my shower. Then as I was all nice
and soapy, the water ran out too. I stood there freezing in the dark while he
ran to get water from another house. I was furious but couldn’t help but laugh
at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Then there’s the day my sweetest
student Abby asked to go outside during a quiz. I said no, and then she whispered in my ear “I need to go
pollute the air”. I was stunned into
silence, and then we both burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing in
the world.
And of course, there was the
week when I was chased by a bat from one class and then a squawking chicken flew
into my other classroom, creating all sorts of chaos among the children and
shrilling screams on my part. These are
the times when I truly love and appreciate where I am and I hope, wish, and
pray that I remember each one forever.
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Standard two working hard in their extremely cramped room. |
Well we are in the fourth week of school and things are
going well. It started out rough, one of
our teachers who said she was on her way to Berega never showed up. We called her and she was still at home in
Dar es Salaam, and said she changed her mind, she had another job. Well thanks for being so considerate as to
tell us the day before school started!!
So we had to re-hire the teacher who had been beating the kids because he
was our only other option. We weren’t
happy about this but there is a serious lack of good, reliable teachers in this
country. Also, because we don’t have
room for the Standard 4 students, we had to put them in a room at the
church. Someone failed to tell us that
the pastor who had the key would be out of town, so we couldn’t get into the
room and had to have class outside for a week.
And then, another teacher said he had to leave for two days to go pick
up his certificates in another town. He
didn’t come back for 10 days. I was left
trying to control and teach two classes, which as
you can imagine was exhausting. In
America, if you leave work for that long and told the boss you would only be gone
two days, you’d be replaced in an instant.
But again, there’s a lack of good teachers here so we do the best we can
with what we have. All this nonsense can
be summarized with the phrase “This is Africa.”
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My standard three boys. |
With all the struggles aside, the students are doing
fantastic. I got a new group of kids for
Standard 1, straight out of pre-school, and it was pretty intimidating at
first. They didn’t speak hardly any
English and it’s incredibly difficult to teach 25 children who don’t understand
a word you are saying. But those kids
are like sponges, after just a few weeks of listening to me and doing a few
simple English games, they are starting to get it. They are answering questions and reading
words and starting to make sentences. It
has been incredibly rewarding to see such an improvement in them in such a
short amount of time. To know that I am
helping to lay the foundation for their education, teaching them the language
and the skills that will hopefully lead them to a higher standard of living, is
the most rewarding feeling I’ve ever had.
Plus they are just too cute! My
standard 2, 3, and 4 classes are also doing well. Standards 2 and 3 are really starting to put
the pieces together, figuring out how to speak and write well, actually
remembering the things they learned last year.
Standard 4 is the most fun though.
They aren’t just learning what, they are asking why. They want to know everything so we have the
most awesome conversations about life and science and the world. Their usage of the English language is just
amazing. We talked about the word
‘committed’ one day, the next day they were all using it in their conversations.
They completely astound me.
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Saturday afternoon walk with the girls. |
I didn’t realize how
great our kids were doing until we got a new student, Phaustine, from another
private school in Dar es Salaam. He was
in Standard 4 there, but as soon as we tested him we knew he had to go back to
Standard 1. He got maybe 10 points on
the English and Math exams (the one our kids had an 85% average on), he can’t
spell a word or say a complete sentence, and he cannot read to save his
life. This made me so incredibly proud
of our school and our students, that we have raised the bar so high that other
schools can’t even compete. But it also
made me pretty sad to think that he came from a nice, expensive private school
and yet, cannot even read a sentence of English off a page. What are they even teaching there?? So I feel really grateful that I get to be a
part of a school that is producing such remarkable results and educating children
that are the brightest of any others I’ve ever met. I am positive that our students are the
future of this country; they are going to be the doctors, lawyers, pilots, and
politicians that are going to make the changes this place needs. And I get to be a very small part of
that. What a gift.
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Life long memories in the making. |
I think this thing is long enough, please comment here and
leave me your feedback! Also, please no more packages. It's actually very expensive to pick them up and the boxes can get lost/stolen/damaged easily. But please still consider donating at hands4africa.org. That way we can support the local economy by buying supplies and can start building our new school..
Construction should start soon and we need all the help we can
get. Until next time!