Elimu

I can't believe the day has come!  Tomorrow will be the last day of my teaching internship practicum (aka substituting) at the Kihonda Secondary School!  I have come to realize something the past few weeks of teaching one class (or what they call "streams" here in Tanzania) for three double-periods a week...

I LOVE TEACHING!  :)

It is a ton of fun, especially when I get to see the same students each week for 80 minutes at a time (each period is 40 minutes), and see their improvement after just one week.  I currently teach Form I, which is most equivalent to 8th graders; however, the education system here is quite different than the education system of the United States - I will get to that.  Teachers are held in very high regard because education is so important here and the current literacy rates are so low in Tanzania.  There is an entirely different perspective on education in Tanzania, so I feel like it is only appropriate to give an overview on the Tanzanian education background before I discuss my teaching experience thus far.

So, to fully understand the high demand of Peace Corps Education Volunteers in Tanzania (aka one of the reasons why I’m here), I must first explain the education system of Tanzania.

In Tanzania, the education [“elimu”] system is developed by two main ministries, which work closely together: the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and Prime Ministers Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG), which is more commonly known as TAMISEMI.  The MoEVT develops the nationwide curriculum.  The Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), which is part of the MoEVT, requires that every school, public or private, must abide by its standard curriculum and syllabus.  Also, the MoEVT implements examinations through its agency called the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA).  I will often refer to NECTA exams throughout my posts, since my students will have to take them at certain stages in their education career in order to move on to further education.  TAMISEMI manages the school infrastructure.  It employs and regulates human resources in schools, as well as works closely with community school buildings’ construction and asset acquirement.
Here is the breakdown of grades in Tanzania, equivalent to those in the states:

• Primary School:  Standard 1 through 7 = Grades 1-7 (instruction is in Kiswahili)
• O- Level (Ordinary Level) Secondary School:  Form I through IV = Grades 8-11 (instruction is supposed to be in English)
• A-Level (Advanced Level) Secondary School:  Form V and VI = Grades 12-13 (instruction is in English)

Every student is required to take NECTA exams after Standard 7, Form II, and Form IV.  The results of the NECTA exams are taken into account whether you are able to move on to further education, which school you attend, and the type of career opportunities you may have.  NECTA exams act as both exit and entrance exams.  The NECTA exams test all subjects (math, physics, chemistry, biology, Kiswahili, English, history, geography, and civics) and your score is averaged.  Your Standard 7 and Form II NECTA results are used to determine which school are able to attend, depending on how well you score.  Form II NECTA results used to determine if you could continue on to Form III, but now all students are able to continue through secondary school regardless of their results.  The Form IV NECTA results determine whether you get your O-Level certificate, but more importantly, if you are able to continue on to A-Level and the school you can attend, or if you go to a training college for other occupations, such as primary school teachers.  So now if I mention NECTA, there should be less confusion than before.

Although NECTA exams are much more important than any assessments given by teachers during regular classes, I still gave my students a short, 30 minute test this past Monday just to see if what I taught them actually sunk in and if I need to reevaluate my teaching methods.  :)  I should also mention at this time that in Tanzanian schools, students where uniforms, no matter if the schools are private or government (public).  Also, most students do not (actually none of mine) have textbooks, let alone exercise books (or notebooks).  Learning resources and supplies are lacking, and even though my internship school is a relatively good school (as in students strive to be accepted to Kihonda Secondary School), a couple students in my class do not have pens or paper to write anything down.  There tends to be a lot of sharing of materials in class, which can be difficult to regulate during tests.

Another important note is that students stay in one classroom and the teachers move around.  For example, I teach Stream 1F (Form I, Stream F) three times a week, so when it is time for class to start, I gather my things - chalk, my duster, books, my lesson plan, and lesson notes - and walk to the class.  Once I walk into the room and get ready for class to begin, the class prefect [yes, I definitely think of Harry Potter a lot when I am teaching here in Tanzania] claps once and the whole class stands up and greets me in unison, "Good Morning, Madame (Belle)!  How are you?" and I respond, "Fine, thank you!  How are you doing this morning?"  Then, after I tell them to sit down, I begin my lesson.  :]  It's actually pretty awesome.  I also think of Harry Potter a lot because each school has a Headmaster or Head of School, which we call "mkuu" in Kiswahili, a Second Master or Assistant Head of School, and the usual department heads and teachers on duty.

I know I did not exactly share much of my specific teaching experience in this post, but I didn't want this post to be longer than it already is.  So, I promise I will do another entry tomorrow after my last class day!  Tomorrow is our last day at Kihonda Secondary School, so I am sure I will have more to talk about the day's activities.  SPOILER ALERT: I will be asking my students if they have any questions for me about America, etc. tomorrow, and we (my CBT) will be giving a short thank you/goodbye speech in Kiswahili to the whole school during the day, so that should be interesting!

Mikumi

After much internal debate, I came to the conclusion to post a short story, in relation to the multitude of events that occurred the weekend of Mikumi.

Once upon a time (about two weeks ago), 47 Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) went to a wonderful place called Mikumi National Park.  It was legend that once you go to Mikumi, strange things happen and you will never be the same.  [Actually, that's not entirely true, but interesting things do always happen at Mikumi, and this year's trip was not an exception.]  Year after year, previous PCTs will fall in the same trap and seize the opportunity of Mikumi to...let's just say...be very free.  Indeed, it was the first time all of us were able to truly feel like ourselves since we have been in country and been able to wear jeans (without being professionally and culturally inappropriate)!  Needless to say, I was just as thrilled to get to wear jeans instead of a skirt again as I was thrilled to get to go on a legitimate African safari!  :D

In the morn of our trip ["safari" in Kiswahili], CBTs from far and wide congregated at our usual rendezvous point at CCT, and boarded two buses that would take us on our 2-3 hour voyage to Mikumi.  Along the way, I sat in the back row with three other gentleman, who had too much liquid to drink and had to take a premature leak into plastic flasks.  Now, do not worry, I made sure to switch with another passenger who also needed to relieve themselves and tried to give the males their privacy, while staying as far away from them as possible.  That was exciting in itself, but the best part came when casual wagers were taken as to which animals we would feast our eyes upon first.  I tried my luck with gazelles, and lo and behold, was I right!  Our caravan encountered a ridiculous number of gazelles and giraffes throughout the day, as well as some zebras, baboons, and glimpses of a few elephants.

Of all the animals that we encountered, the hippopotamus was my favorite, mainly because we were able to get out of our buses and walk out to take photographs of them at the Hippo Pool.  My other favorite portion of the safari was the ginormous baobab tree!  My monkey-like tendencies broke free and I climbed the tree up to one of the higher branches and soaked in the African vista.  It was breathtaking, and although I wanted to see a lion ["simba" in Kiswahili], it was worth the trip just to get to climb in the tree and see the animals up close.

After we got back to Genesis and had dinner out by the main road, the shenanigans began.  Music and spirits may have played principal roles in the birthday celebrations of Kristine, but the main event was yet to occur. Once the tomfoolery started to wade and the night sky was illuminated only by the stars, and after I had very unexpected, in-depth conversations with two persons, I was able to get so shut eye....or so I thought....

Just as I was slipping into my slumber while tucking in my mosquito net, I hear two people, one male and one female running into the room and the male shouting for the female to go shower immediately, "Go! Go in the shower now! Oh my God, it smells so bad!"  The male ran outside of our room and started to gag and kept shouting and saying that he needed to go shower to get the smell off.  I was thoroughly perplexed and more than a little exhausted when the smell hit me like a wall.  I took a good whiff of it before I almost started to gag myself, and as I got out of my net and bed to go check on the gagging male outside, I hear a voice from the restroom saying, "Belle, I need help! I don't know what to do...it just *gag* it just smells SO BAD!"

**Warning: If you have a weak stomach, do not continue reading!!**

Here's what happened.  The girl, who shall not be named for obvious reasons, was talking to the boy and while they were walking in the dark - because there are practically no lights except for around where the rooms are - and away from the rest of the group, the girl's foot is snagged on a stack of bamboo sticks, and she stumbles into a very large, very deep sewage drain pit latrine.  I thought bats flying up and around me in a pit latrine in Panama was bad...this is MUCH MUCH worse.  She was literally nose deep in liquefied excrement.  The boy thought she was terrified of drowning because she was not able to get out of the pit, but then he realized the magnitude of the terror as he grabbed her hand, pulled her out, and the stench reached his nostrils.  He got only a small spot on his shorts, but she was covered from below the nose, down.  While screaming for him to help her after she fell in, she may have gotten some of it in her mouth.  I still cringe at it, and just writing about this now brings back that horrid, putrid smell.

After a couple hours of me helping her emotionally, psychologically, and physically cleanse herself and our room as much as possible of the stench, she was able to relay to me (and a few others) what had happened and the boy and I were able to clear our belongings out of the room and air the room out.  I had to sleep in a separate room that night, and it amazes me that the three of us were able to keep all of our food and everything down.  The next morning, the news spread like wildfire, and everyone at some point, took a tour to the scene of the crime before we left Mikumi to go back to our non-Mikumi lives.

To this day, the three of us (the girl, the boy, and myself) are still sensitive to the smell, which is the absolute worse smell I have ever had the horrifying privilege to encounter.  As for the rest of the group, not a single person wasn't touched in some way, shape, or form by the magic of Mikumi...and so the legend is true, you will never be the same once you go to Mikumi.


**Disclaimer: generalizations of the group and emotions may have been exaggerated slightly to make the storytelling of this tale more interesting, but the events that occurred are concrete and did indeed happen.

Kihonda

Per request of my family back in the states, I will try to give you an idea of what a day in the life of Belle in Tanzania is like.  Though I guess this whole blog kind of does that doesn't it?

I live in a village called Kihonda with my host family, which consists of a mama [mother], baba [father], dada [sister], and three kaka [brother].  My mama’s name is Feliciana but I usually refer to her as Mama or Mama Katemana.  My baba is Simoni, and as for my wadogo [siblings] they are: Robert (21), Romanus (18), and the twins, James (13) and Jennifer (13).  As of yesterday, I have met all members of the family except for James, including my baba mkubwa (uncle/baba’s older brother).  James is still at boarding school, so I will not be able to meet him by the time I leave for my site.  Mama works in community development for the local municipal government and Baba researches at the Kihonda University and does machine operation, I think.  Robert is studying Computer Engineering at a university in Dar es Salaam and Romanus is about to finish secondary school.  James and Jennifer both go to boarding school, but James will not be done until later, so most of my evenings have been spent hanging out with Jennifer.  She is awesome!  :)

My family is so abso-bloomin-lutely nice and hospitable.  Everyone speaks English very well except for our house dada, who speaks practically no English.  But I try to practice my Kiswahili with her, so it’s pretty cool.  My house is really nice and quite modern, as in I actually have a Western toilet, electricity, a TV, fridge, freezer, and sometimes running water.  The water does turn off intermittently, especially during weekends when I need it the most for washing clothes, so we have to store water in our tank in the back.  Don’t worry, I still have to take bucket showers, need to boil some water to take warm showers, and have to wash my clothes by hand.  It still is a good transition for going from American living to Tanzanian village living, which is really good because I really doubt I will have electricity at my site.

On days that I have to go to CCT, which is about 16 km away from Kihonda, I usually wake up around 6am, eat breakfast, walk to the daladala stop (standi) at 7am,  and take two daladalas to get to CCT.  The first daladala goes to town, then I take another one to our stop at CCT, and I walk another 10 minutes to CCT at around 8am.  The whole trip takes about 45-50 minutes from the time I leave my house and the time I arrive at CCT.  Then the whole day is spent in sessions run by Peace Corps staff and trainers (current PCVs), with three breaks in between (chai aka tea time at 10am, lunch at 12:30pm, and soda time at 3:30pm).  We are done each day at around 4:30 or 5pm and then we either go to Dragonaire’s restaurant, Rombo bar, or usually back home via another two daladalas.

On days that I have to go to CBT (Community Based Training) at Kihonda Secondary School, I can wake up at around 7am, get ready, eat breakfast, and leave the house at 7:40am.  I arrive at school at 8am and we go ahead and start language.  The day is jam-packed with language, with a couple of breaks for chai and lunch.  My brain is most definitely fried almost after every day at CBT because of language training, but it feels great to know that I can survive quite well in Tanzania after only 2 real weeks of Kiswahili.
I love my family here and I am really starting to feel at home here in Tanzania.  I got some Tanzanian music from my brother Robert last night before he left to go back to Dar this morning (he just came to visit this weekend) and am super pumped to share it with other PCTs.  AND I am so excited to say that I am watching the Euro Cup final with Romanus (Roma for short), Jennifer, my dad, and my uncle.  SO happy…reminds me a lot of home.  Dad, I’m going for Spain all the way!  Viva España!  :P
Also, I will be going into town tomorrow to use the hi-speed wifi at the Oasis hotel, so hopefully I will be able to upload quite a few pictures!  Yay, proof of my existence!