Science

I have always loved science because it is all around us, and I mean, I did major in Chemical Engineering after all, but I had never realize how much work it was to ‘simulate’ or singlehandedly prepare a full week of lab practicals for over 30 students at a time.

The week before last was the most exhausting, yet most productive week of my teaching responsibilities.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the Form IV NECTA lab practicals for Chemistry, Physics, and the second group of Biology, respectively.  When Eric was here, he was the only permanent science teacher at Mwatisi, which automatically made him the head of all the science departments.  I am already the head of the Math department, but now that he is gone, I am officially the head of all the science departments as well.  That also meant I was the main/only qualified teacher to prepare all the lab practicals.  I was entirely happy to do it, but it was extremely time consuming.  Luckily, I had done most of the practicals before (thanks to all the labs I took in university) and Eric was able to prepare me enough to do the prep work on my own, but just the time and effort alone was what Tanzanians would call a “kazi kubwa” [big job].

About one month before the NECTA practicals, every secondary school in the nation receives confidential instructions from the Tanzanian government about what materials and/or specimen are needed for each practical.  Then, 24 hours before each science subject practical, another set of confidential and advanced instructions are sent to the school so that the lab technician (in this case, me) is able to prepare the specific chemicals, solutions, or the labeling of specimen necessary.  Biology was the easiest to prepare because most of the specimen were already collected and prepared before we received the 24 hour instructions, Physics was not difficult either, but Chemistry (one of my favorite subjects in school) was so elaborate.

Since the Chemistry practical was on Tuesday morning, Monday and Tuesday were the most tiring for me.  I spent all of Monday in the lab from 7:50am to 6pm weighing and preparing all chemicals and solutions that would be used for the practicals, labeling equipment, and setting up the three stations for each of the three experiments the students would have to do: titration, qualitative analysis, and chemical reaction.  Mind you, almost all of the solutions had to be prepared and diluted to the specifications in the instructions.  I felt like a true scientist, or more like a mad scientist, mixing chemicals in a lab all day.  I even had a large, white lab coat that was passed down to me from Eric!  :D  The next day, I woke up at 5am to get down to the school, to start lighting up the jiko and kerosene burners to use a heat source for the hot water bath.  Please keep in mind that my school does not have electricity or a gas tank for Bunsen burners, so it had to be done manually.  There would be over 30 of the total 60 students in Form IV that would be taking this exam, so we had to have two 3-hour sessions.  As the lab tech, I had to be on call for everything so I was not able to teach my other periods during the practicals.  There were a couple of issues in the very first session but then I improvised and things seemed be getting better.  The second session was not as successful by the end of it because the kerosene burner’s wick lever was getting stuck.  Then after both sessions were finished, NECTA required me to perform the titration and chemical reaction experiments and answer the questions to create a marking scheme specific to our school’s resources.  Although the students were allotted 50 minutes for each experiment, I had to do both of them as quickly as possible and place it in the envelope before the invigilators (what are the equivalent of proctors in the states) could close the seal on the test papers’ envelope.  Once the invigilators left, I still had to clean up the lab and prepare for the next practical – Physics.

That day alone took a toll on my energy, but I knew I still had two more practicals before the end of the week.  Luckily, the practical for Physics was only setting up for two questions: plane mirrors and Archimedes’ Principle.  It took much less time than Chemistry by a long shot, but there was a slight problem with the mirror stands that Eric and I ordered to be made by the local carpenter.  The order was not finished, so we had to borrow mirrors and stands from a nearby school, Mwakaleli Secondary School.  By the way, this type of situation (of borrowing and sharing resources in schools) happens very frequently.  Classic Tanzania…  Biology’s prep on Wednesday was very quick, entailing the making labels for each specimen (marked by letters) and making sure each work bench had enough of each.  Though I woke up at 5:30am for the Physics practical day and 6am for the Biology practical day, the practicals (two sessions each day) went quite smoothly and I was not required to do any marking schemes after the practicals!

Needless to say, the theme of the week before last was science, every waking hour of the day for a week. I truly felt like a scientist!  Although I was fatigued by Thursday evening, I had never felt more thankful of being an engineer and a woman of science.  My engineering degree and science classes over the years truly paid off, and I saw the direct results of science education.  That is one reason why I love doing what I do here – teaching science and math subjects, and simultaneously showing Tanzanians that science isn’t scary.  Most students are intimidated by science and engineering because they feel that they are unable to do it, but after speaking to a few students after the practicals, they seemed quite confident in how they did!  And as an advocate of science and engineering, I plan to continue promoting science by starting a couple of clubs at school that have been inspired by my experience in the SEEK (Student Engineers Educating Kids) organization that I was in during university.  I am hopeful, and more updates will come shortly!

Adieu

Initially, I was going to title this post as “Transition”, but the more I thought about it…”Adieu” has become more and more appropriate in describing the past couple of weeks.  “Adieu” directly translates to “to God” in French, but it is more commonly used in the expression “to bid adieu” to someone or something that is leaving.  In this case, it is bidding adieu to Eric, the PCV that I have been sharing a house with for the past couple of months and am replacing.  Also, I figured it was appropriate for the mood I have been in.  I have been missing France a lot lately and realized today that I had been referencing my study abroad experience in Toulouse, France more often than a couple of times just this past week.  I was even in the mood to watch Chocolat recently despite the fact that it meant I had to watch a movie about a ton of chocolate, which is more expensive and not in abundance in Tanzania unless you are in Dar or safi dukas.

Anyway, the main theme for the prior weeks has been a variety of send off dinners and parties for Eric’s leave to America and my welcome to my new home at Mwatisi.  A little less than two weeks ago, we (Steph, Eric, and I) went to eat dinner with the Mwakibambo family in Kandete village.  It was so sweet and it was so hard to watch Eric say bye to them.  I first need to interject with a short blurb about this amazing family.  They are quite possibly the most loving family I have ever met in Tanzania apart from my homestay family.  Mama Paulina and Baba Mwakibambo treat you like you are one of their own children, even if they meet you for the first time (Steph and I met them during our shadow week), and truly love you.  They both know English quite well and are so hospitable.  They also have one son (Lugano), who has two daughters (Sekela who is in Form I and Neema who is an adorable little girl in primary school, not sure what Standard).  Everyone treats you like you have always been around and being around them just warms your heart.  Needless to say, I can only imagine how difficult it was for Eric to have to leave this family.  I am sure I will feel the same way if not moreso, because I will have known them two full years rather than Eric’s span of knowing them since he met them at the end of his first year.  Luckily, Eric was able to go back to see them by himself later that week.

Eric, Steph, and me with the Makibambo family in Kandete

The next night, we three were invited to Mr. Chabwi’s house for dinner.  Chabwi was the awesome MC at the Mwatisi graduation and I have gotten to know him more because he is one of the founding members of the Kandete Community Center (KCC) project that Eric started working on with some of the Kandete community.  [I will be taking over that project now that Eric will be state-side, and I will expand on this in a later post.]  We had DELICIOUS “kiti moto” [pork], rice, pilau, beef stew, “mboga” [vegetables], bananas, and apples.  And then Steph, Eric, and I all received matching gifts from our local “fundi” [craftsman (in this case, tailor)], who is the chairman of KCC!  It was super sweet of them to give Steph and me a dress made of the same kitenge they used to make Eric a shirt.  :)

Then after being stuffed, Mr. Chabwi got us all a car and drove us straight to our homes, which was quite thoughtful of them.  We dropped Steph off first, but then on our way to mine and Eric’s house, the gas ran out and we were stuck on the road for about two hours in the cold waiting for someone from Kandete to bring us more petrol before we could continue on.  Eric and I fell asleep waiting in the car that was a nice barrier to the cold air outside, until our savior (piki driver) arrived with a tank of oil.  Once again, we were off and on our last leg to our house, half-awake half-stumbled our way to the house, and plopped ourselves onto our beds at around 2:30am, which is SO passed our bedtime of usually 10pm.  But truly, it’s the thought that counts!  :D

Then that weekend, was the big bash for Eric’s Going Away Party and my Housewarming Party!  It was so great and lots of our friends, both Peace Corps and Tanzanian, showed up to celebrate, play games, have bonfires, play music (Eric’s handmade drums and my ukulele), and eat terrific food.  OH, THE FOOD!  I am sure you can tell by now that I am obsessed with food…but anyway, that weekend, Eric and I pulled all the stops.  I had travelled to Tukuyu the weekend before to get a bucketful of avocados, a bucketful of potatoes, pasta, and a few other things, and Eric and I ordered chapatti, beef, and rice.  Here was the menu for that weekend:

Friday (Dinner):  Spaghetti and tomato sauce, toast
Saturday (Breakfast):  Peanut butter sandwiches, bananas
Saturday (Lunch):  Hashbrowns with green peppers and onions, eggs, toast
Saturday (Dinner):  Beef and veggie tacos using fresh meat (I spent over an hour grinding up in our meat grinder), guacamole, super delicious salsa, cheese (brought by PCVs from Mbeya), chips (brough by Marin), chapatti (as soft tacos), rice

It was SO successful!  Everyone loved our tacos!  Heck, I loved them.  But a disclaimer to this though was that I will not be able to eat like this every day, let alone every weekend.  This called for only special occasions and this was one.

Then after that weekend, NECTA exams for the Form IVs started and Eric had to start packing.  That was when it started to hit me – I was REALLY going to miss him.  He was a great housemate and although I was planning to live alone in country for two years, I never expected to grow so close to a person in just two months!  When he said goodbye to the teachers and the students that week, some tears were shed and I almost cried as the students sang him the school song.  It was truly heartbreaking, and I also realized that if I was close to crying now, I wonder how I will be after two years.

During the school’s goodbye though, the craziest thing happened – it started to rain.  There was a light sprinkle when the students started singing and by the end of the song, it was a steady rain.  As Eric finished his speech, the rain was coming down pretty hard and the students started to leave to go home.  It was as if the sky was mimicking the sadness felt by the students.  Very poetic actually…  Once all of the students left and the school was quiet again, the rain stopped suddenly.  We walked up the hill to go home, he finished packing, and the house was becoming emptier by the minute.  :(

Eric will be missed dearly by everyone, and I am glad I was able to say bye to him one last time in Mbeya this past weekend before he went on a bus to Dar.  I am now currently back at my site and am left with a slight emptiness that is new.  I am super happy I have the dogs (Amani and Orion) and cat (Felix) to keep me company, but it still feels like something is missing.  I am sure it may feel that for a little while, though luckily, I am going to be extremely busy taking care of Form IV NECTA lab practicals this week so I may not even notice hah.  I know it may take some time to get used to living alone now, but I am also looking forward to making what used to be “his house” and “our house” to become “my house” and finally “my home.”

Eric – I bid you adieu and thanks for being an awesome housemate and friend.  You will be missed dearly, but we had some great memories.  I wish you the best of luck and karibu kila mara!  Let the good times roll!

Graduation

One of the biggest days of your life is the day you graduate.  That doesn’t change when you are a student in Tanzania either.

Today I attended the graduation of the Form IV students of Mwatisi Secondary School.  I can definitely say that it was ENTIRELY different than any graduation I had ever been to in the states, both high school and university – and believe me, I have been to MANY graduation ceremonies just this past year!



For one, the school grounds are decorated by the teachers and the students the days (or in this case one day) prior to graduation, and there is a definite Tanzanian flair to it.  I was recruited by my mkuu to help paint the trees with a white limestone/water/paint mix using a brush that was pretty much two pieces of wood slapped together on a handle.  The teachers said I could do whatever I wanted, so I got some inspiration from Dr. Seuss and went crazy with it, or as crazy as I could be before my stomach started yelling at me to get fed.



As I admired my work and the work of the students, excitement started growing more and more inside of me, and I could not wait until the actual graduation day.  There were splashes of color everywhere.  The school grounds were decorated with various scraps and colors of “kitenge” (what is known as the fabric found commonly here in Tanzania) that were tied together and hung from the trees to create a banner of sorts.  Also, the students and teachers took the same paint mix that I used for some of the trees to paint the rocks lining the plants of the school.  Starting at the top of the hill behind the school was a railing made of bamboo that was striped with the white paint, ending at a pavilion for the teachers and guests of honor on the graduation grounds.





Finishing touches were made this morning before graduation started at 10am, including the stereos and speakers for the DJ and MC.  YES, you read correctly!  There is no live instrumental ensemble or stereo that plays the well-known graduation march, but instead there is a DJ and an MC that runs the show, because this graduation was a performance of sorts rather than the graduations in the U.S. that are riddled with speeches and names being called.  Here, it is much more than that.  It is a celebration of the end of an education and a bittersweet goodbye to those students that have worked to get where they are.  Now I must admit, not all graduations in Tanzania are like this, but I was lucky enough to be placed at a school that puts on a grand party for their graduates.  ;D

The graduation ceremony started at the front of the school where there are Scouts (similar to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America combined with ROTC, I suppose) that led the procession through the school and down to the graduation grounds.  When the graduates reached their pavilion, which is separate from the guest and teacher pavilion, music was played and the students danced in place until every student arrives at their seats.  Another difference I saw was something I half expected and half did not want to be true – there was not a single parent in the audience or seating area below the two pavilions.  I do not think it was because the parents did not care, but more so the fact that they were arriving in true Tanzanian fashion…late.  When the MC, who was clad in what Americans would consider stereotypical African garb, started his introduction and after we (teachers, including myself) finished introducing ourselves in Kiswahili, I saw one parent in the entire audience.

As the ceremony and the performances went on throughout the morning, and more and more parents, families, and onlookers trickled in, the graduation accumulated a large crowd.  Performances were done by various student groups and individuals that were in honor of the Form IV graduates.  It actually seemed more like a talent show rather than a graduation, but still incredibly entertaining nonetheless!  There was a mix of acts from all Forms of students, most of which were students singing poems or songs they revised for the graduates, Bongo Flava, or rapping (some freestyle ones which were pretty impressive), and one that was a play and another was an acrobat/tumbling act which was cool.  Between every act was music being played and almost every graduate stood up to dance in place…that would rarely ever happen at a graduation in the states!  Also, everything was in Kiswahili, but luckily this was the second time I got to watch these acts.  Yesterday, while I taught only in the morning, I stayed at school until around 6pm helping decorate as well as watching the rehearsals for each act and listening to the teachers constructively critique the performances.  That was a first for me too…

After all the performances, a few speeches were made by Mkuu Kipangula, the school board director, a short one by Eric saying his goodbye, and a dodged bullet of a speech that I almost had to give in Kiswahili that I was not at all prepared for, the students were finally able to receive their faux graduation certificates (that was one thing very similar to my graduations in America).  What I thought was  really neat were the leis that many students received from their families as tokens of graduating.  While Americans receive flowers or gifts, the tokens of homemade and bought leis reminded me of the head pieces, wreaths, sashes, or pins that I have seen proud families adorn their graduates in Thailand.  It was awesome to see the varying traditions of different cultures on special occasions.  :)

Awards of excellence were given to students that excelled in academics, not only in Form IV but also the top student in each of the other Forms according to their Mock NECTA Exams and marks in school, and the finale consisted of all the graduates forming a semi-circle facing the teachers and singing goodbye.  It was truly heartwarming and although Eric would hate me for writing this, I actually saw him get choked up.  ;)  I don’t blame him – he was proud of his Form IV students, whom he has taught for two years, and they are finally graduating!  I am sure that when the time comes for my students to leave…I will probably cry…

I digress.  Once the ceremony was closed by the Mkuu, all was in calamity because Eric had started the precedence two years ago of taking pictures of students and their families and later printing them pictures the next time he would go into town…  Pictures cost money (350 Tsh/picture to be exact) and before the graduation ceremony even began that morning, I was volunteered (by Eric) to be the photographer because I was the only one between us that had a camera, so I took down names and money for how many pictures they wanted.  We did this for the sake of volunteering and not for profit, but man, we should have been paid because IT.WAS.CRAZY.  Once the ceremony was over, I had dozens of families and students urging me and almost tugging me in every direction to get their pictures taken – with Mwalimu Eric, without him, by themselves, with family – in every possible pose, no matter how odd it seemed to me.  (By the way, I have no earthly clue how Tanzanians come up with their poses sometimes…but it is pretty entertaining to watch.)  Of course, my camera died after a couple hours of taking hundreds of pictures, so I had to go back up to the house to charge my battery before the dance party.

Case in point…  :P

Unfortunately, I never made it back to the dance party before it was over at sundown, but it was apparently was quite fun, according to Eric.  To be honest, I was not too disappointed because although I love dancing, I did not know exactly how I would appear to the students if I danced like a fiend.  I am sure I will join in on the fun either next year or more likely the last year I am here, once they are more used to me and my quirkiness.  :P

All in all, HONGERA to the all graduates (at Mwatisi and other secondary schools) and So long, and thanks for all the fish!  [That is a quote…by the way…]

Firsts

The past couple of weeks have been the mark of many firsts.

For one, today was my first official day of teaching at Mwatisi!

It was a fantastic feeling to finally start teaching again.  I had forgotten how much I loved teaching when I was at Kihonda, and I was happy to find out that didn’t change here either.  Last week was the first week of school since the long hiatus from the Sensa [Census], but I was not able to figure out what I was going to be teaching until last Wednesday.  Instead, I just went and introduced myself to all the streams in each form and did not start lesson planning until this past weekend.  That being said, I am in a bit of a moral dilemma…

Currently, there is no physics teacher at my school and Eric, the PCV I’m replacing, is the only one teaching biology and chemistry.  Although the majority of my teaching was supposed to be math, I am going to be teaching mainly physics and a little math.  My time table until the end of this term will consist of me teaching Forms II (streams A through C) and IV (stream A) of physics and Form III (streams A and B) of math.  That does not seem much at first, but with about 40 students in each class, lesson plans, and tests and homework to grade, it can add up.  So here’s my dilemma:  I know I will not have the time or energy to do so, but I wish I could teach every form of physics.  Right now, the Form I’s and Form III’s are sitting idly in their classrooms with no teacher present during the time they would be learning physics.

I know I cannot be in multiple places at once unless I had Hermione’s Time Turner, which I have always coveted since I read about it in book three, so there is not much I can do.  Though there are four streams of Form I, I felt that taking on Forms II and IV would be the best option for their success because they have their NECTA exams coming up in October and I want to help them prepare for that as much as possible, seeing as they have no major resource for physics help.  Although I have made peace with my decision, I couldn’t help but feel bad for not being able to do more, so I told the other forms that I would be available to help answer any questions both academic and otherwise whenever I am not teaching.  So far, that has worked quite well!  It was the first time that I just felt like I wanted to do more but couldn’t…

In other news, this past week marked the first time that I have not showered more than twice in one week and have helped in the slaughtering of a chicken!  (To eat, of course!)  I apologize if both of those accounts have disgusted you in any way, but I must qualify that the first is due to lack of water and convenience to do so, since I do not have running water nor is the water less than incredibly cold without using an excess amount of kerosene to heat up coals.  The second is because how else would I be able to make chicken tortilla soup without a chicken?

Now you ask, how do you slaughter a chicken?  Well first, you need to buy a live chicken, tie it to something like a pole or tree while you are preparing necessary items, and hope it doesn’t run away.  Then, with a very sharp knife and while holding down its wings under your foot and its head in your non-cutting hand, you do your best to decapitate it in one motion with a lot more pressure than you think you need to cut off a chicken head.  You really don’t want a chicken named Nick, as in Nearly Headless Nick…

In our case, the chicken [“kuku”] was executed by my site mate, Steph, who valiantly took a stab at the slaughtering (sorry for the pun) and was mostly successful, but then Eric stepped in to help finish the deed so it would suffer as little as possible.  It is actually a lot harder than it looks to sever a small chicken neck, but we were successful after a couple attempts.  At least we used a very sharp knife.  Steph and I both wanted to learn how to kill a chicken at some point during our service so as to know where our food actually came from, so we agreed that she would do it this time and I would be the one to do it next time, since I am sure I will want to eat chicken again at site before my two years are up.

After letting the blood drain out on the grass in front of my porch, we got the water boiling and immersed the chicken in the pot.  [Funny tangent, but I was actually able to explain Archimedes Principle to my Form II physics classes today by using the example of upthrust and water displacement in putting a chicken in boiling water!  Never thought I would have to use that, but it worked and they knew exactly what I was talking about!]  Once the body has been in the water for about 30 seconds to open up the pores, the three of us plucked the chicken, singed loose hairs, and proceeded to dissect the chicken innards and cut the chicken up to boil a little before adding it to our delicious soup.  Earlier that day, Eric and I made flour, sage, and Golden Chick Lotta Zing tortillas from scratch, and were frying them up while the soup was going.

All of our hard work paid off and the chicken tortilla soup with our individual servings of hot tortillas and an entire avocado were truly delectable!  :D

Mail

I am drifting very quickly into REM, but I wanted to get this out there before I forgot, so this will be trite.

I finally got my mail situation set up and I think I will be getting the key to my box "very soon."  As for now, I have updated my mailing and shipping address that is located at the link titled, "How can I send mail to Belle?" under Common Inquiries.  This will be my mailing address until the end of my service!

So please send me mail!  :D  Tukuyu is my banking town where I will most likely be travelling into about once a month to get my living allowance, check mail, run some errands, and maybe even meet up with other volunteers.

Usiku mwema!