Letter to You from GLA Staff Member Allison at Moshi
Mambo!!!!!
I cannot believe that I am back in the United States after spending an AMAZING summer in Tanzania with Global Leadership Adventures! I am now fully back into the routine of work and school here and I hope that all of you are fully immersed and enjoying your next adventure whether that be another year of high school or your first year in college.
I want to take this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for everyone who worked at and participated in the GLA Tanzania Moshi program this summer. All of you took an incredibly brave step by traveling halfway around the world to a foreign country to experience a different culture with strangers who turned into friends and you all succeeded in fully immersing yourselves into the GLA experience. Most importantly, all of the hard work that you did for the students at Himo and Korona has had a positive impact on their lives. I hope the GLA experience has been life changing for you as well and that your experiences in Tanzania continues to positively impact your life as you continue to grow both as individuals and future leaders.
Allison’s Most Memorable Moments: June 16 – July 6, 2015
- Mama Digna’s awesome cooking!!!
- Watching GLA students swarmed by the Tanzanian students at Himo and Korona at recess
- Safari Weekend was the best thing ever!!!!
- Spending the afternoon making batik
- Almost losing a smartphone over the Ngorongoro Crater
- Buying the most beautiful used dress at Memorial Market- the Goodwill on steroids
- Sleep over night in the common room
Allison’s Most Memorable Moments: July 10 – July 30, 2015
- Mama Digna’s awesome cooking!!!
- Watching GLA students swarmed by the Tanzanian students at Himo and Korona at recess
- Safari Weekend was the best thing ever!!!!
- Spending the afternoon making batik
- Shopping for fabric and seeing all the beautiful clothes everyone had made by the tailor
- Eating dinner in town for the 4th of July and then singing Firework at the top of our lungs
- Hearing the students singing We Will Rock You and A Thousand Miles at Himo and Korona-
Allison’s Most Memorable Moments: August 3 – August 14, 2015
- Mama Digna’s awesome cooking!!!
- Watching GLA students swarmed by the Tanzanian students at Himo and Korona at recess
- Safari Weekend was the best thing ever!!!!
- Spending the afternoon making batik
- Digging the most holes and planting the most trees of all the GLA groups this summer
- Playing crazy rounds of card games (SPIT) and Banana Grams
- Kiliward’s performance and dance
Letter to You from GLA Staff Member Ashley at Arusha
June 14 – June 27, 2015
My Dearest Students,
Good Morning Teacher! Jambo! Jambo Bwana, habari gani? Mzuri sana! I’m writing you a giant group warm fuzzy because every time I think of y’all my heart feels all warm and fuzzy! I hope this fuzzy finds you well and fills your heart with warm and fuzzy feelings! I’m still wearing the string from my mentor group web around my wrist and it makes me think of you everyday and miss our wonderful experiences in Tanzania.
You guys were such an amazing group, legendary in everyway! I really appreciated how engaged and involved you all were during activities and how much you really took and absorbed from discussions. You have truly made me so proud as a mentor! When we got your final evaluations back, the orphanage visit ranked the lowest with some real critical thinking comments- and that’s when I knew YOU were my greatest success story! Yes, we went on safari and sang songs with children, enjoyed a dance troop and painted some Batik, we experienced Tanzania and had lots of fun doing it, but we also had some pretty important discussions on issues faced on the “other” side of the world, development issues, cultural issues, environmental issues, things to get passionate about! And while you sat and pretended not to listen to Kate, Laura, and I talk our hearts out on why these issues are important to consider, some of it got threw to you and you’re better human beings for it! You don’t fool me with your “too cool for school” demeanors, dear Sirs and Madams, because when the time came you rose to the occasion, such as with guest speakers, and asked the critical questions. You care, you really do care!
And since returning home you continue to amaze me! Not only because you were such a rockin’ group and we partied down every single day, but also because you continue to show we learned you something. Some of you have started clubs at school, led discussions on “the danger of a single story”, or just told me how I was the best Mentor to ever happen to you. Any action you take, whether it’s campaigning for a cause or just making someone smile, is making the world a better place.
In closing, I miss you. I tried to write you a highlight reel rap to the tune of “Legend” by Drake, but there really aren’t a lot of lyrics in that song. Drake didn’t give me a whole lot to work with, so please turn your radio dials to “Drunk in Love” by my girl Beyoncé and enjoy!
I’ve been drinking, I’ve been drinking
I stay healthy when that water get into me
I’ve been thinking, I’ve been thinking
Why can’t you remember da glasses, Baily?
I want you, na na
To sand the paint up off the wall, baby!
I want you, na na
Elephant, Elephant
Feeling like an animal on Safari with my grill
Can’t wear tights, Can’t wear tights
We got you faded, faded, faded
GLA, I want you, na na
Can’t keep your eyes off my fabric
Jazzy, I want you, na na
Brithday love, We want you
We woke up in Tanzania saying
“How the hell does a cow make that sound?”, oh Lady
Talking Loud, we be all night
Last thing I remember is our
Beautiful mentors telling us to go to bed
Talking loud
We be all night, talk talk
We be all night, laugh laugh
We be all wired, and in the evening all tired
No complaints for my body, all evening chats get fired
Girl, you drinking tea and peanut butter sandwiches
I’m rubbing on it, rub-rubbing
but the peanut butter won’t spread
Boy, I’m thinking, teaching it right
issues in someone else’s life
Women’s groups, female genital cutting, orphanage tourism
Boy, you drinking, soda all the time, leavin’ bottles behind
Then I fill the bucket halfway and shower with my gobelet
Chalkboard, Chalkboard
Graining on that wood, graining, graining on that wood
I’m hammerin a nail, ham, hammerin a nail into a desk
Serving the school, teach, teaching all of this good good
We woke up in Tanzania saying
“How the hell does a cow make that sound?”, oh Lady
Talking Loud, we be all night
Last thing I remember is our
Beautiful mentors telling us to go to bed
Talking loud
We be all night, talk talk
We be all night, laugh laugh
Hold up, hold up
I do say it’s the shit if I do say so myself
If I do say so myself, if I do say so myself
Ok that’s as far as I got- Ese, Alexis, Jazz, I expect you to finish us off.
I miss you all tons and expect you to keep in touch!
OX,
Baked Potato
Letter to You from GLA Staff Member Laura at Arusha
July 1 – July 21, 2015
Hi friends!!
It’s crazy to think that it’s already November. How did time fly by so quickly? It seems like yesterday I was sitting on the second story of Mama Simba’s, listening to the banana leaves in the wind and the sound of music wafting from market day. As we continue to settle back into our normal lives, we can take a second to reflect on the amazing time we shared together in Tanzania. Can you believe that just a few months ago, we were peering at lions and elephants from safari jeeps and trying to spot Kilimanjaro in the clouds? I can still smell Baba Joseph’s cooking from the kitchen and hear the laughter of those wonderful kids at Patandi.
Almost daily, I am asked to describe my summer with all of you. I’ve decided that there’s no one word that could give our summer justice. It was epic, challenging, beautiful, inspiring, and memorable, just to name a few. How do you describe learning dance moves with Godwin and Upendo, market day, and our daily walk to and from school? What words describe the feeling of hiking to waterfalls nestled at the foothills of Kilimanjaro, teaching English to rowdy primary schoolchildren, and counting zebras in Ngorogoro? Every day was different, filled to the brim with smiling faces and new memories. I love the thought that there exists all of you, spread across our big, beautiful world, who share these memories with me and know exactly what our summer in Tengeru was like.
I smile with pride when I think of the amazing work you did this summer. Waking up each morning, untangling ourselves out of those mosquito nets, and heading off to fix broken desks and paint walls under that East African sun took passion, courage, and something special that each one of you brought. It was such an amazing feeling to see those desks and classrooms being used at the end of the session and the summer. You helped make that school an even better learning environment and that’s incredible. Your commitment and ambition left a legacy at Patandi – if the tears shared with your students at the end of the session weren’t already an indicator, you will not be soon forgotten. Thanks for being so consistently passionate in helping Patandi and connecting with your students; I feel grateful to have worked with such inspiring, enthusiastic individuals.
I hope everyone is settling into this school year successfully. Maybe one day we can share some street-side corn on the cob, laughing about all the things that happened in Tengeru. Keep inspiring those around you and hold your memories of Tanzania close, knowing that there’s a big, loving community in Tanzania and around the world that misses you and thinks you’re awesome. Thanks for being so great and hanging out with me this summer. And remember, Mama Simba loves you!
Much love!
Laura
Laura’s Recollections from All Arusha Sessions:
- Baba Joseph’s FOOD. And Baba Joseph.
- All of our awesome local staff. Lodrick, Godwin, Upendo x2, Dada Elly, Isaack and Lulu, Baba, and Mama Simba (of course).
- THE ELEPHANT COW.
- Real elephants also! And lions and zebras and hyenas and wildebeest and giraffes and warthogs and cool birds and dung beetles and a rhino and mongoose and old termite mounds where poisonous snakes possibly live.
- The day with the Maasai at the boma! Epic (read: exhausting, hot, beautiful, hard) walking safari, milking goats, killing goats/hanging underneath the tree with curious ladies, throwing spears!, eating goat, eating other things, dancing, etc.
- Hiking to those awesome Kilimanjaro waterfalls. And running away from biting ants.
- Market day! Corn on the side of the road, cold sodas, Swahili greetings, marriage proposals, and all of the fabric ever. And the seamstress! I hope y’all are rocking your local wardrobe.
- Linjun’s impressive community skills, Elan’s stories, Emily C’s DJ skills, Kylie’s trooper skills, Emma C’s jokes, and Chris’s ridiculous body-over-the-balcony assassin death that scared us all.
- Assassin in general. Screams of terror from the balconies.
- Hoeing in the rain at the orphanage….. and then planting and watering every plot.
- Dance parties and football tournaments at Patandi.
- Chris Brown at 6am, our walks to Patandi and all of the dalla-dallas.
- Photo scavenger hunt! And the ultimate challenge to find the most barbershop signs for extra points.
- Our local river and footbridge. And all of the pik-piks, or motorcycles.
- Banana soup at the women’s group. And catching falling papayas.
- Epic talks about leadership, change, service, and our role in the world. And public health and history and how to be the best we can be.
- My and Kate’s goal to take a selfie with each and every one of you. And succeeding.
- Snuggles with our kittens, Uka and Zawa.
- Power outages!
- Mama Simba. Everything about Mama Simba.
Letter to You from GLA Staff Member Kate at Arusha
July 25 – August 14, 2015
Hello to my fabulous nine!
As the sun starts coming up later and later in Vancouver, it proves that winter is really coming. Time in the Pacific Northwest has had me thinking about my Tanzanian Family often. It’s hard trying to explain to my classmates the impact that you all had this summer on your students and the adventures that we had. (It’s interesting to explain in interviews that my job this summer was work with incredible people as they made a huge difference in a community and go on grand adventures.)
I know that school has started for all of you. (Remember that our older sister started college – Michelle!) I hope that fall is treating you well and that you remember all your time teaching at Patandi when your teachers are talking. Hopefully you have taken your new skills back into your classrooms and communities (anybody taken on any painting projects recently?) Laura and I are curious as always to hear about what you are all up too.
Know that you are spoken of fondly and that Laura and I are trying our best to keep up with Fraha’s rule to talk daily. Mama and the rest of our family are doing well and miss you lots.
All the best,
Kate
P.S. Things that make me chuckle still:
- Chris Brown
- Mama Simba’s full heart hugs and the video of her telling you that you are the best!
- Baba J’s food!
- Cards, cards and more cards
- Richard’s photo bomb face
- Elephant, elephant, yes, yes, yes
- Bad photo slideshows
- Kitten time
