Headed Home
All students are checked in through the airport and headed home!
Packing Up & the Finished Product
Mt. Kilimanjaro Photos
USA river women’s coop
Safari!
This weekend was one we will never forget. We began our first safari at Tarangire National Park. We saw an abundance of giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, lions, zebras, and birds. It was an amazing experience. We finally got to see our own version of “The Lion King”. Everyone had a blast, and by the end of the day we were all exhausted and were looking forward to Ngorongoro Crater bright and early the next morning. Arriving at the hotel we were pleasantly surprised by large beds, warm showers and electricity!
Wake up call was at 5:15 A.M. and we left after a breakfast buffet at the hotel. Arriving at the gates of the crater was hectic. We waited about 45 minutes for paperwork to be processed and then we headed in. While driving up the crater we were blinded by the heavy fog, leaving an element of surprise for what was to come next. We really learned to put trust in our drivers. As we finally entered the inside of the crater itself, we were shocked by how beautiful and all consuming our surroundings were. Pictures could not do it justice. We drove down the side of the mountain, all anxious and excited to see what animals would come our way. There were herds of zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, warthogs, hyenas, hippos, and a family of lions. It was an incredible experience. Both national parks were very different; giving us different surroundings and even different types of animals living in each. We left the crater at 3:00 P.M. and headed back to home base for showers and dinner. Bed will feel good tonight.
Lala Salama or Goodnight
-Madeline and Nicole
GLA TZ
Dance, the most simple expression of emotion
Discovery, the key that unlocks learning
Travel, a portal to all ways of life
Friendship, the power to experience them all
Today:
* Traditional dance and dumming lesson
* Arusha walking tour some including central market
* Labor at Patandi Primary School
* Playing soccer with special needs school students
* “You’re the Best” talk with Mama Simba
Arusha
Today we had a fantastic day in Arusha. We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast, prepared by
Joseph, our local chef. We began our morning with a course on Female Genatile Mutilation, which is a
rising debate in Africa. Speakers from an organization called NAFGM (Network Against Female Genatile
Mutilation) came to educate us about this local problem. We all learned a lot about this controversial
topic. Then we had the choice to go to either the local river, local lake, local market, or access internet
in town. We had a relaxing morning. We had a flavorful lunch and then departed for our service.
We taught the students for an hour and then we painted and finished our last coat of oil paint! The
classroom looks very bright and we are all proud of the transformation that we have achieved. It will be
awesome to see the finished product in just a few days, considering just 2 weeks ago we walked in to
what looked like a storage room, told we would be turning it into a classroom. We came back to home
base for a yummy dinner. We concluded our night with an activity called The Affinity Circle. It was a
great chance to get to know one another on a deeper level and share personal stories with the group!
We are very excited for another fun filled day in Tanzania!
Service Photos!
Cooking!
Maasai Moments
This weekend we had the privilege of spending the night with Maasai warriors. We arrived Saturday afternoon at the boma. We were greeted with song, dance, and gifts. The welcoming ceremony consisted of jumping and storytelling through song. Next, we watched the warriors kill a lamb that we later ate for dinner. We watched the sunset, then later continued our singing and dancing. The night ended with us falling asleep under the stars under the watch of a warrior. In the morning, we brushed our teeth the warrior way; with a stick they called ‘toothbrush stick’. We then took a long walk to baobab trees and the Maasai school. After lunch, we packed our bags and said goodbye to our new friends. It was a once-in-a- lifetime experience that none of us will ever forget.
Habari Gani!!
Today is day eight of our three week journey. We started our day with a delicious Tanzanian breakfast, which consisted of pancakes, eggs, beans, bananas, and bread! After breakfast we had the opportunity to choose between three activities: journalism, art, or meditation. We then gathered our belongings and either went on a mountain hike or to a strip mall in Arusha. In Arusha, we had access to wifi and were able to connect with others back home. For the adventurous six individuals who went hiking, they were able to view all of Arusha from the peak of the mountain and completed the task in two and a half hours.
By 1:00 pm we were all back at home base and ready for lunch. The lunch was filling which prepared us for what was coming for dinner. It also provided us with an abundance of energy for our first day of teaching at Patandi! By 2:00 pm we were out the door and on our daily 10 minute walk to the primary school. In groups of three we split up and were assigned our own class of 10-15 standard five students (9 – 14 year olds). Each group of GLA students brought a different style of teaching to the table. Groups taught a variety of things from past and present tense to colors and days of the week. After our first day of teaching we continued our manual labor project of sanding walls.
By 5:00 pm we were on our way back to home base. We can strongly say that we were not prepared for what was coming next. Tonight we did something called the Hunger Banquet. This is when we drew cards with a hypothetical economic status which consisted of high, middle, and low incomes. Each income had a specific place to sit. The four high income people were served a filling meal of fried chicken, french fries, rice, soda, and vegetables. The six middle income people were given rice, beans, and water. Lastly, the ten low income people were left to eat plan rice from platters with their hands. If they were thirsty they had to drink out of a communal bowl of water. This activity was an eye opening experience for all of us. Tonight some of us go hungry, like 50% of the world.
Best regards,
Your community coordinators,
-Aspen and Nicole
Ps. Goodnight, Sleep Tight, Don’t let the Bed Bugs Bite. I love and miss you all!
Pss. 143
Reflections
We started the day with fresh omelets, toast, and beans. After that we had a discussion on HIV/AIDS in small groups of GLA students. This was in preparation for a visit from TUPO the HIV/AIDS support group in Arusha. They each told their stories about how the disease affects their life before and after they were diagnosed. We then proceeded on a trip to a coffee plantation owned by a local man. He demonstrated the technique of grounding and brewing the coffee beans. And then we watched as he brewed us coffee to drink. We all enjoyed it. We came back for lunch, and then after lunch the group split up and went to two different orphanages. It was a very emotional experience because we all were exposed to a greater amount of poverty than any of us had seen before. A few people cried. We came back and had a bit of time to think about what had just happened before dinner. After dinner Shaun, the director at the Moshi site, showed a presentation about education about Global Issues. This was extremely thought provoking. We then met with our mentor groups before bed.
-Nik Yergo and Eryn McCassey
Photos!
Jambo and Nakupenda!
Today we woke up earlier than usual. We started the day at 7:00 A.M. Tanzanian time. From there, we ate a DELICIOUS traditional African breakfast. Following breakfast, we discussed clothing and tailoring in Tanzania. We discovered that donating clothes to developing countries such as Tanzania can sometimes have hazardous affects on the community and its citizens. The group then split up, and scurried our way to find fabric in the markets. Each store had a different variety of traditional and modern African apparel. After carefully choosing which fabric would be “the one”, we gathered our belongings and ventured our way over to our tailor to have our items personalized and created to perfection. After spending hours at the tailor, we walked back to home base. We had a fantastic lunch, and ran out the door to begin our service project at Patandi Village Primary School. We split into three groups, one group sanded walls, one put together broken desks, and the last group spread manure over the newly dug homes for a future tree. After service came to an end, we played with local disabled children. Showing them a glimpse into the love they deserve. The day came to a close and soon we will say goodnight. Jambo and Nakupenda!
-Frances and Madeleine
Jambo!
Day four in Tanzania was full of adventure and group bonding. After breakfast, we met in our mentor/home groups and participated in a team building exercise called “Bucket of Dreams.” This activity challenged us to communicate in various ways, as some group members were blindfolded, some mute, and some unable to use the tools provided. This taught us to work together to achieve a common goal, and retrieve the bucket from the “pool of lava.” We then had Swahili lessons to learn some general family phrases that we later used when conversing with our host families over lunch. We split into small groups of 2-3 GLA members assigned to local members of the community. After lunch, we spent the afternoon with our host families, meeting their families, seeing their homes, and exploring the neighborhood. For some, (Alexa, Nicole, and Madeline) this included seeing wild monkeys in a nearby forest. Others, (India, Becca, and Nikki) visited a local lake.
After dinner at 6, we discussed tutoring methods as we start to plan our lessons for tomorrow. We will be teaching 5th graders English and are all really excited to get to know our students! Then we played human bingo to get to know each other. We finished the night by playing Body Body, a murder mystery game and we all had loads of fun! Hopefully day five will be just as fun-filled as day four!
Love,
-Alexa Steckler and India Ruiterman
Service!
We woke up this morning at 7:30 and ate a delicious breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and buttermilk pancakes. We left for the Patandi School, where we did our service of labor of cleaning out a former storage space that we will soon transform into a bright classroom for the local students. In addition GLA students prepped the area by digging holes for incoming trees that we will later plant in the coming weeks to provide shade and a better atmosphere for the students. ITS MARKET DAY!!!!!! From the Patandi School we left to indulge in the local market where vendors and shops were selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat. It was especially interesting to see a market of such different nature of unregulated business and sanitation. We went back to the home base and had lunch of rice and beef, where we debriefed about our market observations. After lunch we had a mentoring session from Uncle Fulgence, on an efficient and appropriate way to teach English to the standard 5 classes of the Patandi School this coming Monday. We departed for Arusha town and exchanged our money to Tanzania Shillings. We stopped at a super market and purchased snacks. We ate a delicious dinner of pasta and beef. We met with our home groups and discussed our most valuable item we brought on this trip. We later watched the TED talk about the dangers of a single story and talked about the troubles of believing stereotypes or only one side of a situation. We had an awesome day here in the Patandi Village and cannot wait for the excitement for tomorrow!
Love,
-Perri Sucoff (Shongue) and Duck
Starting Off
- Began the day with a nice, delicious breakfast of toast, eggs, and yam.
- Afterwards we underwent orientation and reviewed the code of conduct.
- Then we ate lunch, masterfully prepared by our cook Joseph
- Finally, we got to visit the school where we will be working for the remainder of the trip and met some of the children who go there.
- When we got back we got a crash course in Swahili and learn about the problems facing Tanzania’s education system.
- After a short break we had spaghetti for diner and then broke into home groups where we talked about goals for the trip.
- At the end of the day we played a big game of “never have I ever “ to break the ice.
Waiting!
Greetings from international director, Jenna Padbury
At the airport anxiously awaiting arrivals.
Thank you for entrusting your young leader to us. We are excited to join them for this part of their amazing life journey! More photos to follow with tales of adventures, challenge, hope, and change!!
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