Things have been starting to get really busy here, which is
good in a way, but also a little tiring. Two days ago, on April 15 we did what
is called “A Day in the Life”. Basically, we did everything that a normal
secondary school student does here so that we could see how hard they work. We
had learned the previous night exactly what we would be doing and even though I
sort of knew what to expect, nothing could have prepared me for the next day.
We began our day by waking up at 4 a.m. We had to get up early so that we had
enough time to get dressed and make ourselves breakfast. It was really
important to eat a good, filling breakfast because the secondary school
students don’t eat at school. We were supposed to be picked up at 5 a.m. by the
students so that we could begin our long walk to school. The walk is 10 km,
around 6 miles. It’s no easy walk. It’s up and down huge hills and there were
times where it was really hard. Not only that, but it was raining the whole way
to school. So when going down steep hills you had to be really careful not to
slip and fall. I’m not sure how we all managed not to with how slippery it was!
The students were late to picking us up and didn’t actually come until around
6. It took us 2 hours to walk to school. When we got there, the students we
were paired up with for the day went to class and we met with a lady who works
there, Janelle, and the head master of the school, Edgar. The school was a
private school. They told us about some of their accomplishments. In the past
year, every student that took the exams passed, which is phenomenal. At the
local public school, nobody passed. Jenny originally told us that we would be
students for the day and going to class with the students. However, when we got
there they had other plans for us. We ended up getting to teach English all day
to Form 3, 4 and Pre-Form students. I had so much fun and definitely loved it.
The kids were really into it and it really made me realize just how much these
kids appreciate education. If we were at a school in America, there is no way
the kids would be as into the learning as Tanzanian students are. It was
amazing to see and experience.
We
left school around 2:45 and begin our long journey back. I was so tired. I
really wasn’t sure if I was going to make it all the way without taking maybe a
little break. We took a different route back, but it was just as hard and had
just as many hills. I was paired with a student called Dotto and Renee was
paired with her sister Yasinta. So, we both got to stop in the same place on
the way back. We stopped about 20 minutes from the NGO at their house in the
village. Immediately, they began to cook what would be their one meal of the
day, ugali and cabbage and tomatoes. Normally I don’t really like ugali, but I
was so hungry that this ugali was fantastic and I ate a bunch. When they were
waiting for the water to boil, the girls were doing their households laundry.
Never did they have a free time to do something for fun. Right after we
finished eating, we had to go straight to their mandatory prep study time at
the Tree House (Jenny and Geoff’s house) from 7-9:30. Our job there was to help
tutor the students in whatever they may need help with. I was so sore already
by that point from all the walking we did during the day. By the time 9:30
rolled around I was exhausted and ready to get right in bed. The walk back to
our house from the Tree House seemed very long.
This
whole experience was really eye opening and I am really glad that I had the
opportunity to experience it. I have gained all new respect for these students.
Secondary school here in Tanzania is not mandatory even though it is equivalent
to our high school. As a matter of fact, they even have to take a test, pass
it, be chosen to go to secondary school, and even pay for secondary school. The
thought that these kids are walking 20 km a day just to go to school that isn’t
even mandatory is amazing. These kids know that education is the only thing
that is going to keep them out of poverty and they are willing to go to great
lengths to be sure that they receive the best education they possibly can. I
don’t know how they do it every day. I couldn’t even imagine getting up the
next day to do it all over again, let alone every day from Monday-Friday, rain
or shine. It really opened up my eyes and 2 days later, I am still in shock
over it.
Other
than that, I’ve just been really busy with schoolwork. Slowly but surely, we
are getting it all done though. It’s not so much that the work is hard, but it
takes a lot of time because for some of my classes we have to do interviews and
then write an essay on those interviews. On top of all the schoolwork that I
have, I also have my own individual research project to complete which is the
main reason why we are here. I have never done a try research project before.
I’m glad I took Writing 101 for Psychology this summer though because I feel
like that has definitely helped me. I’m starting to really get started on it
now, which is good considering we only have 2 weeks left here! It’s crazy that
our time in Mufindi is already half way over. Time is now going by so fast with
just 4 weeks left in the program. These 4 weeks will probably go by the
quickest as well. I’ve got a good amount of literature review material done.
I’ve read some articles and now I just need to type it up. After that, my next
step is to write down interview questions that I want to ask and then to plan
out days to go conduct the interviews! I decided that I will be doing the
interviews at the Montessori kindergarten here where I work, and the
kindergarten at Igoda Primary School, the name of the village which we are in.
Hopefully I can get some good information and come across good findings. I’m
kind of excited to write the paper in a weird way. It’s my first real research
paper in which I am going out and conducting the research myself so that’s
going to be a pretty cool experience. I just hope I can get all that I need in
the short amount of time that we have left here.
One of the classes we did an English lesson with.
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