After a quick Kiswahili lesson from Mohammed on Monday afternoon, we all looked forward to going on our assignments on Tuesday. Scott was charged with working with a physics teacher at the secondary school, while I was headed to- where else?- pre-kindergarten! We continued these assignments for each morning the remainder of the week.
Scott really enjoyed brushing up on his physics concepts and by the end of the week, was building periscopes for the students to experiment with. I should note here that in Tanzania all subjects at the secondary school are taught in English. From what we have learned about the school system, they are trying very hard to "catch up" and see learning English as a way to do this.
As for me, working with the 3 and 4 year olds was quite familiar, with one major barrier: language. The children in this class speak only Swahili or their mother tongue (called "Hehe"). I did attempt to teach them the English alphabet. Teaching style here is VASTLY different than the way we do early education in America. It was a struggle to know what to do, but I was assured that just being there and playing and smiling with the children was enough.
In the afternoons, our entire group of volunteers headed to the secondary school where we split up into smaller groups with students from "Form 2" (which is roughly equivalent to sophomores in high school) to have open question and answer times with them. This was a cultural exchange and also a way for the students to practice their English. Having students ask us questions really provided a lot of insight into the culture and education system of Tanzania. Popular questions were about jobs in America, what crops we grow (like Scott and I in particular), how our education system works, bride price (which is still a custom here), and Barack Obama.
For our first weekend in Pommern, about half of our group set out for a safari at Ruaha National Park. Scott and I decided to stay behind since we're going on a two-week safari later. So we had a mellow weekend in Pommern.
On Friday night, we grabbed a drink at the "quiet pub" with the teacher Scott has been working with, Patrick. He was very kind to sit and chat with us about everything from elephants to skiing (skiing has been a VERY foreign thing to explain in Tanzania).
On Saturday, we took a hike to a waterfall not far from the village. While it wasn't the most stunning waterfall we've ever seen, it was nice to get out and see the countryside.
In the afternoon, we played volleyball with some of the secondary school students. I enjoyed the chance to recall some of my high school volleyball skills (haha).
On Sunday, we were introduced at the Lutheran church and really enjoyed the beautiful singing. The rest of our group returned from the safari and we settled in for a new week of serving!
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