F-i-n-a-l-l-y! Sorry this took so long, I'm actually on the computer less frequently than when I was in Tanzania...plus I had a little trouble figuring out how to get these on here in the right order!
Pictures automatically scroll. Options to adjust the speed of the slide-show and to pause will appear if you hover near the top. (Adjusting the speed to less than 5 seconds will make it go faster. It's about 10 minutes long.)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Farewell Beach Fire
This was the perfect way to spend my last night in Bagamoyo, Tanzania! Some friends I hung out with arranged a beach fire for my departure, and it was probably the coolest thing I've been a part of. (It's tradition here for friends to throw a beach fire when another friend leaves for a long trip, moves away, or in remembrance of someone.)
There was lots of drumming, dancing, singing, acoustic guitar, more dancing, and even more drumming. The powerful sound of the drums, the singing, the stars, the sound of the waves, and the smell of the ocean and of burning coconut wood made the whole experience feel a little surreal. I kept thinking wow, this time has gone by so fast! Next week I will actually be back in America...
Don't get me wrong, I knew I would be elated to see my family and friends, but I also knew that I would miss it. Now that I'm back I can say I miss it much more than I thought I would. I had gotten a lot more attached to the people in Tanzania and Bagamoyo in particular than I realized… Feeling a sense of community everywhere I went... Not worrying about my personal safety at all, even when walking around town late at night (and there are no street lights, you have to use a flashlight)... Being around people who are so grateful for everything, and so welcoming... I really miss it.
I felt like I was a part of the community and part of the family there... Like if I decided to move there, or if something happened and I had to stay there, I would have been taken care of. I would have a community of people who would treat me as their sister, their aunt, their daughter, their granddaughter… People really did view me as a part of them. Some of that likely has to do with me being of African descent, but even in talking to others who aren't, they also felt this incredibly strong sense of community. People in Tanzania were always eager to teach us about the language and their culture, which in a sense is also part of my culture. I can't even count the number of times people said to me "welcome home" when I told them this was my first trip to Africa from America.
Would I go back? Most definitely. As much as I’d love to, I'm not sure that I will be able to go back for another 2 months, but I can definitely see myself going back and working with the amazing women at Bawodene... seeing the impact that volunteerism has on that community in particular... and seeing how the town of Bagamoyo develops.
Would I recommend this to someone else? Definitely. I think volunteerism, international volunteerism, is important and can be life-changing. This has been an experience that has challenged me in ways I never imagined... probably ways I needed to be challenged. It hasn't always been easy, but it’s definitely been life-changing.
To my new family in Bagamoyo: Thank you for making me always feel so at home in Tanzania. I will miss laughing with you, learning from you, cooking with you, and dodging bats with you (well, me dodging bats while you laughed!). To the other volunteers: I had a blast getting to know all of you and wish you all the best! Finally, to my friends and family here in America, thank you for taking this journey with me!
There was lots of drumming, dancing, singing, acoustic guitar, more dancing, and even more drumming. The powerful sound of the drums, the singing, the stars, the sound of the waves, and the smell of the ocean and of burning coconut wood made the whole experience feel a little surreal. I kept thinking wow, this time has gone by so fast! Next week I will actually be back in America...
Don't get me wrong, I knew I would be elated to see my family and friends, but I also knew that I would miss it. Now that I'm back I can say I miss it much more than I thought I would. I had gotten a lot more attached to the people in Tanzania and Bagamoyo in particular than I realized… Feeling a sense of community everywhere I went... Not worrying about my personal safety at all, even when walking around town late at night (and there are no street lights, you have to use a flashlight)... Being around people who are so grateful for everything, and so welcoming... I really miss it.
I felt like I was a part of the community and part of the family there... Like if I decided to move there, or if something happened and I had to stay there, I would have been taken care of. I would have a community of people who would treat me as their sister, their aunt, their daughter, their granddaughter… People really did view me as a part of them. Some of that likely has to do with me being of African descent, but even in talking to others who aren't, they also felt this incredibly strong sense of community. People in Tanzania were always eager to teach us about the language and their culture, which in a sense is also part of my culture. I can't even count the number of times people said to me "welcome home" when I told them this was my first trip to Africa from America.
Would I go back? Most definitely. As much as I’d love to, I'm not sure that I will be able to go back for another 2 months, but I can definitely see myself going back and working with the amazing women at Bawodene... seeing the impact that volunteerism has on that community in particular... and seeing how the town of Bagamoyo develops.
Would I recommend this to someone else? Definitely. I think volunteerism, international volunteerism, is important and can be life-changing. This has been an experience that has challenged me in ways I never imagined... probably ways I needed to be challenged. It hasn't always been easy, but it’s definitely been life-changing.
To my new family in Bagamoyo: Thank you for making me always feel so at home in Tanzania. I will miss laughing with you, learning from you, cooking with you, and dodging bats with you (well, me dodging bats while you laughed!). To the other volunteers: I had a blast getting to know all of you and wish you all the best! Finally, to my friends and family here in America, thank you for taking this journey with me!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Baobab Secondary School for Girls
I was asked to give another talk to a small group of girls at Baobab Secondary School for Girls in conjunction with a program that my friend Cleng'a was doing. When we arrived at the school, we met with the headmaster who told us how excited the girls would be to hear from a woman. He said that the students were very excited to have visitors. (Cleng’a has visited this school before to teach music and dance and to do performances.) The headmaster went on to say that some teachers were preparing the auditorium and that the school would be ready for me in just a few minutes.
Hmm, I thought... the school would be ready for me? I thought this was just going to be a small group of girls?
As he continued to speak to Cleng’a (in Swahili) I kept hearing him say ‘hundred’ (that’s a word I know in Swahili!) and Cleng’a kept looking over at me. Cleng’a and I had discussed the day before that the group should be about 30 girls so that it would be more like a conversation as opposed to a lecture. He somewhat hesitantly revealed to me then that the administration was probably going to want to have about 50 girls, so I agreed. But now, sitting in the headmaster’s office, it seemed that he had invited many more than 50 girls to this talk...
"So," I asked "exactly... how many girls are you expecting to come?"
He responded, "We just learned that you are leaving Tanzania next week, and we don’t know when the girls would have another opportunity to hear from someone like you, so... we just invited the whole school."
"So... umm, how big is the school?" I ask.
"Well," he responds, "some of the girls will be working on a project, so... you’ll probably only have about 400 of them".
WOW, 400! This was MUCH larger than I anticipated or was prepared for! I think I had a mini-panic attack in my mind as I sat there and he continued to talk while I thought about what the heck I would talk to 400 girls about?! Now, I’m perfectly fine with public speaking as long as I have time to mentally prepare myself for it, but this talk with 400 high school girls was about to happen in like 5 minutes! There was no way I could do what I had planned for 30 girls with an auditorium full of 400!
Ok, I thought to myself... you can do this. Don’t freak out... you talk in front of people ALL the time.
Cleng’a went first and taught the girls a song and told some jokes. The room roared with laughter as he got them all excited and introduced me. I looked out at the crowd of girls all looking up and staring at me and they were perfectly silent and waited for me to speak. I took a deep breath (which lasted probably a few seconds longer than it should have, LOL) and began to speak. As I began to talk my nervousness went away. I told the girls I was very happy to see so many girls at the school and to my surprise they responded, and said “thank you” almost in unison. I asked if anyone had questions, but only one hand went up. Oh no, I thought... they’re bored...
It didn’t seem like it was going that well, cause only a few of the girls seemed responsive. But then I decided to get down off the stage and walk around the auditorium. Maybe they would talk back more if I was a little closer to them?
As soon as I got into the audience, the girls swarmed me! They were all smiling and excited and full of energy and asking tons of questions.
Madam! Madam? Can I ask you a question? Sister Aisha, come to this side please! Madam, this way! Come over here!
I walked around the auditorium and sat with groups of about 40-50 girls at a time, while Cleng’a taught dances and songs to the rest. As soon as I would sit down in a new spot, a new group of girls would gather around... one would adjust my chair while a few others would make sure I had enough “breathing” room by telling the other girls not to crowd me. I could hear some of them saying "let her breathe, let her breathe!" At one point I heard one of the girls tell her friend "please don't hurt our sister, she looks squished!"
"Why weren’t you guys asking me all these questions when I was on stage?" I asked them. "Sister Aisha, we couldn’t hear anything you were saying, plus you were talking too fast!" They all laughed. Although secondary school is taught in English and the girls understand and speak English extremely well, I guess my American accent coupled with the size of the room just made it very difficult to hear.
The day turned out to be really good. Again, these girls were obviously very bright and asked almost identical questions as the girls from the Bagamoyo Secondary School talk. I talked to the girls for over an hour. Many of them had tons of questions about going to college, financing their education, and what they should study. One said she loved to take pictures but needed to practice, so I gave her my camera to use for the rest of the day. It didn't even dawn on me until after I had gotten back to the home-base that I blindly handed my camera into a crowd of 400 girls... I wasn't worried at all about not getting it back.
When it was finally time to leave, Cleng’a had to literally take my hand, pack up my bag for me, and lead me out of the auditorium. The girls trailed closely behind and were hugging me and waving as I left. I wish I had thought to visit girls in high school before now... not that I now consider myself an inspirational speaker (still far from it!) but many of the girls just really need to be encouraged. I think that's something anyone can do...
Hmm, I thought... the school would be ready for me? I thought this was just going to be a small group of girls?
As he continued to speak to Cleng’a (in Swahili) I kept hearing him say ‘hundred’ (that’s a word I know in Swahili!) and Cleng’a kept looking over at me. Cleng’a and I had discussed the day before that the group should be about 30 girls so that it would be more like a conversation as opposed to a lecture. He somewhat hesitantly revealed to me then that the administration was probably going to want to have about 50 girls, so I agreed. But now, sitting in the headmaster’s office, it seemed that he had invited many more than 50 girls to this talk...
"So," I asked "exactly... how many girls are you expecting to come?"
He responded, "We just learned that you are leaving Tanzania next week, and we don’t know when the girls would have another opportunity to hear from someone like you, so... we just invited the whole school."
"So... umm, how big is the school?" I ask.
"Well," he responds, "some of the girls will be working on a project, so... you’ll probably only have about 400 of them".
WOW, 400! This was MUCH larger than I anticipated or was prepared for! I think I had a mini-panic attack in my mind as I sat there and he continued to talk while I thought about what the heck I would talk to 400 girls about?! Now, I’m perfectly fine with public speaking as long as I have time to mentally prepare myself for it, but this talk with 400 high school girls was about to happen in like 5 minutes! There was no way I could do what I had planned for 30 girls with an auditorium full of 400!
Ok, I thought to myself... you can do this. Don’t freak out... you talk in front of people ALL the time.
Cleng’a went first and taught the girls a song and told some jokes. The room roared with laughter as he got them all excited and introduced me. I looked out at the crowd of girls all looking up and staring at me and they were perfectly silent and waited for me to speak. I took a deep breath (which lasted probably a few seconds longer than it should have, LOL) and began to speak. As I began to talk my nervousness went away. I told the girls I was very happy to see so many girls at the school and to my surprise they responded, and said “thank you” almost in unison. I asked if anyone had questions, but only one hand went up. Oh no, I thought... they’re bored...
It didn’t seem like it was going that well, cause only a few of the girls seemed responsive. But then I decided to get down off the stage and walk around the auditorium. Maybe they would talk back more if I was a little closer to them?
As soon as I got into the audience, the girls swarmed me! They were all smiling and excited and full of energy and asking tons of questions.
Madam! Madam? Can I ask you a question? Sister Aisha, come to this side please! Madam, this way! Come over here!
I walked around the auditorium and sat with groups of about 40-50 girls at a time, while Cleng’a taught dances and songs to the rest. As soon as I would sit down in a new spot, a new group of girls would gather around... one would adjust my chair while a few others would make sure I had enough “breathing” room by telling the other girls not to crowd me. I could hear some of them saying "let her breathe, let her breathe!" At one point I heard one of the girls tell her friend "please don't hurt our sister, she looks squished!"
"Why weren’t you guys asking me all these questions when I was on stage?" I asked them. "Sister Aisha, we couldn’t hear anything you were saying, plus you were talking too fast!" They all laughed. Although secondary school is taught in English and the girls understand and speak English extremely well, I guess my American accent coupled with the size of the room just made it very difficult to hear.
The day turned out to be really good. Again, these girls were obviously very bright and asked almost identical questions as the girls from the Bagamoyo Secondary School talk. I talked to the girls for over an hour. Many of them had tons of questions about going to college, financing their education, and what they should study. One said she loved to take pictures but needed to practice, so I gave her my camera to use for the rest of the day. It didn't even dawn on me until after I had gotten back to the home-base that I blindly handed my camera into a crowd of 400 girls... I wasn't worried at all about not getting it back.
When it was finally time to leave, Cleng’a had to literally take my hand, pack up my bag for me, and lead me out of the auditorium. The girls trailed closely behind and were hugging me and waving as I left. I wish I had thought to visit girls in high school before now... not that I now consider myself an inspirational speaker (still far from it!) but many of the girls just really need to be encouraged. I think that's something anyone can do...
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