Very full Saturday at Tarangire

Today started our weekend with wake up at 5:15am and a 3 hour drive to the Tarangire (phonetic: taren-Geary) animal preserve.

As we drove Northeast back the way we arrived last Sunday, the realization of how remote and accepting we had become to the simplest forms of lifestyle were apparent. The houses that last Sunday when we passed them seemed primitive, now seemed new and modern compared to the dwellings of the Singida area. They had concrete walls all painted one color and aluminum roofs, compared to the rustic run down concrete and wood patched homes of Singida.
As we stopped at the entrance to the national park we all went to the bathroom and to have stalls again with a flushing toilet seemed like such a treat again for all of us. Our perspectives had definitely been broadened to appreciate the little luxuries our every day life offers.

A bit about our experience at Tarangire- it is one of many national animal preserves in Tanzania. It is 2850 square kilometers and imagine slightly hilly terrain, the Tarangire river running though the canyons, and brown tall grass everywhere sprinkled with trees like- the famous African Baobab, Ebony tree (trunks are black inside and used for carvings), Acacia (not related to Chardonnay as far as I know), Strangular fig tree (baobab strangled by a ficus), and my personal favorite, the sausage tree that looks like it has Bratwursts hanging from it.

Everyone comes to see the animals in Africa and we were no exception. We were so excited.

When going on safari's there is the goal to see the "big five":
- Lion (Simba), Cape buffalo (mbogo), Elephant (Tembo), Leopard (Chui), and Rhino (kifaru)
And then additionally they add the cheetah (Duma) as the "pretty six".

According to our guide, Dominic, "You will be lucky if you see a lion and extremely lucky if you see a leopard". Let's say we felt lucky:)

We saw 5 lions, 1 leopard, several herds of elephants, impalas (both in families and as bachelor groups), dikdik's (full grown look like mini impalas), countless zebras and wildebeests (who like to hang out together for the zebras good eyes and wildebeests sharp sense of smell to detect predators), water bucks, warthogs, giraffe's, towny eagle, suburb starling (most popular bird in Tanz), red hornbill's, secretary birds, vultures, baboons, green monkey, and many giant ostriches.

The sleeping VERY mature male lion we saw just barely 20 feet from our truck sleeping on his back with paws in the air was an absolute highlight. The other was a herd of elephants we watched for quite a while cross the river, drink water and then go to a watering hole and cool themselves off. The younger ones rolled around in the muddy water completely covering themselves and only left because the matriarch decided it was time to move onto another nearby bathing spot. It was so surreal to see all these animals in their natural habitat. They were meant to have room to travel and be one with nature. It was so peaceful and calm and we were just observers to their world. Because this park was established in 1970, the animals are use to the safari trucks and just ignore us.  If you have ever watched Planet Earth or National Geographic footage of animals in Africa- exactly the same. Everything was stunning.

As we left the preserve, we passed on its outskirts the local Maasi tribe villages where families live in compounds that are build in a circle of huts and then further sounded by a palisadee fence (made from tall sticks). The round huts are made from sticks stacked next to each other and then rubbed over with a mud made from cow dung and dirt as the insulation). Strange juxtaposition when you compare to the huge tourism industry passing by them by every day.
I highly suggest visiting the preserves if you you come to Africa.

With that said, I can't imagine coming here just for the animals. Doing what we did with the teachers carries so much more weight to the experience of being here. I wouldn't have felt fulfilled.

Around 6:30pm, we arrived at our new hotel in Arusha where we will spend the next week teaching teachers from several schools a similar curriculum. Arusha is a main city and our hotel feels like the Ritz compared to where we were at before. Let me be clear, it isn't the Ritz. We still don't have warm shower water. When we arrived several weddings and special events were going on and people were dressed in modern colorful and very beautiful outfits. They had BMW SUV's decorated for the bride and groom. It was culture shock as we rejoined modern civilization and frankly, I was a bit sad to leave the rural simpleness.

What I really appreciated from our last place in Singida was that we were all vulnerable to the humbling experiences and we bonded over them all - bringing us immediately closer as a teaching team.

Over dinner we talked about how we need to preserve that community feeling through our next week.

What a gratifying and proud day. If you had asked me on Monday if our teachers were going to be able to present lesson plans using 21st century skills and digital technology (ICT as it called here), I would have said, no way. With limited English and rudimentary computer skills on Monday, it was mind blowing to watch how well these teachers were able to pick up the tools, philosophies, and then put it all together into well thought through lessons plans they can share with their students starting next week. We had teachers share lesson plans from simple 3rd grade math to complex topics like democracy and economics. They did it all.

The most impressive student was, Silvery. He is a new teacher with just about 2 yrs under his belt. His desire to learn is insatiable and ability to pick up the technology and concepts so quickly incredibly impressive. He shared a lesson plan on States of Matter that literally almost made me cry. Trust me, I know that sounds silly. It's just that before we came I had spent hours building a lesson plan on the exact same topic prior to our trip (and wasn't able to share it because it was affiliated with KAlite, a program we were unable to install due to performance).
He thought through and incorporated so many clever elements and technologies into his plan where students collaborated, tested their critical thinking, were
creative,  and communicated together. He truly has the gift of teaching and blew us all away. Many others were also impressive and I would say about 70% hit the mark to include all we taught. The other 30% tried and are still struggling with the 21st century 4 C's and will need to really think hard about how to move away from the traditional teaching model of teacher lecturing students.

A few of us were fortunate to also visit a nearby convent where they have a Montessori pre-school, hospital, and teaching center. The children at the preschool entertained us with songs and dances. The sisters shared their very organized and well supplied classrooms. They had such vastly better resources than the Motinko primary school we were teaching at and I asked the sisters why. They said it was because each student who attends their school must pay 5000 shillings ($2.50) a month and that is how they pay for supplies, whereas the primary school gets only government funding and that is clearly limited. I can only imagine what a shock is for these preschoolers to go from such a well resourced school to them primary school at age 7. It was hard to leave the kids especially because every one wanted to shake my hand and their smiles and enthusiasm
of our visit clearly was so special. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit the hospital or training center. Maybe on another visit to Africa.....

In the afternoon we had the ceremony to congratulate and celebrate our teachers through the program. We had music, a cake, and a certificate ceremony. It was so fun and after 5 intense days together, it felt like hanging out with old friends. We took pictures together and said our good-byes. It was super sad to see this part of our trip end. However, I am reassured by the belief that the teachers will use what we taught and really grow their students. They were also so proud of their  own growth.

Tonight the team4team was exhausted. We were just so happy to hang out together without any lesson planning needs for tomorrow. It felt like a well deserved Friday!!!

Tomorrow we go on a safari and have to wake up at 5:15am to get on the road! Yikes! I better go to sleep under my mosquito net (top preventative technique to avoid mosquito bites and malaria). Don't worry, I am taking pills too and have DEET spray just in case:))

It is the end to an emotionally and physically draining week. It has also been one of the most gratifying ever.

So today was such a special day to be at our school in Singida! It was 7th grade graduation ceremonies and the graduates will go to the equivalent of middle school next year. Gorgeously dressed parents and family walked miles from all over the area to help celebrate and decorated their graduates with the Tanzanian version of leis and gave gifts with beautifully wrapped shiny paper. The students put on performances where they imitated their teachers teaching (very comical from the translations we received), they danced, played musical chairs, had speeches, and laughed a lot. The festivities and family admiration is just like what we would expect from our 8th grade graduations. Some traditions clearly transcend cultures:)

At the end of our school day, our World Vision liaison, Charles, brought two special graduates into our classroom to share how they have both embraced the technologies they have used over the last three years since team4tech has been visiting. One boy received an award from his school titled, "most promising" and the other girl for "leadership". Both are whiz's at the Microsoft Word, Kiwix, and math programs we offer on the computers. They are the hope for the future of this village. Out of 140 graduates from this school,  they estimate only 20 will make it to high school and 2 will make it to college. It sounds bleak, but when I  see how eager these teachers are to make a difference and then these students who have real potential, I truly believe we are making a difference to bring the few up and out of this intense poverty.  By giving them the tools and sharing the possibilities, the numbers will go up.

A bit more about the commitment we see from the teachers and education community.....
While the school and surrounding area is obviously very limited on resources, their mission to help the children seems united. As part of a new program, they are working to identify in early child development those who my require glasses or have hearing issues. Yesterday, parents flooded the school to hear how their currently enrolled children (starting at 5yrs old) and their upcoming younger children would do in these exams. We met the district lead for this effort and he said they really want to identify these early on to help the children and believe it or not getting them glasses is an affordable and small expense.  So far we haven't met any children with glasses yet. They do have a dedicated teacher, Bernard, (who is in our class) whose main focus is on deaf children and others with disabilities. Some of the team met a few of his students and were so impressed with their clever questions and obvious intelligence. He is making a difference.

While we are served morning tea (food and tea), lunch, and then afternoon tea (popcorn, nuts, tea), the children only receive one meal from the school at 10am (typically grits type carb and beans- both cooked from an outside dilapidated brick structure. They don't bring lunch boxes. If children want another meal, they have to walk home during their breaks, which doesn't happen because of the length of the journey. Their next meal won't be until 6pm when they walk home. Despite this children seem happy and stay active at breaks with soccer and just normal kid silliness. Soccer balls are ripped of their outer leather shell and soft, but it doesn't stop them from kicking it around and having fun. Between that and the young boy who showed us his homemade wood guitar that he tunes by putting an empty water bottle under the strings, it made me realize how vastly different our first world children are being raised.

Many would say we are more fortunate. Of course I agree on many levels, but the happiness, joy and love these kids have in their lives from family and community is no different than what we give our children. The sad part is they may never know the difference in lifestyle ever - running water vs. the well, electricity vs relying only on the sun, cars vs walking for miles on a dirt road to school and work, flushing toilets vs a hole in the ground that once it fills up, a new hole in a structure is built, grocery store with all the food you could possibly want vs walking for miles for rice and maybe a few vegetables that last weeks, new clothes for each day of school vs wearing the same tattered hand me down outfit every day....and  the list can go on. So, yes, I feel incredibly fortunate and will no longer complain about the cold shower I have had most mornings since we arrived. At least I have a warm clean place to stay with running water. Life is good and we are bringing tools to them that give hope.

Believe it or not I look forward to the 45 minute rough dirt road journey to school in the morning. The scenery is incredible and there is a sense of peace that I think comes to us all along the journey. We try to take pictures to capture the moments we see, but the 4x4 is a bit bumpy and too fast for the quality to be any good for most shots. Once at school, we get to see the teachers who are so excited to learn and the kids who just giggle when they are near us. It is an absolute treat.

As we spend time getting to know the teachers, we learn more about their challenges and situations. All seem so eager to learn and hungry for the information we are sharing. Today we taught an offline version of Wikipedia called, Kwix. They really reveled in seeing all the topics they could get information on. At one point I saw someone searching for "chickens" and then "menstrual cycle". Was obvious what a clear desire there is for understanding.

We are throwing so many new software programs at them and techniques to be effective (imagine learning all the MSFT short cuts all in one day and having to apply them) and they embrace each challenge with intensity to succeed. I am so impressed. This is a smart bunch who just needs the tools to grow.

Many have expressed how helpful it would be to be able to take the pc's home after work and develop their skills further by building lesson plans at home. Just to give an idea of their situation- most have no electricity at home, there is no internet, super limited smart phones, and certainly no personal computers. Children don't even have books at home to read and wear the same outfit to school each day. As one teacher pit it to me today, "we are poor here". I am going to work with team4tech lead, Noel, and World Vision lead, Charles, to see how we can make that possible. It's the only way they can really practice to proficiency after we leave and grow themselves and then their students.

It is really a great group of volunteers and we have gelled quickly as a team and are having a lot of fun together...and fortunately managed to find the local wine shop to get us through our late evenings.:)

Yesterday's exasperation turned to hope today as teachers really started embracing the concepts and thinking about how they could apply to their teaching. We taught advanced Microsoft suite and some fun gaming tools to use with their students for geography (Seterra), typing (tux typing), and math (tux math).

We had a lot of software to download onto the computers after class and as installs typically go, we had some issues. As a result we left late from the school and drove our dirt road back into the gorgeous Africa sunset. We passed people who were also walking home trying to catch the last hours of the sun before they went home to no electricity.

Today Gita and I had the absolute pleasure of spending a few moments with the children of the school who embraced our iPhone cameras when we showed them pictures of themselves and most fun videos we took of them. They swarmed us with giggles and keen interest. My blonde hair seemed to be a novelty they also wanted to touch and at one point I did feel a little hand swipe the back of my head. They were so endearing. Some of them walk up to 10km (7miles) each way to school each day!

It is almost 11pm and we are just wrapping up our lesson plans for tomorrow and the last of the software downloads. It's been a long day.:)

After today's 45 minute journey down a very rough dirt road, I know why we have the gnarliest looking 4x4 safari type trucks trekking us around!

We were up at 6:30am for a prompt departure by 7:30 to the village school in Motinko where we met 17 teachers who would be our students for the week. Each immaculately dressed teacher came into the class eager to learn about basic computer skills and how technology can be used to make their teaching more effective.

Candidly we have been surprised by the limited English most speak and how many need very fundamental computer training. As expected, we quickly re-grouped and improvised our lesson plans from intermediate to basic and Kristen, Terry, Marta, and Gita did a phenomenal job sharing an introduction to 21st Century skills and the Microsoft suite. Simplifying what we all do every day was tough, but the team pulled through with flying colors and by the end we had teachers creating attendance sheets in excel vs using their notebooks to track attendance.

Tonight we worked on trying to figure out what we can truly teach them that they will be able to take on long term and use. Many have limited to no electricity at their schools, students who don't even speak the native Swahili (they speak their mother tongue derivative), teachers who don't have access to computers because they share 20 across 500 students....so figuring out how to create competency with longevity is our challenge.

It is so gratifying when you see the light click with teachers on some of the applications and I believe those moments will carry us through the week.

Now that we know our audience, we have adjusted our curriculum and are prepared for Day 2.:)

Day 2- traveling to Singida

This morning during breakfast we got to meet the entire 8 person team face to face! 11 weeks ago a few of us met in the team4tech Redwood City offices, but 3 from our team live in other parts of the world- Marta (an Italian living in Sydney), Terry (an American living in Hong Kong), and Joseph (a curriculum designer from Kenya). Maybe knowing what we are about to go through together for the next 2 weeks or maybe the fact that we all are pretty adaptive people...we all immediately felt a tie to one another and the openness in conversations and bonding happened right away.

We spent the hour after breakfast with a security briefing from World Vision (don't worry, Mom and Dad...all the typical stuff you taught us traveling over the years...nothing out of the ordinary). Then we spent the next 5 hours traveling to Singida where we will teach 14 teachers for the next week.

Surprisingly, the drive went by so fast! The scenery was ever changing from arid desert to lush agriculture to complications of barren rocks stacked on top of each other in the middle of nowhere. We passed so many simple villages with wood huts, desolate dwellings, and Boabab trees.  The charm was everywhere and what was most stunning were the vibrant and colorful Sunday outfits everyone was wearing next to their primitive backdrops. People just stared from their lookout spots at the cars passing along the highway. Young children, no more than 9 yrs old, shepherded with confidence, herds of goats and cows.  It was like looking at moments in time captured in National Geographic photos. My family calls these moments, "mental pictures". I will forever have them.

We are staying at a Catholic training center where dinner and breakfast are provided. I am very impressed at the diligence World Vision has gone through to ensure we are staying in a secure and comfortable place.

It has been a long day. We ended it with lesson planning for our first session tomorrow, dinner, and of course, a glass of wine.:)