Chance of a Lifetime

Coming to Tanzania was a chance of a lifetime for me. One of the main reasons that on my Peace Corps application that I checked Africa for my “first choice” of where to go was because I don’t know if I would have ever dared to venture to Africa on my own. It’s not like South America or Europe or Asia, where it’s possible that someday I would go. For some reason, at the time of application, all those places seemed less scary. In my mind, Africa was just so scary.

Anywhere here I am, in Africa, teaching two subjects that I would never had had the chance to appreciate in America. I mean as a bio major, my interest in math and physics was pretty nonexistent. I am beginning to appreciate both of those subjects. I got the chance to learn a cool language, meet cool people, experience first hand something that without Peace Corps, I would not have been able to experience. For me, this was a great opportunity, a great change, a great learning experience.

One of my goals was to give some of the young adults that I am teaching some sort of memorable opportunity. Up until this point, I’ve tried to accomplish this by being a good teacher (which is not always the case), caring, trying to teach them things that they may not necessarily be able to learn from Tanzanian teachers because of cultural or educational limitations…condom demonstrations, girl’s empowerment, health, computers…I think all of the girls appreciate this.

However, let’s talk about opportunities of a lifetime. In a country with the 20th lowest GDP, in which the average annual income of the citizens is between $250 and $500 a year, opportunities like the ones that Peace Corps provided to me are pretty limited for your average Tanzanian. The plane ticket to America is 4 times the average income of Tanzanians. However, one of my students was chosen, along with 4 other students from around the country, to attend a Youth Leadership Program in America. She will get to go spend one month in America, attend an American high schools, and stay with an American host family. I am so excited for her. My teachers are so excited for her. My headmistress is so excited. This is, truly, an opportunity of a lifetime for her, and it makes me so happy. Many Tanzanian students have absolutely no global perspective. The boarder of Tanzanian is the end of the world. America is equally as far away and foreign as Zimbabwe or West Africa. Tanzania is Tanzania and the rest of the world is all just one big foreign country. I don’t think this girl yet realizes the magnitude of the world: being on a plane for 15 hours, flying over the Atlantic Ocean, being in a country who probably has never heard of Mbeya. I am quite excited to see her off and welcome her back. And I am so excited to see what she thinks of my home. My culture.

As I write this, I am sitting on my couch, listening to the Glee soundtrack. I haven’t yet told her that she was selected because I wanted to tell my mkuu first. So tomorrow, I will tell her. And then I have about 3 weeks to get her a passport. I can’t wait.

So, it's now the day after. I am writing this blog in installments. I have told my student. She literally skipped away. I have never seen a Tanzanian student so happy. We have a date to go to the regional capital to fill out her application for a passport and visa, and then in 5 months she will be in America for a month.

It's amazing how much that one awesome thing has brought my spirits up. The last few weeks have been very frustrating, for several reasons. The first reason is that three weeks ago our water pump at the school broke, so I haven't had any running water (if any volunteers are reading this that don't normally have water, I now feel your pain. Poleni) I have been surviving on about 1 ½ buckets of water today...thats about 30L (I also have not done laundry in quite a long time...). So now, students have to walk to the river to fetch water. Up until three weeks ago when the pump broke, I didn't even know there was a river near the school. Know why I didn't know? Because the river is nowhere near the school. It is about ¾ of a mile down a really big hill. And students have to go fetch 3 or 4 buckets of water a day: one for the kitchen, one for bathing, one for cleaning, and since teachers don't fetch their own water (myself included...), students also must fetch water for the teachers and workers at the school. I decided that I'd go with the students today and have them teach me how to carry a bucket of water on my head. I got about half a bucket of water and made it about half the way up the hill before I was exhausted and soaking wet from spilling the water (carrying stuff on your head is tougher than Africans make it look). The kids do this several times a day! So besides the kids being physically exhausted from walking up a giant hill with a bucket of water on their heads several times a day, it is also quite disruptive for the school schedule. Today, we didn't have any classes becauses students were choting water literally all day. And even on good days, the students don't get to the classroom until 9:30 or 10:00 because, at the very least, they must get 2 buckets before entering the classroom: one for the kitchen so the cooks can make breakfast and one for a bath, because it is absolutely unheard of not to shower in the morning...So, on a good day, the students miss 3 or 4 periods everyday.

On top of all the not-teaching that is going on...the Rungwe region has decided (we heard of this yesterday) that they are going to do a regional form III placement test so that the spectrum of the best students in the entire region to the worst students. Best schools to the worst schools. I teach form III. I haven't finished the syllabi yet. And since I am not teaching because there's no water...I probably won't be able to finish the syllabus. Ohhh stressful. Everybody's pretty upset about this test. For one, the students and teachers haven't really prepared, but also because the government isn't helping with any of the expenses of the test. And since they waived the fee for the Form II NECTA exam, the school is already over budget. Its just a no-win situation for everybody: the teachers, the students, the schools.

And, to make things just a little bit more ridiculous: the school has decided to send students home on Friday to collect school fees. Which means that they probably won't return to school until Wednesday or Thursday of next week....My question is why not send them home tomorrow, since we aren'ts getting the chance to teach because of the water, and have them come back Sunday...and pray that water is fixed by then...

Oh Tanzania. If I wasn't go excited that my kid gets to go to America, I'd probably be annoyed with the inefficiency.