I’m happy to report I arrived safely in Tanzania on Wednesday afternoon, a little jet lagged, but no worse for the wear. Since then, I’ve been getting to know Ngongongari, the small village just outside of Arusha where I’ll be spending the next two weeks, before moving to my next organization. Tanzania is a beautiful country. Gorgeous purple flowers can be spotted on many of the trees, and when the clouds cooperate, I can see the peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Switching from Fante to Swahili has been an adventure, but I’m slowly learning a few phrases. In other exciting developments, Tanzania has offered a welcome break from the heat of Ghana. While I miss the daily views of Ghana’s coastline, needing a sweatshirt at night has been nice!
For the next two weeks, I’ll be volunteering with a group called Jifundishe. This organization got its start a few years ago, when it decided to build a library for Ngongongari (pronounced gone gone gar ree). At first, the idea was to create a place where people of any age could come and have access to a variety of books, free of charge. From there, the library has grown into something of a community center. Students can come to use the space to prepare for the series of national examinations they take during their academic careers. Classes are offered to focus on particularly challenging subjects. A microfinancing program for women is also available to support the growth of local businesses. Best of all, the Library itself is run almost completely by local citizens. The village donated part of the land during the construction phase, and community members work as librarians. It is great to see such sustainability in action!
During my time here, I will be helping with a special summer camp of sorts. The kids who are about to go into secondary school (ages 12-13) are on break until January. In Tanzania, your first seven years of schooling are conducted in Swahili. English is taken as a subject, just like math or science. But, when you get to secondary school, all classes are taught in English. As you can imagine, this makes keeping up with class work particularly challenging. Nationally, kids tend to do poorly on their testing because of the language barrier. Jifundishe is hoping to help ease the transition for these kids, by offering English classes from now until December. Fifty five kids came to the “Getting to Know You” session yesterday, and we’re expecting more on Monday. I will be helping Flora, a local teacher with the classes. Since my grasp of Swahili consists of about five words, my job is to come up with fun activities to do with the kids that will sneakily reinforce the English they are learning. “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” was a hit yesterday, but really I think anything that involves me being goofy should do the trick. Flora is a fabulous teacher, and I’m excited to see how much the kids are able to learn from her.
To me, these English classes highlight a great thing about Jifundishe. Through a lot of hard work and collaboration, Jifundishe has successfully created a space that can adapt to the ever changing needs of the community. From my very limited exposure to the work of NGOs on this trip, it seems that lots of organizations can easily get stuck in a rut. While there is certainly merit in finding something you can do well and doing it, I think it is important to have a design that accounts for unexpected changes and developments. When the Library was built, English classes weren’t being considered. But, because the space has become such a hub for community activity, Jifundishe was able to accommodate this new need. Plus, by using Flora, they can ensure the kids can have quality, continuous instruction from now until December. I’m excited to start working with the kids on Monday. I will keep you posted on how the classes go!