Friday, May 31, 2019
2018 solar project
Walking to/from school
Bashai Elementary School
Day 10 in Review by Maddie and Allie
Day 10 Mambo!
As we near the end of the week, the list of homestay highlights continues to grow. Our group sessions have shifted from a time to share our challenges to a time to share our joys. This morning we arrived at school to find a series of games set out for us. After a rowdy game of Charades, we traversed through an obstacle course blindfolded, led by the Banjika students. The added challenge was that we all had to direct our partners in Swahili, meaning we learned new words like "forward", "left", and "up". Carlos, our trip leader, then led a learning session centered around the idea of leadership. We divided ourselves into four categories based on our leadership style: the conceptualizers (reliant on logic), idealists (reliant on spirituality), traditionalists (reliant on hardwork), and experiencers (reliant on spontaneity).
The rest of the day was equally exciting. We had a Kiswahili lesson taught by Sirili, a Banjika student, and we practiced phrases such as "good morning", (habari za asubuhi) and words such "school" (shule). Afterwards, all 30 of us fit in a 20 person bus and visited a local primary school. At the school we witnessed the benefits of learning with iPads and visited the 7th grade class. We saw some more variety of the education here in Tanzania. Here at Banjika, we are fortunate enough to see bright class rooms with good student to teacher ratios. At the primary school, we saw 70 kids squeezed into a small dark classroom. It reminded us of how lucky we are at Menlo to have such a large staff and fantastic facilities. It has also inspired some Menlo kids to plan to take action back at home after viewing this blatant inequality in education.
Asante,
Maddie and Allie
As we near the end of the week, the list of homestay highlights continues to grow. Our group sessions have shifted from a time to share our challenges to a time to share our joys. This morning we arrived at school to find a series of games set out for us. After a rowdy game of Charades, we traversed through an obstacle course blindfolded, led by the Banjika students. The added challenge was that we all had to direct our partners in Swahili, meaning we learned new words like "forward", "left", and "up". Carlos, our trip leader, then led a learning session centered around the idea of leadership. We divided ourselves into four categories based on our leadership style: the conceptualizers (reliant on logic), idealists (reliant on spirituality), traditionalists (reliant on hardwork), and experiencers (reliant on spontaneity).
The rest of the day was equally exciting. We had a Kiswahili lesson taught by Sirili, a Banjika student, and we practiced phrases such as "good morning", (habari za asubuhi) and words such "school" (shule). Afterwards, all 30 of us fit in a 20 person bus and visited a local primary school. At the school we witnessed the benefits of learning with iPads and visited the 7th grade class. We saw some more variety of the education here in Tanzania. Here at Banjika, we are fortunate enough to see bright class rooms with good student to teacher ratios. At the primary school, we saw 70 kids squeezed into a small dark classroom. It reminded us of how lucky we are at Menlo to have such a large staff and fantastic facilities. It has also inspired some Menlo kids to plan to take action back at home after viewing this blatant inequality in education.
Asante,
Maddie and Allie
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Building project
Soccer balls for Banjika
Day 9 in Review by Allie and Maddie
Day 9 Jambo!
It is day 9 in Tanzania and it was our second day of school at Banjika. Everyone has settled into routines at their homestays and formed new connections with their homestay siblings. In the morning, after tea time (which by the way has the best donuts!!), we played netball which is like basketball but you cannot dribble or move with the ball. The Americans had an unfair advantage being taller than the Tanzanian students which resulted in a Menlo school victory. Because there were only 7 players on each team, many people observed the game and learned handgames from American students. All the Tanzanian students were so interested in the American games like "slide". After the game, we all went to lunch and ate classic Tanzanian foods like rice, beans and meat.
– Allie
Hujambo from Karatu!
To follow up on Allieʼs message – after lunch we started a collective project of building an incinerator. This new structure is designed to provide a space for girls to put tampons and pads when they are on their periods. Currently, some female students skip school when they are menstruating, forcing them to fall behind in class. The experience fostered deeper connections between the Menlo and Banjika students through manual labor. After a few hours under the hot sun at the worksite (we remembered sunscreen of course ;), everyone was ready to cool off in the shade. The Banjika students sang "Despacito" to the Menlo students and the Menlo students returned the favor by singing some Beyoncé. Singing proved to be yet another form of bonding between the Tanzanian and American students. All too soon, it was time to return home. Several students made plans to meet up and play cards while others learned new household chores from their siblings (like washing clothes and making Chapati).
– Maddie
It is day 9 in Tanzania and it was our second day of school at Banjika. Everyone has settled into routines at their homestays and formed new connections with their homestay siblings. In the morning, after tea time (which by the way has the best donuts!!), we played netball which is like basketball but you cannot dribble or move with the ball. The Americans had an unfair advantage being taller than the Tanzanian students which resulted in a Menlo school victory. Because there were only 7 players on each team, many people observed the game and learned handgames from American students. All the Tanzanian students were so interested in the American games like "slide". After the game, we all went to lunch and ate classic Tanzanian foods like rice, beans and meat.
– Allie
Hujambo from Karatu!
To follow up on Allieʼs message – after lunch we started a collective project of building an incinerator. This new structure is designed to provide a space for girls to put tampons and pads when they are on their periods. Currently, some female students skip school when they are menstruating, forcing them to fall behind in class. The experience fostered deeper connections between the Menlo and Banjika students through manual labor. After a few hours under the hot sun at the worksite (we remembered sunscreen of course ;), everyone was ready to cool off in the shade. The Banjika students sang "Despacito" to the Menlo students and the Menlo students returned the favor by singing some Beyoncé. Singing proved to be yet another form of bonding between the Tanzanian and American students. All too soon, it was time to return home. Several students made plans to meet up and play cards while others learned new household chores from their siblings (like washing clothes and making Chapati).
– Maddie
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
New classroom building
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Shopping for rain boots
Arriving to home stay families
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