Experiencing education in Tanzania - first time exploring education in a different country!

In October 2016 I found out I was going to be travelling to Tanzania in January. An exciting and scary time! I was travelling with two other students from university and we had to organise the entire trip ourselves (except our 'base' school). Of course I began to research the trust we were visiting and local village. I didn't find much on the area, but I did find the trusts website - Mvumi School Trust. I found out they sponsor some students in DCT Secondary Schools and even provided accommodation for some. At this point I was eager to go and see the work they do for myself!

We decided to fly out to Dar Es Salaam on January 1st to give us time to go on a two day safari. When we arrived after two flights - London to Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam - we travelled a short while to a hostel called 'Passionist Father', one which was recommended to myself. We had a pleasant stay and a lovely dinner with the workers then went to bed to get some rest before we embark on our journey to the safari park (4.30am).

A very tired me outside the hostel.

4:30am arrived and we were picked up from the hostel to drive to Mikumi National Park. This was the first time I really had a chance to see Tanzania. We drove past many homemade shacks selling mangoes and other fruits, we did stop for some water where we had to walk along a small piece of wood connecting one piece of dirt to another. The drive was fairly long but we spoke to the driver/our safari guide along the way and learnt some phrases in Swahili (one of three languages spoken).

The piece of wood we walked over to get water.

The safari was amazing - we saw so many animals. The guide asked us which animal we thought we would see first, I said "lion" and he laughed saying it is very unlikely. As we went into the park, guess what was lying underneath a tree in the shade... a LION and LIONESS! We did see other lions too, on one occasion one was laying on the grass on the side of the road outside of the park. We were fortunate as we stayed in the safari park overnight and has meals provided in the 'restaurant'. When we went for dinner on the first night we began to speak to a couple from Brazil (but living in London) and another couple from Sweden. They were very nice people and were intrigued about us becoming teachers. That night, sleep was not easy as there were bugs and little lizards everywhere! The toilet and shower area had a horrid smell and a large beetle bug living there, therefore we decided to not use the shower - who cares we were on safari! The next day we went out for an early morning drive before breakfast and passed the people we were talking to the night before - after waving and saying what we had seen so far they continued in their own direction. About an hour later we went on a rescue mission as those people got stuck in a mud ditch! After our guide trying to help and failing they all ended up inside of our safari car, a squeeze but good fun. The safari was soon coming to a close and were going to travel to Morogoro for two nights before our journey to the school begins.

Morogoro was better than I thought because we stayed in a good standard hotel with a television, restaurant, room service and the market a short walk away. Whilst there, we were introduced to 3 people from New Zealand, who to our surprise was going to be staying with us in Mvumi. We were unaware of this and to add to the shock another person was already at the house we will be staying in. Fortunately they were very nice people and easy to get along with. We didn't do much in Morogoro as we wanted to rest after the safari and prepare ourselves for Mvumi.

The day arrived when we would be travelling to the school, an exciting day! We took a 4 hour coach to Dodoma where we met David (MST Volunteer). He then took us to get a taxi to the Mvumi village. The car has eight seats but could allow seven passengers (as the driver takes one seat). We squeezed into the back of the car (4 of us on three seats), another four or five people squeezed into the middle three seats and a man sat in the front with a child on his legs - not his child! At this point I thought to myself, "this is going to be an experience". The taxi ride was a three hour journey up some steep hills and bumpy (very bumpy) roads. We then arrived and met our first unexpected house mate for the next three weeks. He was on a gap year - eye roll.

Jane and David (husband and wife, as well as MST volunteers) took us to the market and then out for dinner - street food 'Chipsi mayai'. It was delicious and became a regular food towards the end of our stay. It is basically am omelette with chips inside cooked over an open fire in a pan of oil. It was also the only take away food in the area. Later that evening we went for a walk around the area - lots of red soil, cows and mud huts. During our frequent walks it was eye opening to how fortunate I am to have the home I do and resources such as a supermarket or even clean water. Side note: I often slipped in mud on the walks and ended up covered from head to toe, an amusement for those I walked past on our way back to the house. If this happened at home I would have been embarrassed but here I was putting smiles on children's faces and making them laugh - I would have done it 100 times over if I was making them happy (they were happy, but more happy).

The first day of school was strange because some teachers and most students did not turn up. Over the week they would come in 'drib drabs' until eventually school was in full swing. The children were taught in English unless it was a Swahili lesson, therefore we could communicate with the children to some extent. Teachers were made aware of our attendance and at times did not show to their lessons if they knew we were inside - understandable as they do not have OFSTED or a higher authority scrutinising their practice. Not that we was going to judge them. The lessons which I did see were good - some teachers would talk directly to me as if I was a student in their class, others would check knowledge with me and some asked for assistance. This continued throughout my stay.

The school had a visual impairment unit where they supported 10-15 (I think) student who were visually impaired. I helped in the unit a lot, this included: organising, transferring textbooks into braille and making resources. Other times I would mend books in the office. I attended debate club where I participated and debated with a strong willed student - a very good debate. It was interesting to see the school and compare it to schools in the UK. It made me wonder about where I wanted my career to go and who I wanted to teach. You could say it was confirmation of teaching abroad at some point in my career.

A sadder part of our stay in Mvumi was being shown around the local hospital - also managed by an English couple. Although the hospital had a lot of improvements, it was unbearable to think of the resources they has to help those who are sick and the space available. 'Shock' is a good noun to explain the way I felt walking around the hospital grounds. Hospital sheets hanging over a wall to dry, broken equipment and cramped wards.

On our final few days at the school it was organised for us to visit a local primary school - a short walk from the secondary school. The first time it was arranged, they cancelled for unknown reasons. Luckily Jane managed to rearrange it for us. Before we set off we were warned about corporal punishment in the school - we would see teachers with sticks in their hands. My heart came up into my mouth!

At the school one teacher showed us around to different classrooms - she kept it very fast and efficient. The first class we went into was empty. There were 80 children sitting on the floor listening to the teacher talk. You hear about this sort of thing but when you are faced with it, reality sinks in. As we were moved from class to class it was pretty much the same. We did see teachers with sticks but we did not see them being used (PHEW).

Our time in Tanzania was up. We travelled from Dar Es Salaam to Mikumi National Park to Morogoro to Dodoma to Mvumi to Dodoma and to Dar Es Salaam. Overall we travelled 15,232 miles to Tanzania, around it and back to London. I got to experience education, health, living locally and surviving on basic food and contaminated water. An experience which will stay with me for a long time.