I feel settled in and almost at home with so many familiar faces around me. I am staying with Mama Gaude who happens to be one of my Swahili teachers from last year. I've included a picture of my room below:
My roommate is Ash, the other OTGC. She has already
caught me up on how the students are doing and what still needs to be done. So
far I can already tell the dynamic is different with this year's students
versus last year's.
Last year, we would take the dala-dala (small vans
used for public transportation) to TCDC everyday for the first month. Most of
the students this year have not been in a dala-dala yet. This is a little
worrying because next month when the large group of 24 is split up into pairs,
they need to be comfortable on public transport. The students will need to know
how to pay the fare and how to tell the dala-dala driver to let them off when
it's their stop.
This group also seems very close-knit. They do all
their weekend outings together. While it's great they get along so well, the
dependence on a large group is not good for what they face in the second month.
When it's time for them to go into town for parts, they will only have their
hospital partner with them. I'm sure it will be fine but I'm afraid that a lack
of confidence with transportation combined with a sudden increase in
independence will be tough on some students.
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After brunch I decided
to visit my home stay from last year. Because it was a surprise visit (I
didn't know their phone number!) they had no idea I was going to stop
by...they didn't even know I was in the country! They were VERY
surprised to see me to say the least. Ruth on my left, Mama Glory and
her son John on the right.
Mama Farida and Mama Glory are amazing cooks and were behind many of the recipes in the book Kupikia Tanzania (To Cook for Tanzania). It was written by Angela who stayed with Mama Glory during the EWH 2011 program. She returned the following summer (when I was staying with Mama Glory) to cook with these lovely ladies and I was lucky enough to eat everything they made :)! If you're interested in buying the book, check out http://www.kupikiatanzania.com. Proceeds go to good causes like the Cradle of Love Baby Home, Wanawake Africa that aids abused women, and the Hekima Women's Group that provides micro loans to women in Mama Glory's village, Makumira.
I will be back to see them again on Friday and I'm
looking forward to it!
As I walked back to my home-stay in TCDC, Mt. Meru
decided to show its peak. Stunning!
Right now I'm preparing for lab tomorrow. Looks
like I'll be leading this one to give Ash a break. It's the PIC Microcontroller
Incubator Alarm Lab where the students solder a temperature alarm together and
load a program to make the device buzz and blink when the temperature exceeds a
threshold they choose. In previous years it was always a challenge to finish the
lab in one lab session. Right now I'm pre-progamming the chips with an LED
blinking code to help expedite the lab.
Wish me luck!
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