teaching…

11th October 2016

Explaining my first couple of days here in Tanzania succinctly is impossible. Too many impressions, experiences and thoughts. So first let me tell you a bit about what I’m doing here.

Today was the first full day of ‘teaching’ – and I use that term loosely as this week I’m just supporting the real teacher. We started the day with a community class for English language skills, a class of students of any age and different circumstances. Some adults wanting to improve their English and some teenagers who might not have passed their school level and waiting for the next test or perhaps their parents are not able to pay for their higher education…but what they all have in common is that they just want to learn. The topic this week is culture – so tomorrow I am sharing a little about Danish culture as well – I think bacon, Lurpak & Lego should cover it! 😉

After that it was the ‘baby’ class which consists of fifteen-ish 3-4 year olds! Yes, I know what you’re thinking…me too! And it is utter chaos… but the kids are totally adorable, instantly attaching themselves to my leg shouting ‘teacher, teacher, teacher’. They are so lucky to have the opportunity to start learning English this early… Apparently it is a big issue in Tanzania that the primary school curriculum is all in Swahili and secondary school is all in English, so their English is therefore often not good enough for the kids to pass each level and they drop out of education.

And finally, this afternoon we were @ the tourism college. Some of these guys & girls are studying hotel management – so hoping that I might be able to support them with some of my knowledge over the next three weeks.

Oh and…Got my first mosquito bite and my feet are already doomed to be permanently red from the soil, it seems! More on that, my accommodation and the people later.