Busy Week

Hello everyone!

This last week has been quite busy so I'll just give you a quick update. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! In one week exactly I'll be landing in the Amsterdam airport for a six-hour lay-over before I get on a plane to Montreal!

Last week was our last normal week of programming. This week we are mostly doing post-tests to help access what the students have learned during our time here and graduation ceremonies, as well as a visiting the drama club one last time to say goodbye and having a debrief dinner with the Morogoro YCI staff. Then we have a free weekend (no plans yet but I'm sure it will be filled with goodbyes) and Monday we get on a bus to meet up with the Zanzibar staff and volunteers in Dar for another debrief session. Then that night Stephanie, Nicole, Tyler and I all head to the airport to catch our flights (Michael is traveling after and Evan's plane leaves Tuesday evening).

The Side Street School class that Gasto teaches with the help of Michael and Nicole ended last week. For English class I finished up the curriculum that I'd drawn up during the first week here (seems like so long ago!) on Tuesday and was going to do review on Thursday. The problem was that we were locked out of our classroom and the Basic class had to leave early to go to the Internet cafe for a practical Computer class. So the few Intermediate students that showed up (it was raining so many students stayed home) and I all sat in the Chamwino Youth Center office having discussions to practice their English. I asked them questions and had them ask me questions. It was actually really great because at one point I told them that they could leave because we'd been working for an hour and they all asked if we could practice some more! It was really great for me because I know for most of these students the Computer class is way more interesting and exciting for them (most of them have never touched a computer before this class) and yet here were these students wanting to stay for extra English practice! :) I've been trying new ways of making the class more interactive and exciting for the students including silly variations on Simon Says and giving them skits to act out. The skits have been great because the students really enjoy it and some of the shyer students have become more outgoing and will speak in English in front of the whole class! The English class has definitely been the class with which I've had the most responsibility and therefore the changes that I'm seeing are the ones that make me the most proud. Two students from the last phase's Intermediate class were able to get jobs because of the skills that they had learned so I look forward to hearing about what lies ahead for the students we've been working with.

For Good Governance on Wednesday we had a guest speaker come to talk about Women in Governance. Then Michael and I taught about Governance in Canada. We talked briefly about things like the structure of the Canadian government, Quebec separatists (which is similar to Zanzibar wanting to separate from the rest of Tanzania) and the Sponsorship scandal as an example of corruption in Canada. Then we did an activity where each group was given a short description of a different canadian province/region (including relative size, resources, main issues etc.) and they had to come up with two laws to present to the group that would be a benefit to their area. The students actually did really well, some even identifying needs in their province that weren't clearly explained in their notes (ex. one girl representing BC talked about the need for services in rural communities).

On Friday we had our last HIV outreach event, a talent show in the local community of Mafisa. We did condom demonstrations, handed out information booklets (which people wanted so badly that they were pushing and grabbing so badly that Gasto had to grab the booklets and run away until they calmed down!) and Michael participated in one of the skits on condoms that we've helped with in the past.

Outside of programming, our homestay family has been great. Our Mama was telling us that soon we will be in Canada and that we will see our mothers and they will give us big hugs. Then she told us that she would miss us! We told her that we would miss her too. Nicky has been totally full-of-beans lately so we've been having lots of fun chasing each other around the courtyard. We've had pasta a few times recently as our Mama is trying to feed us some Canadian food which is really sweet. Unfortunately no one has had the heart to explain to her that we don't usually just eat cooked noodles so we've been having plain spaghetti noodles. It's still good and reminds me of home and I'm touched by the effort that she and the whole family has made to make us comfortable.

On Saturday Nicole and I took the bus into Dar es Salaam to attend our homestay brother Paulo's college graduation. He had invited us because his family couldn't attend. He met up with us in Dar and we took two daladalas and a ferry to get to his college. He graduated with a diploma of Economic Development. He was so happy and kept telling us where we could take pictures of him "if we wanted to". :) The president of Tanzania was supposed to be the guest of honour which would have been cool but he wasn't able to make it. In true Tanzanian fashion, the ceremony started two hours late but Nicole and I found a spot to sit and read until it started. Now Paulo is working towards a Bachelor of Economics and is hoping to move on a get his Masters and PhD so he can be a college professor. It's really exciting for him and his family and we were glad that we could go and take pictures to show them. I brought a picture frame from home intending to give it as a gift along with a picture of us and the family so we'll definitely also be printing off some pictures of the graduation to give them as well.

After we got home from the graduation Michael, Paulo and I went to a local club (which they call a disco) and met up with Makho and his girlfriend Maggie. It's really just a big open space with some tables and chairs playing lots of R&B, Bongo Flava and House music. We danced for quite a while and it was a lot of fun. Last night Nicole, Michael and I decided to go out for dinner so we walked to a restaurant called Dragonnaires hoping for pizza. Unfortunately they only have pizza on Fridays so we had pasta instead but it was still good. However Michael wasn't feeling well so after we got home he went to the hospital with Makho and it turns out he has malaria! Malaria, if caught early and properly treated, is just like a bad case of the flu. Michael's already feeling a little better this morning and will hopefully be fully recovered in a few days. Malaria is really a problem for those who can't afford to see a doctor and get the appropriate medication (which costs about 15,000 TSh, less than $15 Cdn).

Sorry for the long post. This past week has been super busy writing up Final Activity Reports. I'm still finishing up Lesson plans for all my English classes and then on Friday we'll have to submit final drafts of our Reports and our Creative project (a photo slideshow from our time in Tanzania, this is something the YCI staff in Toronto use for marketing).

I'm very excited to see all of you when I get home in less than two weeks! I've still got some time before I see you so keep those e-mails coming! I love hearing about life back in Canada.

Love from Moro,
Melissa