Sunday was a big day for the Tanzania Teaching Foundation....it was the dedication of the 2 new classrooms that were built in partnership with the Manow Lutheran church.  Lots of music, a speech from Nancy and Jacob her project manager as well as Mwakaje, the Pastor and other notables from the diocese.  Of course a meal of potatoes, beef, chicken, and plantains followed.  It was a very nice event and very well attended.  The classrooms will be used as a community center when the class is not in session.  It is a good thing for the whole community.  Below is a photo of me with our students.  We taught them "This Little Light of Mine" and they sang at the event.  They were not expecting so many important people so they were a little intimidated but they pulled it off quite well.

We are off for a dinner with one of the Manow teachers!

Finished our first full week of teaching - whew!  It was exhausting, exciting, challenging, humbling and fun!  We are getting to know our students and enjoying each of their special and then again not so special qualities.  They worked together to draw pictures of a person to label the body parts and we put the pictures on the wall - they were thrilled with the recognition. 

Sean and I shared photos of our respective families and the kids were very interested in the names etc. 

Big weekend for us...trip to the market on Saturday and to pick up our bread - Sean and I will be correcting and grading our first exam - then visitors for dinner.  We have the parents of a good friend of Nancy's - the classrooms are named in his honor - staying with us and we will have Martin [teacher at Manow and all around go to guy for anything we need] and Jacob [ project manager for the classroom project] all for dinner along with the chef - Ngwitika.  She is our house helper and part time cook....even her beans taste good to me! 

On Sunday we will have the dedication of the classrooms with many speakers - Tanzania style - it should be a long long event :).  We have taught the kids to sing "This Little Light of Mine" which goes perfectly with Nancy's theme of the light of education.  The kids have enjoyed singing and learning the song.  It should be a great day to celebrate a great accomplishment - Nancy and her team at Gloria Dei and in Olympia have worked very hard to make this happen.

I am finally connected!

Connecting has been troublesome and time consuming....still no email and I am just into my blog with no guarantee that a post will actually occur....having said that, I am well and busy.  My teaching partner Sean and Nancy have been working since we got here to organize space, go thru and get supplies as well as complete the entrance test for the students.  We had more than 50 apply for 40 spots and by Sunday evening we had scored the tests and sent the names to be notified.  Not much lead time for the kids but most made it on Monday AM. 

We have 41 students who started class.  It is quite a challenge knowing very little Swahili but it does creates some lighthearted moments as we struggle with names in particular.  Students are eager and work hard each day.

We have had two very busy days of teaching.  Exhausting but fun.  Our classrooms are not finished so we are in a borrowed classroom that barely fits the teachers and pupils....the students are used to much more crowding so for them 40 students in a class is pretty small.

Now that I am in.....I will be more organized and try to post a photo or two.  This is truly a beautiful spot - green and lush in the mountains....friendly faces and a very warm welcome.  We have already been to the market and tomorrow go to pick our first order of bread! 

Here is a photo of me and my teaching partner Sean in front of our house in Manow.  It feels like a mansion for sure with 2 bathrooms and a refrigerator!

Thanks to Hilary for helping me reorganize, reprioritize and get everything needed from that bed into these 3 - very heavy- bags.....Thanks to John Paul for helping me send a video message to Alex in Denver - actually 3 video messages....I could not quite figure out how to get it to stop recording and still send the actual message....Alex got 2 rather odd messages and the third one worked but it was not charming I can tell ya! Thanks John Paul for keeping  my spirits up!

Amelia Ray....ever watchful....she is not sure what is going on but it is not quite up to her standards!

I don't know - I think it looks good on me!  Now if only I could actually move that would be perfect!  Next post will be from Manow, Tanzania!

The challenge begins........

 
So.....here is my "staging area" for packing.....the items on the bed - seen and unseen ....or some variation of them.....must fit in a very small backpack .......thanks to my wonderful colleagues at Health Care Authority, my retirement survival package included several of the plastic packing bags that I feel sure will reduce this to two inches.  Keep a good thought!  My next photo should be of a very tidy couple of bags that contain everything I will need for 3 months....I did get some peppermint foot cream based on the recommendation of a friend who tells me spiders do not like peppermint....it cannot hurt.

The environs around Manow

I thought I would publish some  photos of the area around Manow, Tanzania to give an idea of where I will be for most of the time.

This is the Lutheran Church in Manow and where the classes have been held until this year...thanks to the generosity of many and the hard work of the director, Nancy Winters,  the Tanzania Teaching Foundation will have their own classrooms this year.  We are not exactly sure we will start in the new classrooms but we should definitely finish there.  This will make our jobs easier for sure.

This will be one of the skills I may be able to learn this time around in Africa.....even the smallest children seem to be able to balance very large packages on their head.

Here is the dining and work table in the house we will be living in.  I expect Sean - my teaching partner - and I will be spending many happy hours at this table.


Just have a few more items to get for the trip.  Have gotten some music loaded on my IPod that I hope to use in the classroom.  My son in law Cedrus found me a tiny speaker that works wonderfully so at least I will be able to start out with the right tune!  I was going to post a photo of all I have gathered pre packing but even to me it looks too overwhelming.....I'll wait and post a photo of the finished product - that will surely be underweight!

Jambo! from Vancouver - soon to be Manow, Tanzania (pictured above. notice no screens on windows to let local spider population come and go as they please). One week to go and I'll admit I'm a little anxious about spending 3 months away from my family and Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer. But . . . I just spent a lovely evening with Susie, Kim, Mary, Janet and Sally and am feeling supported and connected despite my plans to fly halfway across the world in little less than 7 days. Oh and my backpack is probably 10 lbs. over the weight limit . . . hmmm.