The ferry ride from Dar es Salaam is about a two hour boat ride and we arrived at the port next to Stone Town around lunchtime.  We walked to our hostel, Karibu Inn, in downtown Stone Town and settled in before hitting the town for a quick lunch.  Students had the afternoon off to explore the city on their own.  Many elected to go on the Spice Tour, an exploration of the spice plantations (cloves, cinnamon, lemon grass, cardamom, and turmeric etc.) for which Zanzibar is famous.  Others strolled the narrow streets exploring the rich, Arabic and Islamic culture.  Most of us enjoyed dinner on the plaza where local grilled seafood was the highlight.  In the morning we left around 11:00 a.m. for the northern beaches of Zanzibar near the town of Nungwi.  Before leaving some students arranged for a historical tour of Stone Town, which explored the early slave trading era under the rule of Arabic Sultans.

We arrived at Nungwi Inn in time for lunch, but most students ran directly to the aquamarine waters for sun-bathing!  We spent Saturday and Sunday night at Nungwi with ample time for catching up, telling stories, debriefing meetings, and a bit of play in the surf. Saturday evening the group met on the beach to reminisce.  In small groups students were asked to share stories that answered: on the 2011 Tanzania SST what was a) your funniest memory, b) the time you were most impressed with a colleague for their cultural sensitivity, c) your own personal biggest cultural faux paux, d) your most embarrassing moment, e) your most appreciated Tanzania cultural learning, .. etc.  The conversation, beneath the stars, reminded us of the many challenging, thrilling, and engaging experiences we’ve shared with our families, friends, and colleagues here in Tanzania.

On Sunday Donna and I interviewed each student to gain some personal insight into their unique experiences on the trip.  In the afternoon at 1:30 we met again as an entire group to discuss more broadly the following questions: 1) what are “human universals” that seem to be common to all cultures, and 2) in what ways has the Tanzanian worldview influenced your own personal worldview?  We wrapped up with the obvious conclusion that this conversation will be an ongoing one, as our experience will keep unfolding for us for years to come.

In the afternoon about 10 of us took a dhow boat ride to go snorkeling and enjoy the evening sunset. Wow.  Others enjoyed swimming, volleyball, and relaxing.  We ended our time at Nungwi with a group meal on the beach… the “last supper.”  It was a time to share thanks, express our mutual appreciation, and dream about future SST reunions!  The group presented us with a small book in which each student wrote a short note of memories and thanks. The evening was the perfect ending to the 3 months.

It has been a great gift to study in Tanzania with 22 other pairs of eyes, each adding their own insights and perspectives.  These are the memories we’ll all hold, as one student wrote… “we’ll never be the same.”  Thanks, too, for joining us on this journey via the blog.

Donna, Ryan, Mara, and Isaac

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Now before you get too excited about where the other four students disappeared, let me explain!  Josh Miller left this morning by bus for his 6 week Mennonite Central Committee assignment in Burundi and is also safely on his way.  And, last evening I took Emily Bowman, Laura Krabill, and Indy Miller to the airport for their flight to Greece and further travels in Europe….. so YES all 22 of the 2011 SST Tanzania group are safely on their way home (or to their next adventure.)

We are deeply grateful that all went smoothly and of course will have to adjust to being just a family of four again!  We’ll update the blog tomorrow with pictures from our processing and debriefing in Zanzibar.

They are all eager to reunite with you and it will take some time to share their stories, new perspectives, and ongoing questions.  It has been a rich time, sometimes a challenging time, but always a stretching and growing time.  We are so grateful for these days together and feel extremely lucky to have worked with this group.  We will miss them greatly.

Best wishes from Donna, Ryan, Mara, and Isaac.

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- Women Farmers in Tanzania

- Perceptions of British Colonialism in Shirati, Tanzania

- A Transcultural Believers Church – A Look at Tanzanian Mennonite Anabaptism

- Porridge, Water, and the Village – A Look at Dietary Health

- Water Access in Shirati

- A Portrait of Murangi – In Light of Education and Opportunities

- Factors Facing Dentistry in Tanzania

- Music Education in Tanzania

- Beekeeping in Tanzania:  A Look into Methods, Challenges, and Opportunities

- And more!

It was a wonderful morning of sharing, reflecting, noticing connections, pondering new questions, and sharing the conclusions from loads of work.  We’ll continue these conversations during our retreat in Zanzibar, which we begin in the morning.

This afternoon we invited all the host families to the Village Museum Cultural Center for an afternoon of snacks, sharing, gift-giving, and generally thanking the host families in Dar es Salaam for their generosity and care.  Students returned to their families for one last night together – it is hard to contemplate that the time is drawing to an end.  Thank you host families!

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We arrived in Dar around 1:30 a.m. to an expectant gathering of host parents ready to swoop up their son or daughter.  We are so thankful that we all arrived safely in Dar and are looking forward to a time together of de-briefing and sharing of stories.

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Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up early and head to our bus stand at 5:00 a.m. for our long (16 hour!) drive back to Dar es Salaam.   The drive will provide more time for storytelling, general catching up, and (I’m sure) sleep!  Until then, usiku mwema and lala salama (goodnight and sleep peacefully)!

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Nyabange is home to the Mennonite Theological College of East Africa (MTCEA), which is a seminary that provides training in biblical scholarship, church history, peacemaking, and English/computer skills.  MTCEA has been gracious enough to offer us one of their houses, which has been a wonderful home for us.  Additionally, our service term coordinator, Emmanuel Mwita, serves as the college’s Vice Principal and has been instrumental in setting up and helping oversee the service assignments throughout the Mara region.  Thanks MTCEA!

Nyabange is also home to Bishop Christopher Ndege’s office and the Nyabange Mennonite Church.  We would like to thank Christopher for the use of the church’s Land Cruiser, which his office generously provided us, enabling us to visit the students as a family.

Ariel has been working at MTCEA and living on campus, both teaching English and also helping in the library.  For the first three weeks, she kept busy with preparing lesson plans, teaching, grading, and helping students as they had questions.  She also enjoyed attending daily tea with the faculty and students at 10:00 a.m., followed by an hour chapel service.  Ariel’s project has been to do a comparative analysis of Tanzania and North American theological approaches to Christianity and she has really enjoyed the conversations with the students and faculty.  During the second half of her time at MTCEA, Ariel helped in the library cataloguing and organizing an entire closet full of books that awaited sorting.  She is working closely with the MTCEA librarian, Helen, who has become a good friend.  We heard from numerous students how much they appreciated her teaching!

Ariel lives with Mama Perusi, MTCEA’s accountant, and her family on the edge of campus overlooking the lake.  We had a wonderful tea and meal with Mama Perusi, who is a warm and welcoming spirit! It is hard to determine who has more affection for the other —- mother or daughter!  Ariel has truly immersed herself in community and church life and has joined the choir – attending practices several times a week.

Kaeli also lives in Nyabange about 200 meters from Ariel.  She lives with Pastor Eliud & Lucia Monanka and their family.  Eliud serves as the Deputy of the Tanzania Mennonite Church General Secretary and goes to work in Musoma at the KMT offices.  Kaeli has been working at the SCC (Swedish Cooperative Center) Agroforestry center with offices in Musoma and a field and test plot at the edge of Nyabange.  SCC tries to make farmers aware of the benefits in combining forestry practices with agriculture.  By planting certain trees between crops, farmers can increase the nitrogen and organic matter in soils, enhance pest resistance, and provide future fuel-wood for use in their homes.

Kaeli spent the first several weeks working at the SCC farm helping do soil tests, planting corn, and prepare planting beds.  We spent several hours with Kaeli touring the farm and were introduced to the various integrated approaches to agriculture including: beekeeping, use of green manure, crop rotation, and irrigation using a simple low-tech windmill.  We also visited the main offices in Musoma where Kaeli has been working to help craft a sustainability plan for how the SCC farm can increase their long-term viability.

Our day culminated with a lunch together in Musoma where we shared stories of our various experiences over the last five weeks.  It has been fun to have Kaeli and Ariel as neighbors here in Nyabange!

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Arriving in Mwanza, however, puts one back in the urban environment, as it is the second largest city in Tanzania.  Alison is volunteering at the Netherlands Development Organization otherwise known as SNV.  Here she is working with other international interns (mainly from Europe) on a research project that aims to determine if more can be done to attract tourists to the Mwanza area.  The work supports the development of a tourism organization, the Mwanza Tourism Association (MTA), which aims to increase the awareness of the cultural centers, hotels, tourist shops, and historical sites of significance that could be used to create better incomes for local communities.

Alison spends about 3 days a week visiting field sites where she and colleagues assess the quality, cost, and location of potential tourist attractions.  The rest of her time is spent in the SNV office helping analyze their findings and working to assess the viability of the tourist opportunities.  Alison has enjoyed the experience working with an established development organization, which seems to appropriately blend her interests in sociology, international relations, and development.

We enjoyed taking Alison to dinner in downtown Mwanza (great pizza!), hiking to a favorite rocky overlook that she and friends have frequented (despite the rain), and exploring the city center (complete with the “fish” roundabout.)  We also visited her host family – Joseph Shanyangi and his wife and two kids who live in Mwanza.  Her two little host brothers, Sam and Kevin, entertained us well!

Alison is one of only two students who are living somewhere without other SST’ers and this has proven an excellent experience for her.  We were again impressed with our GC group!

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Abby is working at Victoria Secondary School, a private school run by Mr. and Mrs. Olimo.  (The Olimos are parents of Agnes Odhiambo who lives in Goshen!  It is a small world.)  Abby has been working in the school’s library and doing an excellent job of organizing books, creating a numbering system, and helping establish and write a “library policy” document that can help the school in managing and caring for their collection of books.  Abby has really been enjoying her time at Victoria and lives with the Olimo’s, who run the school.

We enjoyed tea with Abby (in the library no less!) and met many teachers and students who make use of the library.  The school is built on top of a rocky hill with fabulous views of Lake Victoria… a tranquil and rural feel, despite being in Musoma.  Abby spends most of her time in this setting and comes to town on the weekends to check in with Mark or other SSTer’s nearby.

Mark has been working in two settings to utilize his skills in ASL (American Sign Language), which is his area of study.  He has been helping tutor primary school students at a deaf school in downtown Musoma.  ASL is not taught at the primary level here in TZ, but is used at the secondary level.  Mark has also been volunteering at Lake Victoria Disability Centre, a non-profit organization that provides training to students with disabilities.   Many of the students at the centre are deaf and receive classes and instruction in sign language in conjunction with training in sewing, metal work, carpentry, and/or screen-printing.

We had a wonderful visit to the Disability Centre, met some of the students, and were impressed to see how quickly Mark had become a member of this community.  The centre is beginning to sell some of their products to provide further funding for the centre and to also provide real-world business experience for the students.  We bought some of the first T-shirts produced from work designed by the students in the screen-printing classes.  Check out their website: http://www.lakevictoriadisabilitycentre.org/

Mark and Abby seem quite at home in Musoma and it is hard to imagine that in a few short days we’ll be welcoming all the students back to Musoma for a night before taking our 17 hr bus ride back to Dar es Salaam!

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Three Goshen students are serving in Shirati, Karla Folker works at the Shirati Hospital, Lydia Yoder is volunteering with SHED, and Leah Thill has been teaching at Zappe Kindergarten School.  All three students live within several minutes walk of one another and have very much enjoyed their host families.

While visiting Shirati, we stayed in the SHED hostel where we slept and ate our meals.  What a great place to spend a few days!  The kids could run outside chasing the goats and cows, and we had some time to catch up with the students in the large living room at the hostel.  A highlight was having “an American meal” with the students at Dr. Esther and Josiah Kawira’s house; Esther runs the clinic and Josiah directs SHED.

Lydia’s work with SHED has been to initiate a tree-planting project designed to improve the community’s access to fuel-wood.  She has single-handedly planted more than 2000 tree seedlings, which will later be planted on church property to aid members in finding affordable and sustainable cooking fuel.   The process has involved finding and collecting their own seed, scarifying the seed, then planting and watering the seedlings.  Lydia also gave us a tour of the Mennonite Church compound, where we stopped in to greet Bishop John Nyagwegwe.

Mid-morning on Friday we visited Leah at Zappe Kindergarten, where she has been teaching English to 4, 5, and 6 year olds.  Leah’s command of Swahili has been quite impressive and this helped her greatly in communicating with her students.  We visited on the last day of school before a 2-week holiday, and the students gave Leah a hearty and thankful good-bye.  Leah will be spending the last week of her time in Shirati visiting and teaching at Katuru Secondary School, where they will make good use of her Chemistry and Biology background!

On Saturday morning before leaving Shirati, we received a tour of Shirati Hospital where Karla has been working.  Karla has rotated through the following departments spending one week in each of the following: maternity ward, the OR, the leprosy ward, the laboratory, and pediatrics.  Karla has loved getting more experience for her nursing career at the hospital, and says that each day she is excited to come to work.  She has watched babies being delivered, conversed with patients in the leprosy unit, observed a variety of surgeries, and helped prepare slides in the lab.  Who knows, one day she may return to Shirati as a nurse or doctor (the next Esther Kawira?)

We left Shirati on Saturday morning around 11:00 a.m. with a full load.  We took Leah, Karla, and Lydia to Mogabiri on our way home in order that they could visit Matt, Alain, David, and Indy in Mogabiri and Nyarero!  The time is flying by, the students are excited to share stories, and before long we’ll be together as a family of 22 again!

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The center is located on the edge of the escarpment and one can view the entire valley from the property… amazing.  The higher elevation creates a cooler climate (ahhhhh!), and this combined with fertile soils provides an agricultural haven for banana trees, coffee, cassava, corn, and other crops.  Matt has been working at the extension center helping take care of the dairy cows, which involves daily milking and cutting and preparing their forage, a mix of “elephant grass” and corn stalks/leaves.   He works with one of the farm employees named Richard (the one with the big smile!).  Matt’s project has been to research how beekeeping can improve farmer’s livelihoods.  He worked with a local woodworker in town to build his own hives, which will eventually be used at the center.  He is also researching the economic benefits of beekeeping, through interviews with local farmers who bring their honey to the center, where the honey is processed and sold as part of a beekeeping association.

Alain has been working in the office at the center doing various computer-related projects.  He helped train employees on the use of power-point, has helped type documents, and has worked on writing a number of reports. Alain also has helped with the farm chores around the farm, in addition to helping take care of the chickens, which his host brother is raising at their home. For his project, Alain is working to better understand the process of artisanal gold mining, which occurs on the cliffs near the farm.  He has visited several mines near the farm, is interviewing the miners, and tracing the mining material from the mine to the market.

Matt lives with the director of the Farm Extension Centre, Goodluck Kimaro and his family.  We ate our meals in the extension center cafeteria and enjoyed lively conversation with Goodluck and Gabriel, the center’s animal veterinarian.  The center is equipped to host visiting students and farmers with an extensive array of dormitories and classrooms.  Alain is living with Ruth Adul and her son.  Ruth directs a microfinance program for women (AFREDA), which has its offices at the center.  Alain and Matt have enjoyed their families, the community at the center (i.e. the morning prayers at the center each day), and the natural beauty of life in Mogabiri!

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