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Goshen College

Week 3 in Dar es Salaam

February 2, 2020

Hello friends, families, strangers who are interested in what we’re doing.  We have had another adventurous week in Dar es Salaam.  This city is so full of interesting experiences, people, sights, sounds, etc.

On Monday the students attended a lecture at the University of Dar es Salaam on the culture of music in Tanzania.  Sorry, there are no pictures.  The kids and I stayed home to do homework (such a bummer), and I’m usually the one with the camera.

On Tuesday we ventured to the Mwalimy Nyerere Foundation.  Julius Nyerere was Tanzania’s first president, and an advocate for peace, racial equality, and social justice.  For more information about Julius Nyerere click here for some of his biographical information.

A beautiful view of the harbor from the 7th floor of the building.

On Wednesday…there will be a separate post about Wednesdays.  Wednesdays we have the students over at Nyumbani Goshen (aka: Jonathon and Katie’s apartment).  We are gathering photos as we go and will post later.

On Thursday we met with Dr. Elisha Osati, who is a locally practicing pulmonologist at Muhumbili hospital; he also serves as the President of the Medical Association of Tanzania.  He helped us to better understand how the people of Tanzania access health care, what barriers keep people from getting the care they need, and how the government and local agencies are trying to improve access and healthcare to the people.

On Friday the students went to Nafasi Art Space.  This is a non-profit with a goal to provide space and a venue for upcoming artists.  The arts represented vary from music, multiple paint mediums, sculptures, etc.  To learn more about this wonderful organization, please click here.

Looking down into the new Nafasi Academy, for art education.
Hearing from Rebecca Corey, the director of Nafasi.
The official gallery space.
Get a load of these guys!
A beautiful “space for children”
Heading into the main exhibit space
Gathering for some video excerpts showing Nafasi in action.
A driving rain kept us indoors.
After a hard afternoon rain, these 6-inch snails were sliming alone in our neighborhood.

On Saturday we met again with the youth from surrounding Dar es Salaam Mennonite Churches for some games and friendly competition.  This time we met at Nyantiri Mennonite Church, where Below is a video of the apple-eating contest.  Poor Emma was too short and had to stand on a chair.

Class time on a Saturday!
Making our delicious food.
Playing keep-away from Emma.
Representing Goshen are Emma, Denver, and Anne…
…and Delphin.
Fascinating ants removing one grain of sand at a time.
This little one is fascinated with her big brother’s school books
Ariana teaches the children about her special shoe for her foot.
Jonathon represents as the only Goshenite on his team!
Sven and Jesse recovering after a play
And then there’s Irving!
We had a lot of fun just talking with the children
Pastor John Wambora closes our time with prayer

There were enough participants for four teams for soccer.  The competition was fierce.

Circle time

Finally, on Sunday (this evening) we attended a premiere-league soccer game between Young Africans Tanzania (Yanga) and Mtibwa Sugar.  We had a great time cheering for Yanga and, of course, eating snacks.

Jerry’s new toy. He’s practicing for the GC soccer games.
A nice post-game back rub.

And LOOK!  We’re already famous!!!  Our picture is all over Facebook.