Pastor Blandina This week we have been dealing with some pretty weighty issues as we explore the opportunities and challenges facing Tanzanians post-independence. On Thursday we heard from two Lutheran pastors, both women, on their work in promoting gender equity. Pastor Itiku (YWCA) and Pastor Blandina…
Joseph Butiku – Director of Nyerere Foundation After a wonderful weekend at Bagamoyo, we resumed our normal routine of language class in the morning and presentations or site visits in the afternoon. This week we began exploring the legacy of Tanzania’s first president Mwalimu (Teacher) Julius Nyerere,…
We spent this weekend in Bagamoyo, a town about an hour north of Dar es Salaam also directly on the Indian Ocean. The town is much smaller than Dar, but was the setting of some major historical events in Tanzania’s history. On Saturday morning we met at the…
On Wednesday we gathered at ‘nyumbani kwetu‘ (our house) for the weekly unit house meeting. We celebrated two birthdays (Alia’s and Jenna’s) with ice cream! Students shared how their weeks have been going, we sang hymns from the Tenzi za Rohoni (the KMT swahili songbook), and we discussed…
The Tanzania SST group went to the beach over the weekend as we reported in a previous post. We thought you might enjoy a taste of the transportation we used. These are our solutions to global climate change – planting trees like in the pic to the right and…
Mmm… rice and beans! Sunday students spent the day with their host families – most attending church at various locations. A few of us attended Sinza Mennonite church in Sinza, where we were very warmly welcomed! Both Monday and Tuesday started with Swahili class in the morning,…
Friday marked our first week of Swahili classes completed – time seems to be flying by. After Swahili class students took their first weekly quiz on the history readings that were assigned. After our quiz, we walked to the bus stand to get our first daladala to the University…
Today we visited the Makumbusho Vijijini (Village Museum) and toured various houses constructed according to various tribal traditions. Tanzania has 121 tribal groups, we were able to get a taste 10 or so traditional dwellings. The highlight of the visit was a pre-arranged meeting with RESEWO: Regent Estate…
We are getting into our routine! The last three days students have arrived at the church for Swahili class without a hitch. Yesterday afternoon the students walked to Unit House for our weekly discussion and time of sharing and processing. Of course these events are always filled with…
A lighter moment in Swahili class Today marked an important milestone. Students traveled to the church on their own this morning, using daladalas to navigate the various roads to the right bus stops. Remarkably everyone arrived on time! (However today is Maulid Day – so the traffic…
