Morning: I got up at 6:30 and went for a quick jog before work. The beautiful scenery, cool mountain breeze and friendly people made for a great start to the day. Afterwards I took a quick shower, got dressed and had a quick breakfast of chai tea and bread with my homestay family. Next I’d walk to our NGO headquarters in downtown Morogoro to check in with local staff to review today’s programming and what we were expected to do. My mornings were typically working with at risk youth in our local school on ESL training and health and wellness training. Our students were a rambunctious lot but really sweet! They would meet us on our walk to school and offer to carry our books and supplies for us.
Afternoon: Afternoons varied depending on programming. Three times per week I would travel just outside the city to teach 2 computer classes to low-income Tanzanians. The staff and I had to be creative – as we had very limited access to internet and electricity – but our students were very eager to learn, which helped. Twice a week we would meet with a drama group to discuss outreach activities and every Friday, we would travel to a different community to monitor HIV/AIDS outreach events. These typically included music, short skits and information sessions to raise awareness about the HIV virus.
Evening: At the end of the day we’d return home to have dinner with our families. Cooking was challenging, as we didn’t use electricity and would cook over a few hot plates over charcoal. We all ate dinner together around 8pm, which typically included lots of rice or ‘ugali’ (corn flour mixed with water), a small serving of beef, fish or chicken for those who ate meat, beans and other vegetables and fresh fruit for dessert. Cutlery was limited so typically we’d eat with our hands, which is pretty simple and just takes some getting-used-to. Afterwards I’d spend the evening reading or writing in my diary until it was time for bed.
Highlights:The highlight of my trip was probably my birthday, when all the other volunteers as well as most of our local staff had dinner with me at a nice restaurant. The other volunteers surprised me with a cake and one of our local staff members made me a beautiful birthday card.
I think the most satisfying part of my volunteer experience was watching the students in my computer class learn and develop new skills in a very short period of time. By the end of the session, all of my beginner students – many of whom had never used a computer before – were able to use Microsoft Word to create their own CV.