Habari za soma??

Hello everyone...so we have been at Mt Meru University for the past week or so (i seem to lose all track of time! :S) where we have had training from 8am to 5pm everyday involving everything from fast track Swahili, to how to teach village elders about sexual transmission and protection to teaching primary school children about the immune system! The university was quite a shock at first as there are quite a few rats, no showers and our first 'traditional toilets'! But iv have realised this is all part of our training and i have learned to always carry toilet roll, wash out of a bucket and just be thankful for what i have. How can i complain when i wake up each day to the view through my window of Mt. Meru and the owl (Jethro) who lives in the tree outside! The training so far has been diffcult and exhausting at times to say the least. But i feel i am fast becoming more equiped for the challenge that lies ahead. Once we enter the villages (which will be on Tuesday so all prayers greatfully recieved!) we will initially be undertaking an assessment of the village's health services and other services avaliable, knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitudes towards those who are HIV positive. This will then enable us to plan and undertake teaching which is appropriate and culturally sensitive to each particular village.

We are spending the next few days back at the university training and undergoing teaching assessments. On sunday i will have to undertake an individual teaching assessment in front of a panel of SIC staff...this is well...a little daunting! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers :) Like i say we will then be moving to villages on Tuesday for aprrox two weeks...this is a crucial time where we need to put all our energy into getting to know the individuals in our village and building strong relationships with the village leaders. We need people to trust us and what we are telling them. Please keep us as a team of volunteers in your thoughts and prayers during this time. For now my 'morning off' is up so it's back to the university. I will next be able to reach a town in about 3 weeks but until then please keep messaging me as it is so encouraging to hear from home! I hope you all enjoyed the heat wave!

love love, Woollams

Karibu!

I made it! So here I am in Arusha, Tanzania on the west coast of Africa which I can only describe as amazing but heartbreaking all at once. Unbelievable it’s quite mild and wet which is nice as I feel right at home! (well the Tanzanians say its really cold but its about 15-20degrees!) I arrived on Thursday into the busy city of Dar Es Saleem where I spent one night in a hostel. I then took a ten hour bus ride north to Arusha with some amazing views including Kilamanjaro and Mt. Meru. (hopefully photos may follow J) I have been staying in Arusha since then, taking in the town and the Tanzanian people…which at times has been quite overwhelming but given time I have adjusted to the way of life here and enjoyed improving my Swahili in the busy markets (which put our idea of markets to shame!) and with the people I pass on the streets who are all so keen to chat! It’s funny to think how often we pass people on the streets in England and never even say hello, here you would be rude if you didn’t ask a stranger how they, their family, their job and their day is!!

So far we have spent most of our time adjusting to the environment (our digestive systems are having a pretty difficult job of it to say the least!) and learning about the culture here which is so important. We don’t want to be clumsy tourists who impose ourselves and our culture on Tanzania but educated volunteers who embrace the people here and all that their culture involves and stands for. We started intensive Swahili lessons today which was difficult but fun! It’s really important for us to at least try to speak Swahili even if not very well! Now that all the volunteers have arrived we will be going to an opening meal later tonight to meet many of the English, American and Tanzanian people involved in SIC and then they start tomorrow the hard work of moulding us into super dooper teachers! I will keep you updated on how successful that is!


Kwaherini!