Generous Gifts

At least half of the luggage that I am bringing to Tanga is sports equipment and school supplies. Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible, including:

Thanks to a generous donation from Modell's Sporting Goods Store in Annapolis I was able to buy:

-6 soccer balls
-2 basketballs
-1 football
-2 ball pumps
-16 cones
-3 whistles
-1 ball bag


Thanks also to the Key School Athletic Director, Brian Boyd, who generously contributed numerous sports jerseys.

And finally a big thanks to the Key School Kindergarten classes for donating school supplies and creating beautiful artwork to share with their Kindergarten friends in Tanzania.

I will also be bringing Rafiki bear with me. This teddy bear plays soccer and will spend time in the homes of Kindergarteners at both schools and hopefully keep a journal of his many adventures. Pictures to follow....

All About CHUMS

Here's a link to Key School's CHUMS page that explains all about the partnership. Great resources and pictures! I definitely suggest checking it out!

CLICK HERE!

Language Lessons

From what I have gathered so far, people in Tanzania speak their tribal language, Kiswahili, and English. In schools, children are first taught in Swahili, and then switch to English in secondary school. While I should be able to navigate the country with just English, the children I will be working with will all be learning in Swahili! That, plus the fact that the Tanzanian people really appreciate when foreigners make an effort at Swahili, means that Rosetta Stone has been my best friend lately. Over the course of my stay I hope to share some fun Swahili words with everyone. For practice, our first lesson will be about the Lion King....

Simba: Lion
Rafiki: Friend
Asante Sana, Squashed Banana: Thank you very much, squashed banana
Hakuna: Without
Matata: Problems/Worries
Hakuna Matata: A problem-free philosphy!

Technology in Tanzania

Determining what technology to bring has been quite a topic of research and conversation....My dad spoke with a customer service rep at Verizon who suggested that I take a Blackberry Tour because I could instant message (Windows Live Messenger, Gchat, AIM) everyone in the States for free. It turns out that isn't true -- each message I send from Tanzania would cost $0.50 and each one I receive would cost $0.05. Given that phone calls, whether to a person right down the street or thousands of miles away, cost $3.99 a minute, pretty much the only perk of the Blackberry is the unlimited emailing and internet access....for a not-so-low monthly rate. All of this plus the calculated hassle of having the phone lost or stolen meant that phone was sent back to Verizon yesterday. I'm just going to wait until I get to Tanzania to buy one of their local phones.

In terms of other technology, I have a camera, a flipcamera for videos, and a small computer with a video camera for skyping. Other than that -- internet cafes! I'm really hoping there will be enough time/resources to keep everyone posted...

An Introduction

Hello everyone! I thought it might be helpful for me to provide a little background/context for everyone...I was a lifer at The Key School in Annapolis, Maryland and graduated in 2006. I then went to Georgetown University where I studied Science, Technology & International Affairs with a concentration in Energy & Environment. I graduated in the Fall of 2009. Next year I will be working in Houston as a Teach For America corps member. But before I go.....I'm off to Tanzania! I am going to teach at the Chumbageni Primary School and help build the partnership that Key School is building with this school. I will be there for three months, and will hopefully be able to keep students, friends and family posted via this blog!