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A Family's Service-Learning Experience in Africa
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"It will be life changing." We heard these words many times from friends, relatives and wise seasoned travelers as we prepared for our month long adventure with Global Service Corps (GSC) in East Africa. In the back of our minds, we each knew that our work in Tanzania would be challenging and a very different experience from our easy life in the U.S. However, we weren't certain about the fact that it would alter our lives forever. We were wrong. After months of preparations of filling out forms for GSC, searching for reasonable airfares and travel insurance, acquiring visas and vaccinations, and determining appropriate clothing and backpacks, the day of departure from JFK airport arrived. We were simultaneously exhausted and excited... accompanied with a rather large dose of nervousness. Twenty hours later, our huge aircraft landed on an extremely dark runway at the Kilimanjaro airport. We were soon greeted by sweet Daphne from the GSC office. Little did we know that her first handshake, accompanied by greetings of Jambo and Shikamoo, would be the beginning of a love affair with Tanzania and her people. For the first
week in Tanzania, we lived in a hostel with 16
other volunteers from the U.S. and Canada. Over the
course of the week, we made friends, and learned of
each others' aspirations and reasons for working
with GSC. We adapted to Tanzanian food and life
together. The training
provided by GSC was intense, but extremely helpful
as we prepared for our three weeks of teaching
Tanzanians about HIV/AIDS. Volunteers train
community members, government groups, farmers
groups and students, and also train the
trainers. The trainers are leaders within those
groups who will then carry the message and help
educate other community members. A true highlight of our week was learning and working with our wonderful Tanzanian counterparts, who were chosen by GSC to be our translators and help us with the language. They were, in fact, invaluable. In many ways these intelligent and thoughtful young men and women were the backbone of the program and served as a wonderful bridge between the groups being taught and the volunteers. Plus, they were extremely forgiving of our terrible Swahili. Our Swahili did get better in time due to both their help and language lessons provided in the program. After training, we were placed with an amazing family, Lily and Iddi Washokera. They were our Mama and Baba, our inspirations, and now our life long friends. We learned much from each other and looked forward to our daily dinners filled with lively discussion and stories. They were empathetic listeners, as they laughed at the mistakes and rejoiced in our successes. For the next three weeks, we were out in the field, using the Washokera's as our home base. GSC provided us with three diverse teaching experiences. The first week, we taught spirited men and women from the Arusha central market. The second week found us at an orphanage, as we trained the staff in HIV awareness. The third week we were driven about an hour outside of town to a Masai village where we worked with over 80 villagers who had journeyed to hear GSC's message. All three groups provided unforgettable experiences. Despite the differences of each group, we felt well equipped by our training from GSC. We were surprised by the apparent impact that we and the counterparts had on the students and their communities. The caliber and depth of questions from both the men and women were breathtaking, as they spoke with tragic concern about the disease that was claiming the lives of their families and children. The staff of GSC Arusha had trained us with a solid curriculum and prepared us well for what we would encounter in our teaching. They were supportive and realistic. But despite all of this, there was one problem. All the months of intense preparation for our journey to Tanzania, had not prepared us for the awe and gratitude we would feel toward the Tanzanian people and their beautiful children. It did not prepare us for the ache we would feel as we departed our newly acquired friends. GSC had also forgotten to mention how much we would long to return to Africa from the moment we left her soul. Someone once said that it is no accident that the continent of Africa is shaped like a human heart. We might add... a heart by which we are forever changed. Article contributed by Eileen, Meg & Annie Sutula Experience the
challenges and changing face of every day life in
Tanzania. Global
Service Corps
participants live with families in village-based
homestays while working on service-learning
projects focused on AIDS prevention and sustainable
agriculture. FOR MORE
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