Wedding

November 16, 2014

Last weekend I went to the wedding of my headmaster's son. This was the first wedding I have been to in Tanzania and a really cool cultural experience that I had been hoping to have for a long time!

The wedding was, as many other teachers told me, not a typical wedding. It was very extravagant as weddings here go.

In the culture here it is common to take donations when you have a celebration. We had donations for the graduation ceremony, There were donations for religious graduation celebrations. Teachers often come around to gather donations for other weddings or celebrations. And this wedding was no different. Each guest was expected to make a donation of 15000 Tanzanian shillings (about $8.50). What in the US might be seen as a really tacky way to fund a wedding is very normal here. I made my donation about a month before the wedding after receiving a card inviting me to do so.

I arrived at the wedding a little late so I missed the church-y part, but I was just in time to hop into a bus and ride from the church to my headmaster's house where the party was starting. As we went, we drove very slowly at the back of a long caravan of other cars led by the bride and groom. Music was playing loudly from one car, and all the women in the bus I was in were singing wedding call and response type songs.

Here's a clip of one of the songs they sang (it's one of the few I could mostly understand since many of them were in tribal languages):

The setup at my headmaster's house.

At my headmaster's house I was fed until I couldn't eat anymore and then was invited by some other teachers to dance. By some miracle, I didn't vomit. We danced for a bit and there were some announcements and speeches given, and then it was off to a new venue!

The group of teachers from my school (and a few from neighboring schools)

We got into the bus again and headed off for a big hall. Loud music, speeches, tribal traditions, and lots of dancing ensued.

The tribal elder receiving the groom as a man of the tribe

The stage

Between every programmed event/speech the DJ put on music and people would jump out of their seats to dance for several minutes until the MC cut it off for the next event. Lots of dancing!

The teachers and I had pitched in for a kitchen set (plates, silverware, bowls...) as a wedding gift and when the time came to present our gift to the bride and groom we jumped up and danced our way up to the stage passing the box of dishes around over our heads. The energy was ridiculous but contagious!

The night wrapped up with more food. We were all pretty hungry after dancing and watching the festivities until about midnight. Then we hopped on our bus and headed home. In bed by 2:30 am. Luckily the next day was Sunday.

End of the year happenings

November 15, 2014

These days at school things are winding down. The Form IV students have finished taking their national exams and the rest of the students are in study mode making final preparations for their end of the year exams. For us teachers, it's a matter of guiding review and providing exercises to helps students get ready.

With my Form IV kids gone, and my Form II kids spending time studying and doing exercises, I have turned my energy and spare time towards improving my teaching techniques and getting ready for next year and in some ways getting ready to leave my school (as I will be doing in about 10 months time). A common complaint at my school is that there are no resources for teaching aids and science lab apparatus so I decided to prove the complainers wrong by making physics apparatus that nobody can ignore! I (as the head of the physics department) was given 9000 shillings (~$5.50) for the performance of the students on their practice national exams this year, and with that money a student teacher and I are making huge physics teaching aids which will be installments on school grounds.

This one is a fulcrum for a teeter totter to help teach about moments and equilibrium

This will serve as a stand to hold different apparatus for the topics related to springs and pulleys

There is currently construction going on at my school on the laboratory so all of the wood is coming from the old lab structure ($0), all of the cement (which is not much...) is coming from the new construction ($0), nails will be recycled ($0), weights will be made from used plastic water bottles ($0), the bar for the fulcrum was scrap from a carpenter ($0), and we have access to the tools of the construction crew so the labor is on us and a few helpful students ($0). I'm currently having a hard time finding somewhere to put my 9000 shillings...

Renovations on the old lab

Foundation of the new lab

Harvesting wood from old rafters

Mixing cement and sand (more bang for the buck)

Post-hole digging with a machete

We have a couple more ideas for teaching aids to install after these are finished: one for friction/inclined planes, and one for Archimedes' Principle/floatation/volume of irregular shapes. So we will keep at it. Can't wait to teach these topics next year! And maybe more importantly to make a point of them. Teaching aids are easy, cheap, necessary and FUN!

Form IV Physics Send-off

November 2, 2014

On Saturday I hosted all of my Form IV physics students at my house for a send-off party. Tomorrow (Monday) they will begin their national exams and I won't really be able to talk with them for fear of being accused of helping them cheat. Before that though, I wanted to say a few words and have a chance to see them one more time before they take the test and leave Itandula for good.

To help break down some gender stereotypes I told them that only boys were allowed in the kitchen. The boys started the fire, cooked and cleaned dishes at the end of the day and the girls were only allowed to instruct them.

These guys got in at 9:15 to get the fire started and sort peas.

I went to town the day before to buy the food but the students brought big pots, firewood, plates, spoons and water.

Boys cooking peas and heating water for rice.

Other students sorting through the rice.

Prepping fresh veggies.

As some were working on the food others were playing games. 

Checkers (or "drefti" as they call it)

Some played cards (an Uno-like game), and some played a version of mancala that I had not played before.

Cooking took the whole morning and we didn't eat til around 1:30 or so but it was worth the wait. We had rice, beef, peas in a tomato sauce, and soda!

Serving up the food!

Everyone with their food.

Eating... It was so fun to hear them making nerdy physics jokes just like I used to in high school and college (something would fall over and one would say "unstable equilibrium!")

After the food, I said a few words about how proud I was of all of the students and how much I had enjoyed being with them this past year. They are among a minority of Tanzanians who finish secondary school and a very small minority who study physics through Form IV. So I congratulated them on that and challenged them to continue on that track.

The students then wanted to say something so one of them (the one best at English) got up and thanked me for helping them. It was simple but very gratifying. Then they surprised me with a gift! They had me close my eyes as they brought it out and put it in front of me. It was a big plate/basket thing an a clay pot!

These kids are amazing. And they tried to apologize for not getting me something nicer... The plate/basket is used to sort through rice and beans for stones or leaves, and they tell me the pot will make cooked veggies and beans taste better!

After that, we took a few more group pictures.

The whole group

Physics lady-nerds

Physics man-nerds

And a few with various students...

This party was good closure for me. After the next week and a half of tests I don't know if I'll ever see some of these kids again. So it was a good way to end a great year and hopefully to energize them going into this testing period.

I have been teaching this group of students physics since day one at Itandula, and it has been amazing getting to know them and letting them get to know me. For better or for worse, I am as far from many Tanzanian teachers as I can get as far as discipline, teaching style, out-of-class availability, and in-class presence. Whether good or bad (probably a mix), my experience in Tanzania so far has certainly shown me how important new perspectives are. With creativity and new ideas often being so suppressed here, I hope that these students can see that they should not be limited by norms, learning doesn't have to be boring, and change isn't a bad thing.

I have learned so much about teaching, Tanzania, relationships and myself from these students and it's hard to see that my time with them is done. I know, though, that they are on a good path to a better life as doctors, teachers, nurses, and maybe even engineers! I have done all I can for them as a physics teacher and I only hope that some of them will stay in touch so I know where they all end up.