Inside Out Learning Week Three

Kylie, Emily and I finished our IOL training at the school. It was such an amazing experience! All of the teachers learned so much, I am so grateful I had the opportunity to come and teach these teachers. This time instead of us teaching the teachers they were in charge of coming up with a lesson plan which contained on of the 8 Intelligences we taught them. The teachers did such an amazing job! It was so neat to really see what they had been taught.


They were all so grateful for everything we taught them and I know they will remember the lessons we taught them. For our last session the head master and owner of Loamo school gave us an ending speech. She told us we have left a mark on Loamo Primary school, and that they would never forget us. She also told us we are going to go on and do great things. It was so sweet I almost cried. Then all of the teachers came up and cheers us with soda. I am never going to forget this school and the experience and lesson I have gained.

Thank You Grandma Miller

Today (Monday June 11^th)  we all went to the local orphanage we have been volunteering at. This was the Orphanage I chose to hand out the quilts that Grandma Miller made! At this Orphanage there are only few actual orphanages, most of the kids just come from extremely poor families. All of the kids were sooooooooo happy to get a quilt. The loved them so much and would not let go of them! It was super precious! As we were walking home from the orphanage all of the kids were walking with us. It was so cute to see all of them walking down the road hugging their quilts. It is starting to get a little chilly here, which means it is freezing for the locals, I know the quilts will be put into great use!

I also have chosen to give two of the quilts to Martha, the founder of the Albino Peacemakers Group. They have been going through such a hard time with the current events that have taken place. I know the quilts will be cherished and provide comfort where it is needed.

Thank You Grandma for you time and dedication to making the quilts I know they all loved them and the quilts will be going to great use!

African Church

Sunday we all went to one of the local girl’s church. It was a national celebration, it was called something like The African Children’s day. Seriously the whole town was partying the whole day. The church was very interesting. They all just were up singing and yelling the whole time, we were there for about two hours. Seriously just imagine in your head what a church in Africa would be like…. And that is exactly what I experienced, quite a contrast from our church. It was a very neat experience though!

Albino Peacemakers Group

Friday was a very interesting day. We have been working with a NGO called the Albino Peacemakers group. Their purpose is to provide a support group for Albinos in Tanzania. Albinos in Tanzania face a lot of discrimination because of their skin condition and are considered a curse. Often times Albinos are murdered for their body parts because witch doctors put bounties on their heads so they can make potions, which are supposed to make people rich. When Martha (the founder of the Albino Peacemakers Group) told us about this I just assumed that was many years ago when that happened. On Friday we were informed that an Albino man was killed because he had a bounty on his head. Honestly I was stunned when I heard that this practice was still occurring here.

Martha held a press conference to talk about the current situation and help locals become more aware of the current situation. She invited the HELP volunteers to come and sit in on the conference. It was a very neat experience to be there and provide support for Martha in such a hard time. The police here are not doing much because the man was an albino, so HELP is working with justice NGOs to bring this group justice. Don’t worry non of us volunteers are at any risk or in a unsafe situation. I wanted to share this experience with you because I was able to learn so much from it. Martha is such an amazing woman and is always still so grateful for everything she has been given even though her situation is definitely not ideal. I am grateful to have met her and now have such a wonderful example in my life. 

Inside Out Learning Week 2

We taught at Loamo Primary school again this week both on Wednesday and Thursday.

 The lesson went super good. The teachers were very receptive to the concepts we were teaching them. This week we had one of the board members from HELP International come and check up on us. He came to our IOL lesson we taught and told us he was very impressed with our lesson and how the teachers took the lesson. It was very good to hear his opinion on the program and how he thought it went. He had nothing but good things to say which was great!

Thursday afternoon we did another IOL training session at Loamo. This time one of our country directors came to our lesson. We were kind of nervous because she had spent a lot of time working with IOL and has a lot of experience with it. BUT our lesson when really well again! It is so cool to see all of the teachers learning new techniques and giving us examples of how they are going to implement these new ideas into their lessons. Sarah our country director was very impressed with our work and told us we should email our lesson plan ideas to the IOL program so they can add them into the next training book! It was comforting to know that my efforts are really going to change these teachers techniques and better the education of all of the students in that school! Before we left that day one of the teachers didn’t stop telling us about how happy he was that we came to the school to volunteer and help him and also how excited he was to do this new program. 

Dirty Dirty Dirty!!

Four weeks in Tanzania has taught me a lot! For one it has taught me that it is ok to be dirty. I take a shower and I am still dirty. I clean my clothes and they still smell bad. I clean my dishes and they still seem to be dirty… I have come to face the fact that no matter what I do I will always be dirty! When in Africa…. you will always be dirty. It is great though! I love it here and have a blast every day! Time is flying by!

After being here for a month I also finally feel as though I am getting to know the locals on a more personal basis. I have had the opportunity to talk with many of the locals and now they see me as a friend rather than a rich American. It is great! I am so grateful for the many friendships I have made while I am here and can't wait to make more!

Inside Out Learning week 1

We started our IOL program in two schools! On Wednesday and Thursday we went to a private school named Loamo Primary School. We trained 16 teachers in the IOL program at Loamo. At first I was very nervous about the language barrier. Most of the teachers do not understand English so we really had to focus on speaking slow and using  a lot of visual aides. The teachers were very receptive to our lesson plans. At first the teachers were very timid to answer our questions and respond to anything we said. However, towards the end of our second day the teachers were all laughing and joking around with us! They loved the lessons we were teaching.

On Friday we were able to go volunteer at Loamo and play sports and games with the students. Seriously every kid there had rhythm! I was embarrassed to dance with them! As we were leaving the Head Master of the school told me he was so happy I had come to the school to volunteer because I brought warmth to him, the teachers, and the students. It really made me feel good! I know it will be hard leaving these students behind. They are all so happy and energetic! Whenever we come into the schools all of the kids just want to tough our hands. As soon as I give one student a hi five, twenty more studens come swarming around trying to touch the Mzungu. They have also started petting my hair, they are all amazed at how my hair curls. It is super cute.

Friday we also started teaching IOL in Suye Primary School. At this school we trained another 10 teachers. I was even more nervous to teach IOL in this school because none of the teachers could understand English. We had to break into small groups often but in the end they understood everything we said! It was so neat! By they end they were all making goals about including all 8 intelligences into their curriculum so all of their students could learn well. It was so cool!

I am very excited for the second week of IOL. I am eager to see what the teachers learn and also what they can teach me as well!