I have arrived in Kilimatinde, Tanzania! It was a long arduous journey of travel. It was about 25 hours of flying time that only included about 4.5 hours of layovers. Once I arrived in Dar es Salaam on Monday night, I was picked up at the airport by the manager of St. John’s Place, Rev. Canon Lucas Ngassa. It is called St. John’s place because it incorporates three different schools in one, the primary school where I will volunteering, the seminary school and the Bible college. I arrived in Dar es Salaam at 10pm local time so after getting my VISA and clearing Customs Canon Ngassa and I headed to a hotel to stay the night. The next day at 7am we boarded a bus to take us on the 10+ hour journey to Kilimatinde. After all that traveling, the lower half of my body was sore.
I now have been in Kilimatinde for over a week and I am learning g a lot. I am starting to get the Swahili greetings and I have been offered Swahili lessons with one of the teachers here. I am looking forward to being able to communicate More freely with those around me.
I had about five day to get settled into living in Tanzania before I started teaching. I stayed the night in Manyoni, where the diocese is headquartered, with another volunteer from Germany. Her name is Julia and she is 18 coming to volunteer for a few months and she arrived at the beginning of January. I was able to spend the morning with her at the kindergarten that is on the diocesan grounds and started to get a feel for teaching in Tanzania. It was a lot like teaching in the US but also very different too.
I started teaching at St. John’s Primary School on Monday, February 3rd. I have a class of 7 Standard II pupils, which is equivalent in age to 2nd grade in the US. I cannot believe that I have my own classroom and pupils, they don’t call them students here. It is surreal to me. However, the teacher gene that had been passed down for many generations on both sides of my family is really getting flexed and is manifesting so much joy!
Here are some pictures from the front porch of the volunteer house I am staying in.
There are so many more wonderful things to share. I am so grateful to be able to walk this journey with you and I look forward to sharing more as soon as I can.
Thank you for all of you prayers!
In Peace from Tanzania,
Emily Darling