Hello Reader :)

Two weeks and two days from now I will be leaving hot showers, washing machines, running water in general, reliable electricity and roast potatoes behind to go and live in Northern Tanzania for a year. About two hours from the town of Arusha, (near Kilimanjaro), I will be living in a rural town and working in an even more rural village 6 kilometres away.

While in Tanzania I will be working as a Pre Form One English Immersion teacher and Athletics and Activities Coorindator at Orkeeswa Secondary School. The former role is to assist teaching English with another two teachers to students who will start the secondary school fully in January. In Tanzania primary schools are taught in Swahili and secondary schools in English. The students therefore need to be able to speak English by the time the next academic year arrives. Considering this is their third language as Maasai is their mother tongue, this is very impressive! Working as Athletics and Activities Coorindator I will be responsible for ensuring that all the students are able to take part in daily varying extra curricular activities from gardening to bicycle club, basketball to performing arts. The students also take a weekly after school 'club' which is a ten week course on something such as cooking or learning entrepreneurial skills. I need to see that there are enough activities on offer, teachers that can take them and also arrange competitions, school trips and matches.

The school set up by the Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania has been running for seven years now. They employ a mixture of Tanzanian, East African and Western staff members to cater for the 131 students from the near by Maasai villages. The classes are kept small and while the students don't pay any fees to attend the competition to get in is fierce. The students who attend will have gone through examinations and interviews to get their place. What impressed me hugely about the project is they are very keen to point out that they are not there to 'change the world' or tell students or locals how to live. They are simply there to educate and then the students as the countries next future leaders, doctors, journalists, teachers and workforce can make the changes they think are suitable or need to happen. Ultimately I think this is extremely important as only those who truly live in the area and are Maasai can have the authority to do this. This also will hopefully be a much better alternative to Western forced changes. The school also works alongside local elders and courses such as Indigenous Culture which is taught by the elders is run.

While working in Tanzania I will be living with other staff members in a house about 6 kilometres from the school. The accommodation is very basic with no running water and so its back to the world of long drops and bucket showers! There fortunately is electricity however although I have been warned it is somewhat erratic. It is also back to conservative dressing so I will be back living in maxi skirts and tops with sleeves. Apparently no shoulders or knees are to be shown. Getting clothes has been surprisingly difficult. It turns out if you are 5'10'' just because it says a skirt will cover your knees doesn't mean it will in reality!

Luckily I don't have to pay to volunteer, however I am responsible for covering my costs in getting there. This is fairly expensive as my flight was about £700, my insurance £500 and my residency permit is $1000 US plus entry permit of another $100. That is of course without injections, equipment, teaching supplies etc. While I am part the way there in costs and have sent out about fifty letters to charitable trusts and organisations, if you would like to donate anything I have a just giving page. It is: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/fern-adams .I am happy to give talks on my return and keep up with people about my experience while I am away through this blog and can email/write too if people would like. Well that is the sponsor me part over!

I leave on 22nd September and arrive in Tanzania on the 23rd, hopefully arriving in my new home about midnight. I'm almost completely ready and just have three more injections to go and the last few supplies to collect. As well of course as a fair bit of paperwork! I'm attempting to learn some Swahili before I go and have been given quite a bit to read to learn more about Maasai culture.

I will be updating this blog over the course of my year with what I get up to and what life in Lashaine and Moduli is like.

Probably until I am in Tanzania

Fern