Secondary Chemistry Teacher in Tanzania
September 2010 - December 2012
I will be teaching high school Chemistry and Physics (my degree is Earth Science) at Gitting Secondary School in Tanzania. For my first year, I have been assigned Forms 1 & 3 Chemistry plus Form 1 Physics. Unlike the US, the subjects are spread out over 4 years, as it is based on the British system of education. Although Swahili is the national language, high school classes are taught in English (phew!). The classes could be 50 students or more with minimal supplies. Probably no textbooks for the students and not sure about chemicals. It will be quite the adventure!
While serving as a volunteer, I am encouraged to develop secondary projects based on the community's needs and desires. This could be anything from starting a club to organizing information sessions of HIV/AIDS, which is a large part of life in all of Africa. Too bad leading students to cool places isn't likely to count...
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and lies in eastern Africa. It is directly below (south of) Kenya and the equator and includes the island of Zanzibar. It was a colony for approximately 100 years, first as German East Africa and then as Tanganyika under Great Britain after World War 1. Tanganyika gained independence in 1961 and became Tanzania when it merged with Zanzibar in 1964.
Some highlights of neat places in Tanzania:
Mt. Kilimanjaro - tallest mountain in Africa
Serengeti - very high concentration of animals, world's largest annual migration as zebras, wildebeests, etc move to where there is more food (aka grass)
Ngorongoro Crater - caldera (collapsed volcano) where there is also a very high concentration of animals that contains:
Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge: where some of the earliest fossils of early man have been discovered (mostly by Louis and Mary Leakey)
Laetoli: footprints of mankinds ancestors from 3.6 million years ago that show a bipedal gait (walked upright on 2 legs) and feet similar to ours today
Gombe Forest - where Jane Goodall has done much of her research on chimpanzees, our closest living relative
Ujiji - where Henry Morton Stanley found Dr. David Livingstone, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Lake Tanganyika - 2nd deepest lake in the world, longest lake in the world, and probably 2nd largest by volume (freshwater)
My site is at the bottom of an inactive volcano called Mt. Hanang. The nearest paved road is almost 3 hours away by local bus. My sitemate is Uma, who will be teaching Math and Chemistry. She is about a 25 minute walk but we can see one anothers school's from our respective sites. We are very close for PCVs.
