General ramblings

Once again it's been a while between blog entries...oops! I'm determined to post at least once a month for the rest of the time I'm here, because I know how good it is to be able to look back on memories.

Speaking of looking back, I will be moving back to Australia in June this year.  My original commitment was for two years (until June this year), and I did consider extending a further year for a while.  Leaving here will be heartbreaking as it really has become home.  But God has given me a vision to use education to change the world - at least one small part of the world anyway.  I want to use education to raise up students who are critical thinkers and world changers - leaders filled with compassion who will go on to do great things for God and their country.  Students who do more than learn from books but are truly in touch with their local community and are given the highest standard of education possible.   I want to be able to discuss with an individual student their dreams and aspirations and then teach what they need to know to achieve their absolute potential.  A very fitting quote:

Amen!  Teaching at Hope has been a special part of my journey, but not a perfect fit for someone who wants to change the way education is done.  I am filled with so much love for my students though, and having a cruisy job has allowed me to study which will be great for the future.  So, the best is yet to come!

Enough passionate education talk....what else has been happening? Study has been a bit crazy as I'm doing double the subject load now.  My original finish date was June 2018, but in returning to Aus I want to finish by February 2018 in time for whatever is next.  I have had some crazy weekends smashing out 2000 word essays in a single day (and passing, which is rather miraculous!) Despite the pressure, the content is really thought-provoking and I'm loving the course.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the students in my class (+ me!) are struggling to concentrate/stay awake/not leave sweat marks on everything we touch.  The school is fundraising to get fans in our classrooms, which in total will cost about $2000.  If you want to donate, let me know!!!

Time for some photos. This last month we spent a week ignoring the textbooks and hosted our own Science Fair!  It was so fantastic to see the students go from choosing their experiment, designing and conducting it, then presenting their findings in an interesting way for parents and younger students.  They learnt so much from the process, and were so professional in explaining their projects to others.  Proud teacher moment!

 To finish, here are a few pics of this wonderfully crazy bunch of kids, taken by Sacha when she visited:

Aussie adventures

 It has been soooooo nice having Sacha visit!  We have visited a few cafes, been on a few adventures, and also spent a week doing school.  The kids were so happy to have a visitor, and Sacha even filled in for the art teacher!  One adventure was to Maji Moto, a hot spring about 1.5 hours out of Moshi.  We had to arrange a guide to take us (the road is not great) and Kara and Alyssa joined us too.  I've been before, but it was definitely on my list for a second visit.  Our guide took us a different way than last time, and stopped often to show us the sites.  There are heaps of Baobab trees so it was nice to see them close up....and of course our guide took photos. I'm happy to play tourist for a day :)

Baobab tree with a huge hole

Photo of us in hole...of course!

Kiddies getting a bit curious as to why white people keep hopping in the trees......

 Finally we arrived at Maji Moto!  There are heaps of little fish in the water that eat the dead skin off your feet.  Last time I couldn't stand it, but I've now decided it's quite therapeutic.  I couldn't take any photos, but at one point I had 20 little fish nibbling on each foot.  I'm quite satisfied to know that there are several fish swimming around with little tummies full of Leesa :)  Thankfully, our food was quite a bit more tasty - Chips Mayai, which is an omelette with hot chips in it.  So tasty!

The best place for Chips Mayai

 A beautiful place with beautiful company :) It was sad to say goodbye to Sacha, but not long before it's Tassie time for me anyway.  Who else is up for a Tanzania visit????

Beach fun at Pangani

4:45am is never a nice time to get up...especially if you didn't get to bed until after midnight!  That said, with the hope of a lovely ocean getaway we were all up and ready for the 8 hour drive to Pangani, on the north coast of Tanzania.  I had a spare seat next to me in the van (it sounds like I'm on an airplane!) so snuggled up and read about instructional and transformative leadership.  Yep, assignment writing time :(

I didn't go last year, and this year there were a lot less people - only 3 carloads of kids, tents, and cooking supplies.  Once we arrived I set up my tent and then went in search of the promised wifi (assignment due in 2 days - I had looked at reviews to make sure there was wifi).  Alas "wifi" was about as slow and ineffective as wifi can be...eek.  So, I went next door to a cafe/accommodation place and begged use of their internet.  They said I could come back tomorrow and use it for the day...hooray!

So, my first full day at the beach looked something like this:

2000 word essay in 9 hours straight from start to finish....Praise God that it happened because I usually need so much more time....I really didn't leave this position the whole day.

Did I mention that it was crazy hot? Mid 30's during the day but so humid and then only getting down to high 20's at night.  Thankfully the next day it was time for snorkeling and a trip out to the disappearing island (a sand bar that is submersed when the tide comes in).

looking back at our campsite

ready for some snorkeling!

Beautiful clear water!

Disappearing Island

The last night was even more ridiculously hot so I was up at 5am to go for a dip in the ocean (which is like swimming in warm whale pee), and take pics of the beautiful sunrise.

Perfect time for a swim :)

So that was our fun beach adventure.  Here are some more pics of this beautiful place.  Now to motivate myself to smash out another assignment and get ready for school going back in less than a week!

Love this gal :)

Heri ya Chrismasi!

This is my second Christmas in Tanzania now!  It is hard teaching right up until Christmas rather than having that wind down time where we can go crazy with Christmas crafts, games etc.  We did however make life a little Christmassy with Christmas stockings once again!

This year I have also decided to bake something special for each students' birthday.  Unfortunately for me, there are 5 birthdays in December so lots of baking!

Sadly too, Kamilla, our student from Norway left to return home....so an excuse for even more cake!

The day after school finished, we were back at school for the Global Effect Christmas party.  This is a chance for us to thank all the local staff that work as cleaners, guards, teacher assistants and gardeners for the organisation. 

Sharon and Nice - the beautiful ladies who clean at our school

My job: craft with these cute kiddies

Grace's gorgeous girl Laura :)

All the Teachers and TAs

Yummy Pilau for lunch!

 Next, was a pretty special present: A visitor!!!!! Sacha is in Tanzania for a month - first visiting me, then travelling around, then back for another visit when school starts.

Airport selfie! I'm just a bit excited....

Some of the teachers organised a party for all the teacher assistants.  We played games, and enjoyed lots of yummy food.

With my sista Grace

It's been so nice to have Sacha stay!  And also good that I get to say hello again before she heads back to Aus.  Apart from endless chatting (mostly me, I think I've missed Aussie conversation!) we went on a coffee tour.  The guide was so sweet and insisted we take photos of every part of the process.  I feel we know enough to start our own plantation now!

Kili finally came out to say hello!

Picking coffee beans

Drying coffee beans after the shells are removed

Removing the skins (I have no muscles!)

Coffee getting roasted

Coffee grinds ready to add to water

Time for a cup - I didn't have the heart to tell
him I don't like coffee!

 Christmas eve was once again time for the Carols by Candlelight service at church.  I love the atmosphere so much, but it is a bit hard to take photos!

Back again to church for the Christmas Day service. I love being a part of this congregation.

Finally, the day ended with a yummy dinner at Marenka and Heiko's place.  They had two other families join them as well - one with 4 kids and one with 7!  So many kids but still lots of fun...and some pretty amazing food (the lack of pictures is because I was too busy eating!)

So beautiful and creative!

Josua knows the best place to be: at the dessert table!

So that was Christmas!  Tomorrow we leave for a beach trip with some of the Global Effect people.  It's an 8 hour drive and we are leaving at 4:45 am!!!  I'm looking forward to some ocean time!

God's blessings