‘Travel is the world’s school.’
Gabriella, a 2018 Fellow, looks forward to the month ahead, a few days into her Fellowship in Tanzania in August 2018. She tells us about her initial impressions of the country and her motivations for becoming a Fellow, with some Swahili dropped in!
I pulled on the yellow and green joggers I had bargained for at the kariakoo, a tangle of greetings, smiles, and an excited cacophony. They were a bit snug but matched the yellow bug repellent band I had fashioned into an anklet. Today was a scavenger hunt organized by LRTT Team Leaders, which became a day of wandering, wondering, and shopping. As we walked down the dusty, red streets, we exchanged greetings with the people of Morogoro.
It is now my third week in East Africa and as the time moves along, I can more and more (polepole) see myself living here (this was not the intent of the trip, let me tell you). The history, the beauty in the streets, eyes, and hearts of those I have met in my short time here have all already lent themselves to melting my heart and transforming toes into roots. In Dar Es Salaam, I met a verbose, charismatic man from Zim (rafiki langu nzuri — my good friend), who told me that it takes about 6 weeks to really mess you up, to make you have a longing for a place once you leave. That feeling has already begun to creep up on me.
The LRTT Fellowship has only just started yesterday. It was 11pm, or 5:00 in the night Swahili time. Karibu — Welcome, the manager of the hotel says with eyes creased and crinkled on both sides. His sleeves are short, an indicator of the potential of hot weather in this town, not 5 hours from the coast. After a whirlwind of travel, I made it to Morogoro.
As I meet the gaggle of Brits, New Zealanders, and Dubai-ers, I am met with a diverse array of stories, different “why’s” but not so different at all. What brought me here was not the motivation of the group with whom I would work (which has become so apparent is a great source of experience and knowledge) so much as the opportunity to learn from the local teachers, whose cultures, values, and methodologies might be comparatively different to my own. This fact excites me, as synthesis and sharing of knowledge moves us into more complex, important, and sometimes difficult questions and reflections on our work.
Last night over the clinking of emerald Safari bottles and the honking of mzungu laughter, I connected with one of the LRTT leaders over this “why” — why had I come here at all? This conversation extended one that had been started by a Teach For America leader the summer that my life changed.
I moved and switched my career to become a teacher 2 years ago. The students whom I would work with for those 2 years would become my “why”. They were the best and sometimes the most consistent group of coaches that I had as a teacher. As the Safari and Fantas emptied themselves, I recounted just how those 2 years had transpired. The LRTT leader pulled out a handful of character traits that I had not been credited for in my teaching experience: persistent, determined, and passionate. This passion is one for equitable educational opportunities across zip codes, across states, across countries, continents and oceans. One that stems from a range of areas: my own fortuitousness in terms of education, my work in Berkeley and Oakland inter-city schools, volunteer work in Uganda 7 years back, and studies in Sociology. One that is shared across the group of teachers gathered for this work, but in a diverse array of unique stories.
This summer I invest in myself, in my development as a teacher for the betterment of not just myself but my future students and the students of those Tanzanian teachers with whom I will have the opportunity to work. What I do for my learning, I do for them. Travel is the world’s school. The opportunity to study via travel and training in a new context has drawn me to LRTT. I am here and look forward to learning and contributing to an organization with a sustainable mission for equitable education and cross-cultural exchange. Badaaye.
To learn more about our Fellowships, and to get involved, visit our website.
