By Art in Tanzania Team
I am Katie, a Media and Journalism intern at Art In Tanzania. As part of my project, I can travel alongside my fellow interns to their projects and document what happens there.
Today, we visited Mtakuja Secondary School, an international school that teaches students aged 13 to 20. The school provides students with education in Maths, Sciences, Geography, and Kiswahili classes, and has an arts department that includes a variety of subjects, such as History, English, and Sport. The school also has a small library and medical area, and teachers told me that they hope to gain funding for a sports court someday, to expand the variety of sports available for students to practice.
We arrived at the school during the students’ break, and I was able to speak with a few of them about the school and what they liked about it. Teddy, aged 14, told me that she enjoys going to school to study maths and sciences, especially as she dreams of being an engineer when she is older. For students like Teddy, there is a physics lab, as well as other specific departments within the school where they can study individual subjects. Two girls I spoke to at break time told me that they spend most of their time in one department as they only research business at the school. Interns have the opportunity to choose a department in which to teach if they wish. To initiate the teaching process at the secondary school, interns meet with teachers to discuss important details, including the syllabi that students are learning and the school timetable. Interns have the time to plan lessons and collaborate on projects, producing a fun and engaging experience for the students.
I joined a class where Nathaniel, Daverine and Lara were teaching Human Rights. Nathanial asked the students to name what they thought were their fundamental human rights and write them on the board. The students were engaged and discussed why fundamental human rights are essential and what rights belong to individual countries. For example, the right to bear arms is exclusive to the United States of America. Nathaniel spoke about the origins of the 30 human rights established by the United Nations and how religion and morality influenced human behaviour and fundamental rights before the law was enacted. After the lesson, Lara emphasised the importance of educating young students about their rights and other key issues. As interns, teaching is a great way to connect with the local people and gain a deeper understanding of what life is like for young people in Tanzania.
At the Art in Tanzania compound, there are facilities to teach younger children who go to school in the village. The vocational education activities take place in the evenings, making it easier to participate if your project requires you to be elsewhere during the daytime, or if you prefer a more casual environment. The interns can play with the children and teach them English and maths in a comfortable environment, which often proves most rewarding. From spending time teaching the younger children, I found that I could learn as much from them as they could from me, and we ended up writing things in both English and Kiswahili, teaching each other the correct pronunciation. Hanging out with the village kids is a lot of fun, especially as they love to dance (and laugh at my terrible moves). It’s wonderful to see their language skills developing, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time with the same children. Nathanial also runs a debate group with adult students who wish to improve their English skills. He allocates time for practice with numbers and words that the adults are struggling with. It is also a fantastic opportunity to gather the opinions of adults and learn from them.
Overall, I believe that taking the opportunity to teach while interning with Art In Tanzania is a fantastic experience and will significantly enhance your involvement in local life here. The experiences I have from meeting students and teaching here are ones that I will never forget, and I have learned a great deal from the young people in this country.
