Miss Lespierre's adventures!

One of the main goals of the charity, Inspiring Teachers is to be able to train teachers in low resource countries therefore helping to raise the education standards. At the start of the week, I was excited, if a little nervous about our first week of leading workshops. We were able to use the whole of Monday as a planning day and so I worked with a small group of the other volunteers (also known as fellows), thinking of different ways that we could train the teachers in a way which was both informative and engaging. By the end of the day, we felt tired but had come up with a plan for the week! Day 1 of workshops began with an opening ceremony in which the director of education at Silverleaf Academy, our host school, set out the expectations and aims for the week. It was a great start to the programme and a good reminder about the power of education. We were then introduced to our groups for the week, before the hard work began! Over the space of 4 days we led training on an array of d...

One of the highlights of my trip so far has been the day that we got to spend experiencing some of the projects run by the charity, 'The Small Things' whose moto is to empower children, families and communities. One of the projects that they run are social impact tours which is a wonderful example of eco-tourism in action. As part of this tour we were able to gain a deeper understanding of Tanzanian life in a way which was both ethical and respectful to the local community. At the start of our tour, we were greeted by the women of the Meru tribe who greeted us with a beautiful array of traditional songs and dances. We were then given a tour of the coffee bean farm in which we learned more about the process of growing coffee beans, including the ways in which they aim to make it as sustainable as possible. Not only did we learn about the growing of coffee beans, we also took part in the process of de-shelling, grinding and roasting the beans in order to make our very own cup of ...

 During the first few days of the fellowship programme, we were able to take part in observation visits of local schools in order to gain a deeper understanding of the school system in Tanzania. On the first day, I was able to visit a secondary school in which we had a tour of the school, observed part of an English lesson and had a discussion about teaching and learning with colleagues of the school. There were so many positive things that I observed there, particularly their sustainable school model. The school has a fish pond which they use to breed fish and an extensive garden in which they grow a range of vegetables. This was done in order to supplement the pupils' meals, therefore reducing the cost of food for the school. They also had pupils tend the garden which gave them a sense of responsibility and ownership for the project. I was also really impressed by the high expectations that teachers had of their pupils and the strong level of engagement that pupils had in their l...

I spent the first night of the trip in Dar Es Salaam, the business capital of Tanzania where we had a very tasty Tanzanian BBQ for dinner, which I'm told is a favourite amongst the locals. Early on Tuesday morning, we then set off from Dar, on an epic journey across the country to the Arusha region. Being in the bus for over 12 hours, gave me a chance to get to know the other members of the team and see a variety of sites across the country. From the bustling rush of Dar Es Salaam to the small villages where chickens and goats roam free, we were able to get a flavour of how rich in diversity this country is. We eventually arrived in Arusha late into the evening, with a warm welcome from some of our colleagues at Silverleaf Academy. Looking forward to venturing into local schools and observing lessons over the next few days!

 In just a few hours I'll be on my way to Tanzania! I'm super excited about starting my adventure! I'll be spending a day in Dar Es Salaam before heading to the northern part of the country. We've been told that the weather is quite pleasant, around 25 degrees in the day, but much cooler in the evening (probably cooler than the current heatwave that we're experiencing here in the UK!)  Will write more when I arrive in TZ! 

 In just a few days, I'll be off to Tanzania with the charity Inspiring Teachers, to work on a project where I'll be training teachers. I'm really excited and looking forward to meeting the team!