Miss Lespierre's adventures!

 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!