Peace Corps Assignment: Secondary Education (Science) in Tanzania
Departure for Orientation: Sept, 18, 2006
I'm feeling very anxious right now, kind of a combination of apprehension and excitement with a pinch of nauseau at times. Kind of like standing at the edge of a cliff and looking over.
Peace Corps is half the commitment that college was, in terms of duration. But there are so many unknowns making it difficult to fathom what I will find in Tanzania that it feels like jumping off a cliff into the darkness.
A recent addition to this analogy is me wearing a parachute as I jump, making it less morbid.
Questions that come to mind and answers-as-best-I-can-right-now:
Can we keep in touch?
Email will probably be best. My access will depend on my location, and whether my village has electricity, etc. Nonetheless it is probably best to email because I've heard it might take a month for post mail to arrive, if it does at all. I have an address here that I am told will forward letters to me all through my term of service:
Greg Haman, PCT
Peace Corps Training Site
PO Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Are you really gone for two years?
27 months, technically, if you count three months of training in Tanzania. However, I am at liberty to return home. To do so I will need to use my vacation days, which may or may not accrue, at 2 per month, and pay for my flight home which would cost over $1000. Sooooo, we'll see....
What part of the country will you be in? Will the school be rural?
Tanzania is 3x the size of the United kingdom. I will be told my location several weeks into training. Most volunteers are sent to rural areas.
Will your village have electricity?
Most volunteers are sent to areas without electricity.
What will your dwelling be like?
Peace Corps has promised at least a tin roof, no thatch. Beyond that, maybe with a family or in the school compund.
What will be the English-speaking ability of your students?
Their primary education, like our K-6, is in swahili, and they switch to teaching in English for secondary level.
What attitudes will your students have? Will they respect you? What is expected of Tanzanian teachers, and are these expectations and the measure of a successful teacher different than those in the US?
I read somewhere that Secondary Education was a priveledge and not many have the opportunity. That's about all I know here.
What will you do when Peace Corps is over?
I'm really hoping this experience will help me decide if I would prefer to get a PhD and do research science or get an MD and do medicine. Peace Corps encourages side projects in HIV/AIDS so I hope to get some clinical experience during breaks from school or somehow gain a better understanding of health-care in Tanzania. At an abstract level, I think it would be amazing to practice international health in underserved areas, but I've not even had a taste of what it would be like to be a medical doctor on a daily basis. I guess we'll see...
Will I become terribly ill or have frequent bouts of intestinal distress?
This is among the least of my concerns because beyond taking standard precautions I feel like it's largely outside my control. But I'm still curious if it will take me time to adjust to their cuisine, both in terms of taste and possible infectious agents. I didn't have any trouble while traveling South America for 10 weeks prior to departure, and toward the end of that trip I was TRYING to get ill, buying foods from street vendors and indigenous women through the windows of our bus. But I didn't get very sick there...
How quickly will I learn swahili?
I now know three phrases. safari=journey, kaka=brother, hakuna matata= no worries. I'll be curious to see how quick I can build from this meager selection.
Will I be able to make friends who I can trust in my village, and how long will that take?
Big Unknown
