A week in Keranse

Well after a week in Keranse I am absolutely in love with the place, especially the school. Almost all the teachers at this school were trained by our teachers college, and it really shows (not that I'm biased or anything!). The kids there are learning (some of the best scores in national exams in the area), well behaved and incredibly happy. The teachers love their job, love the kids and welcomed us and our student teachers with open arms. I'm really looking forward to spending time in the school and really getting to know the students and staff better over the coming months.

We had several organisational details to 'iron out' during the week, but it was great to see our student teacher embrace what is a pretty full-on training course. They are really getting stuck in to the work and life of the school. It's going to be exciting to see their growth and development over the next couple of years- there's so much potential there.

Miriam and I are living in a guest house about 15 mintues drive from the village in a town/village called Saanya Juu. It's basic but nice and we felt very well looked after. We have electricity in the house, as opposed to the other mentors who have it for only a few hours a day, so we feel pretty lucky. Its amazing how much more you appreciate things like electricity and drinking water when it's not always readily available like it is back home.

On a final note for today, I'm really thinking of and praying for all my Christchurch family and friends after the earthquake yesterday. Looking at the photos online I'm blown away by how this kind of thing can happen in little old NZ...its easy to assume it just never will. It's times like this that its strange being so far removed from everything happening on my home side of the world. Love to you all xx

Breaking new ground...

I have come to the conclusion that when internet is as sporadic as it is here, blogging may not be as regular as I would like. However, it also means that when I do get a chance to write, I have plenty to say...not that that was ever really a problem!

So, tomorrow morning us mentors are finally heading out into the villages that will become our 2nd homes for the time we are here in Tanzania. We have 3 training schools where our students are placed full time, and I will be based at the school in a village called Keranse with another mentor, Miriam. Our student teachers have had 2 weeks holiday, after completing a six-week block course here at college. Apart from that six weeks, their entire two-year course is spent placed at their training school. They will live together and over the course of a week they will complete units of work set by us as a college, study subject content in which they are weak, observe in the classroom, serve in the classroom, study biblical studies and how to apply it in all areas of their teaching...among other things. The real difference here to a distance learning course is that we as mentors will be with them in the schools every second week. We will work through units with them, model in the classroom, run intensive sessions if needs arise, mark their assignments and basically just stand alongside them and support them through their training. It's a unique kind of course and is breaking new ground in education here in Tanzania. I'm excited to be a part of it all. Please pray that God will give us mentors the wisdom we need to do this job well, and that he will give our students the vision and diligence to persevere when it gets difficult. The course pushes them to think in a very different way to how a lot of them were taught in school and it will challenge them, but we have a great group of students and I know they will do extremely well.

The last two weeks since I last wrote have been fantastic. I really am loving to get to know this country. My friend and I had the chance to attend a local wedding and it was a feast for the eyes of singing, dancing and colourful dresses! The next day we went to church with the family of one of the workers here and it was such an awesome experience. It's amazing how the language barrier can mean nothing when people are worshiping God-and the singing here is incredible. A whole room of Tanzanians singing in harmony just about takes the roof off. I love it! We introduced ourselves and I did it in Swahili so I was pretty happy with that, even if it was pretty rehearsed. One of the photos below is the family we went to church with. They are a beautiful family and are inspiring in how they have changed their circumstances around. In the photos they are standing in front of their new house-to-be which they have worked extremely hard for and really relied on God.

My Swahili is coming along and I am understanding a lot more now and getting quicker in my responses, but when I get frustrated with how much there is still to learn I try to remember it's only been 4 weeks. I really do feel like I've been here for months already.

Thanks to those who have sent emails- it means so much to hear from home and hear how people are doing and what you're up to. If you haven't...please do... And if I don't reply quickly, apologies for the internet but I really will try!

Progress!

So I had a little break through today as far as communication here goes. I actually managed to have about 3 different conversations today almost entirely in Swahili...not complicated conversations mind you but it still felt good! Almost everyone here can at least communicate the basics in English, and our students at college have good English so at times it's tempting just to just use it myself. But this afternoon, walking down to buy my mayai (eggs) and nyanya (tomatoes) at the local vege stall I was reminded just how nice it is to be able to talk to someone in their language and how much more you feel a part of a place. You can see how much people here appreciate the effort. People here are more than willing to accept a mistake too and are gracious in their corrections! The process of trying to learn a language almost from scratch is giving me a new appreciation for how hard it must be for people trying to learn English.

On another note, our student teachers are in their last week at college here this week. It's going to be sad to see them all head off and to only be with 6 from now on. It's amazing how quickly you can get attached to a group of people, and these guys have a whole lot of personality and spunk. On the up side, I'm really looking forward to getting out to my school in 3 weeks and getting to see teaching here in action.

Yesterday morning the pastors (there's also a pastor's leadership college here on base) and the teachers all combined their chapel time in the morning for devotions. I have never heard such enthusiastic or heartfelt singing! When the power goes out and your source of music is a keyboard what do you do? You get out the piano accordian and carry on of course! It really did remind me though that worship is about so much more than good music or in tune singing. There was at times a distinct lack of tunefulness, but absolutely no lack of true worship in that place yesterday. I love it.

I’ve been in Arusha 5 days now and it’s crazy but it already feels like home. I am so grateful for how welcoming everyone is and how easy it has been so far to settle into life here. I will have dinner with the different families and team members each night this week which will be great for getting to know people.

En Gedi is the name of the Joshua Foundation base. At En Gedi there is the teacher’s college, dorms for the students, 3 pre-school classrooms (the kids who go there are aged 4 – 6 so it’s more like a NZ new entrants and Year 1 class) and several houses. There are beautiful gardens and a great feel to the place. I am living in a house called Kituo (I think) with 3 other women. Miriam and Corrine are my house mates upstairs and are also here working as mentors like me. Another mentor, arrives in a few weeks time. The photo above is taken from the deck at my house. The sunset is so fast here that you can literally see the sun sinking in the sky. Very cool!

At the moment the trainee teachers are here on a block course of about 6 weeks and they have classes in a range of things, including English, Thinking Skills and Computing. They have 2 more weeks of this course and then they have their mid-term break. While they are on break, we will be doing training together as mentors. From early September onwards the students are then placed in schools in 3 different villages and we (the mentors) will spend every 2^nd week out at our given school working with those students. On the off weeks we will be back here at En Gedi. I’m starting to get to know the trainee’s and they are a lovely group of students. I’m really looking forward to working with them as they get into classrooms. I am able to take lessons in Swahili with one of the gate guards so I will start that from Monday, most afternoons. I’m really looking forward to learning the language and the Tanzania’s I have met are so encouraging when you do try to speak it and appreciate the effort.

It’s been a fun few days so far getting shown around Arusha. On Firday I was able to play in a soccer match between the boys from college and another local team. It’s a whole lot dustier playing on the dirt here but heaps of fun! I went for dinner at a local Indian restaurant which was very good and got to meet a few of Corrine’s friends. Miriam took me to the town centre on Saturday and did some shopping. Almost everything you need is available here; it’s just a matter of knowing where to find the right little shop! Town is a pretty busy place on a Saturday and it was great to get shown around and buy a few bits and pieces. On Sunday I checked out one of the churches in Arusha and went to to the local Movie Theatre. I do like the fact that it costs about $6 to see a movie instead of $15 in NZ! My next job is to learn to ride the daladalas, which are vans that you can catch to and from town for about 40c. I’ll catch one in with Corrine this week to do the market shopping and then hopefully I’ll have it sussed to get around myself!

I know this post is a little on the long side, but I wanted to give some idea of what life is like on base here. Thanks for all your prayers for safe travels. The internet is a bit sporadic at the moment but I’d love to hear from people and hear what’s up on your side of the world and what’s happening in your lives. My email address is joellecbrown@gmail.com or skype joelleb09 (I haven’t managed to get on Skype yet though). I’ve got a Tanzanian cell phone number now too and it’s pretty cheap to text so drop me an email if you want that number and I’ll send it to you.

x Jo

Thanks Browns for my fantastic American experience!

I have free internet at the moment and I really should make the most of it and write one final post before I leave the States. Trouble is I have done just too much in the last 2 1/2 weeks that I don't really know where to start! Maybe bullet-pointed highlights will be the way to go...

So, some of the highlights of my time in the USA:

* Getting to see Michael, Fiona, Nat, Luka and meet wee Asher. What amazing hosts they are and what a beautiful new addition to the Brown family. Smooches to you all and thank you so much for an amazing time. See you in a year.

* 30+ degrees temperatures and not a cloud in the sky every single day since I arrived.

* Cheap clothes shopping. Yeah!

* Food! La Fiesta (mmm...Mexican. Yum), Dairy Queen, Cold Stone Creamery, Bagels, Burgers, Tacos, Breakfast Burritos, peanut butter chip brownie, peanut butter m & ms ..just to name a few.

* Sonic get's it's own mention... Awesome ice-cream sundae...and brought out to the car by a girl on roller skates. That just makes it 10 times as cool.

* Seeing the Californian Redwood Forest and the Oregon Coast...beautiful.

* Good coffees daily (or several times daily if needed!)

* Lake of the Woods

* Ashland. Pretty little town with nice shops and a cool Shakespearian theatre.

* Driving on the right (even if it was only round the block!)

* Light switches that switch up not down to turn on

* Swimming in Sue's pool...there is nothing better than this on a 38 degree day!

* Drinking coffee looking out at the ocean at Santa Monica, feeling especially proud of the fact I ventured out into LA and didn't get myself lost ;)

* And did I mention my fabulous hosts and how they spoilt me for 2 1/2 weeks?! I'll miss them a lot.

For those of you who pray...I'd really appreciate your prayers in the next few weeks. Firstly, to make it safely from here, to Amsterdam and down to Tanzania. And after that to be able to settle in quickly to life at the Joshua Foundation and that I'd be able to connect with the staff and student teachers quickly and well. I've said it before but I must say it again, God has been incredibly good to me with all the prep for this trip and I am really looking forward to seeing how he works in me over the next year.

Ok...better go catch this flight!

Medford, Oregon, USA

Well I've made it to the halfway point in my trip- Medford Oregon. I flew into Los Angeles, spent a few hours there and was very happy to find free wireless, good coffee and that my luggage had followed me as I'd hoped. That's always a promising sign of good travels ahead!

I'm loving Medford. It's hot (high 30s every day), pretty (smallish city surrounded by farmland and hills), and I get to hang out with Michael, Fiona and my 3 spunky nephews. The newest addition to the Brown family, Asher, is only 12 days old and is absolutely beautiful. I feel pretty lucky to spend this time with them all. Michael and Fiona have been giving me the all american experience, which includes outings to Walmart, Target, Historic Jacksonville (the main street is straight out of country westerns, and the surrounding streets could very well be Wisteria Lane) and peanut butter M&Ms. I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoy all of the above.

On Saturday we headed up to Lake of the Woods which is about 45 mins drive from Medford. People camp up there for the summer and I can see why; it's gorgeous, and nothing is quite as nice as a lake to swim in when its as hot as it has been here.

I'm here in the States until next Sunday so I plan on making the most of the break and spending time with family. It's a bit surreal to be on holiday after being so busy preparing for this trip for the last 6 months. Surreal but nice -courtesy of Notting Hill ;-)

2 Days! And a big thank you

I'm sitting in Christchurch writing this- have enjoyed a lovely last weekend down seeing family. Christchurch even decided to turn on the beautiful frosty clear blue sky days that I love about the South. Love it! I'll head back to Auckland tonight for a last 2 days catching up and last minute packing, then Wednesday night I leave. I can't believe how quickly the last 8 months have flown by, from deciding to go, to actually leaving.

The garage sale was a great success. It's an eye opener the kind of people you encounter early in the morning as they trawl the various garage sales. We got rid of almost everything we wanted to and made some good cash to boot. Thanks to everyone who donated stuff...much appreciated!

I'm extra excited because this week, Thursday, I get to meet the newest member of the Brown whanau- my new nephew, Asher Jacob. He came 2 weeks early. I reckon it was just so that I can spend the whole 2 1/2 weeks with him and my other 2 beautiful nephews.

Both God and my awesome friends and family have been incredibly good to me in the lead up to this trip. So I just want to say a huge thank you to all of the above for everything so far. It's made me realise just how blessed I am to have the people around me that I do. Thanks friends and family for the love and encouragement, finances, great catch ups and prayers. Thanks God for giving me a real passion for this next year and for the smooth process and great random link ups with people. You are awesome.

I can't wait to see how the next year unfolds- and so keen to keep in touch with people by email, so if you feel like writing, please do! Hopefully by the next time I write this blog I'll have lots of fun and new stuff to write about. First stop...USA!