MIS Tanzania Projects 2013 - Day 12 - Mr. Msaki's Primary School in Moshi

This project was probably the most heart-wrenching and eye-opening experience of the whole trip. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have met Mr. Msaki, to visit his school and for the potential we now hold to hopefully make a difference in the lives of the children who attend his school!

Months have passed since my trip to Tanzania with the MIS students but after an assembly put on by the students for the school a couple weeks before our Christmas break, I've been able to revisit the emotions and experiences of visiting Mr. Msaki's School in Moshi.

To say, "What a dump!" would be a complete understatement of what we saw on this day. We first arrived in the "Monster" and were greeted by Mr. Msaki who led us to his small two-room school house. It was comparable to what we saw with the school at our work project but the area was obviously a lot poorer. The kids were all about 4-6 years old, I'd guess. This visit wasn't initially on our itinerary, but after Mr. Msaki visited us at ISM on Sponsored Student Day, Mr. Joshi thought it'd be nothing for us to at least go and visit his school and honour his work...with no promise of this turning into an actual project. We really had no idea what to expect...

Hiiii! :)

Mr. Msaki up front...attentive student here :)

*Melting heart...*

We sat in the larger of the two classrooms - jammed in with about 40 kids - who sang us some songs and we had a demo lesson with them and their teacher. Afterwards, Mr. Msaki gave us a tour of the community around the school. That's when we realized this would/should be a project to really consider in the future...

The school...

The dump...

Birds as big as people!

As shocked as we were to see these sights, these women/people were just as shocked to see us!

Bath time...

Photo credits to one of the amazing Tanzania Trip '13 students - Laura, Nina or Anna

The school is located about 200m from a dump...a large, filthy, disease-ridden dump, infested with birds the size of humans. Children were playing here...adults were working to pull out anything they saw worth salvaging. We even had a scary moment with a man yelling at us as we took photos: understandable! We likely looked like self-righteous (mostly) white kids with fancy cameras on tour...offering no help, just looking on. I can imagine these people would have felt humiliated. Or would they? Gosh, it was all a lot for us to take in. The students were speechless. The other people we passed, as they went about their daily activities, stared back at us just as puzzled by what they saw as we were. I wasn't sure how to react at first but then decided that I'd just smile, say, "Jambo!" and wave. It was well-received for the most part as these amazingly spirited people (of all ages) did the same in return. I even gave one lady a hug and we were both flabbergasted by the exchange that had just happened. I didn't want these people to feel like they were on display. I initially felt bad, like we were invading their space...but then I thought, hey...if there's a potential for us, for this next generation of students, to make a real difference in their lives, then we'd be foolish not to try.

An emotional farewell as we departed from Mr. Msaki's school and had all of the kids waving goodbye to us. I don't think there was a dry eye on that bus...and it was a silent ride back to ISM.

Mr. Msaki's school has not strayed far from my thoughts since the trip. I made myself a promise on this day that I would return to Africa. I will work in an International School there but I will also donate my time to try and help educate the next generation of kids in a local school in my free time. I hope it will be in Tanzania. I dream that it will be in Moshi so that I can help at Mr. Msaki's school and work with this amazing man. I want to make a difference and know that I can...but this is the sort of thing that has to be well planned for. It's not something I can just up, go and do. I need to be a better teacher. I need to be better able to cope with living in/near a place like this. I need to prepare myself for the heartbreak of working with children who may be affected with disease or have parents who suffer from serious acute/chronic diseases that may even lead to death. I need to learn how to work harder in the face of these challenges. I need to learn to overcome tiredness and learn to invest my entire being in work like this. I need to be confident in the timing so I can best use my abilities to make a difference in the lives of these kids and this community.

Since our arrival back at MIS and the beginning of the new school year, I know students have had this non-project on their mind. I have no doubt it's something they think about too; it may even be something that haunts them. I don't think they could have really prepared themselves for what they saw that day...but I know it will remain one of the best experiences they'll ever have in their lives. It opened their eyes. It opened their hearts. A man as amazing as Mr. Msaki deserves someone fighting hard for him in his corner. He's a retired teacher/principal who rescued these children from the dump to try and offer them an education. Who wouldn't want to try to help out a hero (truly deserving of this title) like this? I only hope I can get that chance! I will eternally be grateful to him and aspire to be an educator more like him. His ability to understand and pursue the educating of children that many may have just seen as hopeless...or written of as a lost cause...is unlike any other form of dedication I've ever witnessed. This man is the true definition of a Saint and I am eternally grateful to him for inspiring me to be more than 'just a teacher'...for helping me to see what power I hold and the journey that I can take in this incredible profession. I will make a difference and I will never take for granted this responsibility I have for the youth of not only the students I teach, but the learners of the world.