View photos from Tanzania

During winter term, 11 students and Professor Janus traveled to Iringa, Tanzania under the auspices of Sarasota based Global Outreach Tanzania. Global Outreach Tanzania is a non-governmental organization working to increase computer literacy in secondary schools in Tanzania. In order to do that, considerable work needs to be done to help the teachers to become computer literate, developing strategies to use computers as teaching instruments in their classrooms.

The first week of Winter Term we assisted in a teaching seminar on computer literacy for teachers. Each Eckerd student was paired with a teacher at the Kichengani Learning Center in Iringa. Staff from Global Outreach Tanzania taught the classes and Eckerd students worked as tutors for the participants. In every case the students learned as much about Tanzanian culture through the stories of their partners as the teachers learned about computers.

During the second week, groups of 3 Eckerd students traveled to remote schools to work with both teachers and students in the computer labs. This was an opportunity to encounter suburban and rural culture as well as to experience first hand life in the Tanzanian boarding schools. In most cases students not only worked on computer literacy but also had opportunities to teach in English classes.

At the end of the trip, we visited several other secondary schools in Iringa, and finally travelled to the island of Zanzibar to experience Tanzanian Muslim culture in the antique city of Stonetown.

View photos from Tanzania

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