Delaware Association for Public Administration DAPA Public Service Reader
Teaching in the Shadow of Kilimanjaro
—by Graceanna Enzinger | download PDF 
I asked Aron what he learned in school today. His response: “Nimecheza.” (translation: “I played.”) At first, I thought he didn’t understand my Swahili. I then asked Tarimo, my host brother, to repeat my question to Aron. Tarimo did and then explained to me that the teacher only comes to Aron’s class a few days a week because she has to split her time with the other classes. On the days that Aron doesn’t have a teacher he just plays. He’s only six years old. How is that possible? How does he learn without a teacher?
—journal entry, July 22, 2009
Aron’s school story is not uncommon in Tanzania. There is an extreme shortage of teachers, especially in the public schools. This summer I had the honor and privilege of teaching at two schools in a rural community in Tanzania. It was by far the most rewarding experience I have had in my entire life.
As part of my Master of Public Administration degree requirement at the University of Delaware, I had to do an internship during the summer. I spoke with a fellow student in the School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy, and he gave me information about a nonprofit that he was in the process of starting. The organization, Volunteer Kilimanjaro, would host international volunteers and place them in various schools and nonprofit organizations in Tarakea, Tanzania (a rural community located in northeastern Tanzania, near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro). This experience sounded like a dream internship to me; I would be able to gain international, professional experience while making an impact on the lives of many.
My first placement was at a private elementary school. My responsibility was to evaluate the teaching methods and the school in its entirety. Many Tanzanian schools lack teachers with formal training, so the school director hoped for simple changes the teachers could make to improve their teaching. I was able to use skills I had learned from my graduate coursework and directly apply them to my project for the school. In the classrooms, I served primarily as a teacher’s assistant because the school was fortunate enough to have teachers for every class.
The rest of my time was spent teaching English at a government high school. Similar to the situation with my neighbor Aron, the students at this school did not have a teacher for every class. I taught five classes of first- and second-year students, each a class of some 40 and 60 students. All of my students were still in the early stages of learning English, because, in their government schools, Swahili is the language of instruction for the elementary schools and English starts in high school. Even though I was only with them for a short time, they became more comfortable speaking and writing in English.
At both of my schools, the students were extremely passionate about education. They were excited to learn, which, in turn, made me extremely excited to teach. Each of my students taught me so much during my time spent with them. The experience instilled a passion in me; I truly know that I made a difference in these kids’ lives during the few months I spent there. My experiences focused my desire to be of public service to others through research and teaching. My goal is to return after graduation to teach and develop formal methods to assist Tanzanian schools in improving the quality of education offered to their students, in the shadow of Kilimanjaro.