CRCL Tanzania Trip 2018

On Monday (6 th August) we travelled to two of the local primary schools the link supports. The journey there was interesting as there was no smooth road which made a short distance take a long time and definitely tested Lulu's suspension! The first primary school we visited was Bugoba primary school where we were greeted by very excited primary school children who couldn't wait to see the wazungus! It was really interesting to look round the school as it was one of the first schools the Link ever supported when it began in 1987, so to see the progress that has been made felt very special. We were also able to see one of the projects we are currently supporting which is the building of a new toilet block for the students as their old one is now full. At Bugoba we were also treated to a performance by the students of dancing and singing which we all got involved with, although somehow we never manage to look as graceful as the Tanzanians, even when they are in primary school! W...

After such a big day with plenty to do, a 'chill day' was warmly welcome. Breakfast didn't start until 9am and therefore we weren't required to awaken until 8.59am, and even then, many did not stir. For those of us who did, it was a very quiet one which ended with almost everyone returning to bed.   Thankfully, today came as a perfect opportunity to catch up on the washing too – I know for me personally I was running low on clean clothes and by looking around me it became obvious that I wasn't the only one. The washing lines were completely full by 4pm when we prepared for Ano's workshop on how the fabrics are made.   For those who weren't aware, this happens in 3 different ways: tie dye, bleaching and printing. We received a long explanation on how tie dye works and the different patterns that can be created – the samosa, the banana leaves, and then any random pattern you tried. Next was my favourite – the bleaching. It appeared as though the lady helping j...

On the day of the RCCL election, in the morning, the students and leaders had time to relax and catch up on the mountain of washing there was still to do as the election commenced at 10am. It was clear how some were incredibly nervous, especially amongst the Tanzanians, as next year's inward group was being decided as well as roles amongst the RCCL. Around 1pm the election had finally finished and the students were informed that Tuma, Vale and Vero are coming to England next year! There was tears of excitement and pure joy as these specific Tanzanians have been with us since we arrived here and are now our new kaka's (brothers) and dada (sister. After an eventful morning we were all on a high as we made our way to Lutengano high school for sports day. This started at 2pm and was so much fun for both us and the Tanzanians. We competed in 4 teams with and equal number of Tanzanians and the British in each group, the teams were blue, purple, green and yellow. We competed in many ...

Welcome day at Lutengano, they clearly didn't know we were coming but they put all the students into their hall which meant that the singing was great. We did some pretty awful dancing at the front for a laugh. The "scouts" then ruined the floor by smashing bricks over each other whist pouring buckets of water over each other making the floor look like a building site. After Lutengano because was a sweaty day we then had a large water fight in the quad which was absolutely awesome but came at the cost of Ano's jeans and a flooded bathroom. Ano's homestay- was a fantastic experience. When we turned up we had a very large meal which we were surprised to find out was only a snack to be followed by an even larger meal, however both of us did our very best and almost finished all the food because we are fatties. We learned Ano's life-story and then marvelled at the night sky with minimal light pollution which meant that we were surprised by the amount of stars and ...

We started the day with breakfast made by cook team 3 which consisted of fried bread and fried eggs. This was definitely one of the best breakfasts of the trip so far! After arriving at Lubala 40 minutes late (thanks to Lulu), we were separated into the classes that we would be teaching. Each group taught a different subject, including health, feminism and human trafficking. My group taught Form 5 first about the benefits of a balanced diet, the effects of salt and sexual health. We then had a break where we were offered noodles, chapatis and tea. After this we moved onto teaching Form 4 which ended up being a class of about 130 students. The students were sometimes reluctant to ask questions but were eager to learn if the facts they had previously been taught were true (some of which weren't). We then taught another 40 minute lesson to Form 6. Although these students were some of the oldest at the school, they had a lot of questions to ask on the topic of sexual health. This made ...

We arrived at Katumba in the morning after Lulu dropped us off and the rest of the group went to Lubala for the Welcome Day. The First thing we done was walk around Katumba, I especially wanted to do this as I had only visited the school once prior and only for a short time. On our way of having  a general look round, we greeted children and helped some of the children in wheelchairs  get to and from the toilets. The toilets were disgusting and the smell emitting from them, was even worse. Some of the children chose to urinate outside, even those in wheelchairs which was of great difficulty to them. We then went back to Sharon's treatment room where the children had already began filtering in. While Sharon performed the first massages on the children, my job was to entertain the others waiting on the floor with the toys we had. They were all playful despite whatever disabilities they had, there was one girl called Vanessa who had mental issues as well as physical issues as her...