Back to work!

I've now been back in my placement for 2 weeks & doing workshops as well as classroom observations with the teachers in my district. I have facilitated my "Strengths & Weaknesses of Muhura Schools" workshop in 8 schools & now only have 1 school left. This workshop runs from 2 to 3 hours where I present some of the strengths & weaknesses I saw in all of the schools I visited (hence the title). Afterwards, the teachers work in small groups to find solutions to the weaknesses. There is a fair bit of acting on my part as I demonstrate some of the weaknesses (like shouting 'you!' to a student instead of using names) so the teachers understand why something is an issue & could easily be changed. I also teach a couple of songs (yes, I sing in front of the teachers) and a game (Simon Says) so the teachers can see how easy it is to incorporate these things into their classes.

As I have no pictures of my workshops yet, I will post a picture of beautiful Zanzibar - I place I highly recommend you visit if you get a chance....

Holiday in Zanzibar

My 1st vacation from my placement in small-town Rwanda was to the exotic spice island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania. The adventure started with a 28 hour bus journey through the plains of Africa, followed by a pick pocketing incident in Dar es Salaam in which my cell phone was taken far, far way. My traveling companions were Collette & Shala, 2 awesome VSO volunteers without whom this experience wouldn't even be worth discussing. We spent some time in the labyrinthine Stonetown where each side alley lead to more & more interesting sites plus endless shopping opportunities! We took the local transport called a Dalla Dalla to the popular beach area called Nungwi where we stayed 2 nights before heading to the beautiful, tranquil Kendwa Rocks. We swam, beached, ate, drank, & danced the night(s) away for 4 days before heading back to Stonetown for more cultural experiences & shopping. I think the attached picture is a fairly accurate representation of how we spent most of our vacation. Cheers!