School of Politics and Global Studies’ Students in Tanzania
In the summer of 2011, School of Politics and Global Studies students supported rural Tanzanian community organizations and learned about community development issues through a unique study abroad course titled Community Development, Water, and Women’s Rights. Fifteen Global Studies students traveled with program leaders Eric M. Hartman and Elizabeth S. Wheatley through rural Tanzania and to the Eastern coast of Africa on the island of Zanzibar.
Students studied the challenges of international aid, ethics, and development while supporting local initiatives that advanced English instruction, water access at a school for girls, and women’s rights. The program began with a flight into the capital of Uganda, Kampala. The group travelled eight hours by road over the Northern border of Tanzania to reach their first destination: Kayanga, a small town in the Karagwe district of Tanzania. In Kayanga, at the edge of the energy grid, students began their community engagement experiences.
At Kayanga Secondary School, students served as English (as well as physics, mathematics, and computer science) instructors. While providing instructional support at the request of a limited staff of local teachers, ASU students learned about the politics of Swahili versus English in the classroom, observed first-hand the effects of drastic underfunding of public institutions, and initiated lasting relationships with students and teachers in the area.
ASU students also provided physical labor in the construction of a water well for an all-girls school. This well will provide life-saving, clean water for the school, which in turn is part of an important local initiative to expand safe access to schooling for girls. Through providing direct labor, ASU students connected with local masons, learned about the extraordinary physical challenges of local construction efforts, and saw the impact that lack of water access has on building projects.
The students also had the opportunity to work with WOMEDA, the Women’s Emancipation and Development Agency. At WOMEDA’s request, students helped gather community perspectives on important and pressing health topics.
In these exchanges students were introduced to Swahili, the intellectual challenges of global ethics, and the practical impact of locally driven development programs. At the good-bye party organized with community partners, the strong positive impact of the students’ short stay was evident as community members indicated their interest in seeing students and ASU return to the area.
After departing from Kayanga, students and instructors crossed Lake Victoria via ferry and began the first leg of their safari. The group travelled for two days through the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro Crater, and spent one night camping on the crater’s rim. Traveling in three different Land Cruisers, all fifteen students spotted the “big five” of African wildlife (lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and cape buffaloes), as well as many antelopes, zebras, and wildebeests!
The trip concluded with a short flight to the spice island of Zanzibar where students spent several days enjoying Indian Ocean beaches and experiencing the winding, narrow streets of historic Stonetown. The program offered a unique combination of local community engagement, intellectual challenges, development experience, and global tourism.
