Positive Student Feedback...

"I am so happy because I am interested with today's session"

"Congratulations for directing us well. I give you respect"

"We need more education"

"Visit us every year with different topics to help us find out how to get perfect skills"

"There are so many people who do not know how to write a CV"

"I like this lesson and I want it to proceed because it gives me confidence to express what I have also what I want"

"The active teaching is fun"

"It is good, don't give it up as many people need to learn about it"

"The program is great and inspiring, helps and teaches different things. Thank you!!"

"We are getting good knowledge which is going to help us after our studies"

"We are all as one, no one is left behind"

"Time for Restless Development skills should be increased at least one week or seven days"

"I love what you are doing and it really gives wide range of opportunities to many intellectuals"

"I would like this training conducted all over the country"

Happy Students and Volunteers at TIA

Last Friday we had our best session yet at the Tanzanian Institute of Accountancy (TIA). We taught students how to write a CV and encouraged them to think of examples of soft skills that they have gained. Overall the feedback was very positive with students wanting more time with us. We held two sessions in the morning and afternoon to give more students a chance to attend. This proved to be successful as we taught 70 students throughout the day. We try to make our sessions fun and interactive which is very different to what the students are used to.

Morning session class photo - students and volunteers

CV Workshop at VETA

Our second session at VETA taught the students how to write a CV. We focussed on the layout and how to make it interesting and unique. Out of the 130 students who attended our session only 4 had their own CV and the majority had never been taught how to write one before. We split the students into groups and gave them the oppotunity to have a go at writing a CV. They really enjoyed this task as they were able to learn from each others ideas and opinions. Next week we are holding drop-in sessions for the students so that we can provide one-on-one support.

Teaching about basic CV layout

Alice (UK volunteer) helping a group of students with a task

Sian (UK team leader) helping with group work

Skills Workshop at VETA

Our first session at VETA (a skills workshop) was a great success. The students are so happy for us to be there and are really keen to learn. They all take notes and gave us great feedback after the session. One of the students wants us to teach them everyday! In our first session we taught the students the difference between hard and soft skills. We also encouraged them to think about what skills they already have and where they use them e.g. playing football for a local team shows good teamworking skills. This then leads on nicely to our next session on how to write a CV.

Students at VETA listening to our presentation

Toby and John playing the yes/no recap game at the end of the session

Group photo with some of the volunteers and students after our session

Student Sign-up at VETA

Last Wednesday 200 students signed-up for our career sessions at the Vocational and Education Training Authority (VETA). It was such a brilliant response and start to the project considering Restless Development has not worked at this college before. It shows that there is a big need for a project like this!

The majority of students at this particular college are male and aged between 16-18. Subjects taught  include: welding, electronics, mechanics, hotel management, plumbing, pattern making, catering and hair dressing. It is great to see young people learning valuable skills that will support them in their personal and professional development.

Students at VETA signing up to our sessions

Team Temeke Photo

Greetings from Team Temeke! We are a team of eight volunteers from Tanzania and the UK. There are two team leaders, myself and Judy from Tanzania. The photo was taken at VETA, one of the new colleges we are working in.

Top left to right: Sian, John and Toby. Bottom left to right: Swaumu, Hellen, Judy & Alice

Facebook Page

Please like our Team Temeke Facebook page by following the below link:

https://www.facebook.com/restlessdevelopmenttemeke

We will keep it updated with news, information and photos. The main use is for the students in Tanzania but also to raise awareness of the project.

VETA College Assembly

I was very proud of my team today. We presented in front of a whole college assembly at the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) and had a great response from the students who want to sign up to our career education sessions.

Tomorrow we return to the college to start advertising by putting posters up around the campus. We met the President of the Student Union today and are looking forward to meeting the course representatives tomorrow who will help us to promote and encourage students to sign-up. We also need to start recruiting peer educators at the college to help support us as Restless Development has not worked here before. We are busy planning our first education session which will be held on Wednesday.

A great start to the project! Watch this space for more good news.

John presenting during the assembly

Sian presenting during the assembly

Hundreds of VETA students at morning assembly listening to our presentation

Judy taking the mic with the rest of Team Temeke behind her

Tribes and Language

Tanzania has over 120 tribes mostly Bantu speaking. All have their own unique traditions and language. My host family are from the Chagga tribe which is the third largest in Tanzania with an estimated population of about 2 million. They are traditionally located near Mount Kilimanjaro. We visited the Village Museum in Dar es Saalam to learn about the different tribes and to see how they live.

Kiswahili is the official national language of Tanzania which we have been learning. The language is a mix of Bantu with Arabic, Portugese and Hindi. The word Swahili comes from the Arabic "Sawa hili" meaning "the coast".

With my host family and UK Kaka outside a Chagga house

Training Week

During our second week the team leaders helped train the national and UK volunteers who arrived a week later. We covered topics including:

• Communication 
• Team working 
• Cross-cultural awareness
• Working in the community
• Monitoring and evaluation 

Group photo - 34 volunteers from the UK and Tanzania

Group work during training

A group presenting the different roles volunteers play in their team

We all now feel ready to start the project and help make a difference to young people in Tanzania!

University Visits

Apologies for the lack of posts since I arrived in Tanzania. Unfortunately I was unwell for a few weeks and had lack of internet access but am now back on track!

During my first week we visited the following Universities in the Temeke district of Dar es Salaam where my team will be working:

• Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) 
• The Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy
• Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (TIA)

National and international team leaders

Restless Development have not worked in these Universities before so it is exciting that the project is expanding. We met the Dean of Students, the Vice Presidents as well as the President of the Student Union. All were very welcoming and happy for us to carry out many peer education sessions with their students.

The Universities are currently closed and re-open for the start of the new academic year shortly. We are planning to attend their orientation (fresher) weeks so we can raise awareness of the programme and encourage students to sign up to our peer education sessions.

Thank you Gideon Conn

Thank you Gideon Conn for playing at the lamb roast, for entertaining the children and for this fantastic line drawing. You really are multi-talented! If you are interested in seeing Gideon on tour around the UK or would like to contact him about a commission please visit his website www.gideonconn.com or email him at gideonconn@hotmail.com. You can also check him out on YouTube!

Lamb Roast Fundraiser

A big thank you to everyone who came and supported the lamb roast fundraiser yesterday. We hope you all enjoyed the event as much as we did. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came along and who wanted to help out. I couldn't have done it without you all.

Thanks to all your generous donations I have managed to raise £1010 for Restless Development and young people in Tanzania so far which is amazing :-) My target was £800 so very happy to have smashed it! I will keep my JustGiving donations page (www.justgiving.com/sianlaurawells) open until I have returned in December. Please do keep visiting the blog for regular updates and photos from Tanzania.

Lamb cooking area!

Tanzania Facts

Fact 1
The highest mountain in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro is situated in Tanzania.

Fact 2
Time is counted very differently in this country. The work day starts at 6 am and is called the 1st hour of the day. So, when someone says that mass starts at 10 (the 10th hour) it’s actually at 4 pm.

Fact 3
There is strong evidence that Tanzania is the cradle of human life on the planet. The legendary Homo Habilis which existed 2 million years ago was recovered in the Olduvai Gorge.

Fact 4
Three of the world’s most magnificent lakes surround Tanzania - Lake Nyasa, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria.

Fact 5
Mpingo trees (a.k.a. Africa blackwood trees, commonly seen in Tanzania) are the most expensive hardwood tree in the world.

Fact 6
Over 120 languages are spoken in Tanzania. Most of these are Bantu languages, a category of over 535 languages and dialects that are spoken throughout Africa.

Fact 7
The world’s only tree-climbing lions live in the Lake Manyara National Park here.

Fact 8
The world’s largest crab, Chumbe Island (which is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania)’s Coconut Crab is found here.

Fact 9
The world’s largest complete crater, the now-extinct Ngorongoro Crater is in Tanzania.

Fact 10

Western Tanzania’s Lake Tanganyika is the second deepest lake in the world

Mexican Themed Fundraiser

Part of the project involves raising £800 before I leave. In July, I organised a Mexican themed party with margaritas, enchiladas and a piñata! My friend Sofiri (below) enjoyed dressing up for the theme! It was a fantastic evening and we managed to raise £100. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event.

Join My Trip to Tanzania

In September I will be going to Tanzania for 3 months with Restless Development, a youth-led development agency. Young people are most affected by the most persistent problems in the world, yet are frequently overlooked as part of the solution. 59 million young people in the developing world are unemployed and opportunities for a good education are limited. I will be working in a team of volunteers from the UK and Tanzania helping young people to take up productive livelihoods and employment. We will be living in basic conditions and working in un-resourced environments.