On October the 16th, a Wednesday morning, with 9 friends we started a trip to go to Pamoja Secondary, the school that we had visited a month ago. Spending the last days of our break there, gave us a unique opportunity to get deeper into the Tanzanian culture, to get to know the wonderful surroundings and traditional Tanzanian food. Many of the meals we had were traditional, such as mandazis, Maasai tea, and ugali. We also saw some astonishing starry nights and we had the opportunity to see zebras while we were walking near the school.
Along the 4 days, we worked preparing the soil for vegetable crops and talked with many of the children who welcomed us since the very beginning. They had many tests during those days, so they were also studying really hard for their exams to have the best results possible. 4 days in Pamoja also allowed us to strengthen our friendship and create beautiful memories that we will always remember.
The first day, when we started our journey, the driver diverted a little bit from the original rout and we ended in a Maasai lodge, where the community started dancing and welcoming us, even though we were not meant to be there. Then the driver asked some people for the directions to get to our destination and we continued our trip. After 15 minutes, we arrived to Pamoja Primary school where we went off the bus and we decided to walk all the way left to get to Secondary school which took us about 5 minutes. In Pamoja, we left our backpacks and we saw all the kids waiting for us, some of them recognized us from the first time we went and we also recognized some of them, so we had a beautiful receiving. Then they took us to our dorms, we prepared our mattress and our sleeping bags and we went back to the areas of the school, one of the teachers who took care of us throughout the days, took us to the kitchen and gave us mandazis and Maasai tea, which we loved and felt really grateful for it.
I also noticed the different birds surrounding the school, there were many of them and reminded me of my country, however, they were different species which I couldn’t recognized but it was really beautiful for me to have the opportunity to see them and listen to their sing. I’d like to make an special mention for the food they gave us these days, it was a wonderful opportunity to get deeper into the Tanzanian culture, because many of the meals we had were traditional, such as mandazis, Maasai tea and ugali that is made of flour.
The main motto of UWC is based on the belief that education can bring people together from different backgrounds to engage with the possibility of social change through action, intercultural understanding, and transformational experiences that we will remember for a lifetime.
Many times I have heard that studying at UWC implies the feeling of living inside a campus isolated from the community that surrounds it. However, the mission statement seeks the exact opposite. Now, close to becoming a second year, I would argue that the accusation does not fully represent the truth. UWC does seek to build true commitment with the world around us, most of the time, through challenging experiences.
That is why I always remember our trip to Pamoja Secondary School (‘Pamoja’ means together in Swahili). Visiting this school was the experience that really connected me to this new beginning in Tanzania, being part of this unique international movement that many times surpasses my limited understanding.
All of it led me to the 16th of October 2019; the morning that started what would be our second visit to Pamoja Secondary School. Along with nine friends we decided to spend part of our October break with the kids we had met months ago. I remember our goosebumps for the excitement to get in touch with this unique place again: a place that seems very isolated and remote, leaving you breathless when walking on the African Steppe - a semi-arid landscape with thorny bushes. At night, the starry sky was a roof accompanied by an almost ghostly silence.
It was a long way to get to the school, but it was all worth it. We grabbed our backpacks from the bus and greeted all the kids that were waiting for us with a warm welcome. Then we had a small tour around the school, and they took us to our dorms. We organized our mattresses and sleeping bags to go back and start with the activities we would be part of during those four days.
Pamoja Secondary School gave us the unique opportunity to immerse ourselves into the Tanzanian culture, and its traditional food as well as getting to know the beautiful surroundings. Every morning we had Mandazis and Maasai tea for breakfast, and then we would work ploughing the land preparing it for future vegetable crops. At midday, we had lunch with the kids, and then we would spend the rest of the day talking with them, walking around the surroundings. Among one of the days I remember the most, we decided to go for a longer walk, we climbed a small hill, and suddenly we got speechless by seeing some zebras not far from us. I’ve very fondly kept all those memories with me.
Nine nationalities were spending four days at this school located in the Maasai land: Czech Republic, Italy, Argentina, The Netherlands, Portugal, Mexico, Poland, Palestine, and Chile.
We felt truly grateful for such welcoming days we had there, getting to know the kids, all their efforts learning at school, and some of their dreams. All of it made me realize the unique months spent at UWC having experiences I never imagined I would ever have, and all the people met along the way.
I also remember the last day when we were about to leave, and one of the kids called Elisha came to us and gave us a piece of paper with instructions to look on the internet for the recipe of mandazis in Swahili since we’d told him that we really enjoyed them. It truly meant a lot to us, and it was the best farewell we could have had.
This experience truly helped me reach another level of intercultural understanding by being immersed in the Tanzanian culture with such a diverse group of friends. As I said in the beginning, most of the time, we tend to feel that we live in a sort of bubble while studying at UWC. However, these sorts of experiences are the ones that make you realize that we have to cherish those precious moments we are given to engage with the community and see the world from a more realistic perspective. Four days that allowed us to strengthen our friendship and create beautiful memories that we will always carry with us wherever we go.
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