Wednesday, September 21, 2011

American Students at Mlimani Primary School

On August 26, as part of the Lutheran Colleges Consortium for Tanzania (LCCT) program, we visited Mlimani Primary School at the University of Dar es Salaam.











The LCCT program has a longstanding association with Mlimani Primary School. Students from LCCT institutions who study at the University of Dar es Salaam get the chance to teach and interact with teachers and students at Mlimani.










The Mlimani program started in the early nineties. After watching the LCCT program for a number of years, Mama Shoonie Hartwig, founder of the program, talked with Heribertha Mbele, who had been a teacher at the Mlimani School, about the idea of LCCT students doing some volunteer work at the school. The teachers at the school welcomed the idea, and that is how the program started.




The American students mostly teach English, under the guidance of the teachers. The program has worked rather well. This year, the school principal told me how much the program has meant for the school children. Learning English from native speakers is a valuable opportunity. In addition, through interacting with the LCCT students, the school children get used to white people.




A teacher took us on a tour of the school, visiting classes and looking at the buildings and the surroundings.













The LCCT students, on their part, appreciate the opportunity to broaden their study-abroad experience through working at the school. This has been a notable addition the LCCT program.

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