Well, I was really nervous at first today, but it went really well. I think the highlight was when me and Alex were repairing desks and all the little kids literally mobbed us and were helping us like crazy. One guy called Bruno was a beast with the hammer, he was a one man army lol. We also had to dig a big trench for water or something, and I could hardly keep going, it’s so hot out here but its fun nonetheless. Hope you lot aren’t partying too hard without us,

Much Love,
Eddy

My most memorable moment of the day happened during after school activities. I was working with the visually impaired children, and most of them were running around, playing games. But, in the corner there was a small sullen looking child, sitting on his own. His name was Isaac and he was totally blind. I decided to talk to him, and try and involve him in the games. He had a plastic bottle in his hand, and he started tapping an incredibly complex beat with it. I was amazed at the rhythm the child had. I started to clap along, but could not keep up with him. I will never forget it.

Nida

We all arrived at the school extremely nervous looking at the day ahead of us. Having waited a couple minutes for the paint to arrive, Mr Clarke took Daria and I by the arm and flung us in the middle of an English class. Feeling unprepared and surprised we turned to face the class of 40 children looking straight at us, singing a welcome song. Our faces at that moment? Priceless! The first couple minutes of the class were quite uncomfortable and difficult, but the children’s eagerness and constant smiling directly set us up in the right direction. With everyone excited and enthusiastic, we managed to go through the five senses and colours! A truly unforgettable experience.

Marine

Today was our first day working at the School in Tanzania. I can truly say that the experience was very different from what I expected. My main job today was teaching Standard 6, 12-13 year olds, I taught English and Math. I was very happy with the way the students accepted my lessons, and although I was nervous in the beginning I settled down and was able to teach the kids about words, nouns and verbs in English and negative numbers in math. My favourite part of the day was teaching math to 6B class. It was very difficult to explain my thoughts so I tried to teach with Swahili words. (I COULDN’T SPEAK SWAHILI FOR £1,000,000) So obviously all the kids began to laugh and joke about my accent and pronunciation of words, I also joined in making jokes with them. All in all I think that the students understood my lessons and I was excited to see them enjoying themselves in school. It truly was a great experience and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.

Matt B.

Today was our first day working at Mwereni Primary School. There was heavy anticipation to the event and the results certainly did not disappoint. Today, myself and the group experienced new situations and original scenarios. From the beginning, each and every student at the school was friendly and welcoming. Each individual child would always approach me and the rest of the group, eager to give us high fives and say hello. Although I was looking forward to working with the students and teaching, I had to wait until the afternoon to get a chance. From the morning until lunch, I was busy helping to dig a ditch and paint classrooms, both enjoyable but tiring events. After lunch I got the chance to teach a math class to the students of the school with Marine and Daria. All of the students made the task incredibly easy by welcoming us as friends and eagerly participating in the lesson. In the end, it was an incredibly rewarding experience to be able to successfully communicate with the students and know that, at the end of the lesson, we had genuinely taught them something. Although the end of this class marked the end of the school day, our work was not finished. After the math class, I helped to organize a soccer (football) game for the students which was inevitably a lot of fun, despite the heat and masses of people on the field. In conclusion, it has been a fantastic first few days to the trip and I am certainly looking forward to its continuation tomorrow. Besides the above, other highlights of the trip have been the safari and receiving the news that Chelsea won while Liverpool and Tottenham both lost. What a weekend! Shout to my boy Manny K -- Happy 17th Birthday! Hope everyone is well in London and we'll be in touch soon!

Asante Sana!

Greg