March 2023 - Tumaini Student Trips: Cultural Exchange

This month, Tumaini Senior Secondary hosted a group of students from Gould Academy in Maine. This is the first time students from Gould have been able to visit Tanzania since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The trip is part of Gould Academy’s Four Point program and Tumaini Senior’s cultural exchange programming, intended to broaden students’ perspectives, share cultural knowledge, and make new connections over the holiday. The two week trip was packed with a number of exciting activities. Each Gould student is paired with a Form 1 Tumaini student for the duration of the trip to facilitate community building.

The students also spent some time in Karatu at Tumaini Junior School! They toured the school and spent some time with the younger students in the leisure library. They had some meaningful discussions on conservation and how Tanzania has incorporated it into the school curriculum. In order to make the trip a truly immersive experience, the Gould students stayed with the families of Tumaini students to get a taste of home life for their Tanzanian peers. Over the course of four days, they learned to cook traditional Tanzanian dishes, purchase vegetables at the market, and learn all about family life for Tanzanians.

For the first few days of the trip, the students stayed on Tumaini Senior’s campus learning all about student life. The students played games, stayed in the dorms, spent time in the library, and held a school-wide bonfire. Before leaving Tumaini Senior, the group went into Makuyuni, the local community surrounding Tumaini, for a community project and to learn how to make traditional Maasai jewelry from a collective of Maasai women. They also went on a day drive through Tarangire National Park, one of the best places to see safari animals.

Before the Gould group departure, the students and their chaperones went on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Eyasi conservation area. All of the students were particularly excited about the last few days of the trip. From swimming to spending time in the parks, they were able to see some of the natural wonders that Tanzania is known for. They were also able to spend some time with the Hadza tribe, one of the most nomadic tribes in Tanzania known for retaining the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. It was a meaningful trip for both the Gould and Tumaini students who plan to stay in touch and have forged new friendships.