Highlights of the trip so far

Bryanna

After being at Stone Town for over two weeks I think we are starting to get really comfortable here. We have had a great time going to the schools and getting to know the teachers and students better. As James already reported we are very excited to expand our program to Lu Mumba.

James and I got the chance during the first week to sit in on classes at both schools. It was interesting to see the differences in how things are taught here. The most interesting lesson was on the theories of evolution and creation. Although we tried to not interrupt the class, the students were really excited to have us there and kept looking back at us.

We also got a chance to meet with some of the girls from Form II and just sit and talk. They asked us lots of questions about our life back home as well as ways to solve problems in Zanzibar. They asked how we would suggest solving the malaria issue and the water shortage problem. They also asked some tough questions about the US. One girl asked, "We have heard if we visited you we would be discriminated against. Is this true? And why, because our people love to welcome you?" Questions like these were definitely hard to answer, but showed us just how smart and aware these girls are about Zanzibar.

We interviewed girls on Thursday and they all did a really good job preparing. It should be a tough decision. We will inform the girls from Lu Mumba on Friday. On Friday Katherine and I got the opportunity to watch the student government elections at Lu Mumba. This was a great experience and really entertaining. All the students were very into it, yelling and holding up signs, and joked that it was more important than Obama and Hillary.

Tomorrow we start to interview girls at Ben Bella. I am excited to see how they compare to those at Lu Mumba.