...just kidding. sort of. so i'm attempting to blog again to keep everyone updated on my time in tanzania. but i get access to internet like once every two weeks, so we'll see how this goes. posts will be choppy and shitty (that creates a nice image, huh?) and saturated with typos. no pretty pictures either. you've been warned.
but of course you all love me enough to keep reading. so as most of you know, i'm volunteering with an NGO called SIC- Support for International Change. we do HIV/AIDS education in rural villages- in schools, at church, on soccer fields, in the community. right now i'm about 3 weeks in, with 5 to go.
the program started with fun in arusha. go around town, be touristy, get some skirts made, yadda yadda. then we moved to meru university for an intense two-week orientation in which we reviewed the whole SIC curriculum, learned some basic swahili, and played games every minute we weren't in class. have never played so many games in my life. drug dealer, 007, bitty bitty bop, and mafia are faves.
so a little more about the program. there are twenty-some american volunteers- mostly from harvard and stanford. and four british volunteers. we work with tanzanian teaching partners- in addition to teaching, they translate and back-translate as well. tough stuff.
so if you're premed at harvard, or anything at harvard really, you know that everyone is all up on global health's jock. we aren't lacking programs that scream "AIDS in Africa!" with images of little children. i wasn't looking for a program that would get in, get out, and pat itself on the back (never a good thing, in any case). call it cultural competency, call it sustainability, call it a way to address structural violence- that's what i was looking for. the horizontal approach of SIC international volunteers living and teaching with tanzanians, in addition to permanent community health workers, sounded right to me. definitely the best i've found in theory. still evaluating in terms of practice. i still have plenty to observe, experience, and learn. the only criticism i have thus far is the lack of space in orientation to address the questions of why are we here? why do we need to be here? with what biases and assumptions are we coming to tanzania? what biases and assumptions do the teaching partners have about us? what value judgments are inherent in having us (international volunteers, non-tanzanians) teach at all- is it all solidarity, or are there deep-rooted cycles of power and blame that must be examined? i am not asking these questions from a moral high point, i simply want these discussions to happen and be well-integrated in the program, since whether or not we talk about them explicitly, the presence of these issues is undeniable.
woo that was heavy. breaktime. miss you all terribly. xoxo n
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6 comments:
dude. i didn't know you could write like that. like, you just took it to another level. i didn't know you were thinking about all those things. damn, you are SO cool to be questioning hegemonic ideology. i'm so glad you're my sister.
i'm thinking about these things all the time. had a great convo about this all with one of the volunteers today- you'd love him. also, i'm honored to be your sister. you first introduced me to questioning hegemonic ideology. you are so the coolest ever.
Just wondering... do you remember me from high school?
Funny thing, a couple of friends and I were just discussing things today (mostly about old and current classmates, school, lame boring stuff) and I wondered to myself... how the hell is Nita doing? The only kid in our class to get into an Ivy league and then, out of all the things in the world to happen, you blog and update us. Funny how things pan out, huh?
Great to know you're making shit happen (sorry for my lack of better vocab, but I've had a couple of drinks earlier this night/morning.)
dude of course i remember you. and how you recommended that ilisten to goapele- closer and you were awesome for that.
it is funny how things pan out. what're you up to? i'll be home in about a month, if you're around i def want to meet up.
and i'm honored you think i'm makin shit happen. personally think it's the best way to describe what i'm trynna do. :)
Not much right now. Just finished moving back home. Found a job up in SF, but it won't start until the 27th. I have until then to be a lazy bum and enjoy my summer =)
Yes, definitely! Keep me posted on what you're doing. I'd love to meet up and grab lunch sometime. Do you keep in touch with many kids from high school? We could do a mini reunion.
just got back from taiwan a few days ago. it took me those days to remember that you had a blog and that you might have updated since last summer. and what do you know?
nita, miss you lots. i have a lot of catching up to do, but i swear i will read everything you have posted while i was gone. =) just give me a few days. j/k.
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