What kind of a teacher I'd be...

I met these wonderful people in a village where I went with a member of Kilitech, which is a organization that has done a lot when working with the local people to improve the situation in the village (see more: https://www.kilitech.org/majengo-village ). After visiting this village I begun to think what kind of a teacher I'd be - and what kind of a person i am. Because: the main thing is, who you are, what are your values, what would you like to achieve in your life, how do you treat other people. The time in Tanzania gave me the opportunity to find more about my self as a person and as a teacher.

Picture: I tried one of the sewing machines in the village - and found out I  could remember how to use this! My mam used to have one like this when I was a kid.

What else did I find out?

I love to meet new people and it's so easy to get to know them. They seem to think it's easy to talk to me. I managed in situations which differ so much from the situation here in Finland. I had no troubles and did not get upset when something happened and had to admit the situation. I made many friends. I never got mad about things that did not work, never were tired about the differences in our cultures, had no need to complain...So I'm a resilient person, or flexible.

For some reason I seem to have the ability to touch others. May be it's because I do not pretend to be something I'm not? And may be the others can feel that I really respect them? May be they see how interested I'm in them? May be they can feel how enthusiastic I get easily? How much I enjoy being with other persons and groups?

As a teacher I'm going to be all this - and something more. I know I'm able to use my creativity when needed, use different methods to support the students, push them when needed, encourage them, enjoy with them. Be happy with them!

Teaching in M.I.T.

Here I'm with some of my students and one of the teachers, Patrik. As you can see, the classroom was quite small and usually it was so packed you could hardly walk there. But it was nice - and hot. There were no air condition so you had to keep the windows open and then it was so noisy you had difficulties to hear what the students were saying. For some reason they spoke in such a quiet voice; I noticed that some young persons spoke quietly in some other situations, too; may be that was a way to show they respect you. The relations between the teacher and the students were not formal but not informal - something between, I guess. It was different than in Finland. There was kind of a friendly atmosphere all the time but every one was behaving in a nice way. We had some problems understanding each other - my English and their English were different - but we managed. And I enjoyed it a lot! Some times I met some of the students in the city center when I was there by my self and it was so nice to greet them and to be greeted by them. I felt so comfortable; hey, I have people here - others than people with whom I was living - who know me!

We had interesting discussions during the lectures. I could see the students were clever and eager to get to know more about the world we live. And I was eager to learn from them and they taught me a lot. I miss them and hope to be back with them some day!

Before I left Finland I did my "digimarks" and prepared to use many different kinds of methods when teaching. But you know what? There were no opportunity to use them. There were some computers but they were needed to other groups. One day I got the computer and the projector and was going to have a slide show. But there were no electricity...So I had to use my other methods and that was using the white board again...And we talked a lot. At first the students were shy about talking but the more we talked, the more they wanted to talk.

Memories about Tanzania

My period in Tanzania is over - and I came back home to Finland with so many memories...I'd like to share some of them with you. Just be patient and wait, I'll write here and add some more pictures but it'll take some time; last week I was still doing my latest studies and this week I'm preparing the party to my my doughter and to my son - they are both graduating from the college. And it will be my own graduation, too - I can call me as a vocational teacher! Remember, it's different here in Finland than in some other countries: even you already have a degree, you have to get another to be a "proper" teacher in the vocational school. Here it takes about three years to get a profession from the vocational school, in some countries you just take courses...

I'm missing Tanzania some much I'd never had believed it beforehand...You may ask why and what's that I'm missing. There are many things that made my time in Tanzania so precious: people there, climate, scenery...I loved teaching there, I loved to get to know different people and their culture, the way they were living there. I met so many people who were doing so much good without resources enough.

I had the opportunity to meet people you'd never be able to meet as a tourist. Of course I went to a safari as a tourist and had great time there. That was not the point there to me. I'll tell you more after a time!