Building Character...
So I resigned from my job at Nkuhungu School. I'll leave the details for personal conversations/emails; suffice to say that the school management and I had differing philosophies regarding a number of issues, (child learning, corruption, fundraising, etc.) and thus I deemed it a good time to look for greener pastures (particularly since it hasn't rained here- and I mean not one single drop- since May. The dust-storms are are amazing.) It was an incredibly difficult decision, given that most of the people at my school are amazing, and I've been really down about it for the last few weeks, but I felt like I didn't have any other options. So it goes.
On the plus side of all this, VSO has been incredibly supportive and have managed to find me a couple of potential replacement placements. I'm still keen to stay in lovely, lovely Tanzania and am excited about having a placement where my skills are fully utilized. Details are still being sorted out, but I should know for sure in a few weeks where I'm heading; the first possible placement (short-term, 3 months only) has me in the the southern coastal region of Mtwara, on the Makonde Plateau in a tiny village called Ndanda. It's incredibly remote, at least by the standards I'm used to. Should one try to visit me, they'd spend 25+ hours on a bus from Dar to get to Mtwara, (allowing for extra time to get out and push when the bus gets stuck in the mud- yep, I'll be down there during the rainy season) and then at least another 6 hours on a pick-up/daladala from Mtwara to Ndanda, assuming the road hasn't been washed out. Luckily, VSO flies me down most of the way, so hopefully there won't be any future blog entries describing the 5 days I spent hiking to my village after the bus disappeared into the mud :) The big plus of all this (besides the fact that the area is incredibly beautiful) is that supposedly the place where I'd be working, (a Benedictine Monestary that is just starting up a Secondary School) and the people I'd be working with (Fr. Augustino) are amazing; Several fellow VSO vols in the region have remarked that if I'm working with him, than there are no doubts that the placement will be great. So I'm hopeful. Placement confirmation should occur in the next 2 weeks; will keep you posted when the news becomes definite. Should this placement work out, than I'll be looking into doing one more short-term stint before heading back to the states...I mean I do have to finish grad school/get a real job at some point, right?
The month notice that I gave my school ends in a little under 2 weeks. After that, I'll either be coming back to the states (NYC, Indiana) for a visit, or I'll kill time in Dar/Zanzibar for a month while staying with friends, watching football, and finally emailing people since I've gotten impossibly behind again. Power rationing is in full affect now (most days we have no electricity from 7 am to 7 pm) so it might be a week or two before I update this again, but take care in the meantime...
Love,
Katie
P.S. Also, did anyone manage to tape the Notre Dame- Michigan State game? If they continue to play well, I might just have to look at early return options... :)
On the plus side of all this, VSO has been incredibly supportive and have managed to find me a couple of potential replacement placements. I'm still keen to stay in lovely, lovely Tanzania and am excited about having a placement where my skills are fully utilized. Details are still being sorted out, but I should know for sure in a few weeks where I'm heading; the first possible placement (short-term, 3 months only) has me in the the southern coastal region of Mtwara, on the Makonde Plateau in a tiny village called Ndanda. It's incredibly remote, at least by the standards I'm used to. Should one try to visit me, they'd spend 25+ hours on a bus from Dar to get to Mtwara, (allowing for extra time to get out and push when the bus gets stuck in the mud- yep, I'll be down there during the rainy season) and then at least another 6 hours on a pick-up/daladala from Mtwara to Ndanda, assuming the road hasn't been washed out. Luckily, VSO flies me down most of the way, so hopefully there won't be any future blog entries describing the 5 days I spent hiking to my village after the bus disappeared into the mud :) The big plus of all this (besides the fact that the area is incredibly beautiful) is that supposedly the place where I'd be working, (a Benedictine Monestary that is just starting up a Secondary School) and the people I'd be working with (Fr. Augustino) are amazing; Several fellow VSO vols in the region have remarked that if I'm working with him, than there are no doubts that the placement will be great. So I'm hopeful. Placement confirmation should occur in the next 2 weeks; will keep you posted when the news becomes definite. Should this placement work out, than I'll be looking into doing one more short-term stint before heading back to the states...I mean I do have to finish grad school/get a real job at some point, right?
The month notice that I gave my school ends in a little under 2 weeks. After that, I'll either be coming back to the states (NYC, Indiana) for a visit, or I'll kill time in Dar/Zanzibar for a month while staying with friends, watching football, and finally emailing people since I've gotten impossibly behind again. Power rationing is in full affect now (most days we have no electricity from 7 am to 7 pm) so it might be a week or two before I update this again, but take care in the meantime...
Love,
Katie
P.S. Also, did anyone manage to tape the Notre Dame- Michigan State game? If they continue to play well, I might just have to look at early return options... :)
posted by Katie at 1:39 PM
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