Sorry I haven't written much these last few days. Schedules kept changing on us, which seems to be normal here in East Africa. You never know what is going to happen. But you know what they say, Hakuna Matata!
Yesterday we began teaching the students at the Kiembe Samaki school in rural Zanzibar. As you can imagine, I was both nervous and excited to start. I didn't know what to expect or how we would be treated. So far in Zanzibar, children have either been afraid of us or very curious to the point of staring and not blinking or responding. Would these students be the same?
From the moment the first student walked into the room, we were greeted with the warmest of welcomes. Karibu! They would shake our hands and ask our names. They were so excited to meet us and learn why we had come. And they jumped right into all of the games and activities with incredible enthusiasm.
This group of teens are eager to learn everything we want to teach them. Their English is not as good as we hoped but we are working through that. I am doing a lot of miming. So are they. But we are making it work. At every moment they are pulling me aside asking me how to say something in English, pronounce something, explain it better.... They have learned to trust me so quickly, I can't even believe it. The one big difference I have seen here versus NY is that in Zanzibar there is an incredible thirst for knowledge. These teens are like sponges and are absorbing everything.
In only two days we have begun to create our play. They are doing this by teaching us about Zanzibar and coming up with small vignettes in groups. I worked with two incredible groups today who were eager to try anything and everything I suggested. They also had brilliant ideas of their own. I felt so proud when they presented their scenes and they were strong, clear and creatively presented. They were obviously proud too.
And when we leave for the day, they all shake our hands, some even kiss them (a real sign of affection) and thank us for our hard work. When does that ever happen.
I feel completely privileged to be here. The students are so empowered by this work and I really believe that it is going to be life changing for so many of them.
I wish I could write more but I am so overwhelmed myself. And exhausted. On top of that, I will be leading a 2 hour image theatre workshop with them in order to create new material tomorrow. I am so scared and thrilled at the same time. The people I have traveled with agreed to film me so I can learn from the process. Maybe at some point I will be able to share the highlights.
That is all for now. I am so tired and need to eat dinner. But I will write soon.
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