Week Three: Tanzania's Special Features

Mambo everyone!

I can't believe we are already starting the last week of January -- 2014 is just racing by!

Anyways, this week I wanted to share with you all some of the really cool places Tanzania is famous for being home to!

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TANZANIA: HOME TO ALL THINGS AWESOME

1. The Source of the Nile: Lake Victoria

I took this picture in Mwanza, here's a small corner of Lake Victoria!

The famous Nile River of Egypt is actually made up of two rivers, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, but the White Nile is sourced by Lake Victoria, which sits in the North-western part of Tanzania, and shares its shores with Kenya and Uganda.

That big blue blob at the bottom? That's Lake Victoria!

Some say that the Nile's source can be traced to the rivers that feed into Lake Victoria, which include the Kagera River, which flows through Tanzania's Kagera Region, or the two tributaries, one from Burundi and another from Rwanda, that come together at Rusumo Falls, which flows along the Rwanda-Tanzania border.

Here's a picture of Rusumo Falls!

It was early in the morning...but here I am at Rusumo Falls, on a bridge going from Tanzania (on the left) to Rwanda (on the right)!

No matter where the Nile's very first drop begins, it's more than likely that it will flow through Tanzania before continuing north...all the way to Egypt!

2. The tallest mountain in Africa - Mt. Kilimanjaro

Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Tanzania, the tallest mountain in Africa, and the largest free-standing mountain in the entire world.

Kilimanjaro, or "Kili" as some people call it, rises 19,341 feet above sea level. That's 5,895 meters!

I was lucky enough to take six days and climb Kili at the end of my time in Tanzania. Here are some photos from my climb:

The peak of Kilimanjaro from the nearby town of Moshi

After our first day of climbing, the rest of the world already seemed so far down!

By the second day, all of the big rainforest trees were replaced with these. 

Here are my friends and I (I'm on the far left) along with one of our guides...the peak is in sight, but far far away!

The end of our second day -- ahead is our campsite, and in the clouds, the peak. 

Our campsite for nights 2 and 3....look at the clouds!

My friend and I hiking on day 3....we stayed at the same altitude for most of the day as we tried to get over altitude-sickness (we were sick to our stomachs for most of the trip!). 

Most of our paths were like this....dirt and rocks!

Eeks! It was the morning of Day 4 and we saw this sign. We hired men to carry water for us for the rest of our journey up the mountain. 

On day 4, we walked across this "desert" towards the peak. Miles and miles of walking...and lots of wind! There were almost no large rocks or even plants around. 

There were some flowers though! It was funny...the flowers felt like plastic because they survive with little water. 

On our second to last night, we slept here before attempting to get to the summit. Because of altitude sickness, I didn't make it all the way to the top. However, I still was able to climb at least 2,000 more feet before giving in to my stomach pains! From here, it took us only 2 days to make it all the way back down the mountain. 

3. Where the Buffalo Roam: Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti looks exactly what you think of when you think about the Lion King...monkeys, lions, giraffes, zebras, elephants, colorful birds, gazelles, hyenas, hippos, crocodiles, wildebeest, and warthogs.

The Serengeti is one of the most famous national parks in the world, especially when you are talking about Africa. It was also named one of the "Ten Natural Wonders of the World".

 It is between Kenya's Masai Mara and the Serengeti where the "Great Migration" takes place every year...a migration of animals, including wildebeest and zebras (like in the Lion King) as animals move from one country to the other to find water and food during the change of seasons.

While I was in Tanzania, I was not able to go to the Serengeti because it was too far away. I did go to the Masai Mara, which is the Kenyan extension of the same ecosystem.

Here are some pictures of the animals I saw:

Buffalo

Cheetah mom and two kids

Elephant and her baby

Giraffe

Hungry, hungry hippos!

Can you spot the leopard?

Mama Lion and her cubs

Lions yawn too!

Ostrich on the run

Zebra stripes!

4. Where Jane Goodall Studied Chimps -- Gombe Stream National Park



In Western Tanzania, tucked far away (it's very hard to get to!) is a rainforest that is now a national park, where Jane Goodall was able to conduct all of her famous research on chimpanzees. Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees here for over 45 years -- starting in 1960 -- she is known as the world's most knowledgeable expert on chimpanzees.

Jane Goodall is now very involved in conservation around the world and has changed the lives of many people, and saved the lives of many animals! It is amazing to think that it all began in Tanzania.

 5. The Cradle of Humanity -- Olduvai/Oldupai Gorge

The Oldupai gorge is part of the Great Rift Valley that passes through much of East Africa.


This gorge, right near the Serengeti, is one of the most important archaeological dig sites in the world because it is where scientists have found the oldest remains of our human ancestors -- bones from 1.9 MILLION years ago! They named these bones homo habilus. Homo Sapiens (like us) also lived here far more recently...17,000 years ago.

The Leakeys, famous archeologists in the 1960s, and also the first mentor to Jane Goodall, examining a giant bone in Oldupai Gorge

This site has also shown scientists that homo habilus were able to use stone tools, and were hunters and scavengers.

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Well, there you have it. FIVE examples that show how Tanzania is home to some really cool places.

 Which one was your favorite? Is there something you'd like to learn more about? Head over to your library, or do some researching on Google, and see what more you can find out on your own, or with the help of an adult!

I know if I had the chance, I would really want to go to Gombe Stream National Park and see the chimpanzees. While I lived kind of "close" on a map while I was teaching, it would have taken me three days just to get there! Maybe another time.

Have a great week, see you next time!

Kwa Heri,
Marisa 

Week Two: Tanzania, The Basics

Habari!

Before you travel to a new country, it's always good to learn some vocabulary in the local language (like we learned Swahili last week) and to learn some basic facts about the country itself.

Below, I've put together some facts about Tanzania.

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FACT #1: 

Tanzania is the 31st largest country in the world. 

If you took California and doubled it, Tanzania would still be a little bit bigger!

FACT #2:

Tanzania is home to two extreme elevations -- from 0 ft above sea level  to 19,340 feet.

Its lowest point is the Indian Ocean...the highest? Mt. Kilimanjaro!

I took this picture the day right before we got in the car and headed to the base to start climbing!
 It took four days to get to the top. 

FACT #3: 

The current population of Tanzania is about 48 million people. 

However, 22 million (45%) of the population are YOUNGER than 14 years old! That's a lot of kids!

0-14 years: 44.8% (male 10,913,552/female 10,715,034)

15-24 years: 19.4% (male 4,689,483/female 4,694,663)

25-54 years: 29.3% (male 7,095,382/female 7,060,506)

55-64 years: 3.5% (male 721,769/female 959,008)

65 years and over: 2.9% (male 610,252/female 802,293) (2013 est.)

This kid was pretty crafty -- he turned a bottle + bottle caps into a toy car!

FACT #4:

Most mothers have FIVE kids on average. 

Some families are smaller and some are larger, but most families are bigger than those in the United States.

One of my students Teddy, posing with her baby brother!

FACT #5:

Only 26.7% of the population of Tanzania live in cities. 

Almost 3/4 of Tanzanians live in rural areas. 

A house made of mud and branches down the road from where I lived

FACT #6:

Only 68% of the population is literate, which means they are able to read and write in either Swahili or English. 

However, 15% more boys are literate than girls, because some families in Tanzania don't think that girls should go to school or stay in school as long as boys. Luckily, this is starting to change.  

 In the United States, 86% of the population is literate, but the same amount of girls and boys can read. 

Here is one of my Form1 classrooms. These students are all around 13-15 years old. 

FACT #7:

1/3 of the population in Tanzania lives on less than $1 a day. 

That's about 16 million people living on not a lot of money. While I was in Tanzania, I was living on $5-6 a day.

FACT #8:

There are over 27.2 million cell phones in Tanzania, but only 161,000 landlines. 

This is because while many Tanzanians live without electricity, cell phones can stay charged for days, and can be charged using solar power! 

This is Furaha (his name means "Happy") and his shop had the only solar charger in the village. I would charge my phone a lot with him! 

FACT #9:

Tanzania has a lot of different natural resources, including gold, diamonds, natural gas, nickel, coal, iron and other gemstones such as Tanzanite, which can only be found in Tanzania. 

A Tanzanite and diamond ring!

FACT #10: 

Tanzania will be celebrating its 50th anniversary as a country in 2014!

While Tanganyika gained independence in 1961, it wasn't until 1964 that the United Republic of Tanzania was born; bringing together Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form one nation. 

Some of my students at school singing the national anthem

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So, there we have it. Ten facts about Tanzania, and a picture to go with each one! 

Do you have any other questions about Tanzania?

Next week, I'll be sharing some interesting landmarks in Tanzania; from the tallest mountain in Africa to the source of the Nile river. 

Baadaye!

Marisa

Tanzanian Challenges for the Week:

1. If someone was living on $1 a day, how much money might they be making a year? What if you were living on $5 a day? 

What could you buy in the US for just $1? 


2. Being 'literate' means you are able to read and write. Put your literacy to use this week by going to the library and checking out a couple of books to read!

Answering Questions from Week 1

Habari!

Some of you sent in some great questions this past week, so I wanted to post them below along with my answers before tomorrow's new blog post!

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Aaron, from Mr. Kennedy's class, would like to know if people in Tanzania use the same alphabet as we do.

Aaron, people in Tanzania use the same alphabet as we do when they are learning to read and write Swahili! However, they don't use some of the letters because they make the sounds using other letter combinations. 

Therefore, in Swahili, there is no 'Q' and no 'X'. 

Zayquan from Mr. Scott's 4th grade class at Genesee would like to know how you got to Tanzania (by boat or plane) and how long it took you. 

Hi Zayquan! To get to Tanzania, I took a plane from New York City to Zurich, Switzerland (8 hours). Then, I took another plane from Zurich to Dar es Salaam, which is the main city (but not the capital) of Tanzania, which took 9 and 1/2 hours.  

The view from the airplane before I arrived in Tanzania

From Dar es Salaam to get to my village, I first took a bus across the country. That took 36 hours! Then, I took a car to my village, which was another hour away driving, even though the distance was only 30 miles. It took us a lot longer because the road to Muyenzi is not paved.  

This is about one mile from my house on the road I was talking about. It's actually a very steep hill down...and then back up!

Nathan from Mr. Musso's class wants to know how long it took you to learn Swahili and how you learned it?

Hi Nathan! I started learning Swahili when I was a sophomore in college. I had class three times a week for almost two hours at a time. My junior year, I studied abroad in Kenya, where I practiced my Swahili and took another language course. My senior year of college I did not take any Swahili classes -- and I forgot a lot of my vocabulary!

A lot of it came back to me though when I moved to Tanzania. Although a lot of people in the big cities can speak English, when you go to rural areas, fewer people can speak English. Where I was living, only my students and other teachers knew how to speak English...and some of them were just beginners. So, I was able to practice my Swahili a lot. I even attended an 8 hour long meeting -- mostly conducted in Swahili! 

I would still say that I am far from fluent. There are lots and lots of vocabulary words that I don't know yet, and I am not very good at remembering things! It is important to keep practicing any language you're learning (even if it's your first language, like English!) to keep growing your vocabulary and improving your reading and writing skills. 

Mrs. Liberatore's 5th grade class would like to know if there is inflection at the end of a question.

Mrs. Liberatore's class, thanks for the question! Well, it's a bit complicated. In some cases,when speaking Swahili and asking a question or making an exclamation, you produce the same inflection you would as though you are speaking English if the question is framed as a statement.

For example, there isn't really a word for 'do' as in "do you...." so if you said "you want a soda" you would have to add an inflection to make it sound like a question (if it is one) or don't add an inflection, so it remains a statement. 

However, for shorter phrases and question words, you can just say the word. Whatever inflection you might give is just to show your own emotion. For example, Habari doesn't require any inflection. Many times, I would say it in a sing-song voice to the younger children, and they would sing back "nzuri!" 

Finally, Swahili also has 'question words', much like English, that indicate to the listener or reader whether or not the statement is actually a question. There is also the phrase "je" that can be added at the beginning to denote to the listener/reader that the following statement is a question. 

For example, "Je, unataka soda?" (Do you want a soda?) could either be said with or without an inflection because the 'je' asks as the question mark.

Phew, that was a long answer....but I hope it answered your question!

Casey Park students wonder where you went to elementary school.

Hi Casey Park! Great question. When I was in elementary school, I was not living in Auburn. I actually lived in Singapore - which is a small island nation near Malaysia - until I was 13 years old. My elementary school was called Overseas Family School.

Mambo from elementary-school Me!

When I moved to Auburn, I went to West Middle School for 8th grade, and then graduated from Auburn High. 

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Asante sana (Thank you so much) for submitting questions; and feel free to ask anything else that comes to mind as we continue!

Baadaye,

Marisa 

Week One: Learning Swahili

Hi Everyone,

It's time to get started on our weekly blog! Remember, I'll be posting every week (on Sunday afternoons) about something to do with Tanzania.

This week, I wanted to teach you guys some Swahili vocabulary, so you can practice it before I get there. Also, how cool is it to tell people you know how to speak Swahili?

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Greetings are very, very important in Tanzanian culture. In fact, there is a pretty good chance that you would say "Hello" and "How are you?" to every single person who you walk by! Luckily, I lived in a small village, so it wasn't too tiresome. But can you imagine if we did that in America? You would lose your voice pretty quickly!

Anyways, when you first see someone, you can say one of two things:

Habari!

or 

Mambo!

Habari (Ha-bar-ee) is the short way of asking, how are you? 

If someone says Habari to you, you would respond by saying Nzuri (N-zur-ee)which means 'good' or safi (sof-ee) which really means "clean" but people use it as a slang way of telling others that things are going well. 

If someone says Mambo, they're basically saying "What's up?" 

You can only say Mambo to your close friends and other kids...you can't say Mambo to your parents, grandparents, or anyone a lot older than you. 

If someone says Mambo to you, you respond by saying either Poa (Po-ahh) or, if you're really cool, you'd say, freshii (fresh-ee). Both poa and freshii mean "cool" though. 

So we've got:

Habari?

- Nzuri!  OR    -Safi!

and

Mambo?

-Poa!     OR     -Freshii!

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In Tanzania, most houses don't have doorbells. Instead, when you knock on someone's front door or when you want to enter a room, you call out "Hodi Hodi" (Ho-dee Ho-dee)

And if you are welcome to come in, they will respond "Karibu", which is Swahili for "Welcome" or as we might say, "Come on in!"

Tanzanians say "Karibu" all of the time...they are very welcoming people! They might say "Karibu" after you say "Hodi Hodi", or when they are offering you a drink, a snack, or a meal.

And if you are in Tanzania to visit, they will definitely say "Karibu Tanzania!" or "Karibu Africa" to welcome you to their country.  

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Of course, if you know how to say 'welcome' in Swahili, you must also learn how to say 'thank you'.

In Swahili, 'thank you' is Asante (ahh-sahn-tay).

So if you were to thank someone by saying Asante, they would respond by saying Karibu.

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Last, but not least, we must learn how to say goodbye in Swahili.

The first way to say goodbye is "Kwa Heri" (kwa  hair-ee) which if you directly translated it, it would mean "for blessings".

The second way to say goodbye is "Baadaye", (baa-die-yay) which means "later!"

You might use baadaye instead of kwa heri if you know you are going to see your friend again soon.



Alright, so let's round up our Swahili vocabulary:

Saying Hello:

1.
- Habari?     (How are you?)
- Nzuri!        (I'm good!)
or
-Safi!    (I'm clean/doing well!)

2.
-Mambo?   (What's up?)
-Poa!    (I'm cool)
or
-Freshii!     (I'm so cool, I'm fresh)

The Knock:

- Hodi Hodi!   (May I come in?)
- Karibu!     (Welcome! Come on in!)

Thank you/You're Welcome

- Asante!     (Thank you!)
- Karibu.     (You're welcome.)

Goodbye:

- Kwa heri!     (Goodbye!)
or
- Baadaye!    (Later!)


If you learn any of these Swahili words, you'll be able to impress anyone from Tanzania, or anyone who has ever been there!

Oh my, I almost forgot! There is a Swahili phrase that you might already know from a very popular Disney movie...

Do you know what Hakuna Matata means? I'll ask you when I come and visit!

Next week, I will share with you a whole bunch of facts about Tanzania, so if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section!

Kwa Heri!
Marisa



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Tanzanian Challenges for the Week:

1. Try to find a way to use "Hodi Hodi", either in your classroom or around your house instead of knocking or using a doorbell.

 But before you do, make sure your friends or family members know the correct response to let you in!


2. Find out what "Hakuna Matata" means.

Hint: There's a very catchy song in the Lion King movie that has the answer!

Welcome!

Hi Everyone, or as they say in Tanzania, Habari!

Welcome to "Auburn Visits Tanzania"! This blog is dedicated to the students, teachers, parents, and community members of Auburn, NY -- and is the product of a partnership between Auburn Education Foundation, Auburn Enlarged School District, and myself.

My name is Marisa Ranieri, and I graduated from Auburn High School in June 2008. Since then, I graduated from college, moved to Tanzania for one year to teach English, started a non-profit organization called The Nyota Fund which sponsors 50 full academic scholarships to high school students in Tanzania, and am currently pursuing a Masters from NYU in African Studies.

This is a photo of me at my school in Tanzania, posing with my student Tomas Gideon!

I am really excited to begin this blogging adventure this spring with you, but I'm even MORE excited to be coming back to Auburn to give some talks and meet with students across the school district mid-March!

 As my teachers told me, and I told my students in Tanzania, there is no such thing as a silly question. Feel free to post comments or questions on any of the blog posts and I'll answer them in the following week's post, or you can ask me in person when I come to town.

Kwa heri! (Goodbye in Swahili)

Marisa