8/12/09

I am currently typing this on my flight back to the states. And in the new few weeks, I will do my best to process my experience. Anyway, I feel like much of my writing has been about my political endeavors, rather than the teaching that actually goes on. Hence, I am going to use some pictures to give some idea of the dynamics of the classroom, and essentially what I have been doing everyday for the past 7 weeks for 2 hours at night:



This is the classroom as it is being prepped for class. Usually during the day, workers using the roof as shade from the sun. At around 6 or so, they close up their work, and head out. Students then start trickling in as they finish up washing themselves and gathering their materials for class.




This is a view of the classroom from the side. As one can see, there are some workers under the roof working. This is what it usually looks like from the day. Sitting on the bench is the chairman and to his left on the floor is one of my students.



Here are my students working hard to understand what is going on. In their hands are the textbooks that I have created.



Here is a better shot of what the students are paying attention to. This lesson involves the important grammatical structure of 因为。。。所以。。。 (Kwa sababu... kwa hivyo... Because... therefore).


The Comedy:

The following pictures are taken when students were preparing for the comedy, to which some people of the Chinese Embassy attended. In total, we had 6 sections, and I will type up each skit and follow it with pictures:

Group #1 (Kikundi cha Kwanza):

Keflas: 先生，你好吗？你今天过地怎么样？请进！来看一看！(Sir, how are you? How are you today? Please come in, come take a look!)

Steven and Joseph: 我们有很多犀牛！(We have lots of rhinos!)

(Sebastian passing says "不要!" (I don't want it!), another group of Chinese speaking customers enters)

Kelfas: 欢迎光临！大家来看一看！(Welcome! Welcome! Everyone come take a look!)

Steven and Joseph: 我们有很多很大的犀牛！(We have lots of big rhinos!)

(Pius, Nampwahi, and Faustin pass saying "不要！" (don't want it). Lawrence enters as the final passerby-er)

Kelfas: 朋友！欢迎你来看一看我们的商品！(Friend! Welcome, take a look at my wares!)

Steven and Joseph: 我们有很多大的和很好的犀牛！(We have lots of big and great rhinos!)

Lawrence: 哎哟！你为什么一直叫，‘我有很多犀牛？’” (Aiyo! Why do you keep yelling, "I have lots of rhinos!)

Kelfas: 他们一直叫因为很多中国人很喜欢犀牛！(They keep yelling because lots of Chinese people like rhinos!)

Lawrence: 算了，我走了！(Forget it! I'm leaving!)



Here, storeowners Kelfas (red), Steven (orange), and Joseph (Blue) try futilely to invite a group of Chinese speaking customers, Pius (left), Nampwahi (right of Pius).




Here, Lawrence (left), wonders why Kelfas, Steven, and Joseph keep yelling "我们有很多犀牛！" (We have lots of rhinos!)



Group #2:

Njudi: 先生，欢迎，请进！(Sir, welcome, come in!)

Pius and Gerald: 谢谢！(Thank you!)

Njudi: 请问你们在找什么？(May I ask what you are looking for?)

Gerald: 我们在找犀牛。 你有没有犀牛？(We are looking for rhinos. Do you have rhinos?)

Njudi: 当然有！你在找大的还是小的犀牛呢？(Of course! Are you looking for a big or a little rhino?)

Gerald: 我们在找大的犀牛！(We are looking for big rhinos)

Njudi: 这个够大吗？(Is this big enough?)

Pius: 这个太小了。你有更大的吗？(This is too small! Do you have any bigger ones?)

Njudi: 当然有。这个够大吗？(Of course! Is this big enough?)

Pius: 这个还是太小。(This is still too small)

Njudi: 这个还是太小？真的吗？(This is still too small? Really?)

Pius: 真的！(Really!)

Njudi: 这个犀牛很大。 你觉得他够大吗？(This rhino is really big. Is it big enough?)

Pius: 当然不够！这些犀牛都那么小。开玩笑！(Of course not! All these rhinos are so small! Are you kidding me!?)

Njudi: 对不起。我没有更大的。(Sorry. I don't have any bigger ones)

Pius: 算了！我们走了！(Forget it! We're leaving!)

Njudi: 请再来！哎，今天生意真不好！(Please come again! Ai! Business really isn't good today)



Here is Raphael telling Njudi about the big rhino that he wants.



Pius is really unhappy with all the fact that Njudi only supplies small rhinos.



Group #3:

Gabriel: 诶! 朋友，请进，来看一看我的犀牛！(Hey! Friend! Come take a look at the rhinos!)

Nampwahi: 我门在找一个大的犀牛！(We are looking for one big rhino!)

Gabriel: 啊！大的犀牛。这个犀牛够大吗？(A big rhino? Is this rhino big enough?)

Nampwahi: 够大！这个要多少钱？(It is big enough. How much is this?)

Gabriel: 这个十万块！(This is 10,000 shillings!)

Sebastian: 十万块！不可能！太贵了！(10,000shillings!? It couldn't be. It's too expensive!)

Gabriel: 不贵！因为这个犀牛很好，所以要十万! (It's not expensive. Because this rhino is good, so it costs 10,000!)

Sebastian: 开玩笑！这个犀牛很不好！(You are kidding me! This rhino is not good!)

Gabriel: 那里很不好！这个犀牛质量特别高。你看，他的眼睛很漂亮。他的角很坚！(How is it not good? This rhino's quality is really high. Take a look, its' eyes are really pretty, its' horn is really sharp!

Sebastian: 可是我觉得这个犀牛很丑。(But I feel this rhino is ugly!)

Gabriel: 一点儿都不丑。这个犀牛又可爱，质量又很高！你为什么不喜欢它呢？(It's not ugly at all! This rhino is really cute, and its quality is high! Why do you not like it!?)

Sebastian: 因为他很丑！(Because it is ugly!)

Gabriel: 如果你觉得他很丑，那你为什么要买它呢？(If you think it is ugly, then why do you want to buy it?)

Sebastian and Nampwahi: 哎哟！算了，我走了！(Forget it! I'm leaving!)



Unfortunately, for a week or so, Gabriel was missing so I had to take over. This means that the camera work is not quite great, as the students have rarely used cameras in their lives, but they are sufficient. Here Sebastian is telling me about how ugly the rhino is .



Nampwahi a bit shocked as to just how ugly the rhino is.


Group #4:

Yohana: 欢迎光临。请问你在找犀牛吗？(Welcome! Welcome! Are you looking for rhinos?)

Mchingawa: 是的。你怎么知道的？(Yes. How did you know?)

Yohana: 因为我有先见之明？(Because I have the ability to predict the future)

Mchingawa: 哇！太厉害了！这个犀牛多贵？(Wow! That's incredible! How much is this rhino?)

Yohana: 因为你是我的朋友，所以这个只要五万块！(Because you are my friend, so this is only 50,000 shillings!)

Faustin: 五万块！开玩笑！太贵了！五百块好了！(50,000 shillings! You're kidding me! It's too expensive. 500 shillings!)

Yohana: 朋友，连小的犀牛都要一万块。这么大的犀牛怎么可能五百块？(My friend, even a small rhino costs 10,000 shillings. How in the world could a rhino as big as this cost 500 shillings?)

Faustin: 那一万块，好了？(Then 10,000?)

Yohana: 朋友。你开我玩笑吧！(My friend. You've got to be kidding me!)

Hashim: 两万块！(20,000)

Yohana: 还是太便宜了！四万，好了！ (It's still too cheap. 40,000!)

Faustin: 四万！？ 我只有两万！(40,000! I only have 20,000!)

Yohana: 啊！两万块！那你只能买这个小的犀牛！(Ah! 20,000? Then you can only buy this small rhino.)

Faustin: 哎哟！算了，我走了！(Aiyo! Forget it! I'm leaving!)

Yohana: 哎! 今天生意真不好！ (Ai! Business sure is no good today!)



Yohana (right) greeting his customers Faustin, Hashim, and Mchingawa (from left to right).



And the customers leave after being upset with the dialogue!

Group #5:

Peter: 先生， 这个多少钱？(Sir! How much is this?)

Amiry: 这个八万八千八百八十八块！(This is 88888 shillings)

Peter: 哇！那么贵！(Wow! That expensive?!)

Amiry: 虽然比较贵，可是很划算！(Though it is a little expensive, but it's worth it!)

Peter: 为什么？(Why?)

Amiry: 你看。有五个八， 所以你会发发发发发！不是很好吗？(Take a look. There are 5 eights, so you will get rich rich rich rich rich *This is a cultural note. Chinese like the number eight because it sounds close to the word for "get rich". This is what is going on here.)

Peter: 哎哟, 还是太贵了！四万四千四百四十四块好了？(Aiyo! It's still too expensive. 44444, ok?)

Amiry: 绝对不可以！(Absolutely not!)

Peter: 为什么？(Why?)

Amiry: 因为不能让你死死死死死！(Because I cannot let you die die die die die! *This is another cultural note. Chinese do not like the number four because it sounds like the word for death.)

Felix: 你还懂点中国文化！(You know a bit about Chinese culture!)

Amiry: 是的，因为我有中文老师，也上中文课，所以我懂一点儿。(Yes. Because I have a Chinese teacher, and go to Chinese class, so I know a little.)

Mpende: 啊！是吗？你的中文非常好。你是一个很好的学生！(Ah! Is that so? Your Chinese is really good! You are a good student!)

Amiry: 对啊！欢迎你们来看一看！(Yes! Welcome you to come again!)

Mpende: 好的。我明天再来！(Ok. I will come again!)

Amiry: 明天见！(See you tomorrow!)



Here, Amiry (right) shows Felix (left) and Peter (middle) the importance of 8 in the Chinese language.



Peter, in response, shows Amiry what he thinks to be a fairer price.



Mpende (middle) and Felix (right) compliment Amiry (not shown) on his fantastic Chinese cultural knowledge.



Group 6:

This group had two versions of conversation. One was before Ms. Wu decided to stop teaching, and one after she decided to stop teaching. I will post them both, though the students' lines did not change much:

Vincent: 你们好。(Hey guys!)

Saimoni and Gissi: 你好。(Hey)

Saimoni: Vincent, 你在找什么？(Vincent, what are you looking for?)

Vincent: 我在找中文老师。(I am looking for a Chinese teacher)

Saimoni: 诶！我们已经有一个中文老师啊！(Ei! We already have a Chinese teacher!)

Vincent: 是的，可是他走了以后，谁会教我们呢？(Yes, but after he leaves, who will teach us?)

Gissi: 这个是一个问题。我们去找找看吧！(This is a problem. Let's go search!)

(Students walk around in search of a teacher. At this time, Ms. Wu would enter)

Vincent: 你是不是中国人？(Are you a Chinese person?)

Ms. Wu: 是的。(Yes)

Vincent: 我们在找中文老师。 你有兴趣吗？(We are looking for a Chinese teacher. Are you interested?)

Ms. Wu: 有。你们在那里学中文？(Yes. Where do you guys learn Chinese?)

Saimoni: 在 Mwenge. 你可以教我们中文吗？(At Mwenge. Can you teach us Chinese?)

Ms. Wu: 当然可以。(Of course I can!)

Saimoni: 可是我们很穷，所以我们没有钱。(But we are poor, so we don't have money)

Ms Wu: 没有问题！(No problem)

Vincent: 好极了！请问你的贵姓？(Great! What is your family name?)

Ms. Wu: 我姓吴。(My family name is Wu)

All the students: 欢迎吴老师！！！(Welcome Teacher Wu!)

After Ms. Wu decided that she was too busy. The first half prior to the search stayed the same. The second half changed. Instead of Ms. Wu entering, another student, Kashmiry, entered first.

Vincent: 你是不是中国人？(Are you a Chinese person?)

Kashmiry:: 不是！！ (No!!)

(At this point, I enter the classroom as just another Chinese person)

Vincent: 我们在找中文老师。 你有兴趣吗？(We are looking for a Chinese teacher. Are you interested?)

Me: 你们在那里学中文？(Where do you guys learn Chinese?)

Saimoni: 在 Mwenge. 你可以教我们中文吗？(At Mwenge. Can you teach us Chinese?)

Me: 也许可以。(Maybe I can)

Saimoni: 可是我们很穷，所以我们没有钱。(But we are poor, so we don't have money)

Me: 哎，对不起，那这个我就做不到。(Sorry, then this I cannot do)

(I leave the stage)

All the students: 唉！我们该怎么办！？(Ai! What should we do now?)



Vincent (left), Saimoni (middle), Gissi (right) discuss what needs to be done after their Chinese teacher leaves.



Vincent and Gissi on the search for a new teacher. Nampwahi looking at them as if they're crazy.



At times, I felt like a drama coach, instructing the students on some appropriate hand and arm movements. This gesture in particular went with the line: 唉！我们该怎么办！ (Ai! What should we do now!?)



Gissi gives his best impersonation of me.



And here is Amiry getting a little too into the acting.



Everybody now!



This was party night. We actually had a lot more drinks under the table, but the ones on the table were for the guests of honor, the embassy members. I didn't actually take pictures of the embassy members once they got here (I should have) so this is all I have to show for it for now.



Here is a photo taken on the last day of class. Quite a few of the students are absent, so it is far from complete, but still, it's a very good one!

8/10/09

In an odd conversation, yesterday, I actually met Councilman Sun, who is the head of the cultural division at the woodcarvers' market. He happened to be looking at some carvings in the chairman's shop, and the chairman called me over to talk with him. I don't think he really cared much for my project (but he did know about, and was aware that two people from his department attended a presentation yesterday), and instead, he was really happy to find out that I was from America, because he'd be going there in a month or so to buy a new car to send back to China. I gave him my contact information, and it seemed like he would actually contact me when he gets to the US. Yeah, pretty weird, but maybe if I do him this favor, he'll be more likely to help out some woodcarvers in Tanzania. What a weird way to build a relationship.

Today I visited Ms. Wang at the embassy, mostly to say thanks and fairwell. It was particularly nice because I really had no goal in mind and we chatted about various topics from the woodcarvers' market, comparing US and China education systems, why I took Swahili, and many things that weren't directly related to the project at hand.. I felt that it was a very solid cultural exchange, and am thankful I got to talk to her in let's say a non-political setting. She did comment that she thought the students had learned quite a lot in a short amount of time, and in addition, that she was surprised that Ms. Wu had cancelled since Ms. Wang thought that it was a great opportunity for the Chinese people to connect with Tanzanians. The only thing that I ended up asking of her and the embassy to do was to continue printing my books for the students as I sent them to the embassy. As a gift to the embassy, I also gave her a Swahili-English dictionary. Just trying to end on a good note.

At today's class, I talked with the students about a method for them to continue learning their Chinese and not forget. Basically, my plan is as follows: I will continue recording sound bits in America of the dialogues that are in my textbook. I will then send them over the internet to one of the more well off students, who will then download it onto a USB drive. He has an MP3 player device that he can then connect to some speakers and play the sound bits. It is in this manner that students will be able to learn new material. Of course, they have covered a lot of stuff in class already that they have yet to mastered or have forgotten, and reviewing these will also be valuable. At the end, I emphasized that it was now up to them to learn the Chinese. They have a foundation, and there is no reason why they cannot continue to learn some new lessons and review everything which they have learned. Once they finish the book that I have created, I will write a second part, which I will ask the Chinese Embassy to print.

Another interesting idea came to me about a week earlier when one of my students told me that a Chinese customer tried to buy his Swahili-Chinese textbook. My student refused to sell out (which I was actually extremely proud of since it meant he valued his Chinese learning over a few thousand or ten thousand shillings). I figure if I can create a text that teaches Swahili to Chinese people, then I might be able to make some money of these books. Instead of myself making money, however, I can ship these texts to the woodcarvers, who can then sell them to Chinese people. I've decided that all the money from these sales would then go toward doing something for the Chinese class at the woodcarvers' market such as hiring a teacher, or fixing broken benches. I'm not sure how successful it will be, but it does not seem to be a bad idea. Something that's really appealing to me right now is that if I ever get the money, I'll try to build a better school for the woodcarvers, but that's a long-term goal.

I'll be leaving in two days, and I haven't really had much time to draw conclusions about the work I've done. When I get back to the states, I'll likely take a few days to let it sink in.

8/9/09

Yesterday, Friday, I was interviewed by an Mwananchi/The Citizen editor, who came with a photographer to take some pictures. The interview lasted about half an hour, but I think they were more interested in the reasons I took Swahili and came to this country, rather than the state of the Chinese school. After this, however, they also talked with the chairman, who I think gave a lot more specifics about the Chinese class. In addition, they were able to come attend an actual class, so I think they have a fairly good idea about some of the things that are going on. Unfortunately, I was told that the article would be published after I had left Tanzania (the reason I was given because it would take up a lot of space), so I may be unable to get a hard copy of it, but I will be able to read it on the internet, and might get one of my professors here to ship me a copy.

Friday night, as I was wrapping up class, I also received a call from Ms. Wang, telling me that they would indeed be coming. I was very excited and after I told the students, they were revved up as well. Upon returning to my host family, however, I received another call from Ms. Wang asking if I could move the time up so that more people from the embassy could go. I said I'd do my best and call her back tomorrow.

On Saturday morning, I headed over to the woodcarvers market, and while waiting for the chairman to arrive, I talked with one of my students,C. Mchingawa, who is an old man who still carves everyday. He told me that if necessary, the students would do the performance whenever the embassy would come. He said it was important to try to take hold of the opportunity to show off their Chinese. I decided to call again in the morning to ask for an ideal time, but soon I was told by Ms. Wang that a time change was no longer needed because not many people could go even if the time were changed. When the chairman arrived, we went to print out a report that I had typed on the Chinese class that we would give to the Chinese Embassy and any other media members that arrived. We also made some preparations to obtain 4 crates of sodas for the event at night.

In the afternoon, I received a call from the Mwananchi editor saying that he could not come because he had just been assigned to go to Morogoro. This was fine as he already had obtained the story the previous day, but I still feel it was a lost opportunity because people from the embassy would have been present. Now if the embassy showed up, and we had said that we would invite people from the media as well as the new teacher, it would look fairly bad.

In the end, only people from the embassy came, which was something good in itself. It was actually a pretty awkward experience, however. Upon arriving Ms. Wang and Mr. Cheng, another member of the embassy, drove their car onto the soccer field in which the school was located. The chairman greeted them, and they gave the chairman some gifts from the embassy, which included some DVDs and books. I then introduced the embassy members to the students, who then welcomed them in Chinese. Up to that point, things seemed to go ok, but then I had to give a speech of sorts to explain why we were gathered here, and since everyone knew different languages, I thought the best language to use would be English. Unfortunately, I have not spoken English for a really long time, and everything that I said, sounded really awkward to me. Anyway, after mumbling something about how we're excited that the embassy has come, that the Chinese community has done much for Tanzania, but a cultural aspect is sorely lacking, the students started their presentations.

I thought the presentations were fairly good. There were a few errors here and there, but that is to be expected. I do not believe the people from the embassy were that impressed, however. There were a few laughs here and there from Ms. Wang and Mr. Cheng, but overall, the atmosphere seemed pretty tense. Also, they asked me many questions during the presentations, which first of all, may have suggested they were disinterested, but the questions also pointed to a lack of absence from other media members and the teacher that I said we inivited. After the students finished the presentation, the chairman tried to get the embassy members to speak a few words, but they kindly declined, and soon they were off. Unfortunately, upon trying to leave, their car got stuck on an incline, and they asked us to bring them some boards. Unfortunately, all the stores were closed already so there were no boards to be found. Eventually, they went at a different angle down the slope and everything was ok. Anyway, I felt we did not exactly give off the best impression, and most of that is my fault for not doing more preparations. Either way, I'm glad they came and hopefully in some way, encouraged the students to continue learning.

I think another thing that went wrong was that we tried to write letters to the media members only. In fact, the only media member that turned up was one in which I personally wrote an e-mail to. If not for them, no one would be covering this story. My guess is not that other media outlets are not interested, but that the person sitting at the front desk never had time, or forgot to give the letter to one of the editors.

Anyway, I think I will call the embassy again on Monday to thank Ms. Wang, apologize for the car incident, and explain more clearly the teacher situation. Before leaving, I hope that the embassy agrees to print more books, if I send them through e-mail. Perhaps in return, I can also make Swahili books for Chinese learners. This way it will be a kind of mutual learning process, rather than a more one sided affair.

8/7/09

I have translated the dialogue that I posted on 7/31/09.

I got some terrible news yesterday, that Ms. Wu, the teacher I that once accepted to teach, can no longer do so. She has just been lined up to do five more programs over the next year or so, and hence, will be really busy. Honestly, I am very understanding to her situation, and am still very appreciative that she even thought about teaching the woodcarvers. What I am disappointed about though, is that I could not have been told earlier. With only less than 5 days left here in Tanzania, it is unlikely that I will be able to find another teacher in time.

Anyways, there is no time for me to sulk about the loss of a teacher here, as the small party I am planning will be taking place tomorrow. I have had to change one of the groups' skits, from welcoming the new teacher, to one in which the students are still continuing to seek a teacher, and in the end, are disappointed a new one cannot come. The last line ends with a somber, 哎，我们该怎么办？ (Sigh! What should we do now?).

Things aren't really that depressing, and if the party were not tomorrow, I would restructure the latter half of the skit so that it would be much more optimistic, but in this way, the students in this skit group only have to add one additional line. Sometime later, I'll post all the skits that the students have done, so it'll be easier to understand.

My plan as of now is to stay at the woodcarvers market from 8 in the morning until 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday to try to talk to some more Chinese people about my project. It likely will not do much good, but it can't hurt to try. As for a backup plan, it may be possible for me to try to continue to send voice clips through the internet of the lessons to one of the more well off students (he is a businessmen and is professionally trained as a teacher), and then he can relay the lessons to the other students. Anyway, my goal as of now has shifted gears a bit from finding another teacher, to thinking of a way in which they can simply retain what they already have learned. Once I leave, I think many of the students may lose the desire to learn Chinese, but if they are really determined about it, it is entirely possible that they can continue to meet after work everyday in order to review the vast amount of Chinese which they have already learned. I've basically done all I can do, and now it is up to the students to take responsibility for retaining the Chinese language skills that they have acquired.

After I return to the US, I am going to try to get Princeton to start an internship where a student or two or three would do exactly what I have done this summer. The only requirements would be that they have sufficient Chinese skills to teach it (Mine are by no means, great), and that they have a willingness to learn the Swahili language. They will take courses at the University of Dar Es Salaam, and at night, would teach the woodcarvers. Hopefully, this ensures that at least every summer they will be able to continue learning Chinese. I think many students would be attracted to it, and it seems like Princeton, in the service of all nations, would readily try to eat up (hopefully the bureaucracy at Princeton University is not nearly as bad as it is here).

Despite the bad news, I do have a bit of good news as well. Earlier in the week, the chairman and I delivered letters to different newspapers and media groups, hoping that they'd turn out. One of the groups we missed, however, was the Mwananchi/The Citizen, because the chairman did not really know where their office was. This was a bit disappointing for me because it is the first paper I started reading here in Tanzania, and it was the one that my professor recommended I use as a means of learning Swahili. It also seems to be the paper that many professors on the University of Dar Es Salaam campus are reading. Anyway, this week, I took it upon myself to contact this paper through e-mail this Wednesday, and the following day, they responded asking to interview me as well as take a look at the Chinese class. The editor seemed really excited to hear about this story, and perhaps, even if the Chinese Embassy as well as the Chinese community do not show much interest in such a program, if the Tanzanian papers report favorably upon such teaching, it may change the minds of the Embassy. Any press is good press at this point, I think, and I really have not much to lose since I am leaving the country soon.

So an exciting few days ahead. I'll likely report again sometime Sunday/Monday after everything has settled a bit.

8/5/09

I'm just counting down the days until small party will occur. I am preparing a small speech of sorts, and am doing my best not to put in small jabs at the Chinese embassy for not doing more earlier. Being diplomatic is difficult. I understand that the embassy may be busy with bigger and better things, but what I don't understand is why they cannot find a time to send just one person to take a look at a classroom where students are learning Chinese. Especially in the case where the media may be present, this seems like an invaluable opportunity for them to encourage Chinese learning. I've essentially laid the groundwork, and all they have to do is show up for an hour. Of course, I am extremely biased on this issue, and if someone could shed light, that'd be helpful.

If people from the embassy come, the chairman wants to request that the embassy donate a television and television stand, as well as tapes of that Communicate in Chinese program that is sometimes shown by CCTV, so that students will be able to watch on nights that a teacher cannot come. I think this is a horrendous idea, and really makes the woodcarvers look like their grasping for luxuries rather than trying to really learn Chinese. With that kind of money, it is easily possible to hire a teacher for 2 months or so, I believe. The chairman, however, seems infatuated with this idea, and though I have yet to confront him about it, I think I will soon.

A better idea, I think, would be to ask the Chinese Embassy to help renovate the current school, which is really nothing more than a school. This gives the embassy big publicity, since they will have built the actual school (and can place a huge sign in front of it, that say donated by the Chinese Embassy), and the woodcarvers get a much nicer facility for their learning. My only problem with this is that the chairman might try to hike up the price for students to attend, which is already a big issue. If I ever get enough money to make some kind of huge donation, I think the first place it would go would be to build a Chinese school at the Woodcarvers' market, and make sure that woodcarvers could go there for essentially free.

8/4/09

I finished the report by Friday evening, and after some great editing by my aunt, I sent it to Ms. Wang. She called me to let me know she received it on Saturday, and asked for me to clarify some things. She then told me she'd give the report to the leader who would then make a decision as to whether they can or cannot make it. So I am currently playing the waiting game again as to whether they will or will not come.

I think the embassy was just trying to wait it out and hoping that I would give up eventually. I've been pestering them for weeks about finding an available date and they've just kept telling me they've been busy and busier. Originally, I wanted to give them the flexibility to choose a day, but that turned out to be horrible. Then I limited their flexibility to one of two Saturdays to which there was no response, and then finally, this Saturday. I think that I've set out a date has made them realize that, "Oh wait, this kid is actually serious about us coming to look at his Chinese class. And he's trying to get the media involved? Uh-oh, we better change our plans."

Another thing that kind of irked me was that originally in my first letter to the embassy, I had asked for four things:

1) Printing of my books
2) Finding of a teacher to continue
3) Donation of some chalkboards, chalk, notebooks, and in the future, possibly restructuring the Woodcarver's school (a long-term goal to be certain)
4) Working together to throw a party for the students.

They did the first relatively hassle free, but number 2 and 4 I've had to do on my own. The other day in her phone call, Ms. Wang asked that if we still wanted them to throw a party since I was already organizing one, to which I responded "No, we don't need that anymore," but to which I really wanted to say, "Since you never were really serious about planning one, I had to go ahead and pay all the expenses." Anyway, I'm just really bothered that the embassy would not jump on this story and try its' best to present itself in a better light. There may be something I'm missing though...

On Saturday and Sunday, I was witness to some of the most hilarious buyer-seller conversations. On the weekend, there are always lots of Chinese people who visit and try to buy stuff (In fact, many of the Chinese make it a weekly event), and so this means tons of opportunities for students to interact with the Chinese customers. Here's how one of the conversations went down:

Student: 欢迎，请进。来看一看! (Welcome! Come and take a look!)

Chinese person: 我要五个犀牛。 一个犀牛一万五。(I want five rhinos. One rhino for 15,000)

Student: 一个犀牛一万五。不可能。一个犀牛三万。(One rhino for 15,000? That's not possible. One for 30,000)

Chinese person: (Starting to get mad). 我说，一个犀牛一万五。我买五个！(I said, one rhino for 15,000! I'm buying 5)

Student: 这个犀牛很好！ (This rhino is really good!)

Chinese person: (Getting madder!) 哎呀！我说，一个犀牛一万五。我买五个！(Aiya! I said, one rhino for 15,000. I'm buying 5!)

Student: 朋友，这些犀牛特别好！(Friend, this rhino is super good!)

Chinese person: (Now absolutely fuming!) 哎哟。我知道了啊！一个犀牛一万五！ 我买五个！！！ (Aiyo! I know already! One rhino for 15,000. I'm buying 5!)

Student: 开玩笑！不可能 (You're kidding! It's not possible!)

(Chinese person leaves)

While it's sad that the student didn't make the sale, at least he had an opportunity to debate a little bit, and frustrate the Chinese person. Chinese people generally fall on two sides of the fence in terms of reaction. There is one group like the guy above who either seem to try to not to discuss in Chinese, and another groups that become really happy and amazed when they realize the woodcarvers know a bit of Chinese. At one point in one store, three of my students were all telling this one Chinese guy about how good the 犀牛 (rhino) was, by using stuff they learned like, "这个犀牛很大 (The rhino is big)，所以比较贵 (so it is more expensive).,质量很高 (The quality is very high)，这个犀牛的眼睛很漂亮 (The rhino's eyes are very pretty. This last one really made the Chinese guy start laughing). The one Chinese guy also tried leaving about 4 times, and each time he was called back with "来来来" (Come, come, come) or "先生，再来！(Sir, come again!)" It made me really proud to see them actually using the language, and reminded me, "Wow! This really is useful!"

7/31/09

It's neat that the party that we are planning for Chinese class will fall on 8/8. That's got to be good luck, right?

Anyway, today Focus and I journeyed into the city to attempt to deliver the rest of the letters. Focus thought it'd be wise to invite the public relations portions of the big cell phone companies Vodacom, Zain, and Tigo to this party as well. A number of local government officials and also the police office were among the other places that we needed to go. This is a long process, and before Focus got tired of walking (He is quite a big man, and quite old as well), we only had delivered four or so letters, and we have about 12 remaining. I guess we'll just have to go Monday. Nothing ever gets done in Tanzania with phone calls or emails, but if you visit someone and give them a letter, then that apparently means a lot. It'll be interesting to see how any people actually show up next Saturday.

In other news, I received a phone call from Ms. Wang, informing me that she wanted to write a report on the Chinese learning woodcarvers. When I asked who would be getting it, she told me not to worry about it... Anyway, needless to say, I started writing immediately and will try to get it back to her tomorrow. It's taken almost 6 weeks, but at least the embassy is finally doing something with the project. Ms. Wang was ambiguous of whether she would be coming next Saturday (though she did mention she got the letter from Focus), but at the very least, this report is something in the right direction. Ms. Wang specifically asked me to write down the woodcarvers' request for more blackboards, benches, chalk, and notebooks, which leads me to believe that perhaps they will be donating this stuff next Saturday. That would be one way to make themselves look good.

7/30/09

I’m excited at the progress that the students have made in their skits. If they can just keep their head composed during the presentation, their pronunciation is pretty much spot on, although they do sound like they are trying a bit too hard when speaking.

I have 13 days left, and these final days will be my attempt to publicize the Chinese learning that is going on at the Woodcarvers school. I am hoping that if the woodcarvers’ learning is well received, the Chinese embassy and perhaps other organizations around the world will see that a Chinese learning program is feasible in Tanzania and that there are many students ready to take advantage of such a program. Perhaps more importantly, I hope to validate the learning of the woodcarving students. They are already very motivated, but still, I feel sometimes the rigor of daily life may prevent them from studying as enthusiastically as usual. Though their interactions with the Chinese customers is validation to some degree, it compares nothing to the certificates and ceremonies that western institutions put on at a graduation or so. To them learning is something valuable in itself, but even so, I would like to somehow show that I, and I think many people in Tanzania will, appreciate their efforts.

I talked to my professor, who taught at Princeton for two years, but will now be returning to the University of Dar es Salaam to work full time. He has recently become head of the Kiswahili program there, so fortunately for me, he has a couple of useful connections. He has contacted the Dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Dean there was very happy to hear about my program and wanted to interview me on radio and TV! Hopefully, I can convince the dean to attend one of our classes, as that would be the best situation, but an interview is a good start. I want this to be more about the woodcarvers rather than my own journey, but I’m not sure how the questions are going to twist it, so I need to prepare myself, haha.

I am also writing letters to some major media outlets as well as the Chinese Embassy and Business center. Here is a default example:

Dear Media Member,

We would like to invite all members of the media to attend a Chinese presentation put together by the Chinese language students of the Tanzania Carvers’ Association (Chawasawata) on Saturday, August 8th 7 p.m., at the Chawasawata school, located right behind the Woodcarvers‘ market in Mwenge. The students will be presenting a few short skits to show the Chinese language that they have acquired over the past two months. In addition, Chawasata will be bidding fairwell to their Chinese teacher, Mr. King, who is returning to America, and welcoming their new teacher Ms. Wu, who will continue to teach every Saturday at the Chawasawata school.

We are very proud of the progress that these dedicated students have been able to make, and would greatly appreciate it if the media outlets in Dar Es Salaam could also come out to see just how much they have learned in just these few months. Your presence at this event would not only encourage the students at the Chawasawata school to encourage learning, but also set a precedent to show Tanzanians that the Chinese people are not only seeking a business relationship, but a relationship that fosters the exchange of culture and knowledge. We hope to invite other members of the Chinese community, local newspapers, and television stations to publicize this event and show Tanzanians how much China-Tanzania relations have progressed.

We understand that the media has many projects to pursue, but hope that they do find our cause valuable enough to make time for. If you are planning to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we may plan out the number of drinks needed. If there are any questions about the event or how to arrive at the Chawasawata school, please contact Jeffrey King, Chinese teacher at the Chawasawata school at 0755330574 or Focus, chairman of the Tanzania Carvers Association, at 0754623873, prior to August 12th. Finally, if you cannot attend this particular day, but would still like to cover this developing story, please let us know as well, and we will do our best to arrange another day in which you can observe the classroom.

Thank you for your time,

Chawasawata (Chama cha Wasanii Wachongaji Tanzania
Tanzania Carvers Association

7/27/09

Saturday, I met with Mr. Li, who introduced me to Ms. Wu, who is the actual teacher. Mr. Li will be returning back to China in two weeks, but Ms. Wu has started working here for just a month or so and will be staying for the foreseeable future. Both of them were interested in doing the teaching because they saw it as an opportunity to help spread some Chinese culture (They felt particularly strongly that China needed to do a better job in building a cultural and not just business presence), and in addition, to learn some Swahili. Mr. Li in particular was interested in how he could teach the woodcarvers to better save their money. He insisted that due to colonization, many of the woodcarvers just spent the money that they got each day and saved none of it. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but it could be true. Anyway, Mr. Li is an actual success story himself, and probably could be a poster boy for China’s educational system. He grew up in a rural area, but with good test scores, was able to attend college and now is doing quite well for himself. I think partly due to his background, he sympathizes with the poorer Tanzanians.

As of now, Ms. Wu can only teach once a week on Saturdays because her work schedule is really busy. She says she will try to find more time when things get lighter. In addition, there are about 8 young graduates from China coming over to work in the company, and she will “require” them to volunteer to teach the woodcarvers Chinese. I really like how she sees teaching the woodcarvers as an exchange of knowledge rather than her taking time out of her schedule to do something solely for the sake of the Tanzanians. Anyway, while once a week is not ideal for Chinese learning, it is much better than nothing, and the woodcarvers were indeed just happy to know that they will at the very least be able to keep their Chinese at the level which it is at.

Later that Saturday, she also came to take a look at how class was run. Because right now I am preparing the students for some skits (in which I hope the Chinese Embassy will attend), class was a bit different than usual. I split my class into six groups and the day before (Friday), we had started working on dialogues that I had written. Sadly, I don’t think many of the students are yet capable of writing dialogues for themselves, and because I am tight on time, I decided to write them myself. I assigned students parts in each dialogue, and during the class they worked on it within their groups. When Ms. Wu finally came (with her cousin who’s much younger than she is), the woodcarvers gave her a very warm greeting. I told her about what I was doing, and she immediately helped the woodcarvers with their pronunciation in each group. At the end of class, she finally introduced herself officially, and she left to a standing ovation from the woodcarvers.

Today (Monday), in class, we further worked on the skits. At the very end of class, I had each group do its’ presentation in front of the class. It was an absolute blast. The students made a ton of mistakes, but I was really proud of what they were attempting to do. One student in particular had some hilarious acting skills (in that they were not good, but he was trying hard), and the class gave him a hard time about it. It was neat, however, that the students could tell when a student was pronouncing things correctly and they even caught on to some of the mistakes other people were doing. I am currently on a mad rampage to find someone with a video camera. The ones sold here are at cheapest over $500, so buying one is not really an option. This is something I’d really like to record and show to the world.

Today I also called the embassy and told them that I had found a teacher who was willing to teach. I also asked Ms. Wang to try to make this Saturday or next Saturday available, and as usual, she said she’ll see what she can do. Things on this front are not looking that promising. Maybe the embassy really is busy, but can they not just take one hour to recognize some Tanzanians who are working their butts off to learn an aspect of their culture? It just seems something that the Cultural Department of the embassy should be eating up. I mean, , sure, doing business with Tanzanians is one thing, and certainly deserving of respect, but educating Tanzanians about Chinese culture, that is completely on another level in terms of building a solid relationship.

7/24/09

I’m pretty sure none of you have ever heard me curse, and it’s a good thing I’m in Tanzania, because in the past half an hour, I think I’ve cursed more than my good friend Jonathan Kent has in his whole freaking life.

I have found another Chinese teacher. It still hasn’t settled in yet, and I am shaking my head vigorously, but oh my god, I can’t believe I have found another teacher to continue to teach Chinese here in Tanzania. Like, I feel as if a boulder has been lifted off my shoulders, and I am literally going to explode with happiness once I stop jumping around like I’m five years old.

You have to understand that I was really starting to lose hope. I had started to form backup plans, where I would send audio recordings to one of the storeowners who would be able to then download them and listen to them. He, being professionally trained as a teacher, would then be able to try to teach the other students. Also, yesterday, I was explained by one Chinese medical director that the Chinese people have very little concept of Volunteerism, and doing work without getting paid. Today, I received a call from one person who asked if she could be paid to teach. Then, tonight, in the shower, I was thinking about how really very few Chinese people actually volunteer, and it is certainly a shame. I was even conjuring up twisted thoughts about writing an article which argued that Chinese people have lost their roots in emphasizing making money over other things like yi and dao.

But now all of those thoughts are gone, and with just one received phone call, my faith in the Chinese people has been completely restored. Chinese people rock. They freaking rock! I can’t believe my plan of talking to every remotely looking Chinese person has worked, but it has worked, and I can’t help but to feel like, wow, if I can do this, I can really do anything now. Looking back, I’m thinking where in the world would asking people if they’d like to teach Chinese to woodcarvers for free work anywhere else in the world? Could you imagine this happening in America? Where I’d hunt down every Chinese person and ask them if they wanted to teach Chinese to Tanzanian woodcarvers? It seems like such a bizarre plan, and yet, talking to people really seems to work. Wow! What a concept!

Now that the excitement and pure shock is starting to leave, a bit of fear is starting to creep in. This truly has to be too good. I’m meeting with the teacher and a guy I talked to yesterday at the woodcarvers market. He really did look for other teachers, and when he picked up the phone and explained to me he found someone else, I couldn’t believe it. The first thing I asked was, “You know this is volunteering right?” (In Chinese), and he said, “Yup, you explained it to me.” And I went on for about 5 minutes, thanking him, trying to explain to him how he couldn’t understand how freaking happy I was. After we hung up, I called him 5 minutes later, asking him he knew that the time was 6-7, and made sure that this would work for him. I am so freaking paranoid right now that this is some kind of joke, or that something will go wrong, and then my happiness will be shattered.

It’s been such a struggle with the Chinese embassy, getting them to call me back, trying to set up a date where they could just come look at the classroom. But now, I have an actual Chinese citizen lined up to teach Chinese. Surely, that gives me some leverage with the embassy. Now they surely will come and shake hands with me and the new teacher and bring in the papers to show that the Embassy is doing so much to try to let local Tanzanians learn more about their culture and language. It looks as if things will turn out ok, but I will have to wait until Monday before I can call the embassy, a wait that will surely be too long.

I don’t even care if I get no credit for this honestly. It makes me so freaking happy that the woodcarvers will be able to continue their Chinese education. I am certain that they are just as deserving of anyone else in the world of receiving education in a Chinese language, and that they appreciate it just as much as anyone else in the world. They take so much joy out of learning, and have been so concerned with my pursuit of another teacher. After texting all my students who have cell phones, one responded “Oh… That is so poa… Xie Xie Lao shi”, (poa = cool). The others expressed similar emotions.

I’m not sure if anyone can understand how much this means to me, and I guess from any perspective, it seems like such a small victory. But I have put in so much work running between my homestay and the Chinese Embassy, talking to everyone, that I don’t think I’ve ever fought for something this hard in my life. And as I stated earlier, though the Woodcarvers’ learning Chinese may not greatly affect them in terms of moving up the social ladder, through this journey, I somehow started to believe that it was their right to learn Chinese.

Chinese learning is something that is a luxury in their life, with sometimes practical applications. It’s not something like clean water, or anti-malaria drugs, or a microfinance loan. But there is something about learning a language, of learning anything really, that is so freaking beautiful. Though they wish to see the world, the reality is many of these woodcarvers will never leave Tanzania. I feel like this is perhaps the next best thing for them. They are gaining knowledge of something foreign, of something not many natives in their country know, and by doing so, are entering somewhere outside of what is their harsh reality. I’m not sure if I’m being clear. It is likely that I’m not, but geez, I feel like I’m doing something so right here.

I have been asked many times why I decided to take Swahili my freshman year. Most of the time it’s been very skeptical, as in, “Why in the world would you do that?” (A lot of Chinese people here). My “professional” answer would be that I was looking for a niche so that if anyone would be sent to East Africa to do development work, it would be me. But wow, now that I think about it, if this is all my Swahili ever does for me in my entire lifetime, I’ll still consider it one of the best decisions I have made.

I think people underestimate how powerful any language is in giving you a new perspective on things. Even if the language is spoken by only one hundred people, that’s one hundred new people you could communicate that you otherwise couldn’t have. If you’re a businessman, that’s a hundred possible new clients. If you’re a teacher, that’s a hundred possible new students. And no matter what profession you are, that’s a hundred new teachers that you can learn something from (Citing Confucius here). Lucky for me, Swahili happens to be spoken by 100 million people.

Anyway, I’ve settled down now, and am really looking forward to the days ahead where I will meet with Mr. Li (who is leaving after 2 months), and the teacher he has found. One thing that really impressed me about Mr. Li was that he saw this as an opportunity for him and this other teacher to learn some Swahili. I believe that this is completely the right attitude, but at the same time, is an attitude that is hard for many people to comprehend.

To end on a funny note, Mr. Li calls me “Xiao Jin”. Honestly, he can call me whatever he wants. As of now, I am eternally thankful.

7/23/09

These days I have been talking to anyone who even remotely looks Chinese, asking them if they themselves or if someone they know would have an interest in teaching Chinese to the woodcarvers. About half the reactions involve vigorous shaking of the head, and making a face that seems to suggest, “Are you crazy? Why in the world would I want to do that?” I have been pleasantly surprised, however, that the other half of the people are at least mildly interested in what I’m doing. I’ve already given three people my contact information (after they asked for it first), and they will do their best to look for people interested. I met one guy who worked in China, but came to Tanzania to take a look at how the company’s branch in Tanzania was doing, who said that if he were living here, he’d do it in a second. Unfortunately, he will be heading back to China. I also met a father who works as the head of a medical team here distributing medicine to local residents, and his daughter, who had just finished one year of college in China. They were very sympathetic to my plight, but because the father is particularly busy during this time period (old nurses are leaving, and new ones are coming in, so he has to train all the newcomers), he cannot do any teaching.

The fact that some Chinese people are even mildly interested in teaching Chinese really comes as a surprise to me. I could be wrong, China is a country still developing, and very much a country where education is simply a means to climb a social ladder or to make money. Currently, in the Chinese mindset, there is little concept of volunteering. To teach Chinese, it requires that one be paid. I have had more than a number of Chinese people (as well as Tanzanians) who have asked me how much I get paid for teaching Chinese. When I respond, it’s free, people have a hard time swallowing this fact. The father and daughter who I discussed with seemed to understand better, but the daughter explained to me that even those who graduate from college face stiff competition in the Chinese economy.

It really does make me happy, however, that some Chinese expressed interest in teaching Chinese without pay. It not only gives me hope that I may be able to find a teacher to continue the Chinese education of these woodcarvers, but also suggests that Chinese people are more willing to do volunteer work than I had given them credit for.

7/21/09

I called the embassy this morning and talked to Ms. Wang. I told her that we were planning to hold a small party of sorts, in which soft drinks would be provided (I will likely shell out the $50 to buy all these drinks), and would like to schedule a day in which they could come. I suggested Friday the 31st and Saturday the 1st , since we have two hours of class on those days instead of the normal one. During the night class, I told the students to start writing some skits that they would like to present. They seem really excited about it, and I hope for the sake of these woodcarvers, that the people from the embassy will show up and appreciate the progress they’ve made in acquiring the Chinese language. In addition, I tried to find out some information about those students from China who will be coming to study here next semester, but found out that the students in China have yet to register for classes here. I also asked if she could obtain information about Tanzanians who had gone to China to study Chinese, but had returned back to Tanzania to work. She seemed to think that she could obtain this information and forward it to me.

I had a chat with one of the local Tanzanian college students who teaches English to the Woodcarvers, and he told me about a few students on campus who are doing work for IYF (International Youth Foundation, I think). Among those, he thinks that a couple of them are Chinese and that they are teaching Chinese classes on the Dar Es Salaam University campus. I will have to check this out and see if it is indeed true. He said that their classes sounded like Chinese, but that he was unsure.

During the English class, the students met with some of the chairmen of the Education group of the Tanzania Carvers Association and aired out their complaints about having to pay 10,000 shillings for three years of education. The biggest question was where the money was going, The chairmen tried to answer that it was for the sake of the electricity bill, fixing the chalkboards, repairing the benches, but it just didn’t add up. I was given the opportunity to speak and told the chairmen that the students already pay 500 shillings monthly for these things, and wondered where the other 10,000 shillings/student would be going. They said that they would have to see, and would use the money accordingly. It all seemed pretty excessive. The local Tanzanian who taught there made quite an elegant point, adding things up, and showing that there would be an excess of almost 500,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($400+) from these students. It seems like the chairmen will have to rethink this plan.

Also, another new rule that irritated the students was the necessity of graduating after three years of education. I’m not sure why this rule is in place at all. It was explained that this rule was chosen to try to get students to take their studies seriously and so attend every class. Nonetheless, it is obvious that three years of English education and/or Chinese language education from volunteers is not enough (I’ve taken Chinese for three years from some of the most well trained teachers and my Chinese is still not that great).

Anyway, it looks as if the 10,000 shilling fee will not be implemented, and that means that the woodcarvers will continue getting some semblance of English (and hopefully Chinese) language education.

7/20/09

This morning I went with the chairman, Focus, to help get the school registered again. I didn’t exactly understand the process, but we went to a local government post to get the application stamped, then another larger government post to get it stamped by another guy. The guy at the larger post took a tea break for an hour, and since there were three people in front of us, it took two hours to get this done. Such is the life of a government official in Tanzania. Because of the delay, we did not have time to take it to the third place, where a regional educational officer will look at it and hopefully approve it. If so, then I think the school will be officially recognized by the government.

Tomorrow, we will attempt to finish this task (which likely will involve waiting a couple of hours), and then head to the Chinese Cultural Center, which Focus has been to a couple of times. Focus has gotten this idea that if he can obtain some tapes of Chinese language instruction that are broadcast here by the Chinese International Channel, as well as a cheap TV, then students can watch these tapes in class until another teacher is found. I am skeptical that this is a good idea, especially since tapes are no replacement for a teacher, but admit that it is not too bad of a backup plan. It’s best to consider all options, I guess. In addition, maybe the cultural center will have people that may be interested in teaching Chinese to the woodcarvers. It can’t hurt to check it out.

I am pulling out all the stops now to try to find a teacher. This means talking to every Chinese person I see and telling them about my project. Today, I ate at a Chinese restaurant, but upon talking to the restaurant owners, obtained nothing too useful. They did say that there were a few local Tanzanians who go to China to study every year, so maybe if the embassy has a list of these people, I can try to contact them, though it is unlikely that they would freely hand out this information. After arriving at the woodcarving market at 4 in the afternoon, I found a group of six Chinese customers, and asked each of them whether they’d be interested. Upon asking the sixth person, I found out that they are actually from another far away region in Tanzania.


In other news, I found out that the chairman, Focus, is indeed trying to get each student to pay 10,000 shillings (roughly $8/year) for three years of schooling. This is in addition to the 500 shillings they already have to pay monthly for electricity. While $8 seems very reasonable, to many Tanzanians, a one-time payment of this sum of money is out of question. As I said earlier, many of them live day to day, and the storekeepers do take advantage of this (essentially paying the woodcarvers a day’s worth of food for a carving that would otherwise sell for much more). The students have complained and hence will hold a meeting with the chairman about this new plan. In particular, they want to know where this sum of money would be going. I have talked with some of the students, and they think that the money will be spent to buy sodas for those at the top of the party. I will likely attend this meeting, and though I’d hate to be at odds with the chairman after all the things we’ve worked through together, my larger objective remains to continue to allow these woodcarvers to learn both the Chinese and English languages.


Today, I also started buying woodcarvings from my woodcarver students. As a general
rule, I am paying 15,000 shillings (roughly $12) for a small woodcarving. I am letting the students choose what they wish to make. I arrived at this sum after estimating that with $15 they could likely buy a piece of wood 2-3 feet high, and maybe 1 foot in diameter, and that they could use a small piece of that to make a gift for me. This way, they can use the remaining wood to carve something which they can sell to either the storeowners, or if they are lucky enough, people who pass by the carving area. In essence, I am giving my students 15,000 shillings, and telling them to give me whatever they want in return.

In order to understand better the dynamics here, I need to explain how the stores are set up. Essentially, facing the main street, one can only see the stores. Many tourists only see this face of the woodcarver market and so they only see the storeowners, not the actual woodcarvers. The woodcarvers themselves carve behind the shops, and so are unlikely to be seen at all by people who pass by. For example, one of the Chinese customers I talked to today thought that the storeowners ordered the carvings from another part in Tanzania. He did not realize that behind the shops there were actual woodcarvers carving on the spot. As one can imagine, the woodcarvers would make a lot more money if they could sell directly to the customers. If they are lucky enough to have a customer (or a teacher) who they can directly communicate with, they can make a much better profit. Of course, without the storeowners, many woodcarvers would not attract the attention that these stores are now receiving. My goal here is not to criminalize the storeowners, as they are not exactly super rich either, but to show that the woodcarvers do have a particularly hard time making themselves known.


I have been told by some storeowners that the Chinese they are learning has really helped them grab the business of Chinese customers. One of my students, Amiry, has made friends with one old woman, who actually told him that she would come back next week. The storeowners also tell me that the Chinese customers become extremely happy upon hearing that the owners can speak a little Chinese, and hence are more willing to buy some of their items. I’m glad that at least on the surface, it seems that the Chinese is helping.

At the same time, I realize that to many, especially the woodcarvers, learning Chinese is really more of a luxury than something that will “improve” their lives in an economic sense. As I explained earlier, woodcarvers have very little contact with Chinese customers (though there still is some) so their opportunity to use the language is much less than the storeowners. At times, I feel like I am just relieving the pain of poverty, rather than pushing to end it. Nonetheless, I can’t help but to feel as if what I’m doing has some meaning. It reminds me of the story “Shou” (Hand) that I read for 5th year Chinese at PiB, where a young girl, despite knowing that she’d never really do anything meaningful with her education, continued to go to school anyway. I guess something that I’m struggling to grapple with is that I know for a fact no aid agency would fund a project that simply taught Chinese to woodcarvers for the sake injecting happiness into their life. If rated by an aid agency, my project would be ineffective in reducing poverty and completely unsustainable (I am not being paid to teach). I’d be the first to admit these things. Nonetheless, it seems odd then that what I am doing seems to be something that may be more meaningful than giving these woodcarvers a microfinance loan, which could pull them out of poverty. And if given the choice between either teaching them Chinese or working with a microfinance bank to try to improve their economic status, as of now, I think I’d have to side with teaching them Chinese. Would it be the most effective or sustainable choice? Of course not. But for some reason, it seems like it’d be the right one for me.

7/19/09

Prior to trying to get the Woodcarvers’ school registered, I had already heard that getting anything done with any ministry in Tanzania is likely to take at least a week. Well, it turns out that it seems to be true. After calling 7/15/09 and being told to come tomorrow (yet again), on 7/16/09, we received the same response. We went anyway in an attempt to find anyone else who had an inkling of what’s going on (My suspicion is that they all know how to get a school registered, but just like to push the job on the person who’s supposed to do it). One man said it may be better to just to get a letter from the university stating that I am a student at the Dar Es Salaam University. Focus, the main chairman, went to a local branch to try to obtain some information as well. He found out that he, as the chairman of the Tanzania Carvers Association, had to write a letter requesting the school to be registered. I’m not sure why that woman at the ministry could not just have told us this on the phone…

Anyway, since then, I have received a call back from Ms. Wang telling me that finding a teacher who will teach for free is tough (which I suppose means impossible), and that they will continue looking (they have stopped looking). I have decided to take the search for another teacher into my own hands and eat at Chinese restaurants everyday as well as hang out more at the woodcarvers place to try to catch unsuspecting Chinese customers.

Yesterday, it turns out, that I found one of those unsuspecting customers, Mr. Tang. Mr. Tang looked like he was about in his mid 20s and he had been sent here to work for a Chinese water supply company. He, like all the other Chinese people here, love the carvings, and wanted to buy a ton of them. On his way out of one of the shops, I approached him and explained what I was doing here in Tanzania. He seemed interested immediately and we quickly exchanged contact information. I showed him the classroom as well as the textbook that I had made. He asked quite a few questions and said he would consider it seriously as well as tell everyone he knew about it. Hopefully, he’ll call back. Who knows?

I have about three weeks left (I leave August 12th for the states), and so I’m a bit tight on time. Teaching has been going well, and the students are now able to construct some pretty neat and hilarious sentences. If anyone would like more information about my teaching experiences I’d gladly oblige.

7/15/09

Yesterday, 7/14/09 I went with Focus, the chairman of the Tanzania Carvers Association, to the embassy. We intended to meet councilman Sun, but he unfortunately had left the office for the day. Instead, we met with Ms. Wang again, who I found out directly reports to the councilman. We first thanked her for printing the books, then I let Focus do most of the explaining. He emphasized that the most important thing was that the embassy help to find teachers to continue the teaching of Chinese. He said three would ideal, but we’d be more than happy with 1. In addition, he wanted to try to set a date for the party in which the Tanzania Carvers Association and the Chinese Embassy would thank me for my work as well as pass the baton to the next set of teachers. We wanted to try to get the media involved and he requested that the embassy use their political power to try to draw in some media outlets. Finally, he requested vehemently that the people from the embassy come personally see a Chinese class at the Carvers’ school. Ms. Wang replied that the embassy is busy recently, and will only have time about 2 weeks. She expressed, however, her interest in going and said that she would like to go even to just learn some Swahili.

To be honest, Ms. Wang seems sympathetic to the cause and seems very eager to get something done. Whether something actually will happen remains to be seen. She was able to get the books printed within three days, which I suppose by embassy standards is fairly quick, and gives me hope that the other events will be taken care of as well. Nonetheless, what happens now is pretty much out of our hands, and we can only wait patiently as the Chinese embassy makes its’ decision.

7/13/09

Yesterday, Sunday, I visited a woodcarving friend’s house. The size of the house was not large, maybe 12 feet by 12 feet, and had to fit 2 adults, and 3 children. There were two beds, a small table used for eating and two chairs for sitting. It was equipped with mosquito nets, which was nice to see, and the roof seemed to be made of metal with no gaping holes. Most of the woodcarvers in Tanzania live day to day with their money, and missing just a few days of woodcarving could mean missing a meal or two. I have been often been asked by my students for bus fair, as if they are unable to finish a carving one day, they will fail to obtain this bus fair money.

The poverty of this place has hit me much harder this year than last year. Slowly but surely, I am starting to see through the smiles and the “Hakuna Matata” attitude that many Tanzanians wear when one greets them. Among the most haunting problems, to me, is the inability to continue schooling due to a lack of funds. I’ve heard story after story of students having to stop after grade 7, 8, or 9 simply because of the lack of money. My woodcarver friend was no different, as he had to stop sending his nephew to school after Form 4 (the equivalent of about 10th grade in the US).

Despite his economic situation, he took great strides to treat me well. We had coconut rice, some meat and potatoes (both of which are atypical of a Tanzanian meal. People live off rice and beans day to day. And something as simple as peas may be considered a luxury). The hospitality in Tanzania is really off the charts. My woodcarving friend told me about how it is so difficult to move up in Tanzania, and asked that if I could help in any way it would be greatly appreciated.

I am starting to better grasp the economic tension between woodcarvers and storeowners here. Storeowners are generally much better off than woodcarvers. A woodcarver generally has two choices to make when making sales. The first would be to rent out a section of a store for about 500,000 shillings a year (the equivalent of about $400 or so), and then they get all the profit from the items they sell in that section of the store. For most woodcarvers, obtaining this sum of money at one time is out of the question and so they must settle for the second option, which is to simply sell their woodcarvings to the storeowners. In this case, if we say the woodcarver sells the woodcarving for 50,000 to the owner, and the carving is sold, they obtain 85% of the profit and the storeowner obtains 15%. The storeowner, however, can jack up the price of the sale to over 100,000 and the carver will still only see 85% of the 50,000. This is my understanding of one woodcarver’s explanation, and it sounds a little suspect, but I will have to clarify with some of the carvers later.

Another problem that they face is that the carvers must obtain a special type of wood that grows quite a distance from Dar Es Salaam. Many of the storeowners can afford to go there and bring back wood, but the carvers themselves are unable. As a result, woodcarvers must pay a fairly high price in order to purchase the wood before being able to carve. Here again, lies another barrier to higher profit. Honestly, this seems like something microfinance would be ideal for, but I’m uncertain as to why it hasn’t been done and perhaps there are barriers that I have not seen.

Today, I again went with the chairman of education in the Tanzania Carvers Association to try to get the school registered. First, we went to a local branch, but found that the person working there was, surprise surprise, not available. We then tried calling the lady we had met last Friday, but she was not picking up her phone. We decided to take the daladala (these are like mini-buses that are actually very dangerous in concept, but the means of transportation here) over there, and on our way over, we received a call that she would not be available today (despite telling us she would be), and that we would have to come back on Wednesday morning. Given that we were already on our way there, we figured we’d stop by anyway and see if anyone else could help us. Of course no one could, and this one gentleman said he would help us remind the lady to stay on Wednesday. Thus is the way things work in Tanzania. Government officials sleep in late, and leave work early.

7/11/09

At around 12 yesterday, I received a call from the Embassy telling me that my books were printed and ready to go. I went immediately, but found out that the secretary had a break from 1 - 2:30. For the 1 hour or so that I had to wait, I chatted with one of the guards there and we delved into topics I did not care much for like religion. Soon, I was able to pick up the books, but there was no word yet on the other topics that we had requested. I showed the secretary some pictures of the area, and soon I was on my way out.

After this trip, Moses and I discussed with the chairman what we had thought up the day before. The chairman agreed that an invitation would be wise, but stated that we should have one at the end only. This would be much more persuasive, he said, as it could mark my leaving as well as the coming of a new teacher. We would invite all the news media outlets (including TV stations) we knew for this, and rather than wait around for a reply from our initial proposal, he and I would go to the embassy to discuss with the councilman. The chairman apparently knows him by name and has met him any times. I expressed my fear that they might reject our offer, but he calmly stated to me that “Councilman Sheng will not let us down.” I realize now that this whole thing may have been easier if I had just gone with him in the first place to give the proposal to councilman Sheng. The chairman has a ton of experience under his belt and already had established connections that I am missing. Oh well, it’s just all a learning experience as of now.

7/10/09

I am typing to chronicle the developing interest in the Chinese language among the Tanzania Carvers Association (Chawasawata). I began teaching here last year for about five weeks or so after I realized that many of the customers that came to the Mwenge woodcarver shops were Chinese. At my first class, over ten students came, and the number only grew after that. This year, I have returned to Tanzania with a newly written textbook in order to better teach the Chinese language. The students have greeted this textbook with much enthusiasm, and towards the end of my classes, I have over thirty students listening. I started teaching 6/29/09, and plan to teach until 8/11/09.

One of the problems that the woodcarvers are worried about is that after I return to America, there will no longer be any Chinese teacher to further their learning. I have created this textbook in order to mitigate this problem, though even I know that this is only something that may help to keep their Chinese at a certain level, not to further improve it. In addition, learning the Chinese language, I believe more so than many other languages, requires constantly hearing the language in order to assure oneself that one is pronouncing the tones correctly.

As a result, I am attempting to work with the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania to solve this problem. On 7/6/09, I called the Embassy, letting them know that I would like to meet with someone to talk about my project and how to continue the teaching of the Chinese language at the Chawasawata school even after my departure. The lady who answered the phone, Ms. Wang, accepted, and the following day, I met with Ms. Wang for about a thirty minute meeting. In this meeting, I laid out three goals that I wanted the embassy to achieve before I left:

1) Print ten copies of my book, and print more on an as need basis.
2) Find another Chinese teacher to continue teaching after my departure. In addition, if needed, I will be more than happy to continue to write chapters/books so that the Chinese teacher does not have to prepare his or her own materials.
3) Try to throw a party for the woodcarvers so that both the Chinese officials and the Woodcarvers can meet and better build a relationship.

Ms. Wang told me that she will let the “Ling Dao” know, and will get back to me as soon as possible. Sure enough, the following morning at 8:24 a.m., I received a call from Ms. Wang, telling me that there was a bit of a problem. Because I was just a person, it would not be ideal for the embassy to work with me. It would be better if there were some umbrella organization that could write them a letter which stated these three things. I told her that there was such an organization in Chawasawata, and I skipped class in order to type up a letter, re-stating these three goals, as well as adding an additional fourth one (requested by the woodcarvers themselves) that the Chinese Embassy help to prepare or furnish the Chawasawata school.
Again, the response was that she will get back to me as soon as possible. This time, I did not receive a phone call the following day, and am hoping that she will call today, 7/10/09.

Yesterday, however, two important events did happen. One was that I went with Vincent, a woodcarver, and Sipio, one of the chairmen of education at Chawasawata, to the Ministry of Education. Our goal in going was to find out the process of registering a private school, such as the Chawasawata school. After searching for about half an hour for the right person, and waiting another half an hour for her to arrive in her office, we were finally told to call Monday morning, and come in early so that there would be sufficient time for her to explain the process to us.
Though this is essentially an entirely different project, it does have implications on my quest for Chinese language education. We are trying to register the school as both an English and Chinese school. At first, the ladies laughed, “Hah! A Chinese School!?” but soon after, they saw me, and realized that perhaps it was really true. If we can get the school registered as an official Chinese school recognized by the government, perhaps this would add pressure onto the Chinese Embassy to help out one of the very first recognized Chinese schools in the country of Tanzania.

The other event was more of a discussion than any action, but it is the starting stages of something that could be big. I had a chat with Moses, a native Tanzanian with very good English (In fact, I never realized just quite how good his English is), about the issue. We concluded that it would be best if the Chawasawata threw the first party and invited the Chinese Embassy. I added that we could have the students prepare skis or presentation showing off what they have learned in these few weeks. We decided that I would pay for the drinks (about $50) to throw the party, and that it would take place in about two weeks at night at the Chawasawata school.
The conversation got interesting when I got into whether we should bring the newspapers in to chronicle these events. Moses and I were both really excited at first, as it would give great publicity. We soon realized, however, that this was a really tricky issue. If the Chinese embassy does not come, all the papers will chronicle the failure of the embassy. This would obviously boil bad blood between the two parties and certainly discourage the embassy from giving any further help. On the other hand, Moses suggested that if the embassy does accept, then we can call the papers. I also suggested, that perhaps we will not use the papers for the first one, but that if they do not come to it, we can throw a second party, in which we would bring the papers regardless of whether the embassy sent representatives or not.

Anyway, today I will discuss with Moses and the chairman about a backup plan to add some friendly pressure onto the Embassy of China. Hopefully, it does not end in an ugly media fight, as in reality, that his hurting both sides. The thought of getting the woodcarvers and their Chinese learning was at first really exciting, but now I realize that we must act with a bit more tact and patience in order to preserve the long term goals.