Remember that really bad day you had at school last semester? Where the printer was jammed, or the screen of your iPod touch was cracked? Your laptop died and you didn’t have your cord, or you couldn’t find your cell phone? Maybe you couldn’t connect to Grand Valley’s Internet no matter how hard you tried or you had to wait an extra 20 minutes for that 37 bus to come around again?

Now, think about this for a minute. What if our professors made us hand write our essays? What if iPads, white boards and projectors weren’t at our disposal? What if school supplies that we normally take for granted such as pencils and paper weren’t easily attainable?

A group of MTH 496 students got the opportunity to travel to Tanzania for their capstone course this past May where the students stayed in Arusha, Ngorongoro, Mulala, and Monduli for four weeks. While there, the students were able to experience different ways of life in Tanzania and had the opportunity to teach math lessons to primary and secondary school students.

During the four week duration of the trip, the Grand Valley students had to adapt to the culture and learn to teach in a new environment with different resources than what they are used to having in the United States. They prepared and executed lesson plans and learned how to communicate with the students despite the language barrier – English is the third language for many children in Tanzania.

“The students went in with an open mind that things would be different and responded very well,” said faculty leader Colleen Condra, who went on the trip with the students. “We have so much here in America and the students (in Tanzania) have so little. We don’t realize how lucky we are. They are grateful for everything and we are always wishing for more. I took a lot back from the trip as well, it made me better at preparing lessons and how to teach with limited resources.”

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