You Can Take the Girl Out of America, But You Can't Take America Out of the Girl

Or you can send one of the greatest symbols of America to Tanzania, rather.

Since my return to Tanzania, Stella Maris has hosted several groups of ROTC cadets who have come to Tanzania for three weeks through the Army’s CULP: Cultural Understanding and Language Program.  The last type of visitor I thought I would encounter at Stella Maris was an American solider (in training), but isn't that how life goes?

It has been a great couple of weeks with the different groups of cadets who have come.  During their stay, cadets spend one week in three different parts of the country.  One week they stay at the Tanzanian Military Academy (TMA) not too far from Mailisita.   During this week, they are paired with a soldier from the Tanzanian army and endure the same physical training that the local militia goes through.  From the stories the cadets have shared, TMA is absolutely no joke.  For the other two weeks, cadets volunteer, one week in Dar es Salaam and one week here in Mailisita.  

I 100% admit that my exposure to anything American army has been very limited until lately, but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that the army had such a program to which young cadets throughout the country can apply.  Pretty narrow-mindedly, I only thought of the army entering countries for the purpose of war, not to expose kids to different cultures.  Way to go, Uncle Sam. 

My opinion of the army has definitely changed for the better because of my knowledge of this program.  And, my opinion of the army has also changed because of the great kids (well, they are still in college, so they are kids to me J) that I have had the chance to work with over the last few weeks.  We have some remarkable young people choosing to serve their country in the very near future. 

Originally, the plan for the CULP groups to stay at the hotel during their time in Mailisita and to travel each day to a high school nearby and volunteer there.  Unfortunately, the high school they were supposed to work with has turned out to not be the most organized and the ROTC kids were not really benefiting, or actually helping, during the time they would spend there each day.  For example, the high school they were scheduled to work with is actually on holiday right now, and so some days there were only six students who showed up for the eight cadets to work with.  So, after one of the earlier groups experienced this, the soldier overseeing all of the groups asked me one night at dinner if I could create a schedule for the cadets to work at Stella Maris for the remaining weeks.  

Of course, they can.  

It has been a lot of fun (and logistical planning J) to create a strong, sound schedule for 8 – 14 cadets which is beneficial both to the volunteers and our Stella Maris school kids (and teachers alike).  The cadets mainly have been teaching English and math to grades P2 – P6 during their stay.  I have been impressed with how they really jumped right into the role of being a teacher and owning the learning of their students.  One day, the pair of cadets that I assigned to work with P5 stayed in the P5 classroom from 8:40am to 12:20pm (when they were supposed to be done teaching at 10:30) because the kids were really struggling with fractions and they were not willing to move on until all kids understood the challenging concept.  The cadets also have been popping into their peers’ classrooms and helping out when other students have been struggling with a concept (like P3’s struggle with long division and P4’s struggle with solving for perimeter of squares and rectangles) to increase the amount of one-on-one support that students can receive.  In addition to classroom teaching, the cadets have been monumentally helpful in going through all of the donations we have received in the last two years and reorganizing the library as a result.  Earlier this week, the cadets spent all of their down time, organizing, grouping similar items, cleaning, etc, the library, which is has been completely ‘updated’ because of their assistance – something which would have taken me as an individual at least a month to do.  

This last group has been particularly special, though.  

Firstly, they have an awesome leader.  MasSar (as they call him – short for Master Sargent) has reminded me of many of the most important parts of being a successful, motivating, fair and kind leader in the week he has been at Stella Maris .  It has been awesome to simply watch him interact with his group, somewhat as an outsider, but as someone who has spent enough time with the group that I have learned a lot of the dynamics and such.  MasSar never proclaims he is the leader.  The cadets respect him because of how he operates, how he treats them and because has been all over the world with the army (he and his family have been living in Italy for the last two years, after spending six years in Germany).  MasSar also is completely ‘in’ with the group, meaning that he is a hands on leader: he eats with them, he comes to school and pitches in where he can, he laughs with them, jokes with them and they joke with him.  God sure sent me a great blessing in allowing me the chance to observe MasSar with his cadets this week.

In addition to MasSar (and not a bigger shocker, since leadership trickles down), this group of cadets has been an additional blessing in my life.  For the last week, they have welcomed me into their family with open arms.  We have eaten all of our meals together, learned about each other, joked together AND every night after dinner, played my most favorite game from college, MAFIA.  Mafia in Tanzania - who would have thought?!  Enjoying dinner, having great conversation and ending the night with a few games of Mafia this week has made this week so fun - definitely one of the highlights on my time so far.  

There is a cadet here who is studying to be a nurse who has a great balance of humor, leadership and drive.  People enjoy being around him because he has a great outlook and makes the most of all situations.  There is another cadet who is always seeking to help out, asking what else needs to be done when others are taking a (deserved) break.  There is yet another cadet who is hoping to become an army chaplain who a heart that is so sweet and kind and accepting that she reminds me of a younger version of my sainted godmother.  I could rave about each of them. 

In my work with younger generations, I have found that that they often have a harder time connecting with people and being in the 'present moment' because there has been technology and instantaneous everything for every moment they have been breathing.  These cadets, a group of college kids who did not know each other a week ago and who are from all over the country, have so greatly impressed me, an almost-out-of-my-twenties-old-fart, and defied all of the stereotypes of college kids who ‘don’t care’ or are ‘obsessed with technology’.  If you had told me before they arrived that I would have developed such a soft spot for this group of college kids in a week, I probably would have laughed out loud.  But, it is funny how you can feel connected to a group of people over a short period of time – when that group is full of dynamic, enthusiastic, kind, hard-working, funny and honest people.  I know I am better for having spent almost every waking hour with these cadets, and I hope that they, too, have benefited from their time at Stella Maris.