Tanzania Volunteer John Alsup featured in Rapid City Journal!!

Tanzania Volunteer John Alsup was featured on January 12th in the Rapid City Journal. Use the link below to view the full article, or read below for a taste of John's article!!


RAPID ITY JOURNAL LINK -

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/article_346c6ab0-1dc7-11e0-ae9b-001cc4c002e0.html




BHSU professor aims to develop education in Africa

"It was 2006, and the Black Hills State University professor was trying to 'reorient my life and figure out what was important' when he saw a UNICEF commercial on Darfur, Sudan.

'I thought it might be wonderful to see if I could help in some way,' he said.

Alsup ended up traveling to Africa in July and August of 2007 to teach math in a rural village deep in Tanzania with the help of Global Volunteers, an organization that facilitates nonprofit, short-term volunteer work for people in education and health services.

Alsup shared his work with students and staff at BHSU earlier this year. He has also been called to share with others around the world. Since his trip to Tanzania, Alsup has traveled to Korea, Europe and Greece, as well as several conferences in the U.S., to speak about his trip and his work.

'My passion is education within the developing world,' he said.

His trip to Tanzania was 'life-changing,' he said. Many of the African villages have been stricken with HIV and malaria. Poverty is a way of life, and education is often one of the only ways to escape it.

While in Africa, Alsup taught elementary and high school math to 80 students in a packed classroom.

'It was an amazing experience,' he said.

His goal now, he said, is to bring awareness to people in the U.S.

'I want to highlight, emphasize and bring awareness without being righteous about it,' he said, so people will be more conscious of the developing world."


If you're interested in joining us in Tanzania in 2011, please call us today at 1-800-487-1074!!

Team Journal ~ January 10

Monday January 10, 2011

Quote of the Day: “A little hard work never killed anybody.”

Written by: Volunteer Brendan

It was another lovely day in Pommern and the sun was shining but there were some clouds off in the distance. We all expected a rain at some point during the day.

Today was supposed to be the day were the students and the teachers should all have been at the school, the timetable should be ready, and the school should be more organized. Kate and I (Brendan) walked down to go teach classes. Jean went to make a detailed map of the school and to use her landscape architect skills to draw the dimentions of the school. And Allie went with Moses to work on the wall of the kitchen.

When I arrived at the school I was told that the chemistry teacher Prosper that I was working with was on a “Journey” and would not return until Thursday, maybe. I was put in a small class of form 2 students. As the class progressed more and more students come into the room. Then Kate came in and then Jean. At the start there were about 20 students and at the end it was more towards 50. Then a teacher came in and said he was suppose to start teaching these student physics about 20 minutes ago and he decided he wanted to start now. Allie was getting fustarated at the slow pace of the construction of the kitchen so she left to go help Jean. Then Kate and I were put in a classroom with form 1 students to teach English with the help of 2 form 6 students to translate. Then it was lunch time at the mission house.

After lunch Kate went back to the school and hung out with 2 girls who brought her to see the dorms and she also had lunch with all of the students. She was happy to get a glimpse into the life of a student.

Allie and I worked on the wall. With her and I working at a good pace with Moses, much work had gotten done. I think we inspired Moses to work harder and faster. Finally, we seemed to get a good amount done in a short period of time before a heavy rain started.

Then we walked home getting soaked where Allie washed her hair and clothes by rubbing soap on her and standing in the rain. The Pommern people must think we are all crazy. Jean was here working on her map and we all sat around a fire Mohamed had built. Then Kate returned when the rain died down. That night we had dinner and continued to discuss how we could be more productive in our limited time left here in Pommern!

Team Journal ~ January 5

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Quote of the Day: “A mouse never shares a dish with a cat.” – African Proverb

Written by: Volunteer Katie

This morning, I (Katie) observed Margaret’s class, mostly students aging 12-15. They practiced greetings, like “good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/madame.” There were 66 children in the class, and I felt like an awkward American when I broke every piece of chalk trying to write on the blackboard. I had even more trouble attempting to draw stick figures, but all was not lost. Students were earnest and they listened, and they genuinely wanted to write well, using rulers to great straight lines in their notebooks. But alas, many students couldn’t see the blackboard because of the sun’s glare—although we have this problem in America, too—the lights shine on the white board.

Margaret has taught me that a good teacher is a good teacher — no matter your circumstances. She is fun, enthusiastic, smiling, and manages to make sure every single student is attentive.

Later, Bibi and I taught greetings to some students, much like the greetings the form one students in Margaret’s class had done. When some students came to the front to practice, they were met with applause. After class, Bibi and I sat outside, practicing our Swahili.

The supplies here are attention-getting, if simply because of how teachers and students manage with so little. Multiple teachers share one book (for example, during Form One oritentation, share the few copies of Baseline), often having to scramble to find one before their class begins. And unlike in America, where teachers often have their own classrooms and students rotate, here the teachers rotate, moving from Form Three A to Form Three B.

Brendan continued to work in science classes but is considering working at the kitchen, too, which Allie has been doing. They head to the kitchen together after lunch, when Bibi and I work on lesson plans. After lunch (delicious omelettes drenched in tomato sauce, toast and PB, fresh mango that Edward bought this morning), the rain began, announcing its arrival on the tin roof.

Last night Mohamed had told us tonight would bring no stars, and he was right. We worried about Allie and Brendan out there in the rain, but eventually they arrived safely home.

"Spring into Service" in Tanzania!!

“Spring into Service” with Global Volunteers to receive a special limited discount offer for our March and April teams!

Four or more volunteers who apply by January 31 for any of these 28 teams in 16 countries will receive a discount of $200 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for one-, two- or three-week international programs or $100 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for USA programs. No other discounts apply.

Please encourage others to volunteer in our five fundamental project areas: education (especially promotion of girls education), labor and community infrastructure, health care, child care, and food and nutrition.

Call us at 800-487-1074 for details and we'll assist you every step of the way. Our worldwide host communities can’t wait to welcome you!!

Check out this link for more details & service program dates: http://globalvolunteer.org/special/springspecial.asp

Tanzania Service Program Dates, March & April Teams:
26-Feb-11 to 19-Mar-11
30-Apr-11 to 21-May-11

Vote for Global Volunteers in the Full Page Project!

From November 15 - November 21 the Star Tribune newspaper is holding a contest entitled 'Full Page Project' amongst MN non-profits and the winner will receive a free full page ad in the Sunday paper!

Please vote for us this week ~ you can vote once per hour!

Here is the link where you can register and then vote for Global Volunteers (please copy and paste the link):
http://startribune.upickem.net/engine/Registration.aspx?contestid=22815

We would also encourage you to pass this link along to your family and friends, and post it on your personal Facebbok page or blog. Let us know if you have any questions, and remember voting has begun!

Thank you for your support.

September Service Program Volunteers in Action!

Please take a peek at a few of our favorite images depicting our volunteer service program in Tanzania. ENJOY & thank you volunteers!!

"Connecting" in Tanzania

It was about 10 days into our service project, around 12:15PM and my son Jack and I were walking back to the Mission House from a tiring morning of hauling five gallon buckets of water, gravel, sand, and cement around the job site of building the new kitchen at the Secondary School. As we approached the Mission House, Jack said to me, "I'm exhausted. I think I am going to go take a nap and skip lunch" (you know a 14-year-old boy is tired when they want to skip a meal!).

No sooner were these words out of his mouth than off to our left we heard the voices of little kids calling out to him, "Jackie! Jackie! Unacheza mpira???" All fatigue instantly vanished from Jack's mind as he took off full speed to go play ball with the kids! He LOVED playing with those kids.

He had such an incredible time in Pommern -- from his friendship with our team leader, Edward Mgeni, to our team, working alongside Dr. Godlove, or the friendships he made throughout the village. It nearly broke my heart watching him say goodbye to those kids on our last day :)

Thank you all at Global Volunteers for all that you do to foster such amazing relationships around the world.
- Amy Kleissler