The Market, Computers, and Children

Today I (Ryan) spent a great deal of time working with Zechariah, the computer teacher here. He really wants to be a 'IT Professional' but is not able to afford to go to school. So I have been trying to teach him all that I know about computer networking, and information technology in general. He understands very well and learns very quickly, so it has been fun to work with him. He also works with the other teachers and the students and passes his knowledge on to them, so I am trying to help him to become an expert.

I (Ryan) also had my first computer class with the teachers today. Zechariah told me that the 10-12 year old students understand how to use computers and office applications WAY better than the teachers, which I quickly found to be true. Many of the teachers were afraid to touch the mouse and the lesson mostly consisted of teaching them the basics of computer hardware, how to navigate the desktop and the start menu, and basic MS Word. They did learn quickly though, and by the end of the 2 hour class most were creating tests for their students and asking lots of questions about formatting.

I look forward to being able to work with Zechariah throughout the next week and even afterwards, over email, when we get home. It is becoming very clear to us that the school does amazing work for the community and helps the people of Zanzibar a great deal.

Today I (Sarah) went to the market. Not St. Jacob's market, that's for sure. We pulled up to the market and drove right into this huge area sectioned off with a concrete wall on 3 sides and a building on the other. It was full of people, food and all over the ground were things such as banana branches, husks of sorts, bags....just totally covering the ground. That is typical of the ground here....well, not the roads so much, but on the sides and all over the vegetation (grass, weeds, etc.). Lots of garbage around. Here they burn their garbage so the faint smell of fire is always around. Anyway, so everyone knew David there (they've lived here 3 years and he has developed good relationships with many people) and so he went to his usual booths, chatting away in Swahili with lots of individuals. They were very nice to me as well and often assumed I also spoke Swahili. I could manage my way through hello and thanks. There was a lot of food around, similar to St. Jacob's outside-lots of booths of the same thing, different prices. One difference was the hanging meat and lots of flies. The meat and fish was being sold outside as well, so the flies had a feast. It was a very busy place there but I found everyone friendly.

In the afternoon I (Sarah) watched David and Christina's children (4 of them) for a couple hours while they went to a meeting. There is a woman here who typically watches them during the day, but Africans are more lax about watching children and tend to let them roam. They have a couple young children they didn't really want roaming. So, we spent 2 hours creating a castle made of construction paper. I was very impressed with how well behaved their children are considering the ages and that there are 5 of them (the baby was not there).

Well, time for dinner. Bye for now!

(a view of the sunrise out our window)