• Teaching English
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Teaching English

Tina - Apr 07 & Jan 08

"I have often said to other volunteers & Caro how amazingly helpful you have been from my very first enquiry when i didn't even know what continent I wanted to visit, but I doubt I have ever take the time to relay that back to yourselves!  Many apologies.  From my initial conversations & emails with Alex & meeting Mike & Caro with other vols before my trip I have been blown away with the personal care given and the help & advice.  The VA project is simply amazing, and as you know from stories you may have heard about certain ever growing knitting groups, goats with sweaters & songs sung with ladies waving their knitwear I could never forget Yamba or it's people - I am in love with the place - but where did it all start - with you guys!  I choose to call you because of your friendly personable information on your web site & was only then encouraged further on speaking to you.  It has been truly life changing, and I thank you." 

Doug & Moe - Sep 07

  "Our 3 months have been the most incredible and rewarding time of our lives.   it is one of those rare experiences which are impossible to describe to others - you must see for yourself.  We loved it, so will you.   Whatever your skills or age get in touch with PoD and go and meet, work and live with these wonderful people.  We miss the many friends we made in Yamba (young and old) and are planning to return.     Best wishes Moe & Doug"

Tina - Apr 07 & Jan 08

“Yamba and its people are simply magical. The people are an inspiration and I truly will go home a better person because of all that I have learnt from them. The school is incredibly well organised and the pupils are amazing – their eagerness to learn is so encouraging. Yamba and its people are simply beautiful and quite unforgettable!”

Jo - Sep 06

"I've dreamed of coming to Africa for about 10 years, but never thought it would live up to my expectations. I can't imagine having a better experience than Yamba, what a fantastic place and what an honour to have been so accepted into their community so warmly."

Rebecca - Sep 06

"Living and working in Yamba has been incredible as has the opportunity to see such a wonderful country. The whole experience has been amazing, the people so welcoming and the children so fun. I hope to return before too long. I can’t believe how much Yamba feels like a home to me now. I cannot thank the villagers and the project enough, there was nothing more I could have asked or wished for during my 3 month experience.”

Sarah - Sep 06

"Being on this project has far exceeded my expectations and been a life changing experience." -

James - Sep 06

"Thank you for all your help and support over these last 3 months, it is very much appreciated. You made the transition from England to Yamba much easier and I had an unbelievable experience working with Village Africa. It has opened my eyes to the world around me and the situations people find themselves in, which in turn has inspired me to get involved in charity/volunteer work. Thank you all again for your unfaltering drive and determination, it has been a pleasure to meet each and everyone of you and I hope to stay in touch."

Henry - Jan 06

"If someone had told me six months ago that every morning I would get up at 6.30 am, eat purple porridge (uji), teach hundreds of children the English language and then come home and wash my boxer shorts in a bucket, I would have told them they were insane. Perhaps, not surprisingly, doing all this at Emau was nothing but a pleasure. To be surrounded by so many kind and wonderful people just made it that much more special."

Anon - 05

"The most fantastic experience I could have hoped for."

Charlotte - Jan 06

"I loved the teaching and I found it really fulfilling. It was amazing watching a student who has just 'clicked' on something they didn't understand before. I like the way we were split into two schools because it meant we had different things to talk about in the evenings. I had so much fun and I miss my classes so much!"

Emma Jane - Jan 04

"Altogether the trip was an experience I will never forget and would recommend it to anyone who wishes not just to travel to visit a country and its people, but also to travel to live in that country and live with its people."

Katie - Jan 06

"School is still fantastic - I’ve had a riot this week - teaching all 500 students the hokey cokey (in groups of 100 at a time!). After they learnt the words we went out into the yard and carried out the actions - 100 African children and one mad white woman dancing the hokey cokey in the afternoon sun certainly raised a smile from the villagers!"

Liz - Sep 05

"You'll be pleased to know that I've survived my first week of teaching - lots of fun but very tiring and I'm not sure how much the kids understand! The others are taking bets as to how long it will be before they start speaking with a Scottish accent!? Both Jenni and I are teaching at a very friendly school but the classes are huge - 90+ in each of mine - and there are very few teachers. It's scary to see how poor everyone is and by the end of the week there are lots of dirty, smelly kids wearing the same clothes that they started the week in! Saying that, they are the loveliest people and we are treated like royalty - lots of little faces waving at us when we arrive in the morning, children falling over themselves to carry our bags, lunch made for us by the pupils and we keep getting presents of fruit to take back to Emau Hill."

Joanna - Sep 06

The following article appeared in the Derby Evening Telegraph
 
LIVING AND WORKING IN AFRICA WAS A 'DREAM FULFILLED' FOR JOANNA DATE : 01.01.08
 
Teacher Joanna Elgar, of Cherry Tree Hill Infant School, in Chaddesden, has been on the trip of a lifetime to work with children in Africa. She spent six months working and living in a remote mountain village in Tanzania. Now Miss Elgar is hoping that her story will help to raise the profile of the country and the charity that helped her to fulfil her dream. Zena Hawley reports.
 
For years, Joanna Elgar dreamed of visiting Africa, drawn to the culture, the people and the stunning scenery.
 
The Chaddesden teacher decided the best way to experience real Africa was to live within a community and hopefully, to offer something back to its struggling education system. She set off for Tanzania in East Africa to volunteer on a project called Village Africa set up in May, 2006. Joanna and seven fellow volunteers were the first to work on the project. The charity aims to alleviate poverty in and around a village called Yamba, located in the Usambara mountains.
 
Joanna, 27, said: "I wasn't sure what to expect as I had been told the area had no electricity, water had to be collected from a nearby river and the nearest town with a phone signal and internet access was a five-hour journey away. We arrived to an incredible welcome. As we drove into the village after a somewhat hairy journey up the mountain road, which they had built for our arrival, we were greeted by hundreds of excited villagers. We began the 45-minute steep climb to the house which they had built for us and we felt like royalty, as more people came out of their houses to shake our hands.''
 
Joanna said she was overwhelmed with the response and later discovered that many of the villagers, particularly the children, had never seen white people before. She said they were incredibly grateful to have English teachers come to their primary school to educate their children in a remote village. In Tanzania, primary schools are taught in Kiswahili, the national language, but secondary schools are taught in English. For the children to go to secondary school, they must pass an English exam, so it is essential they learn it at primary school.
 
Joanna said: "teaching English to primary children, who had very little experience of the language, was a real challenge". She said: "I spent a lot of time drawing and colouring pictures to use as visual aids. We were able to pass on our resources, such as puppets, felt pens and coloured paper. It's shocking to see how little they have in the way of resources - just a stick of chalk and a decrepit blackboard in a crumbling classroom - with no pictures or even paint on the walls. The children in my class were sharing tiny, worn-down pencils. They have to provide their own exercise books and stationery and even these few things they struggle to afford."
 
Before she left the UK, Joanna was able to raise £3,000 to help buy resources for the school and village.
 
In the six months she was there, she was able to pay for new stationery for the children, six new toilets, new tyres for the village ambulance, new English text books for the school, safety equipment for the local builders, medicine and furniture for the health post and a contribution towards the salaries of Village Africa staff.
 
She said: "No money was wasted. I now aim to raise a further £1,500 to help build a much-needed new classroom. We have an on-going loose change collection at Cherry Tree Hill and
are planning a sponsored walk next year. It will be around the playground with children carrying small buckets of water like they do in Africa."
 
Joanna said one of the hardest things for her was getting used to the climate. She said: "I had packed for a hot country but soon discovered that 2,000m up an African mountain can also be very cold and wet. One of the local woman knitted me a woolly hat, so that helped. The toilets were drop holes and my shower was a hot bucket wash. Food normally consisted of rice, beans, yams and cabbage. We rarely had meat or dairy products. One child in my class would sometimes bring me an egg and I would get really excited."
 
Joanna said malaria was a serious problem in the country and she saw both Tanzanians and fellow volunteers suffer with it, although she was lucky enough not to contract it. She added: "My only scary experience was when I discovered worm-like parasites living in my feet, which led to an infection. A trip to the village health post, funded by the charity, soon sorted me out but I discovered many children don't get the problem treated and suffer permanent damage as a result."
 
During her time at the school, which began in September, 2006, Joanna got involved in many aspects of village life. She said: "There was never a dull moment. If I wasn't teaching I was helping plant beans on the farm, or drinking tea in people's homes and attempting to learn their language. I had a group of young children who used to come up to my house and
we had great fun colouring in pictures and playing with toys and balloons. I used to enjoy carrying babies on my back in a sling and attempting to balance baskets of yams on my head or a bucket of water. One of my most special memories was having a baby named after me - baby Joanna."
 
The project allowed Joanna to get involved in many new things, including helping to build a house, teaching adult English classes and setting up sewing, singing and art clubs. Joanna said: "I just hope I am able to go back one day to see the new friends I made and the children I taught."
 
"What an experience - and what a dream fulfilled."
 
Before she went to Africa, and since her return, Joanna has encouraged her Cherry Tree Hill pupils in the reception class to write and draw pictures to send to the villagers she met.
 
She said: "It has been very helpful for our pupils to understand what life is like in other countries."

Other roles

Simon Faulkner - Photography - Oct 07

Short Yamba Diary 2007

Yamba is a tiny village shrouded in the cloud forests of the West Usumbara mountains some 200 miles north of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. My stay totaled just seven days but became by far the most remarkable journey I’ve ever made.

Below is a brief record of highlights, but first an introduction. Yamba is populated by about 1200 people, cut off from civilization, without a road, it is claimed that nobody here had seen a white person before 18 months ago. Aside from no road there is no running water and no electricity, most of the houses are mud-brick and roofed with banana leaves.

Caroline Johnston came to Yamba 18 months ago. Sickness including Malaria is endemic and a journey to the local hospital would take six men two days carrying a stretcher down the mountain. Not surprisingly people die young here and the work that Caroline has done, galvanizing the villagers into building a road to the village (2-3 years yet to completion), raising funds for health, education, child sponsorship and attracting volunteers has done wonders. I was asked to document this progress and support the marketing with my photography. To be asked to do this was a privilege and I will never forget the welcome, the kindness and generosity of people who have virtually nothing.

Arrival - Saturday October 27

Arrived Dar es Salaam airport and collect suitcase full (slight exaggeration) of Tanzanian shillings (the largest notes are worth just £4!). Met by Henry the taxi driver and taken to Kipepeo Beach resort – a thatch hut with a very muddy communal shower. Nice fish.

After a five hour bus journey to Seghera I was met by John (driver), Mel and Doug (volunteers). Learn 3 out of 4 volunteers + coordinator have been down with malaria. Moe, Katie and Caroline (co-coordinator) still in hospital with Malaria. Caroline also has Amoebic Dysentery, a Urinary Tract Infection and Worms. Mel has just left the hospital (they think the malaria has gone). What have I let myself in for?

Long drive over dirt tracks with stop on way for chip omelette (Goat is looking a little risky). Arrive “The garage” where the 4X4 is kept. Met by 100 residents of Yamba who carry our bags and provisions up the mountain (including my laptop on top of one boy’s head). Accompanied by 40 minutes of singing “welcome Simon” till we reach the top (feel like the Pied Piper) and then there is a brief welcome ceremony.

Living in Yamba 1 – Sunday October 28 to Wednesday October 31

I awake each morning to a cup and bucket shower followed by donut bread and jam.  Sunday morning we take a long walk up to the Lutheran church – a mud brick building with a tin roof and lots of holes in the walls, said to be 50 years old. This is the usual meeting place on Sundays for announcements – but none today as too many people sick. 

Sunday afternoon - watch Yamba Town play on the world’s steepest pitch. If in doubt pass to number 9 – the whole team is wearing No 9 Ronaldo Shirts. By 6:30 complete darkness aside from a kerosene lamp.

Monday I spend the day photographing the village including the “High Street”, consisting of a few mud huts, the Catholic Church (mud brick again but with a tin roof) and shop. The “shop has razor blades, biscuits, matches, batteries, and orangeade – can see nothing else. Greeted by village elder heavily intoxicated on Sugar Cane Spirit sporting a fluorescent green snake necklace. Asked if the snake was dangerous John said only deadly if the bite wasn’t treated within 8 hours.

Dinner at Doug’s – more chip omelette (Yummy), Ugali ( Not Yummy) and lentils (better than Ugali). Feeling cold that night and decided to give my spare fleece to the night watchman who stands outside my hut all night (with his bow and arrows – honest!).

Tuesday is a day photographing the school classes, the teachers and orphans to obtain sponsorship. Invited into huts where there are just one or two rooms – bare earth on the floor and a tiny cooking area where an open fire is fuelled by firewood. The animals (chickens, piglets, rabbits) run around freely inside, but there are few other possessions.

Evening up at Doug’s the bushes are full of glow worms and fireflies. The sounds of the forest are so loud they almost hurt the ears.

Wednesday I met with John to photograph sub-villages of Yamba. Invited into one home where they had ten children and three orphans. The father, dressed in rags asked me to photograph him and his sick bed-ridden wife, a very sobering experience. After 30 minutes and some of the most poignant photographs I’ve ever taken he presented me with a live chicken (a huge gift by Yamba standards).

Weekend in Tanga Thursday November 1 Sunday November 4

Thursday - made an early start for the 4x4 trip to Yamba. Photographed Katie and Mel teaching, then stomach churning drive to Tanga. Collected Caroline and Moe from the 34 bed Catholic Hospital. Very basic – but clean. Malaria really is a killer here – two people died of it in the hospital the previous night.

Friday - A day talking with Caroline and organising a thousand photographs followed by dinner at the “Yacht Club” – a little bit of colonial Britain in the back of beyond.

Saturday - shopping for Kangas for our housegirls and a blanket for the sick woman. Met Father Baruti who is working with Caroline. Wants me to return to photograph his other projects – orphanages, farming and environmental. Tried to convince me the church would not let me die – a serious promise in what I now know must be a place where malaria is a serious problem.

Sunday -return to Yamba, but before returning I am asked to photograph the hospital for fundraising. Sister Flora who runs it is lovely, but the hospital is empty – virtually no equipment, just beds and drips. The operating theatres are unused but they hope to hire a surgeon in February – at £600 a month this is 60% of their monthly budget for the whole hospital. Queuing patients don’t look too happy – surprise surprise!

Living in Yamba 2 Monday November 5 to Wednesday November 7

Monday - back from a break and I’m now into the photography again with a new zest. Only three days to go and so much more to photograph, we visit the Tailor today, the knitting club, the new health post (with a patient conveniently arriving), washing lines with ragged clothes and kids with footballs made from plastic bags and elastic bands.

Tuesday – an uneventful day in Yamba (is that possible?). The first of 29 Orphans queued (nervously) to be photographed and more domestic scenes. Tuesday mornings are taken up with road construction (women only). Saturday mornings it is the men’s turn.

Wednesday – A truly remarkable day. The first event of the day was the goat party (not held in honour of, or for the pleasure of the goat). Early that morning Katie and Mel arrived from Milingano and Katie wandered down to one of the huts to find the goat unnaturally stretched out in a tree, the two testicles to one side on the wall. Quickly the rumour went round (fortunately untrue) that these were to be presented to the guest of honour – i.e. me.  At lunchtime a truly great feast followed – served of course with Pasta, Chips, Rice and Ugali.

At 3pm I was invited to my leaving party – some 250 villagers gathered for a two-hour ceremony to wish me goodbye. Two choirs, the first the Catholic, led by my housegirl Teresea, the second the Lutheran, was followed by dance exhibitions and a band. The band was headed up by the Mr. Cool of Yamba (shades, baseball hat his companion sporting a battered transistor radio on his shoulder (the speaker for an electric guitar)).

A Kanga wound round me I was asked to lead the dancing (help get me outa here!). After speeches by Caroline, the Village President and me, I was presented with a gifts in another ceremony – another live chicken (they just won’t stop flapping in the overhead lockers), a carving of two birds made by the carpenters, an essential dish hand made again by the carpenters for my millet (once I’ve ground it), avocados, warm eggs, bananas, biscuits, yams and tomatoes all from the children.

That evening I burn the photos to a DVD for Caroline – Surreal – no electricity for miles and here we are, two laptops, a generator, glow worms and all being guarded by our giant of a night watchman called Bernard with his Bow and arrows.

A great and emotional day, I’ll never forget.

Thursday – departure for Arusha, Teresea leads us down the mountain, laptop safely on head. I really hope I come back here some day.
 

David - Building - Dec 07

"I was a little unsure of what the building team in Yamba would have in store for me. Speaking little Swahili also brought a degree of anxiety as I anticipated using all my charades ability! However, as soon as I met the team I knew there would be no problems, the team were friendly and welcoming with a small english vocabulary. They did work extremely hard but were happy for me to take regular breaks.

I was posted at the school aiding the regeneration effort of both the toilets and classrooms. These were great projects to be a part of as they will obviously bring so much ongoing benefit to the village. I have been lucky enough to experience rapid progression of these areas during my short stay and had a chance to see the huge amounts that have been accomplished by Village Africa this far, for this I feel very privileged and thankful to those who made it possible."

Christine - Marketing - Jun 07

“The experience of going out to Yamba to do some marketing work for Village Africa was one of the most fantastic experiences I’ve ever had. Being able to use my skills for something so worthwhile gave me a huge sense of achievement.”

Please also see www.villageafrica.org.uk for volunteer reports and updates.