Feelings from Tanzania - Lee Kwang Ho

The feeling that dominated my mind until the first day was worry rather than expectation. Our preparation was not enough on every aspect. But, my colleagues looked so happy and relaxed even though we were not prepared and had to teach the class tomorrow. That made me worried so much. However, when the first class had started, my thought changed completely. Still, there were a lot of insufficiencies in our classes. Although Kits for the class were not enough and student’s academic achievement was different from what we had expected, student liked us as ourselves regardless of the poor teaching. Though we made a mistake, they accepted and loved it as part of ourselves. Only then, I realized that I am the one who can’t really adjust in Tanzania, not our team members.

There were a lot of problems while we had worked in Tanzania. There were conflicts among colleagues and sometimes miscommunication with local people caused some misunderstanding and conflicts. However, we tried to understand and love each other though we had conflicts, as a result, it gave us a chance to learn and understand more about Tanzania and made our friendship deeper than before.

I remembered a speech heard at the first group meeting. A lecturer said that ‘now, you are planning to teach the local people but, you will be the one who learned the most’. That was totally right. I’ve learned a lot in this volunteering program. What I saw in Tanzanian’s life was ‘Hakunamatata’. They have the heart to see the world positively whichever circumstance they faced. So, everything is relaxed and calm in Tanzania. There are smile and peace in their face and they seem to truly enjoy their life. In Korea, We used the word ‘ppalli ppalli(Quick quick)’ a lot. Every Korean tries to seek the faster and easier way. Our life is also focused on achieving employment, marriage, and promotion as soon as we are at the time. Korea is economically wealthier than Tanzania. However, I want to ask whether or not we are as happy as people of Tanzania. Maybe, we are the one who needs a real learning from them, it was not the Tanzanian.