Claudine's Bucket List

Happy Valentines Day from Mikumi, Tanzania! My name is Katie Orr and I am the International Director at NSCC and I have the privelege to be here with Claudine Lowry, our Dean of Organizational Learning. Claudine's team hosted four VETA Mikumi faculty last summer for two months of training in our Community College Education Diploma Program (CCEDP), and this week Claudine and I are meeting with those faculty members plus four more faculty scheduled to come to NSCC for more CCEDP courses and more work with our School of Business faculty and academic chairs.

Today we started to get their suggestions on maximizing the CCEDP experience for the faculty coming to NSCC in July, and to look forward to plan for possible ongoing mentoring, teaching and learning collaboration between NSCC and VETA Mikumi during our ACCC/CIDA Education for Employment (EFE) tourism training project.

We have been warmly welcomed at Mikumi, and arrived yesterday after a long journey from Dar es Salaam. In Dar we were able to meet with Mr. Moshi, head of the VETA system, and Nigel Allen, the ACCC EFE project manager to discuss how the 12 EFE projects are going, and get feedback on our project in particular. Both were very complimentary of the achievements of our project in a short amount of time and the vision and commitment of VETA Mikumi principal Mr. Christopher Ayo. Great to hear that our employees and students have made an impact here. We have certainly felt the impact at NSCC!

In Dar we also met with our industry partner, and friend, Janet Kiwia of World Jet Travel. Janet welcomed us to her home on the Indian Ocean, and she and Claudine hit it off right away. Janet shared many ideas for us to explore together and reminded me that four years ago she and I shared a dream to work together to improve opportunities for young people to contribute to the Tanzania tourism industry and she encouraged me to keep dreaming with her. Janet is a friend and advisor to me and I really appreciate it that despite the distances and differences between our countries, we have alot in common.

Janet arranged for us to have a guided tour of the Village Museum in Dar es Salaam which we frequent visit as part of our orientation for new students and faculty from NSCC coming to Tanzania for the first time, to learn about the country, and get some exposure to cultural traditions, food and dance. It was fun to tour the museum with Claudine whose background is in anthropology and sociology and is fascinated with the people here and their culture and traditions.

The scenery on the drive to Mikumi was spectacular yesterday, as the big city faded into the rear view mirror, we passed through rural landscapes, with mountains in the background and the heavy rains started to pour down and cooled the air a bit. We passed through Mikumi National Park on our way to the VETA Mikumi Campus and we were lucky enough to see lots of elephant, giraffe, impala and baboons, and there are even baboons on the campus. We have been able to meet with the tour guiding students and instructors and hope to learn a bit more over the next few days about the students hopes for employment in the national parks and museums of Tanzania.

With all the travel and the hot weather I am feeling a bit sweaty and grimy, and although the air conditioning is working in our otherwise comfortable guest house on campus, the hot water is not. So i might end up spending Valentine’s Day helping Claudine wash her hair with an orange plastic bucket. This should be interesting... plus the light is burned out in the cold water shower stall.... She may have to wear her headlamp while showering with her orange bucket in the dark. This brings a whole new meaning to the Bucket List... Hamna shida (no worries)!