In this interview, we hear from Seón Tromble. Seón is working as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Tanzania. What Seón shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Seón talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Seón’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as an Education volunteer in Tanzania?
Sure! Education volunteers in Tanzania serve as STEM teachers in rural secondary schools. For me, that has meant teaching math and computer science in a school in the Rombo district of the Kilimanjaro region. My class size varies from about 20 (computer science is an optional subject at my school) to 130. And yes, I mean 130 students in the classroom at a time. My students are aged 12-17.
I am also engaged in after-school activities. I began an English language club to facilitate students’ English language skills. I also invited a guest teacher to school to create an art club, assisted with an after-school debate club, and participated in sports and games days (I wasn’t very useful on the soccer pitch, but I can play a mean game of volleyball).
Additionally, I brought teachers to various Peace Corps-organized capacity building training events, including beekeeping and tree planting, safe schools, grassroots soccer, and comprehensive sexuality education and menstrual health management. These trainings allow key community members to initiate their own projects and clubs to benefit our students and the community as a whole.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Tanzania?
I joined the Peace Corps for the usual reasons.
It’s exciting, it’s an adventure, it’s a challenge. I get to get out into the world and do some good, meet new people, see new things, and experience new cultures. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself or who I wanted to be, and this felt like a good alternative to taking a job I wouldn’t really be happy at just so I could pay the bills. It was really a whole slew of reasons, both practical and idealistic. I think lots of Peace Corps Volunteers find themselves serving for similar reasons. So if you resonate with any of that, maybe this is the job for you!
As to how I ended up in Tanzania? Randomly. When I was given the opportunity to come here, all I knew about this place was that it was exciting, unfamiliar, and wholly unknown. And honestly? I’m glad I came to this country knowing very little about it, with few expectations or preconceptions.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
During Pre-Service Training (PST), I lived with a host family. Shoutout, Mama Anna! My host family during PST held my hand through the single most dramatic period of change in my life. They helped with my Kiswahili, taught me to cook and do chores, and showed me what life in Tanzania is like. I’ll never forget the love and kindness they showed in welcoming a stranger into their home.
Living in a compound with my neighbors
After PST, I moved to my site, where I live in my own house in a compound with my neighbors. It’s a nice setup because my neighbors are all extended family of the man and woman who own the house I live in. I get to enjoy my privacy, but they also take care to invite me to family events and include me in their lives.
My rural village
My village is in rural Tanzania, and we frequently experience disruptions in amenities like water, electricity, and the network. I’ve enjoyed some of the freshest produce of my life here (the bananas and avocados are incredible), though the level of variety is not what we’re used to in the States. No pizza and cold cut subs here. I eat lots of rice and beans.
The environment of my village is also lovely. I live in a lush green banana jungle cut through with unmarked dirt walking paths. Through my service, I have enjoyed going on runs and walks around my village to see the sights and try to get a grasp on the geography of the village. Two years later, and I’m still discovering new things.
On the border with Kenya
My district is about a third of the way up the elevation of Mount Kilimanjaro and looks out over the border with Kenya, which lies in the valley beneath us. Tanzania and Kenya run on different energy grids, so when the power goes out in my village, you can look down into the valley and see the border by where the lights start.
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
I’ve had more memorable interactions than I could possibly record here. I’ve had children who ran up to me with the biggest grin on their face for a fist bump, just happy to see me. I’ve also had kids run from me screaming in terror because they thought I was a ghost. I’ve shared a beer with village elders who were born when Tanzania was still a colony, and I’ve had young women shout at me in public to ask if I would make a child with them.
I’ve had incredible moments like watching the sunset from the top of Africa on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro or finishing my first marathon. Yet some of my most memorable experiences came from totally unexpected, much less conspicuous places. A joke with a student in class, a teacher asking to go for a walk and talk, and a neighbor inviting me to a barbecue. If you’re willing to say yes to new experiences and put yourself out there to the people around you, Tanzania will provide unlimited memorable moments.
My only advice? Keep a journal.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about challenges in Tanzania?
Just as there are no shortages of memorable moments in Tanzania, there are no shortages of challenges as well. I personally struggled with seeing the frequent use of corporal punishment at my school. It definitely drove a wedge between the other teachers on a fair few occasions.
I also struggled with the flexible nature of the school schedule. Some days, I would show up to school just to learn that my head of school had decided to have a staff meeting, which started at 11 am and ran until 3 pm. A four-hour staff meeting in a language you just learned is gruesome enough without the added consideration of your students sitting in a classroom without instruction while you should be teaching. That could be very frustrating.
These were the kind of situations that forced me to confront the fact that I am in a different place with a different culture, workplace expectations, and norms. Applying the expectations I brought with me from the States would only end in anger and frustration. However, these do represent an opportunity to reflect on cultural differences and practice patience. For the most part. I’m not ashamed to say I never got comfortable with corporal punishment. As I approach my close of service, I’ve prepared a report on a few scientific articles about the negative effects of corporal punishment to share with my school.
6. What challenges did you face while working on Education projects?
Balancing Kiswahili and English
One of the major challenges of teaching in Tanzania is the language barrier. The majority of my students attended primary schools that taught in their native Kiswahili. However, upon reaching secondary school, the language of instruction changes from Kiswahili to English. Most notably, the national exams that the students must pass every two years to continue their education are in English.
The American equivalent would be elementary and middle school in English, followed by high school in Spanish or French or *insert language you don’t know here*. And the SATs are taken twice, sophomore and senior year, and are also in Spanish.
As their teacher, you need to find a balance of using enough Swahili so that the students have understood the lesson, and enough English so the students can tackle those problems on the exam. No mean feat.
Obviously, this represents a huge challenge to the students and, frankly, to me. I began teaching the form ones (the first year of secondary school) who were new to English while I was new to Kiswahili.
But after two years…
Fortunately, I got to teach those students for two years. It was a really special experience for my student’s English to be improving while my Kiswahili was improving in parallel. My students and I were building a relationship with each other as we could progressively understand each other better. It felt like progress in a very tangible way.
Fear of mathematics
Tanzanian students also have a fear of mathematics passed down to them. There’s actually a nickname for the subject in the country. Tanzanians call math the “mgonjwa wa taifa” or the “disease of the nation”.
So PCVs in Tanzania have their work cut out for them when they step into the classroom for the first time. You need to figure out the language, overcome your students’ learned aversion to mathematics, and maintain order in large classrooms without the de facto method of discipline (corporal punishment). It’s a tall order, and it comes with plenty of days of frustration and disappointment. But with resilience and patience, service in Tanzania can yield some spectacular results.
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
In addition to teaching responsibilities, the majority of Tanzania education volunteers also engage in secondary projects. During my service, I completed a project that provided bunk beds for students who stay at school. I also partnered with a German chapter of the organization Engineers Without Borders to begin a project that will build a well on school grounds to supply the students and local community with a source of safe drinking water. Finally, I collaborated with other volunteers placed in the Rombo district to secure a shipment of books from the organization Books for Africa that will provide donated reading materials to all of the 50+ secondary schools in the Rombo district.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Education volunteer in Tanzania?
I’m going to pass on something that was told to me that I’ve tried to live by during my service.
Expect nothing, appreciate everything.
Peace Corps Tanzania offers you a mixed bag. You will have incredible experiences, see beautiful things, and make profound relationships. You will also be uncomfortable, frustrated, and upset. I think the way to make the most of your time here is to accept things as they are. To learn to look at the world around you in a non-judgmental way and enjoy the novelty and uniqueness of your experience, regardless of whether you consider the thing to be “good” or “bad.”
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
I cannot possibly give enough praise to our Peace Corps training team. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to name-drop, but you know who you are. I’ve got so much love for you all. Who else can take a know-nothing American like me and get them to a level of linguistic and cultural competence that they can not only survive but thrive all alone in a part of the world that is so unfamiliar to them? It’s nothing short of miraculous.
That being said, for any potential volunteers out there, there’s only so much our training team can do. Miracle workers, though they may be. Success relies on your complete and total buy-in to the process. You need to be willing to learn, you need to be willing to make mistakes (being comfortable being embarrassed is the best skill you can have in training), and you need to be willing to work incredibly hard. The harder you work during training, the more successful you will be down the road at site.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Tanzania volunteers?
I would pack more deodorant. The brands available here don’t work quite as well for me as those I could get back in the States.
Things I brought that were awesome: posters and pictures of home, battery-powered string lights, and house decorations in general. An e-reader has been essential. A speaker and a money pouch or fanny pack type of deal were both great. I also packed away an extra set of underwear and socks that I opened up one year into service. That was an excellent move.
11. How has learning the language been?
I learned Kiswahili for my service in Tanzania. English levels, especially in rural Tanzania, can be quite low, so it’s definitely an essential skill. There is a Kiswahili Duolingo for any incoming trainees interested in starting to learn before coming to Tanzania. That Duolingo was actually created by members of the Peace Corps training staff (Esther and Emilian actually taught us during pre-service training), so it’s pretty great.
I personally used Duolingo before arrival. I’d say it helped get a bit of a foundation going into lessons with your teachers. Even though we move so quickly that, after about a week, you’re already surpassing what you’ve learned alone.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
12. How do you think your Instagram contributes to your overall mission as a Peace Corps volunteer?
I tried to post a bunch of pictures from my experience in Tanzania on my Instagram! @seon.tromble
Looking back in hindsight I should have started a blog. While I did journal through my time here, having a blog makes it so much easier to convey what you’re doing in your service to friends and family back home.
13. Any last comments you’d like to pass on to future Tanzania volunteers?
As I’ve said before, serving in Tanzania is a mixed bag. I often say I’ve had some of the best days of my life here, and I’ve had some of the worst days of my life here. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. But if you’re looking for a challenge and the experience of a lifetime, this might just be the job for you.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Seón’s, apply to the Peace Corps today. Expand your horizons, push your limits, and create positive impact as a volunteer. You never know how serving as a Peace Corps volunteer could change your life.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Tanzania Government.
