• CULP 2010: Tanzania

  October 4, 2010

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  Tags:  

  travel   humanitarian   rotc   CULP  

  In January of this year I was selected for a CULP internship in Tanzania. After a spring full of preparations and a brief training period at Ft. Monmouth, our group of ROTC cadets left for Tanzania in late May. We lived and worked in a town called Moshi, located in the north of Tanzania, right at the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro which we could actually see from our front yard on a clear day! Through an organization called Cross Cultural Solutions (who fed and housed us at the volunteer home base for our three-week stay) we were placed at various locations throughout Moshi. My placement was at Shaurimoyo Primary school where I and another cadet worked with mentally and physically disabled children. In a society where opportunity is hard to find, those children especially don’t have much of a chance, so my goal was to at least make each one feel special, and to make them smile or laugh every day I worked. My work partner and I helped the teachers with their lessons, supervised the children during their activities, practiced speaking Swahili with them, and played with them at recess. The children and adults I interacted with on a daily basis opened my eyes to a different way of living. It’s a place where no one has much of anything, and “hard times” isn’t a phase, but a perpetual state of existence for most. Yet despite their harships many Tanzanians wake up with a smile on their face and with gladness in their heart, thankful just to be alive. "Hakuna matata" isn’t a joke, but a mindset. They are resourceful, generous, and thankful people and I want to strive to be more like that. Through my experiences with Tanzanian men, women, and children I learned not only about another culture, but much about myself and my own culture. Because of Army ROTC I was able to have an unforgettable and unparalleled experience, and for that I will always be thankful and changed, hopefully for the better.

  submitted by Cadet Sarah Meador on Oct 4 2010

Comments

• Mark Cross

  Oct 8, 2010 2:48 PM

  sounds like it was an awesome experience!

  haha..

  
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• Sean Fitzgerald

  Nov 2, 2010 9:56 AM

  The trip changed my life! I can't wait to bump into you guys later in my career!

  
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• Sarah Meador, LCSW--Social Worker

  Sep 27, 2011 5:34 PM

  Same name, same spirit cadet. TX Aggie hubby did 30 years US Army--we were even stationed at Ft. Monmouth. Got my BSW at Monmouth U. God has a sense of humor. Keep serving and change the world, one person at a time if necessary. It matters to that one. Hu-ah!

  
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