We are nearly a quarter of the way through the year (if anyone can believe it), and activities in the TFFT office are in full swing! One of the ways that Full Circle has been educating our students is through a series of guest speakers. We have had two speakers so far and it has been quite a success!
Our first speaker was Caitrin, as representative of the Kingsley Holgate Foundation. She came to speak to two classes at Usa River Academy primary school about Rhino conservation and the issue of poaching in Tanzania. Through Caitrin’s work, the students gained a better understanding of animal conservation, the rhino’s existence in Tanzania and how poaching can affect their community and Tanzania.
Besides student awareness, part of the project is to raise student voices about rhino poaching. The Kingsley Holgate Foundation does this through their “Art Voices” project, allowing students to make posters about rhinos and conservation. Our students’ work will be entered into a competition later in the year!
The second guest speaker we had was a friend of mine, Anees. Anees and I met solely due to our love of Africafe (the closest thing to Starbucks in Arusha). Anees is the Chief of Judicial and Legal Affairs for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. When we started talking about our jobs, Anees was very excited to share what he does with some of our students, which obviously made me excited!
A few days ago, I headed out again to Usa River Academy to accompany Anees to classes 5 and 6. He spent an hour and a half leading students through right and wrong, what laws are, who decision makers are, breaking laws, judges, lawyers, and courts. Eventually we came to the United Nations and the Criminal Tribunals that they hold, along with what types of jobs a lawyer does and how you become one.
I was seriously impressed by Anees’ ability to hold the kids attention as I was equally impressed by some of the questions that they asked him about laws and being a lawyer. By the end of the time, students has gained a lot of knowledge and understanding about how government and laws work, from their community to their country to international laws!
This new guest speaker program has gotten off to a great start and I am looking forward to many more fascinating and exciting speakers in the future (in addition to welcoming Caitrin and Anees back again)! For those of you considering a trip to Tanzania and interested in volunteering, we would love for you to speak to our students about your profession or a topic of your choice! Email Kaitlin (Kaitlin@thefoundationfortomorrow.org) to find out more.