Veerle Koops, Grade 12
UWCEA Arusha Campus
At UWC East Africa, we get the opportunity to study Swahili. My campus is located in Arusha, Tanzania. It is just slightly out of town, and we are able to go there often. The very first thing I learned was that only few people speak English.
After the first week, my classes started. In my Swahili class, the first thing we were taught was that Swahili is not just the language that the people of Tanzania and Kenya speak, it is the name for the culture they share. At the United World Colleges, we are taught and united for we share the belief that cultures are to be shared and respected. The students live together, and conversations lead us to places of respect. I have learned many things I had no idea of before I moved to Tanzania. Outside of all conversationI learned about Swahili culture in a different way.
In the Swahili classroom, I learned the most respect for a culture. This time I was taught about a culture. My teacher mentions growing up while having to wake up at 3 in the morning to make chapati that her family could sell when she attended school. She tells us you only serve food with your right hand, and never eat this while walking. My teacher emphasises the importance of greetings and respect for elders in Tanzania. She addresses the problems Tanzania faces because of climate change, and then teaches us to discuss these in Swahili.
When I go into town, or travel to other places in Tanzania, I look at the way things are done differently because I have first been taught about it in a different way. When we eat at a local place I have never been served by someone who used their left hand, and have rarely spoken with someone without first exchanging greetings.
I feel strongly that not only the environment in which we receive our education as UWC students, but also about the education thát we receive supports the core values that I and the people around me feel. Cultures, languages and perspectives are always special. Always, and very. To me, they were presented in a UWC school. To me that was special too.
After the first week, my classes started. In my Swahili class, the first thing we were taught was that Swahili is not just the language that the people of Tanzania and Kenya speak, it is the name for the culture they share. At the United World Colleges, we are taught and united for we share the belief that cultures are to be shared and respected. The students live together, and conversations lead us to places of respect. I have learned many things I had no idea of before I moved to Tanzania. Outside of all conversationI learned about Swahili culture in a different way.
In the Swahili classroom, I learned the most respect for a culture. This time I was taught about a culture. My teacher mentions growing up while having to wake up at 3 in the morning to make chapati that her family could sell when she attended school. She tells us you only serve food with your right hand, and never eat this while walking. My teacher emphasises the importance of greetings and respect for elders in Tanzania. She addresses the problems Tanzania faces because of climate change, and then teaches us to discuss these in Swahili.
When I go into town, or travel to other places in Tanzania, I look at the way things are done differently because I have first been taught about it in a different way. When we eat at a local place I have never been served by someone who used their left hand, and have rarely spoken with someone without first exchanging greetings.
I feel strongly that not only the environment in which we receive our education as UWC students, but also about the education thát we receive supports the core values that I and the people around me feel. Cultures, languages and perspectives are always special. Always, and very. To me, they were presented in a UWC school. To me that was special too.
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