mazingira [environment]

Yesterday I taught my first environmental awareness class!  We had ten members of the environment committee for a nearby community come to the MYDO office to learn about environmental problems in Zanzibar.

The MYDO office.

So excited!

My friend and translator, Nassir, introducing me to the class.

First I focused briefly on widespread issues: sustainability and climate change.  Then I narrowed down to the problem that is the biggest direct concern to the environment:  pollution and waste management.  Takataka (trash).

A serious face for a serious subject! 

My main goal for the day was to present these community members with introductory information about the environment in hopes to inspire them to protect the environment and to keep their community clean.  Then they would take this knowledge back to their community and share it with their friends and families.

Frantically taking notes!

My students didn't really understand English, so I had a MYDO member translate for me as we went along.  This gave me a major boost in confidence -- it's a lot easier to sound smart if your audience has no idea what you're saying!  But unfortunately, this made it hard to judge if they were actually understanding the material.  I hope that I was successful!  I hope that at least a few of them are excited to carry forward with our environment program.  If all goes well, they will choose some sort of project to implement in their community in the next week or so (e.g., planting trees, community clean-up day, etc).

Happy faces from my happy class!

In anycase, whether the class was successful or not, it was good practice for when I'm an "environment education agent" in Cameroon!  (which is less than four months away now!  YIKES!)