Liz Clibourne
Regions of interest: Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America
Skills: work with children, women's empowerment, teaching, health
Stories by this Volunteer
Let Us Play
by Liz Clibourne
April 07, 2010
As R and L are interchangeable here, this is what the kids say as they bow their little heads and fold their little hands to give thanks for the ugi. Ugi is a corn porridge provided daily at Judith's chekichea (preschool).It tastes like cream of wheat (sort of). I'm back in Mbeya, but returning to Ngonga on Thursday. Have a ton of stuff to do before I return, but I'm excited about being in Ngonga and about the project. And especially excited about sitting on the porch in the morning, drinking my coffee, and waching the cows in the yard, and the pigs and the chickens. It's rural sana so will try to get back every ten days or so for business and chocolate. I'll be four and a half hours from any store that sells it. I'd...
Living with the kids
by Liz Clibourne
April 07, 2010
Aloha everyone, I'm great, having fun, on my own with 105 kids, staff, and whoever else comes to me with whatever it is. Got here almost a week ago, but it feels like I've been here forever. I've never had people try so hard to make me happy. I've already had 2 kids ask if I'd be their mother. One little girl, Josephine, 10 yrs old, was sitting out with me waiting for the shower. It started to rain and she ran in and got a cover for my head. Shes one of the ones who asked me to be her mommy. Too sweet. These kids are working on me, that's for sure.So far Ive seen a bunch of ear infections, multiple malaria, a BP of 240/120, which I can...
Peeing on a Moving Train
by Liz Clibourne
April 06, 2010
Just got back from Zambia, where we went for Carlee's visa run. If the train had stalled one more day we would have officially spent more time in transit than we spent in Lusaka (capital of Zambia). All the warning signs were there, we just failed to heed them. How it happened:1. Despite all the train related horror stories we've heard about Tazara (Tanzania Zambia Railway), we opted to try anyway. It's very cheap, and you get to see alot of the country. It's rainy season now,and everything is so green and beautiful.The train office was closed for two days, first was Uhuru Day, (Tz Independence Day). Then came Eid, a Muslim holiday. So on our third try we got on the now evenlonger line and waited about three hours while everyone else got tickets. When we got to...
Madam, they only take the test once
by Liz Clibourne
March 17, 2010
Every year, all over Tanzania, thousands of Standard Seven kids take what is known as the leaving exam. Passing this test allows them to continue on to secondary school. A child need only pass 3 of 7 subjects, English, Math and Kiswahili. A passing grade is 50%. When I arrived in Idweli, a small village in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, the test has been completed and scored, and out of 54 children in Idweli Primary School Standard Seven, 2 passed. I was appalled, but still hopeful. I went to the Headmaster and offered extra classes for those who failed, so they could retake the test and hopefully do better. He looked at me like I was a moron and told me "But madam, they only take the test once."So 52...