About JTTI and its Amazing Founders & Students

With some of my 2nd Year Students

It is amazing how much we take for granted our easy access to more or less free education in the Caribbean and North America.  Unlike here, where it is more of a privilege and a function of family priorities (boys favoured over girls), economics (most families are living hand to mouth and thus kids are taken out of school to work and support the families) and the ability to access the very limited amount of places for secondary and post secondary education.  Recognizing this fact, and also that many of the jobs in the tourism sector in Jambiani, Zanzibar were not taken up by locals but from persons from the mainland and elsewhere, Patricia Elias (Victoria, British Columbia native via Sri Lanka, England and elsewhere) and her husband Alastair set up the Jambiani Tourism Training Institute (JTTI).  This was sponsored by their NGO Hands Across Borders Society (HABS) and you can read all about their amazing story and financial and personal sacrifices to have the school  and a wellness clinic established on the HABS website. Students do not pay any fees to gain entrance but must show a commitment to learning. It provides free training to 350-500 students per year, 25 of which are enrolled in 2 year Tourism and Hospitality Diploma programme, and includes a wide range of courses, such as food & beverage service and production, food safety, HIV/AIDS, housekeeping, local tour guide, business & management as well as specific skill development in English, Maths, Keyboarding and IT. HABS operates by attracting volunteer teachers like myself, as well as donations from the public and also small grants from agencies such as the World Bank and CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency).  CIDA recently posted a short video on the school with an interview with Pat which you can view at CIDA Video on JTTI . It is such a pleasure teaching students who have this huge appetite for knowledge and learning.  And who, despite having to fast all day for Ramadan, cycle one hour to school, work the night shift before class the next day, or have to live in a room that goats are herded in, all show up more or less on time every day for class, neatly dressed and  cheerful.  When I do not give them Math homework after class- they plead for it - that alone makes it all worthwhile.    

Dreamy & Friendly....

Local Women Mostly Sea Weed Farmers on the Beach

My first impressions of Jambiani……..dreamy and definitely friendly.  When I got to the Institute last Saturday, Sine gave me a tour of the school and the other facilities – the Wellness Centre (where I can get free chiropractic care from Alastair who runs the school with his wife Pat), the house that I will be living in, the makeshift fitness centre, the kitchen and store rooms and the grounds (laden with coconut trees which I have a plan for already).  All the buildings have Makuti (thatched) roofs –although the thatch rests on top of a hard roof in some cases.  Famished and jet lagged we decided to go out for an early dinner  at the Blue Oyster Hotel which is a stone throw away down the beach.  I had a great anchovies and sun dried tomatoes pizza and Sine dined on the curried Octopus which was really good, and we washed it all down with bottles of Serengeti beer (better than Kilimanjaro) .  From there we took a brisk 40 minute walk down the beach to a Beach Festival that was taking place – which had included a dhow boat race earlier in the afternoon and football matches.   There were lots of visitors and locals there enjoying music that ranged from East African to Reggae to Hip Hop and lots of  Rihanna (she seems to be a big favourite around here – I plan to acquaint them with some Sparrow soon).  I got introduced to quite a few people and everyone was incredibly friendly ….something which I have noticed wherever I have been over the past week.    One of our security guards was also at the Festival when he should have been watching the school.  He is a Masai and but with that kind of behavior I swear he could pass for a West Indian.  Just after midnight we walked back to school all along the beach and the skies were so clear that you saw tons of stars and even the Milky Way star constellation was clearly visible.  Very dreamy I thought.  Maybe that inspired me to sleep until 1230 pm the next day.  I got up in a haste and met up Sine for brunch at Kiddos Restaurant run by Lisa and Kiddo (German/local couple) located about 15 minutes down the beach.  It is a great place with good food and three cute rooms for rental.  Lisa was gracious enough to lend me an plug converter (as mine had gotten fried in the July 4th fireworks display at Econo “Hotel” in Dar).  So finally I could charge my Blackberry, IPAD, ITouch, Skype Phone, English Phone, Electric Toothbrush, Camera and my Laptop. Did I walk with too much stuff for this dreamy friendly place?

Habari Africa – the Journey Begins

After 2 consecutive overnight flights (thanks BA for the tasteless, stingy meals by the way) I arrived in Dar Es Salaam (commonly known as Dar) last Friday.  I was whisked to my hotel, Econo Hotel by my friendly driver,  with its charming green toilet paper and electricity outlets that can create a 4th of July fireworks show (and fried US$75 worth of chargers) and then to the VSO Office to meet the staff and volunteers and to get a briefing .  Lunch was at a little local place and consisted of cooked cassava leaves with grounded nuts (really good), some beans, rice, a stew of an unrecognizable vegetable and fried fish slices that could have done with some green seasoning (thank god they had pepper sauce).  Later that evening I got together with 4 other volunteers and had dinner and drinks at the Badminton Club near to the hotel.  Interesting place – open courtyard seating, large screen showing old Indian movies and videos, a superb cheap Indian menu, a playground for kids and of course a badminton court – an indoor glass walled one, which was your eating entertainment.   Saturday morning I took the ferry from Dar to Zanzibar....it was chaotic but the ferry was large and nice and there were two other Philipino volunteers on the boat as well.  Sine (Zeena) who is a German lecturer here and will be my housemate, met me at the port and got me through immigration quickly. We then drove around Zanzibar City (of which the famous Stone Town is a part of) as we had to pick up the shopping for the restaurant.   We then drove about 1.5 hours to the Jambiani Tourism Training Institute where I am working, which is in this quaint village made of stone houses and right on the beach.  The compound is great with incredible villa-type buildings with thatched roofs right on a huge stretch of white sand beach with turquoise water.  There are lots of nice villas, small hotels and bars (yeah!!) and restaurants within walking distance.  This will certainly be an adventure!!