Sara Lucid, a native of New Jersey, recently returned from her 10 week Quest in Tanzania, where she taught English and math to schoolkids in Dar Es Salaam. She had an incredible time, met some amazing people, and undoubtedly changed her own life while having a positive impact. We caught up with her recently…
There’s no question that it takes a lot of nerve to drop everything for 10 weeks and travel from the comforts of your New Jersey home to Africa.
“I love to travel, I was so unhappy at work, and I had nothing keeping me here. I decided to quit my job and take the plunge.”
All good reasons, but it still took a lot of courage to actually follow through with her decision, and it’s great that she did! Her trip was inspirational, exciting, wonderful, and adventurous; just what she needed.
Prior to her United Planet Quest, Sara had no experience with teaching (besides some dance lessons and cheerleading camp).
Needless to say, she was a bit apprehensive about teaching two classes, each with 30 second grade African children. She explained, “I was terrified, so nervous! I had no idea what I was going to do or what the kids’ learning ability was.”
Her first couple days at the school were spent sitting in on lessons to get a sense of what type of skills the children had.
Sara with some of her students in Dar es Salaam
She felt fortunate that the children were taught all of their lessons in English which meant they could have basic conversations and a basic understanding of one another.
Sara was given free rein during her math and English lessons; while she taught, the teachers were able to take a break, get some work done, etc. It freed up their day to get things done that they needed to.
One of her favorite and most memorable parts of the whole trip was when she developed a game to help the kids get excited about math. She had them split into relay teams and put math problems on the board that they had to solve as fast as possible as a team.
Sara and her students
The kids loved the game and went from hating math to asking if they could do extra!
Sara explained, “It was exciting to see them helping each other out and working together which is something they had never been exposed to by their other teachers.”
Naturally, Sara fell in love with teaching and since returning home has had a lot to think about in terms of her future. Even though she never had considered teaching as a profession before, her experiences in Tanzania have opened her up to a multitude of ideas and possibilities.
When I asked Sara about the most difficult aspect of her trip to Africa, she remarked: “the heat! I mean I knew Africa was hot, but I was not prepared for how intense it was.”
Teaching the kids a new favorite dance; the macarana!
Beyond the initial heat shock, she also had a tough time getting used to being an outsider.
She said, “you just can’t blend in, so people stare. Not because of malicious intent, but simply because you look different. They see you and they mostly want to know where you come from, why you’re there, etc.”
She was able to get used to both the heat as well as the extra attention, and after her 10 week stay she became much more comfortable and confident as a traveler.
“The city can be incredibly overwhelming, so for the first 2 weeks I was so afraid of getting lost, I’d just go straight to school and then straight home. It was really rewarding when I tried to go somewhere else for the first time and I actually made it there. It definitely gave me the confidence I needed to explore the city on my own comfortably.”
Most of United Planet’s Quest programs involve a home stay where you have the incredible opportunity to live with a family who is native to the area. As many United Planet volunteers have done in the past, Sara expressed the utmost appreciation and affection for the family that she stayed with. She said some of her favorite moments came from being able to go to family events with her host family; events and experiences that typical tourists would not be exposed to.
Happy students
Being able to see the little things about day to day life and see how they live really meant a lot to her.
She said she has been keeping in touch with her host family through their nephew who uses e-mail and passes along her messages. She also decided to send them a care package and she hopes to visit them in Africa once again in the near future.
Sara had the opportunity to travel during her 10 week Quest on a weekend trip to Zanzibar and a trip to Bagimolio. After her Quest was over she also spent 1 month on an overland trip from Nairobi to Johanesberg where she traveled with a group who camped and cooked together at each stop.
She was able to go bungee-jumping, horseback riding in Lake Malawi, swim with horses in the lake, visit the Delta in Bostswana, and more. She saw a lot of amazing things and met some really cool people that she plans to keep in touch with.
Sara and her adorable kids
It isn’t hard to see why Sara had an amazing experience in Tanzania.
“Coming home you feel different; it’s hard to explain, but seeing how happy simple things make the people you were spending all your time with is very humbling.”
She is incredibly grateful that she took the leap and chose to go ahead with the trip. I have no doubt that she had as much of an impact on the people she met as they had on her.
Sara had some advice for any future travelers…
- “Be open to anything and everything because it will be totally different.
- Don’t get annoyed with cultural differences, embrace them!
- As far as teaching kids goes; be patient, repetitive, speak slowly, and try to have fun with it!
Thank you Sara and EVERYONE who volunteers; the world is better because of what you do!
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
