Language barriers don't stop us

My journey started in norther Tanzania (TZ) in a city called Moshi. It's a beautiful place, and when not cloudy, the majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro can be seen. There is a neighboring town called Majengo, this is the home of Yesu Anaweza, the church we partnered with for our 2nd time. The official language of TZ is Swahili. In addition, every tribe will have there own language. English is becoming more and more prevalent, but not everyone can speak it. I was asked so many time, "How do you interact with your students if you can't speak their language? Is it hard?" Yes and no. Obviously what you can "talk" about is very limited, but like everyone knows the percentage of non-verbal communication is a lot higher than verbal. Here is a video of Kristin Andre successfully demonstrating that you don't need to necessarily speak one another's language to interact and have a good time. Some communication is universal, love and laughter. I think this video also shows a glimpse of children in a third world country. The picture that is painted of them isn't always the most accurate. I have come to realize that most kids are very joyful, even in poverty situations. Money, material items, food, doesn't equal wealth. I have come to believe quite the opposite actually (I will speak more to this in later blogs).

Enjoy :)

Kristin "Big Cheeks" from Marisha Cunliffe on Vimeo.