Arusha Campus News – 19 Feb 2023

The M4 students on Week Without Walls at Simba Farm in West Kilimanjaro!

This was the week that almost half of the total number of students in our school left the campus for their Week Without Walls (WWW)  or D1 Project week. The newsletter this week contains images and anecdotes from some of the WWW trips. We will hear more from our Diploma 1 students about their Project Week in due course as they write up their reports. We had students in Dar es Salaam, Moshi, the Giraffe Centre in Kisongo and even in Tarangire National Park looking at elephant ecology (see image left).

This weekend, the campus was proud to host the Arusha Touch Rugby Tournament where teams from all around Tanzania converged to play a full day of running rugby in the swelterimng sunshine. Parents, teachers and students all joined in.

As if that wasnt enough for one day, the House Council organised a special Valentine’s Day Dance in the Perfromance Area for those with energy to take into the night!

Last week was a week for old friends to visit us and we had at least three ‘old’ families returning to visit their old classrooms and playgrounds – we even had a visit from Miss Carmen, Ethan and Chloe who dropped in to campus having been on holiday from Kenya.

Next weekend, DONT FORGET, is a long weekend meaning that Friday 24th and Monday 27th February will be school holidays.

Enjoy the shorter week.

Phil

Science in the PYP!

Science is taught throughout our PYP Units of Inquiry. Students are given a range of opportunities to investigate and to develop scientific vocabulary and knowledge through the ATL skills of research, communication, thinking, social and time management. In the PYP, science is viewed as the exploration of the biological, chemical and physical aspects of the natural world, and the relationships between them.

This week the P6’s organised a variety of games for the P4/5 class to learn about Photosynthesis. The learning was presented in such a fun way that the P4/5 are now knowledgeable about this natural process.

The P3’s have been learning about scientific principles and looked at concepts in biology, chemistry and physics. They had the opportunity to visit the secondary science lab to see how Elephant Toothpaste is made!

P2’s have been learning about the life cycle of living and non-living things including frogs, humans and rocks making delicious sedimentary rock cakes. P1 talked about the changes we go through from a baby to toddler to child.

N/EC having been learning about Day and Night, learning about nocturnal animals and different sources of light.
Science is so much fun!

Amanda, PYP Co-ordinator

Our St Valentine’s Day Share Time was a hoot with some wildly entertaining performances from your children!

We will have a virtual presentation about the F-1 Student Visa process for students who intend to pursue their collegiate careers in the United States. This event will take place on Tuesday, 21 February from 3:30-4:15 PM EAT. A US Consular Officer based in Dar Es Salaam will provide information about the process and then provide a period for questions and answers following the presentation.

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4095574237

Meeting ID: 409 557 4237

If you would like more information about the US F-1 Student Visa process, please see this link:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/student-visa.html
(Please note that students can now apply for their F-1 Student Visa up to 365 days prior to the start of school. This means some students can schedule an appointment to complete their Visa application at the US Embassy in Dar Es Salaam during the April break!)

 

For the M1 WWW trip we went to Lake Eyasi (see image above) followed by Karatu. We started the trip by visiting the Hadzabe tribe who are hunter gatherers. They are spectacular at shooting a bow and arrows! Some of us had a mid morning snack of roasted bird but not the mouse which was also caught! We drank it down by chewing on some cassava like roots!

The same day we went for a sunny, hot and beautiful walk to Lake Eyasi which smelt like rotten fish! The local fishermen catch them and dry them out on the sand to sell as cattle feed but also to countries such as Kenya as a food staple for sauces.

Later on in the trip, we visited another tribe which was very different from the Hadzabe tribe, the Datoga tribe. They are blacksmiths and had very unique systems to live comfortably. One of them was their temperature control system which was to put soil on their roofs where they also grew plants. They mostly worked with scrap metal, screws, and padlocks which they heated using bellows which blew air into the charcoal to light a fire. These bellows were made of animal skin and we all had a go!

The next day the teachers surprised us with a trip to Gibbs farm where we tried fresh produce and got to pet loads of livestock! On the trip we also got to swim in an elephant swimming pool (!), roast marshmallows, visit snake park (hold snakes and tortoises!) and the maasai museum. An exciting and memorable event was on day 4 where we met some very, very, very, VERY wealthy judges in Dragons Den (our teachers really!), who listened to our pitches on inventions which would benefit our make-believe tribes. We all walked away rich in candy!

What an amazing week shared with our Moshi counterparts!

The M1 Arusha Students!

Here are M2’s taking to the paddle boards in Pangani.

Our M2 Class made the longest trip of all with Mr Khalid and Mr Gift in tow! They were looking at Individuals and Societies and what more perfect place to do that than on the Swahili Coast with its colourful history and living geography. Mr Khalid and his team will be compiling a narrative in this week’s lessons for the next newsletter!

M3 take some time to dance in the splendid surroundings of the Cultural Arts Centre in Makumira.

Overall this trip was a great program to learn new cultures and experiences. It allows for new perspectives to be created in the view of people that have experienced these actions. Throughout this process we learned about many activities such as dancing, singing, creating drums and learning to play instruments. Each of the teachers in the CAC are great at their jobs and teach us with passion. I believe that this trip was a excellent way to do our IDU event and I hope that next years class will enjoy going to the CAC.

Ibrahim, M3

This trip was a great way to inspire, grow and be more innovative through acting, drumming, dancing and singing. Throughout this trip I learnt my strengths and weaknesses which helped to know what to especially work on through the week and contribute to my final performance. The way the teachers were so excited and ready for any challenge is what made the trip. The fact that they were able to transfer their energy to us when we were exhausted was really nice and made the experience overall really exciting.

Eleanor, M3

My biggest experience in this trip was learning how to play the drums. I also really enjoyed marking the drums because it is such a traditional Tanzanian thing to make and play.

Brian, M3

I feel this program really made me see a different side of our culture and the history behind our incredible history of Tanzania, although the days were long and we were all so tired at the end I feel I learnt so much and we made great friends.

Lilly, M3

Here the M4 students are working on measuring tree diameter and relating it to biomass.

The M4 students headed to Simba Farm in West Kilimanjaro where they carried out Science and Maths fieldwork under the leadership of Mr Adam, Mr Jeremiah and Miss Jen. They have been working hard on their trip booklets all weekend and will have a report in next week’s newsletter.

M5’s (pictured above) were based at Migombani Camp in Mto wa Mbu where they worked on PE and Science. A report will appear in next week’s newsletter.

REMINDER – Career Expert Volunteers Needed

UWC East Africa Careers Symposium: Building 21st Century Skills

On the Arusha campus, the events will include:

Virtual Sessions – 29 March
7:30-9:00 PM EAT

In-Person Arusha Sessions – 30 March
7:30-10:00 AM EAT

If you would be willing to share your expertise with future leaders regarding the skills needed to pursue their career interests, please use this link to sign up as a volunteer: https://forms.gle/uhnwVmniaqUXdiDd8

Hello Dear UWCEA Community,

I am İrem from Turkey, a second-year student at UWCEA. I hope this email finds you well and leaves you with a feeling of empathy towards people who are under landslides waiting for help for days and who lost their homes, and who are left with no belongings in Turkey and Syria. With that, I would like to inform you about the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria and explain how you can help the people affected by the earthquake.

Since two earthquakes with the magnitude of 7.6 and 7.6 hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 6, 22.000 people have been killed and around 100.000 people have been injured. The death toll seems to increase next week with the bodies that will be rescued under the landslides. What is worse is that even the people who were able to survive under the landslides have to now live under the winter cold, the temperature reaching minus degrees, and with the lack of food, hygienic products, and other necessities.

Sometimes numbers underestimate the severity of the situation. I have many pictures that never left my mind since I saw them from the earthquake. I would not like to share them here but please take a look at some photos from the earthquake if you are able to. Because I believe, it would tell us more than the numbers that make us forget that each of them was a unique identity, and carry unique positions as a mother, father, friend, child, or teacher.

Now, how can we help these people in Turkey and Syria?

We can donate money for providing them with necessities. I am adding some reliable foundations (non-governmental) below, both in Turkey and Syria.
https://ahbap.org/disasters-turkey

https://molhamteam.com/en/campaigns/439

We can encourage others to donate and inform people about the earthquake on social media.
We can support the Syrian and Turkish people around us since it affected everyone around them.

Thank you for reading this email and please feel free to contact me for anything.”

Best regards,
İrem Tuana Çiftçi

Your input is being sought by the Council of International Schools (CIS – who completed an accreditation review of our school last year). They would like to hear from you about the transition process your child is about to embark on as they leave secondary school and move onto college/university. They are seeking to understand how schools, universities and parents can best support international school students as they move from secondary school to university.

Link to survey (available in multiple languages): https://survey.cois.org/s3/CIS-Summit-Working-Group-Survey-International-Student-Transitions-for-parents

Please complete this survey by 15 March 2023. It will take you approximately 10 minutes to complete.

UPCOMING College and University Events

16 February: What Every Student Should Know About Picking a Major or Career Path webinar @ 6:00 PM CT/3:00 AM EAT (Link to register and receive recording: https://shorturl.at/efiTY)

24 February: Deadline to register for 11 March SAT (in Moshi. See uwcea.org/tests for more information)
19 March: 9PM-2AM EAT NACAC International virtual fair
21 March: 2-5 PM EAT University of Chicago in person visit
21 March: 1-4 PM EAT CIS University Exploration Day – Africa (Registration link: cis.swoogo.com/africa2023)
29 March: 7:30-9:00 PM EAT 21st Century Skills symposium – virtual program
30 March: 7:30-10:00 AM EAT 21 Century Skills symposium – Arusha campus

Enjoy a wonderful weekend!

Cassandra Ford
College and Career Counselor
cassandraford@uwcea.org