Teaching, bonding and safaris are what encompass study abroad’s program, The Ultimate Field Experience: Tanzania. 

The 10- day excursion this March will mark the program’s third voyage to the east coast of Africa. 

For part of the trip, UNI students will take safaris and see wild game such as lions and giraffes. 

They will also have the chance to bond with children in an orphanage, spend time with a couple of tribes and teach in a 100-year-old schoolhouse that does not have electricity, pencils, paper or other teaching aids that could assist in student learning. 

“I thought I would be the most excited seeing elephants and giraffes in the wild,” said Sara Dobney, a senior elementary education major. “But really when I came home, it was the interactions with the kids that I was telling everyone about.” 

“Every student that has come back has said that they are seeing their life through different eyes and being so much more appreciative of what we have here,” said Victoria Robinson, head of the department of educational leadership and former program instructor. “It is truly a life changing experience.” 

Education majors may take the opportunity to travel to Tanzania this spring to help teach 50 to 60 Tanzanian students. The students must memorize what their teacher is saying due to the inadequate supplies provided. If students are not able to memorize the necessary information to pass the end of the year exam, they must leave the school.

UNI students help by teaching basic math and rudimentary English.

According to Robinson, an American flag hangs in the classroom because the students love UNI and how much our students contribute to their learning.

“It was just incredible,” Dobney said of the experience. “The people are the most positive and kind people that I have ever met and they have so little compared to us. You just fall in love.”

More information is available on the Study Abroad website, including Dobney’s article giving a brief overview of her experience. 

Although spring break is not too far away, there is still plenty of time to learn more about the special study abroad opportunity. 

“To be able to understand that the sky is the same color blue no matter where you go is a very awesome experience,”  Robinson said.