Mwalimu: Madam Heather

When Jason and I were placed at Mbeya University of Science and Technology I was thrilled to learn that I would be teaching microbiology and genetics to the laboratory science students. I still am very happy to be teaching my favorite subject, but the challenges I have faced so far have been many-and I know that there are more ahead.

My first challenge was to design my course-both the theory portion and the laboratory portion. The class had been taught before, but the previous teacher did not leave any material behind. I spent my first weeks crafting my syllabus and designing (what I thought to be) appropriate labs using limited materials. As the semester drew nearer, I began to panic. A laboratory technician had not arrived at work yet to show me what materials we had available. Armed with a pre-test and my first lecture, I was ready to start teaching at the appointed time. The indicated start date for the semester came and went, with no students showing up to my classes. My fellow teachers told me to wait until the following week to teach, as students did not show up until the second week of class. The first week of class is actually devoted to registration and the taking of supplementary exams (an exam that students take if they fail their final exam from the previous semester’s class).

I have now been teaching for five weeks. My students are very excited, exceptionally smart, and dedicated. I am a proud teacher. Many students ask questions during my lectures that show me they are thinking critically. I have students swarm around me after lab asking questions like “Madam, can you name all the of the normal flora found in the human body?” (Just in case you were wondering, no-no I can’t. I can, however, launch into a discussion about the human microbiome in general). Students email me telling me that they enjoy my lectures and they understand what I am saying very well. I think I prefer Tanzanian students to American students despite the hardships of teaching in a different culture. My Tanzanian students are so hungry for knowledge.

My teaching load is light (I only teach one class) but I am keep very busy. I lecture once per week, during which my students take a quiz covering the previous week’s material. I have lab three times per week, as I split my 120 students into three groups. Lectures can leave me very frustrated at times, as I can observe some of my students cheating on their quizzes. But I am also very happy, as students stop me to ask questions. In lab so far students have learned how to stain cells and use a compound microscope, perform simple calculations and dilutions, and extract DNA. I have to be creative when designing labs as resources are scarce. For example, the university owns three compound microscopes. 40 students crowding around 3 microscopes to view their stained cheek cells is fairly chaotic to say the least.

Another challenge I am facing is the fact that the university has no stock cultures of bacteria (no available microorganisms to grow). I am attempting to isolate microorganisms from the environment, but have encountered difficulties in growing them. I collected a soil sample in an attempt to culture the common soil microbe Bacillus, a goat fecal sample in an attempt to culture the common fecal coliform Escherichia, and my fellow teachers and I donated a sample from our skin in order to grow Staphylococcus. Just as my first round of isolation was complete, Tanzania went into a period of lengthy power outages. This meant that I could not use the incubator to grow my bacteria or the autoclave to sterilize my materials. Praise the Lord that power is now restored and I can continue isolating bacteria for my students to use in lab.

The work here is challenging, but I enjoy what I do immensely. The smiles and laughter from my students keep me working hard to provide the best microbiology course I can offer them with the resources I have available. Who knows? Maybe one day the kid who wishes to become a genetic engineer will make an important discovery.

Peace,
Heather