One of my favorite days on the CIEE Tanzania calendar is our bi-annual “Community Day,” an event CIEE sponsors in conjunction with our partner NGO, Rural Development Organization (RDO). Community Day is the culmination of our students’ village month, an opportunity for our students to recognize and celebrate the community that has hosted and supported them for the past month.
Community Day starts with a ceremony to thank the village host families for hosting our students, the research assistants for helping our students with their research, RDO for providing a base of operations and support to our staff, and the village leadership for graciously welcoming our students into their community. Our students give brief speeches in Swahili to explain their research and how it will be used to benefit the community.
At the end of the ceremony, lunch is served before everyone moves down to the field for activities. This year, our students organized a soccer tournament amongst the local primary schools, as well as face-painting and ball games for the smaller kids. Check out the pictures for a full view of the day. Great fun was had by all, and CIEE was able to thank the community and RDO for all that they’ve done for our students this semester.
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