who has since worked in many more lands far, far away…
For the past year, Gary has worked in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania on a drillship called the Poseidon.
This summer we had learned the East Africa Song from Audio Memory’s Geography Songs and created a humongous Africa map from YourChildLearns MegaMaps, which we used during our family presentation to show everyone where the countries were located, along with Mt. Kilimanjaro & Lake Victoria.
The major languages spoken in Tanzania are English and Swahili. In fact, if you’ve seen The Lion King, you already know how to speak a few words in Swahili:
- Hakuna Matata – There are no worries.
- Simba – Lion
- Nala – Gift
- Sarabi (Simba’s mother) – Mirage
- Shenzi (Female hyena) – Savage
- Rafiki – Friend
- Pumbaa – To be foolish
Again, if you’ve seen The Lion King, you’ve also seen a bit of Tanzania through the animated setting of the Serengeti, which is also the site of the great wildebeest migration. If you go on safari, chances are that you will find yourself in Tanzania.
Although the country has a wealth of natural resources (including gold, diamonds, natural gas, and tanzanite – a rare gem found only in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro), the majority of the mainland does not have running water or electricity, and the average income is extremely low – in many cases the monthly income is less than what it costs for us to fill up our gas tank just one time.
Even so, there are urbanized areas, like the capital Dar Es Salaam, the city Gary visited several times while heading to work. (Quite a commute, eh?) However, many of the buildings there are still under construction after 20 or 30 years (maybe longer). Considering such things makes me realize how blessed I really am (and how I take the everyday conveniences of my life for granted!)!
David presented on the Tanzanian flag, which was officially adopted in June of 1964 after the countries of Tanganyika and Zanzibar united.
Links to free downloads and resources about Tanzania, some of which we used in preparation for our family presentation are:
- Africa Unit Learning Packet at The Homeschool Den
- Africa Lesson Plans and Resources by Homeschool Creations
We also read the books Masai and I by Virginia Kroll, We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns, and Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.