First day of Travel: Frankfurt!

Stepping out of the car and into the airport alone was sobering to say the least. I had a little trouble trying to get my boarding passes as everything is automated now and the kiosk I was at demanded I get an agent's badge to allow me to get my passes and check my bag in. Of course no one came to help me and the one guy I went to ask was extremely rude. Nevertheless, I got my passes and checked my bag in (after having to rummage through the entire bag to find a personal charger I forgot I couldn't bring). Security was a breeze and I didn't even need to use the appointment I set up. 

After waiting a couple of hours to board the flight, I finally got on and headed to my middle seat. Thankfully my middle seat was separating a couple and I was offered the aisle seat so they could sit together! Unfortunately the man I swapped with got my middle seat's broken entertainment screen, but he didn't seem to mind. I was extremely impressed by the amenities the flight offered. I was fed pretty well and had got to drink lots of cans of lemonade (I learned the hard way that I can't be trusted with a cup after I spilled an almost full cup of apple juice over myself. Having wet sticky legs for a 9 hour flight isn't too fun). 

For the duration of the flight I listened to a podcast about the Boston Molasses Disaster (who knew 2 million gallons of molasses could do so much damage), read half of my book, All Quiet on The Western Front, and tried my best to sleep. Turns out my new neck pillow does have a correct orientation which I didn't discover until there was less than 30 minutes on the flight. I am looking forward to using it correctly on this next leg of travel. 

After finally landing for my 12.5 hour layover, I headed straight to customs (no crime done for me, they scanned my face AND fingerprints), dropped off my bag at baggfvgage storage, purchased a day pass, and  on the S8 train to Frankfurt. I wanted to do a little bit of solo travel to get a taste of what studying abroad in Europe might look like next year. I make all of that sound easy but it was quite the nerve-wracking experience as I don't have an international phone plan and was doing everything the old fashioned way (I downloaded a map of Frankfurt and wrote down some instructions from the internet). I thankfully made it to Frankfurt's main station with ease and hopped off to go walk about 25 minutes through Frankfurt's downtown to make it to their "Old Town" called Romerburg. It was absolutely gorgeous there! Classic architecture, gothic cathedrals, and just a lot to see. Since there was so much to take in, I simply just walked around the area to get my bearings and see where I might want to go. I spent a while walking next to the beautiful river and over cool walking bridges. After getting a sense of what the area had to offer, I stopped at the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. It was gorgeous. There was so much history and holiness in one place! I learned that this cathedral was the only building standing in Frankfurt after WWII! 

(pictures not in order)

Afterwards, I walked to another smaller, but still impressive cathedral before heading to a local cafe for lunch along with an archeological museum. I never knew how much influence the Romans had in that area or the fact that they had some pretty established architecture in the area. I got there 20 minutes before they started serving food, but they still let me order. I got schnitzel and apfelwein (like an apple beer) and it was fantastic (drinking age is 18 so I'm not doing anything illegal)! 

My view was of the river and I got to people watch for a good hour and a half. Such a cool variety of vehicles drove by and discovered that a ton of people smoke cigarettes here; I would've never thought. Once I was finished with lunch, I did some more walking around, took lots of pictures, and ended up at a gift shop in the main plaza. I ended up buying a boot shaped shot glass to commemorate my time in Frankfurt.

At this point I was pretty exhausted. My heavy backpack and lack of access to free water (unlike the US there are NO water bottle filling stations in sight and I didn't feel like paying 5 euros for a tiny bottle that would hardly quench my thirst) led me to start walking back to the train station to head back to the airport. It was a longer walk back as I decided to take a route that ran across the river. It was a pretty warm and humid walk but overall pretty enjoyable. Once I got back to the station, which had an impressive amount of construction going on along with a bus on train collision, it was hectic to find where I needed to go. I just guessed that I needed to get back on an 'S' train and followed signs that had an airplane. I knew I was in the right spot when I saw a bunch of people in suitcases and hopped on the next S8 train. The train this time around was brutally hot and I realized that here in Germany, there isn't a ton of AC. Even as I'm writing this now in the airport at my gate, it's decently warm here. 

After getting off the train, I was honestly kind of lost. I hadn't realized that this airport had a ton of identical looking floors and needed to go up two flights of stairs to get to my baggage storage. After wandering around and contemplating asking for help, I found the right escalator and retrieved my baggage (it cost 12 euros to hold it which was totally worth it; dragging around my carryon would've been a nightmare on the cobbled streets of Romberburg). Going through security was almost seamless if I didn't forget the tiniest water bottle I got on the plane ride in my backpack. At this airport they actually let you keep your water (for reasons I'll disclose soon) as long as they test it first. I'm not sure how they did it, but they kept the water bottle sealed which was nice. 

Once I collected my things, I went through customs extremely quickly and was ready to find my gate, B43. At this point it was around 3pm and my flight didn't take off until 10pm so I had plenty of time to kill. However, I needed to quench my dying thirst and realized why they let me bring my water through. There is essentially NOWHERE to fill up a water bottle in this entire airport. Unlike DIA where you can find a water bottle station at every single bathroom, there were none to be found. I had to search for 15 minutes to finally find a dinky water fountain to fill up my water bottle. After finally getting hydrated, I took a couple hour nap on airport lounge chairs only halfway sleeping as I was worried someone might steal my stuff. When I woke up I walked around to find something to eat, hopped on the plane and was off to Ethiopia for 2.5 hour layover.

I have no idea when I will be able to do another blog post but until then....

First Impressions & Expectations (Predictions)

There are a TON of unknowns going into this trip: how to travel solo internationally, what the weather will be like, what food I’ll be eating, and what my daily adventures will have, etc…. 

I’ve been told extensively by a Tanzanian native that the weather will be cool as it's their “winter” season; however, whenever I look at the weather for the area I’ll be staying in it’s a steady 80+ degrees and a humidity level of over 95% almost everyday! I have no clue what to expect weather wise, but I’m sure I’ll stay warm!

As of right now, I don’t speak any Swahili (probably should’ve done a little bit of studying beforehand, but I’m sure I’ll be fine). I hope to come back with a good amount of words known!

I have no clue what food I’ll be eating there but I’ve heard Tanzanian food is a fusion of traditional African ingredients, Middle Eastern spices, and Indian culinary techniques. I bet it will be good and I look forward to taking pictures of the meals I will be eating!

I’m planning on taking a small excursion in Frankfurt, Germany during my 12.5 hour layover. I hope to see some of Germany and try some good food (and not get lost in the process as I’ll have NO internet connection)

Why Tanzania?

To make a long story short, my scholarship, the Harvey Scholars, is community service oriented following the slogan “Pay it Forward” where there is an extensive alumni community. Along with the scholarship, there is a $7k Enrichment Grant that is set aside for us to essentially experience anything that would enrich our college experience. At one of our monthly luncheons, an alumni from 2016 (I think) came to present his time at Mines and what he does now. He’s originally from Tanzania, came to Mines for a mechanical engineering degrees, and his parents are incredibly involved with an organization called Village Schools International that focuses on improving the education in Tanzania. During his presentation, I was intrigued with the entire program along with an invitation to start a project known as Kolibri (explained later). After his presentation, I talked with him, set up a meeting and the rest is history. He’s been helping me guide my project development, pack for Tanzania, and figure out all the lovely headaches of international travel. After my experience volunteering in El Salvador in high school, I’ve always wanted to do something similar again and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! Several other Harvey Scholars have gone to Tanzania in the past with this alumni and I thought it would be a great partial use of my grant as well! 

Volunteering & Impact Goals

The project that I’m working on is called “Kolibri”. To put it simply, Village Schools International’s (VSI, the organization I’m working for) goal is to improve the education in rural Tanzania. They’ve made impressive progress in improving dozens of schools, but are looking for the next step. What separates the United States’ education and Tanzania’s comes down to technology. In rural Tanzanian schools, there is little to no use of technology (simply because there’s no effective offline system for these schools to use). The schools have access to electricity (solar panels), computers, and sparse internet but not enough internet for an entire school to be on it. A single teacher might have a couple hundred students which makes teacher-student feedback nearly impossible; however, this is where the most learning occurs. Imagine taking a test and never getting a score back, how would you know how well you did? When a student doesn’t know if they got a concept wrong, that gap in their knowledge won’t be filled which doesn’t prepare them for their extremely important state exams. With the Kolibri program, I’m filling that gap. Kolibri is a program that allows local servers to act like the internet that allows students to log on, access educational content (readings, videos, simulations, ect), and take quizzes all without the use of the internet. The server in question is extremely simple: a Raspberry Pi (a small computer, imagine your entire laptop fit into the size of your palm) and a WiFi router you’d find in your home. When these two are combined, the Pi takes care of hosting and creating the server and the router allows 40+ students to connect. This entire process does not require the internet and has been what I’ve been working on outside of class during the last semester (when I get everything set up in Tanzania, I will make sure to attach a photo of what everything looks like).

When I arrive, I’ve been told that my main mission is to teach the VSI staff the entire process that I’ve learned, develop content for the server to host, and begin implementing these servers at local schools to see if it’s effective enough to begin starting at other schools. I’ve spent lots of time putting together resources and keeping track of how I do things so I can relay this information to those around me. However, I have no idea what this is going to look like and what my daily adventures will bring as the Kolibri program is relatively simple so I might be spending a lot of time just generally helping around and possibly teaching some math or physics classes.

An additional goal that I’m using technology to solve is teacher upscaling. Well educated teachers are imperative to a functioning school, yet lack of training can result in undeveloped areas in their discipline. In other words, a teacher might be really good at teaching 80% of a math class's content, yet that 20% is never covered. This creates a never ending loop where the teachers of the next generation also have this 20% deficiency which hurts students. In order to break this loop and help train these teachers, I am developing a Google Classroom ecosystem. Google Classroom is essentially a program that takes a physical classroom and transfers it online. With this program, the teachers will be the students where they can read up on teaching materials and take tests to ensure that they actually know the content they are teaching. This allows VSI to monitor how well teachers are doing and ensure that the teachers are as trained as possible. Google Classroom is an online program and teachers in Tanzania do have access to the internet which allows all of this to work.

Ultimately, I’m hoping that the Kolibri program and Google Classroom are actually able to help make learning easier and create something that is genuinely useful for these villages in Tanzania.

Basic & Contact Information

Tanzania is +9 hours from Mountain Standard Time!

Tanzania’s main languages are English and Swahili (I don’t know any yet, but I hope to come back with some words and phrases under my belt)

Tanzania is home to Africa’s tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro with an elevation of 19,341ft!

Tanzania is one of the best places for safaris (however, I’ll not be partaking in any but do hope to see some animals on my way to rural countryside)

Tanzania has a gem rarer than diamonds known as Tanzanite which is only found in one small strip at the foot hills of Kilimanjaro (I hope to maybe get some!)

I will be in the Mafinga region of Tanzania primarily!

If you’d like to contact me directly, I will be using WhatsApp or my email. I assume I’ll have access to the internet, but there’s no guarantee so it might take me a little bit to respond!

General Itinerary

Leaving May 26th @ and arriving on May 28th @ 11am

Training at Madisi 

Travel to Bukimau

Working with Staff at Bukimau

Travel to Madisi for mid-travel debrief

Travel to Bukimau

Working with Staff at Bukimau

Travel to Madisi for end-travel debrief

Travel to Dar Es Salaam

Departure from Dar Es Salaam (August 1st)

My total travel time to and from Tanzania is 30+ hours respectively 

P.S.  I’ve been told that I might lose a lot of weight during the next two months so here’s what I’m starting at! (all that work towards my freshman 15 might be gone)

Weight: 196.6 lbs

And FYI I will be sending emails to my mom who will posting into this blog for me!

Tanzania Welcome Letter

 May 11, 2026

Dear Eli, Evan, Henry, Michael and Miraclin!

Less than three weeks and you will be here with us! We can’t wait!

I’m sure all of you are very busy wrapping things up and perhaps even starting to pack your suitcases as you try to get everything done to prepare for your travels. Still I’d like to encourage you to take a little bit of time, if you are able, to “smell the roses”, and by that I mean to take yourself back to thinking about why it is that you’re coming to join us. Sometimes we get so busy packing and thinking about the logistics and the mechanics that

we can lose sight of the big picture of everything. That can happen to everyone – everywhere, anywhere, and in any organization. And so we know it can happen to us in Village Schools. So take a few moments over the next couple of days to take a little time out and to focus yourself on why it is that you’re coming.

Most people who come to Africa as tourists come to see the animals (and admittedly you might see a few zebras and some elephants and giraffes as you travel across the country). The business people who come this way are, quite obviously, hoping to make fabulous profits while they’re here. They’re all hoping all the way that they’ll enjoy themselves – that they’ll eat good food, experience some new things that they can tell their friends about, and maybe they’ll meet some interesting people along the way. I honestly hope that each of you will also find our food here in Tanzania to be very good, that you will have experiences that you will want to share with your family and friends back home one day, and that your paths will cross with some very interesting people. But fundamentally you’re coming here for a different reason than almost everyone else who will be on the plane with you – you’re coming to serve. You’re each going to be serving in different ways and you’ll be involved in different projects– but the key thing is that you’ve come to serve!

Serving with Village Schools is very different though from serving from other organizations! This is primarily because Village Schools is a Tanzanian organization – it’s been put together and built by a group of Tanzanians who believe with all their hearts that it was simply wrong that so many young people in their country never got to go beyond primary school. They believed that God gave them a mission to accomplish – to work towards the day when every kid in every village would get to go to school. Lots of people have dreams, but only a few people get to see their dreams come true. For those who started Village Schools way back in 2005 they had the dream that within 20 years they would somehow build 56 schools – and they feel really blessed that they’ve been able to see their dream come true. Their efforts have actually resulted in something extraordinary happening. It’s 2026 and they have 98 schools open – and they’re not just here in their own country, they’re in villages in four neighboring countries as well. 98 schools! 19,800 students! 900 teachers! What you are coming to see and be a part of is a huge organization of people who have come together to work together. You’re going to be met at the airport by one of them – his name is Andrew – and he was my student a decade ago. As I write to you he’s on a trip to Zambia where he and his friend Yotam are helping the leaders in Zambia by providing computer training for those who lead our schools in that country. He works full time in our IT department and can do a lot of his job no matter where he travels to. When he gets back to Tanzania next week, we’ll stop in to spend a few days with his family and his co-workers in the Education Department at Bukimau – and then he’ll be hopping on a bus to come down to meet you, introduce you to the big city of Dar es Salaam and travel with you across the country. You are all adults and we know that you could figure out on your own how to get from the airport to the hotel and you could wander around Dar es Salaam sight-seeing by yourselves and you certainly could find places to eat and eventually make it to the bus station and travel across the country by yourselves. But that’s not the Tanzanian way. You are all coming as their guests, and so Godfrey and Emmanueli (our leaders here in Tanzania) want to send Andrew down to the city to do what is right and proper in our culture here – to recognize that guests are a blessing and to treat them as such! I’m eager for you to meet Andrew and to have him introduce you to this country! Have fun and enjoy yourselves!

I do want to share a few things with you regarding your arrival at the airport though. Occasionally, the ticket agent when you check in will ask to see your visa for Tanzania (it rarely happens, but it might happen to you!). If it does, just say that you will be getting your visa at the airport upon arrival and that you have your $100 cash ready to pay for it. Most ticket agents know that this is the way it works in Tanzania, but you never know, you might have someone new to their job who doesn’t know. So be ready to answer them, and if you do have a problem contact me by WhatsApp (1-281-381-1505) and I’ll try to help.

When you land in Dar es Salaam:

1. You’ll go downstairs and the best thing to do is to have your passport ready with your $100 bill on top of it and when the immigration officer sees that he’ll already know that you know that you need to get a visa and he’ll direct you to go to the right instead of the left. It’ll be a long line. The less said the better. You’re just coming to Tanzania on a visit to see the country. All of you except Henry have round trip tickets and while it has only happened once over the last 20 years, the regulations do say that you have to be prepared to show a round trip ticket, so please print it out and have it somewhere easy to find if they ask you for it. They might also ask you how long you’re staying (say about two months), they might ask where all you’re going (say Dar es Salaam and maybe other places), they might ask what hotel you are going to stay at (say Silver Paradise, and if they ask for the phone number of the hotel say +255-689-691-002).

2. After the immigration officer gives you back your passport it will have a little piece of paper in it and you need then to continue on to join a new line with the NMB bank and that is where you pay the $100.

3.After you pay it, then you will get in a third line and show your bank slip and they will then stamp your passport. After that you go to look for your luggage (it will be waiting for you\ because this whole process takes a half hour or longer).\

4. It has, by the way, occasionally happened that luggage gets lost! If that happens, then there is a help desk to fill out the form to ask them to look for your luggage. You will give them the name of Godfrey Hiari (0715-220-220) as the person to contact to get the luggage. It will be the airline’s responsibility to get it to the hotel and they’ll take care of it, but Godfrey will follow up on it.

5. After that you have to put your luggage through security and customs. Very rarely they might open your suitcases and ask about things you’ve brought. If they ask you about any of the school supplies you are bringing, just tell them that you are going to visit a school and they are gifts for the students and teachers. I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

6. After that you will come out the glass doors and you’ll find Andrew with a sign that will have all your names and from then on everything is easy!

The most important thing for you to do on May 28th is to walk and to drink a lot of water and that’s what Andrew is going to make sure that you do. He’s a very interesting guy and hopefully he’ll tell you a lot about himself and a lot about Village Schools – and he’s going to start teaching you Kiswahili. Some of you are arriving on the 3am flight from Addis and some of you are arriving on the 11am flight (sorry we couldn’t get you all together!) so when you get to the hotel you’ll be just turning all of your luggage into the reception desk until check-in time and then he’ll take you exploring. Have fun. On the 29th you’ll be traveling with him across the country and you’ll have to get up really early in the morning to catch the bus across the country. So plan on going to be early so you can get up early.

See you soon!

Mzee (by the way no one here calls me Steve or even Vinton – I’m only known by everyone as Mzee – the Old Man – and my wife is just called Mama or Bibi (Grandmother) by everyone, so you might as well start calling us that too. Andrew will begin introducing you to Swahili and teaching you how to enjoy life in this country!