Dispatch from Tanzania: influencer list

My kind host from my January 2014 visit to an international school in Tanzania sent me the following a few weeks after:

It is at once humbling and heartening. I am most thrilled about seeing Bill, Jerry, and Joe on the list, in such distinguished company (not including me).

Tanzania from the passenger’s seat

The opportunity to speak at a school brought me to Africa.

In the process, I got an education myself—largely from the passenger’s seat en route to and from the school every day for four days.

A bit of what I learned and experienced:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author Roald Dahl lived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for a short time beginning in 1934. We were going to drive by his former home but in all the excitement it slipped our mind.
• Lots of people wear T-shirts with logos of familiar brands, including American colleges and sports teams. This is at least in part because the Salvation Army regularly distributes used clothing.
• Lots of people try to sell goods on the street—the literal street. Almost anytime the car stopped, someone was there with handfuls of small electronics (cables, etc.), pirated DVDs, nuts, flowers…even individual eggs. At first their faces were inscrutable, but when we politely said no, we always got a smile. The people seem to have a kind soul.
• I was told of an incident when something disrupted the water at the school. The expats found that frustrating but the locals who worked there didn’t; some did not have running water at their homes.
• I was told of another incident in which, one night, several intended thieves climbed over a wall enclosing the school grounds. They landed on a generator, which shocked them, so they couldn’t help but let out shouts of pain. This brought residents to their windows and balconies, and they watched as the school guards beat the intruders as the intruders called out “But that’s where you told us to climb over!” Corruption is common, and it appeared these men paid off the guards to turn a blind eye, but once the residents learned of the intruders, the guards had to put on a show so the residents would feel the guards were doing their jobs.
• Before taking off from Africa, the flight attendants walked down the aisles spraying special airplane insecticide along the ceiling.
• I was told the malaria pills I had to take might induce nightmares. I wish they had. The closest instance occurred on the plane home; I dreamed of a large, brown, hairy spider-like creature, only it had a fan tail (almost like a peacock) and visible pincers. I was watching it slink along a wall until it took flight, circled around, then headed straight for my face. That jolted me awake.

Seen around town:

 The “F”s are made out of flip flops.

 The night watchman at my hotel was a Maasai man.

 View from my hotel room of low tide, morning.

 Tide, late morning.

 Tide, afternoon.

 Tide, late afternoon.

 Spot the sign to the school.

 Coco Beach. Sadly, not safe.

 The Indian Ocean.

 This was a band singing in a moving truck.

The one-night, two-day safari I was going to 

spontaneously go on...until I got a fever.

Aftermath of the UFO crash in Tanzania

The week of 1/20/14, in connection with Writing Week, I had the honor of speaking with the students at the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The night before my first day, something resembling a UFO appeared (crashed?) on the grounds.

Naturally, this created quite a stir.

Some kids were skeptical. Some were scared.

Some started investigations.

Some did research and found that something similar happened in London not long ago. Some took this as proof that both incidents were real…and possibly connected.

Wonderfully, many were inspired to write—stories, newspaper-style articles, emails to NASA.

Here are some of the overheard reactions:

• “THERE ARE ALIENS!” (grade 1 student)
• “I can read the writing. It says ‘Four women jump off a cliff.’” (grade 2)
• “It has ‘Made in China’ written on it.” (grade 3, about “alien” writing)
• “I think it may be an evil thing from another universe come to destroy us all. That or to save us all. It is hard to say.” (grade 3)
• “Is it Turkish?” (grade 5)
• “It would have made a bigger hole if it really came from high up.” (grade 5)
• “It’s a mineral digger that’s come up from underground.”
• “Have you seen God?”
• “I think this is a scam!”
• “It’s not real. It’s all a ploy by the teachers to get us to write.” (grade 5)

For the sake of argument, let’s say it was indeed such a ploy. Could/would an American school create a scenario like this to prompt kids to write?

Generally speaking, I’m afraid the answer is no.

And for the same reason some books are banned.

What happened in Tanzania shows that a “UFO” on school property would excite and motivate many students…but if it could scare even one—if even one parent complained—that would be enough for some schools to nix the idea.

And that is unfortunate. As we all know, you can’t please everyone. Whatever happened to the greatest good for the greatest number? Fire drills (and now, intruder drills) are scary for some kids and schools aren’t giving up those. Different good intention, same principle.

I’m a parent myself; I see that a little fear (at any age) is a good thing. It challenges us. It helps us analyze. It helps us overcome. And it may inspire us to write. All of which we want for our kids.

Therefore, I enthusiastically encourage schools in America (and everywhere else, of course) to consider crashing a UFO on your grounds. Tie it into your own Writing Week. 

Tie it into an author visit. 

Tie it into nothing.

In any case, the benefits far, far outweigh any risk.

Tanzania school, day 1: UFO crash

My first day of speaking at a school in Tanzania was hugely memorable on two counts.

First, because I was speaking at a school in Tanzania.

Second, because the night before I arrived, a UFO crashed on the grounds.

The story:

On 1/20/14, I presented to four groups on my first of four days at the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam—one large assembly and three humor workshops.
 

gym in which the group assembly was held

 spacious library in which the workshops were held

This library so far from home held many reminders of home—books by (and, in at least one case, about) author/illustrator friends of mine:

(Not pictured: books by other friends including Jenni and Matt Holm and Chris Barton.)

Seen around the campus:

 

I loved the school and the kids seemed wonderfully engaged during my talks. 

But I was not the biggest buzz on campus.

It’s hard to compete with evidence of alien life.

Upon arriving (just shy of 7:30 a.m.), we saw a phalanx of heavy-duty guards standing around something covered by a tarp and blocked off by yellow caution tape:

I heard kids speculating it was a fallen satellite, a bomb, or a big crab…any of which would have been scary in their own ways.

At some point during my assembly, the tarp came off and the jaws dropped:

Because it sure looked like a UFO. And I had just talked about Superman, who was sent to Earth in a small spaceship...not unlike what this resembles.

Part of the ground around it was scorched. The kicked-up soil was reddish, different than the brown dirt underneath. Some kids even reported seeing something white moving inside, and some found green goo on the ground nearby.

Some brave boys took soil samples.

By day’s end, even parents were crowding around the mysterious, metallic object. 

We were told scientists would be coming out later this week to examine it.

One scientist, however, had been on the scene from the start. She is in 1st grade:

Soon after the staff and kids learned of the object, one enterprising teacher put up canvases nearby for people to write what they thought it was. The answers are fascinating and often funny:

  

I am hoping the mystery will be solved by my last day here…

1/29/14 addendum: What happened next.