Though the entire trip has been amazing, one aspect has stood out as one of my top experiences here. I have always enjoyed working with wood. I grew up helping my dad build furniture and decorative pieces in the make-shift wood shop he had set up in our garage. His hobby had partially turned into my own. When things got busy with school, I had to step back from all that, but here in Tanzania, I finally got another chance to make something. Even better, I learned from some of the expert carvers at Mwenge, the woodcarvers market where we were teaching English.

My friend and co-teacher at Mwenge, Rabia Khan, took these carving classes with me. We both decided to make elephants, which we were told were one of the easiest animals. The carvers in Mwenge take under a day in total making elephants. They work on sets of their carvings at a time over just a few days, and end up with 10-20 beautiful elephants in no time. We, on the other hand, took roughly eight days, working about two hours each day, and that is with the help of our carving instructors. Big difference in time, but hey, we are just learning how to carve. That’s to be expected.

Antony and Chapa were our teachers, with our friend and co-teacher Rajabu helping out and hanging around with us through our carving journey. They took the lead in making the general shape of the elephants, but then they handed over the tools and let us refine the lines, taper the bodies, and chisel out some of the features. By no means did we make these elephants on our own, but we definitely learned the techniques for carving and how to make a good looking elephant.

Going to Mwenge most days for a couple weeks, we really got to experience what it was like to work there. We were not just tourists. The other carvers, English students and others, began recognizing us and greeting us when they saw us, not with the intention of selling us their products. I really felt like I got to know the community in Mwenge on a deeper level. Being there through dinner sometimes, I ate with the carvers once, but I have also gotten snacks that we would not have found being there only at night. One of these was Kashata, a softer version of peanut brittle. After buying a small piece, I bought a bunch more so that the rest of the group could taste my delicious find. Many of them really liked it, and even bought more for themselves when they had the chance.

Working with these men, learning from them, was quite the role reversal, because for the first couple weeks in Dar es Salaam, we had been their teachers in the English class that the carvers market has every night. Taking the carving class from them, we had an even better chance to get to know them and learn from them. Not only did we learn to carve, but we also learned some more Swahili from them practically every day we went. This small group setting also allowed us to help them a little better, speaking in English and explaining what we were saying or asking, with the help of Rajabu. The relationship that formed over these five weeks was one of mutual benefit and respect, and I very much appreciate having had the opportunity to learn to carve from these wonderful people and great teachers.