As a part of the Sustainable Community Development program, Michigan State University students were integrated with in-country students from the University of Dar Es Salaam. For the first two weeks of the program, we attended daily classes to help familiarize Michigan State students with Swahili language, as well as to familiarize Dar Es Salaam students with English language. While taking classes at MSTC-DC, we left campus to visit multiple sustainable farms and living environments near the city of Arusha. We also organized “lighthearted” and fun trips, such as our trip to a traditional Maasai Market and short hike to one of the waterfalls of Mount Kilimanjaro.

After our blissful stay at MSTC-DC, it was time for us to transfer to the Twiga Campsite and Lodge for the remaining four weeks of the program. Leaving MSTC-DC, after only two short weeks, felt as if we were saying goodbye to our own family; we had become so close with our teachers, other students, kitchen employees, bus drivers, bartenders, the mamas that cleaned our rooms, and even the groundskeepers. As we drove away, we felt the pain accompanied with realization that we will most likely never see the people we became so close to again.

While staying at Twiga Campsite and Lodge, our focus as a group was to complete our community development team projects in the traditional Maasai community of Naitolia. My team was entitled “Youth Empowerment” and we had decided to work with the youth of the community to build five household chicken coops to facilitate a successful and stable source of income for youth in the community.

Building chicken coops has proven to be more strenuous than portrayed on feel-good Hallmark movies. Continuously slamming a dull machete 24 inches into the solid bedrock of Rift Valley is synonymous to the last seven minutes of a 45-minute MSU facilitated spin class at IM-West. Although it was extremely fatiguing, and we often returned to Twiga with just enough energy to eat dinner and crawl into our beds, seeing the expression of gratification and appreciation on the youth’s faces far outweighs the physical distress.

Seeing that expression five times is not nearly enough for me. Being on this study abroad, working on this project, interacting with people from such a rich and diverse culture, facing a stern language barrier head on, and immersing myself in a completely foreign environment has not been easy. But every challenge I faced over these six weeks fades away when I imagine the smile on the faces of the recipients of our coops. I hope I can facilitate that empowerment in different venues for the rest of my professional career and personal life. I would feel that euphoria forever if I could.

Through this program, I was able to engage in a project that visibly inspired and empowered an underrepresented community. I was able to see its effects and hear the testimony of the people it impacted. This was an opportunity that most will never experience.

Name: Helayne Clark
Status: Senior
Majors: Criminal Justice and Psychology; Minor: Law, Justice, and Public Policy
Hometown: Chesterfield, Michigan
Program: Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania