Culture in Tanzania

Well…the days are quickly slipping by and as this final week begins, we wanted to do a recap of all the amazing cultural excursions we feel fortunate to have experienced! We’ve been very busy here in Iringa following a jam-packed schedule filled with activities that open our minds to the rich culture of Tanzania. Learning about this country’s culture was at the top of many students' lists of what they hoped to experience on this program - so, we are finding ways to explore and learn about Tanzanian history and daily life with mindful awareness.

Isimila - an ancient stone age site with archaeological finds dating between 300,000 to 600,000 years old made for an amazing hike! We started off in a small museum with a brief history from our guide - he showed us tools that have been unearthed by various archaeologist teams from around the world. Along with pictures of what this site looked like at the time of early humans. We then began our hike down into the canyon! Here we captured many fun shots to remember as we walked through the red rock formations with terra cotta colored clay beneath our feet.

Matumaini - The local women artisans who run this arts center gave us a warm welcome to learn batik fabric dying. The morning started off with a burst of color as we all picked our combinations of red, blue, purple, or green. Everything came out much better than we expected - many surprised smiles!

Rock Paintings Hike - Another fun hike lead us to ancient rock paintings that remain only about an hour outside of the bustling town of Iringa. You could see great depictions of animals and people - a wonderful way to tell stories and pass them down for generations to come.

Basket Weaving - After a museum tour about Chief Mkwawa and his leadership in local villages of Iringa in the late nineteenth century - we made our way to a neighboring community where we learned how to weave baskets! Here we sat with some very sweet, patient women as they taught us this new craft. We enjoyed great conversations - while everyone mentioned how relaxing and therapeutic basket weaving is!