What is good life?

The concept of good life cannot be defined, or can it? Is my idea of good life different from yours? Are there differences not only between individuals but also cultures?

To study the matter we launched an international writing project. Students in Finland, Tanzania and the US are writing essays on What is good life. Within the following weeks their ideas will be published here. You're welcome to comment on them!

FACE TO FACE WITH AN ELEPHANT, Haukipudas students in Tanzania

The group of 21 students, four teachers and two parents left for Tanzania on June 3. 2012. It was so exciting! We would finally meet our friends in Dar es Salaam, get to see Zanzibar and do a safari in the north.

In Dar es Salaam we were greeted by some pupils from our partner school, their teacher Mr John Bosco, Ms Modester Mwinula from the UNESCO and our guides Peter and Jonathan Mbise. We spent the first day at Jangwani Secondary School. What a great day it was! All students mingled and were very eager to talk and share information. I wonder if they had ever studied languages with such an interest. Jangwani students and teachers had arranged great shows and presentations for us. Later that day students played basketball together.

photo by Esa Posio

 We naturally took along some gifts for the school. A digital video camera, a laptop computer and some school supplies were received with great interest. But giving and receiving gifts was not as important as bonding. All people at Jangwani made us feel very welcome and I am sure we built friendships that will last.

The next day we spent a few hours at school again and met a local school authority. Later we were taken to Bogomayo to see the Kaole Ruins. At the same time a couple of students and teachers visited another school, Mtakuja Secondary School, and a day care. Both visits were certainly memorable.

Photo by Eveliina Nurro

Next on our agenda was to take a morning ferry to Zanzibar, a paradise island. At our destination we swam in the hotel pool, which was true luxury compared to our previous hostel. In the afternoon we were taken to the Stone Town, a famous World Heritage Site. We saw beautiful doors, mosques, market places and a slave market place. “Zanzibar was a bit scruffy but interesting. The noices, scents and colours literally took us to a different world.”

”Another early morning. We got on a bus and headed for the Dolphin Bay Resort. The scenery was breathtaking: white sand, palm trees and clear water! We took small boats out to the ocean. After some cruising back and forth our friends appeared, first one, then small groups and finally swarms of 20 dolphins.” With snorkels and flippers we jumped repeatedly to the ocean to swim with the magnificent creatures. “After the lunch there was still some time to swim and lie on the beach. In the evening we had plenty of free time and so we went shopping. Truly a memorable day.”

”The alarm went off at 4.45 am. Tired faces. After getting back to Dar es Salaam we drove to an orphanage. There were over 100 children aged from two to 20 years living there. We played and talked with the children. Our students with blond hair were “reserved” instantly.” Some of the younger children were a bit of afraid of us first but most of them glued themselves to our sides. We heard touching stories of their life and future plans. Kurasini Orphanage takes good care of the children but needs help desperately in order to manage with their obligations. School fees need to be paid and there is no medication. The children’s clothing is washed by hand and many of them have no shoes. Of all the items we brought with us, football shoes were the biggest hit. Haukipudas Upper Secondary school will continue assisting the orphanage with our partners in Finland.

”Later after the dinner there was little time for anything but for packing our backpacks. In the morning we got up early again and started our way towards Mount Kilimanjaro! It was a long but beautiful drive. When we woke up in the north, the weather was beautiful and birds were singing. Still sleepy we crawled out from our rooms at the Ndoro Hunters Lodge to have breakfast.  There was a cheerful shout in the lobby: Good morning, Mr. Lauri! That really cheered up the sleepy boy. We got onto several jeeps and started our safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro, which everybody had already been looking forward to. Already on the way to the park we saw baboons running over the road, zebras and giraffes standing and eating a few metres from our vehicles. We saw ostriches, gazelles and jackals. The highlight of our first safari day was to see three lions in a tree and elephants next to our car. Awesome! After reaching the camp we put up our tents on the savannah, sat at a camp fire and listened to a hyena howling right next to us. At night there was a lion roaring close to our camp and baboons took a trip between our tents.”

The whole group

Photo by Esa Posio

”The safari continued and we saw more animals than we had dared to hope for: hyenas, wart hogs, buffaloes, wildebeests. In the evening one of us was going to the toiled at the camp and came face to face with an elephant. At night it was very cold and damp in the mountains. After the morning safari we started our journey back but on the way to the Lodge we stopped to buy souvenirs and gifts.  When this fabulous day was ending we had to say good bye to our wonderful safari staff. We missed them right away.” We were very lucky with the animals and came across also some species that are more difficult to spot. With our binoculars we managed to see a leopard in a tree and a rhino with her baby in the grass. We saw a crocodile and hippos, not to mention a huge number of different birds. On the safari we had the best meals of the whole trip, which is an accomplishment in primitive conditions.

“On the last day we visited Nkoaranga village on Mount Meru. We took some backpacks and baby clothes with us. We could easily have spent another week or two in Tanzania! “

The trip was even better than we had hoped for. We saw varying nature and old cultures. We watched a lion right into the eyes, we took part in celebrations, dance and singing. The warmth of Tanzanian people and the way they care for each other and visitors was touching. The country is one of the poorest in the world and other people create their social security. Our own abundant life style started to make us sick while so many Tanzanians get by with so little. We also learned a lot of ourselves. We were on an emotional roller coaster. We learned patience and respect for other cultures and people. Now we truly appreciate our comfortable life but learned to adapt to prevailing conditions as well. Everybody got more courage to use foreign languages, too. The group felt really good under the warmth of the African sun and amongst themselves. Our hearts were left on the savannah.

We are looking forward to our next adventure in Tanzania!

students:

Olivia Greus   

Vilma Haapala  

Niilo Heinonen  

Salla Kolehmainen   

Ilari Kujala  

Ida Latvakoski 

Eetu Laukka  

Marko Moilanen 

Nadja Mortti    

Lauri Nisula 

Eveliina Nurro   

Salla Ojala     

Essi Pohjonen          

Jenni Posio 

Eveliina Satomaa  

Eeva Savilaakso   

Elina Savilaakso 

Pirita Väinämö   

Eetu Väänänen   

Laura Ylipahkala   

Juho-Pekka Ylisirniö        

teachers:

Anja Moilanen

Tiina Fredriksson

Anna Metsävainio

Marja Iskanius

parents:

Esa Posio

Rauno Moilanen    

-       by AMO, based on the journals written by the students