The Biggest Challenge

Hi, I’m AJ! I joined the board of Powering Potential last year and recently had the opportunity to visit Tanzania to meet the Powering Potential local team and see their work firsthand. This post is part 1 of a 3-part series about my experience.

For two years in the mid-1990’s, I lived in a rural village in Tanzania as a Peace Corps high school math teacher, teaching subjects from algebra through calculus. It was an eye-opening experience—both culturally and professionally.

During that time, I also worked with the Tanzanian government to co-author the national curriculum for Computer Studies for high schools. While almost no high schools had computers at the time, the curriculum laid the groundwork for educating students in the distant future.

Fast-forward 30 years.

Today, I serve on the board of Powering Potential Inc. (PPI), which provides solar-powered computer labs and digital skills training to rural secondary schools in Tanzania. PPI’s mission is to use technology to improve education and expand employment opportunities for high school students.

In February, I visited five Tanzanian high schools with active PPI computer lab projects. Many people asked me the same question: “What is the biggest change you see in these rural schools after 30 years??”

I confess I struggled initially with the question.

It’s easy to see developmental changes in the nearby towns- more buildings, more cars, more businesses, and of course, the proliferation of cell phone usage. But what about rural high schools? So many things seemed exactly the same. The winding dirt roads leading up to the schools, the eager students lining up in their colorful uniforms, the teachers at the front of classrooms conveying lessons… It all seemed the same.

Then it hit me! The biggest change at these schools was precisely why I was there: Technology – the computer labs and the opportunities that come with them. 

Now, teachers are projecting videos and other online content to enhance lessons. Students are accessing digital content to supplement their learning. Students are gaining computer skills that open up job opportunities. And the students are studying the very Computer Studies curriculum that I helped shape three decades ago!

These are the biggest changes that I saw in my visit to the rural high schools —and they are all for the better.