Dar es Salaam International Academy is STA's "sister school" in Tanzania. DIA has supported us in many ways over the past few years, including fundraisers, in-kind donations, and class visits.
This June, the STA Student Representative Council had the pleasure of travelling to Dar es Salaam on a field trip for a full day of leadership training at DIA.
After some icebreakers and get-to-know-you games, the students listened to a wonderful talk given by Nasreen Karim, former Miss Tanzania and founder of Enjipai Jewelry. Enjipai is a social business that empowers Maasai women by employing them and selling their goods. Nasreen gave the children lots of good advice about being persistent and following their dreams!
Then, they did some team-building activities, like balloon races and bench races. This really helped everyone work on their communication and leadership skills!
After a delicious and nutritious lunch, the students got into small groups to brainstorm what it means to be a leader. Some of the questions they answered were:
- What traits do we look for in a leader?
- How do we learn to become better leaders?
- What is the most important thing a leader can do?
- Who are some leaders that you look up to and why?
- Why are leaders important?
- What kinds of things can we do at school to become better leaders? At home? In our community?
When they finished brainstorming, the students presented to their peers, and had the chance to discuss and share their ideas.
Everyone was tired after such an action-packed day, and some of the kids even managed to sneak in a quick nap on the ride home. As a parting gift, DIA gave us some super school supplies, as well as a donation to our Rally for Resources fundraiser! We are so grateful for our connection with them, and look forward to working together again in the future. Thanks for everything, DIA! It was a wonderful day!
