A first-timer in Africa, Ian Stiehl has lived in Tanzania since graduation for a fellowship program through Princeton in Africa (PiAf). Through PiAf, Ian was paired with a local nongovernmental organization, Tanzania Education Corp., which partners with a pre-primary, junior, secondary, and senior secondary school in Makuyuni, Tanzania. I’ve admired the landscape and animals of Tanzania through glimpses of Ian’s social media for the past year, and I finally had the opportunity to talk to Ian about his experience teaching in the computer science program at the Tumaini Senior School.

In Tanzania, secondary school is divided into ordinary level (Forms 1-4) and advanced level (Forms 5-6). Ian spends most of his time teaching Forms 1-3 and rolling out a new class for the older students. Form 1 students start with learning to use computers and get comfortable with the Microsoft Suite. Form 2 students focus on Scratch programs and later apply those skills to operating robots and Python. Form 3 students learn web development, moving from HTML through JavaScript. Every class period focuses on an activity and mini coding projects. Even though the class is only once a week due to the extracurricular nature of the computer science program, Ian makes sure the students always have ongoing afterschool projects, from using Adobe Photoshop to create a logo for the Tumaini STEM program to building a robotic arm kit for a presentation at graduation.

The program is currently operated by international people. Though the curriculum is spreading digital literacy for students of all ages, the more sustainable solution would be for a local teacher with a computer science degree to take over. The older students can participate in an international certificate program, where they learn about modules that are essential for jobs or higher-level computer science concepts such as artificial intelligence. However, computer science is still considered technical and niche, and many students find it hard to focus on such a particular field instead of pursuing a more practical profession in Tanzania. When I asked about the students, Ian proudly admits that there are lots of impressive kids doing self-teaching projects to explore their curiosity beyond the standard curriculum. He writes in his blog (which is a must-read) that “knowing that I’ve reached a few students and shown them how technology is changing the world is my biggest motivator.” One of his students, who’s always in the lab, asked how difficult it would to be a teacher—it’s exciting to imagine the students, less than 10 years younger than us, changing the program into a more sustainable form in a few years.

When asked how he chose PiAf, Ian admitted that he always wanted to go abroad in some capacity and participants’ testimony on fellowship experiences encouraged him to do meaningful work in a continent he’s never been to before. The one-year program showed him the language and cuisine of welcoming locals and bright minds of his students as well as some problematic ways international aid works and operates. Ian admits the program has shifted what he wants to do in the long term, but for now he will be moving to New York City. It’s hard to fit the shortest version of Ian’s year abroad into a 600-word column, but I’m eager to hear more about it in a few months.

—Louisa Gao, 279 E 44th St, Apt 3L, New York, NY 10017; louisa.gao0922@gmail.com