Tanzanian Arts Education Program Underway

Tanga Workshop Graduation

A pilot Tanzanian Arts Education Program got underway from June 24 through August 4, 2010 in Tanga, Tanzania at the Burhani Primary School and the Toledo Secondary School, and in Arusha, Tanzania at the Salei Primary School and St. Joseph's Secondary School.  The program was successful with over 600 students and their teachers and families benefitting from the arts education experience.

The program is a result of requests received during a previously funded U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs grant entitled "Arts Exchanges on International Issues with Tanzania".  The strongest requests were answered first and a pilot program in Tanga - Toledo, Ohio's sister city - and Arusha, Tanzania were developed.  Previously, the Great Lakes Consortium for International Development and Training had received grants from the U.S. State Department to conduct programs in these and other Tanzanian cities involving economic, agricultural, and workforce development projects.  The successful projects created an alumni network of contacts to work with.

Martin Nagy, Wendy Murphy, and Shari Densel provided volunteer expertise in visual art and Heather Bergseth provided volunteer expertise in music during the pilot research period to students in four schools as well as gathering information on education practice and policies, and interest from schools in Zanzibar and Bagamoyo, Tanzania.  Local Tanzania artists from the Tanzanian Women Artist Network (TZ-WAN) in the various cities provided assistance with school and hospitality arrangements as well as working directly with the four U.S. artists.