Funded by an $82,000 grant from the Switzerland-based Benina Foundation to Fairfield University’s Center for Social Impact, five faculty members and a Fairfield alumnus traveled to Loyola High School in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last month. This was a reciprocal visit, as a group of 12 staff members and students from the Jesuit secondary school on the coast of East Africa visited Fairfield’s North Benson campus last summer.

Luckario Alcide ’21 served as group facilitator for last year’s Loyola visitors to campus. He lived with the students and teachers in Fairfield's residence halls, accompanied them throughout the program, and continues to mentor many of the Tanzanian students – all of whom were excited to introduce him to their school and hometown.

Several Fairfield faculty members who worked with the Loyola teachers and students in Connecticut also made the return trip, which took place over a week in late May and early June. They arrived at the Tanzanian high school, which draws students from a diverse range of religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, in time to take part in end-of-the-year celebrations.

A strong motivation for the journey “was to go and see in person some of the changes and developments that our partnership and the Benina Foundation grant have made possible,” said Melissa Quan, EdD, director of the Center for Social Impact. These collaborations, she noted, include the installation of technological infrastructure such as solar panels, computer labs, and a smart classroom.

It was also an opportunity for professors “to visit Loyola for the first time, and to meet with teachers and administrators in their respective areas, to talk about how they could continue working together,” Dr. Quan said.

During the trip, the Fairfield delegation participated in Loyola’s year-end assembly and Mass. They were also taken to explore locations around Dar es Salaam, such as the U.S. Embassy, several community partner locations including Gonzaga Elementary School, and the historic town of Bagamoyo, once a center of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. “In addition to being immersed in the high school,” said Dr. Quan, “we really got a chance to be immersed in the community.” 

“It was such a warm, inviting, and just friendly environment,” said trip participant Kimberly Barba ’10, PhD, assistant professor of mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences. During her time in Tanzania, she worked to further projects and connections first established last summer. Along with fellow math professor Janet Striuli, PhD, she also exchanged ideas about math pedagogy with Loyola teachers.

Alfred Babo, PhD, associate professor of international studies and sociology & anthropology, worked with students in Loyola’s Geography Club to identify environmental problems in the local community, visit the sites, and then workshop and present action plans to improve them. Some students “were not really aware that the environmental issues they were studying were so close to their school,” said Dr. Babo. He hopes their projects together have made students feel more connected with and aware of their local Dar es Salaam community.

Stephaney Morrison, PhD, director of the School Counseling program and associate professor of school counseling in the School of Education and Human Development, worked in the role of a school psychologist and conferred with the administration of Loyola about best practices for counseling and mental health. Dr. Morrison also met with teachers and students to learn what they felt were the most critical issues facing students relative to mental health.

Overall, “I think we were able to accomplish everything we wanted to do on the trip,” said Dr. Babo.

Yet, their work with Loyola High School is not finished.

“My hope is that we can begin to identify ways to get Fairfield University students involved in the partnership through coursework and internships,” said Dr. Quan. “A big part of the reason for having other faculty come was so that they could begin to think of… opportunities to build this into our curriculum.”

“Currently,” she said, “that is our hope for the next phase of our partnership.”