iSTEP Tanzania

Today is the official last day of the iSTEP internship. While the team in Tanzania won’t be hitting home soil until Tuesday, our formal involvement in the projects ends when we pack it up today.

It’s been a fun 10 weeks, a hard 10 weeks, an exhausting 10 weeks, but it certainly hasn’t felt like 10 weeks. The iSTEP team has braved monkeys, lions, snakes, mosquitoes, tornadoes, and hair cuts. We surprised no one more than ourselves in the progress we were able to make across the three projects. We’ve learned more than we thought possible and made countless memories.

One might think I probably had the boring job in the team being home in Pittsburgh but I had my share of excitement. I’ve worked myself to exhaustion on more than a couple days and I’m proud of the work the team has done and hope to continue my own work in ICTD in the future. The ever-changing day to day conditions, the wealth of viewpoints, and the projects I got to work on more than kept me interested. I hope the things we’ve started this summer continue to develop and make a difference in the lives of Tanzania.

And so it is without any eager that I leave my humble desk that was home to me over the summer. I would say that I don’t know how I will manage to keep myself busy but then I remember classes start at Carnegie Mellon in a matter of weeks. But then, homework just won’t be the same.