News & Announcements

Alumni Survey!!

2010-04-13T12:51:11Z

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/arch-art

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2010-04-13T12:45:11Z

Dear Fellow Norwich A+A Alums,

It’s accreditation time again, and the School of Architecture + Art is looking for your help! An online survey has been created to gather information about you and your professional development post-Norwich. This information will greatly help the school with its reaccreditation efforts. We all know how much hard work goes into preparing for this effort, and how important it is. As alums, we can do our small part by completing this survey. It is short and simple, so please take a moment to fill it out. And be sure to check out the school’s blog (norwicharchart.com) for the latest news, events, and lecture information. Thanks and happy surveying!

Regards,
Tom Mitchell, M.Arch. ’07

Closing Note from Tanzania

2009-07-26T14:52:33Z

Hi everyone!

I can’t believe that only a few days remain of my 6 months in Tanzania. Where did the time go? In some ways, I feel like I just got here; in other ways, it feels like forever that I've been away from home.

For my last update, I am going to hold off on sending pictures until I get home to faster internet. Instead, I'll sum things up this way...

I won't miss:
1. Lizards and other creatures, of various sizes, in my bedroom.
2. Brushing my teeth using water from a bottle.
3. Rice, potatoes, or pasta served with a light red sauce.
4. Sleeping in a mosquito net.
5. Having to reset the modem every 5 minutes in order for the internet to work.
6. Riding the dala dala.
7. Having to keep all snacks inside multiple plastic bags to fight off the ants.
8. Getting electric shocks from the office printer.
9. Sweating continuously.
10. Our smelly, flea infested dogs: Mama, Max, Johnny, Socks, Nipples, and Captain Morgan.

I'll miss:
1. Martin and all the amazing friends I’ve made here that I will never ever forget.
2. Working with my partner in crime on Mapinga and working with all the team leaders.
3. Witnessing how volunteers change from when they arrive to when they leave and making new friends from all over the world.
4. Having a ten-minute walk to the Indian Ocean.
5. Being able to get lunch and a soda for under $2.
6. Using my Girl Scout skills to teach the cooks new recipes.
7. Learning British English (and Swahili too).
8. Seeing Tanzanians try things like cheeseburgers and ice cream for the first time.
9. Crazy rides in tuk-tuks.
10. Nights at Mchuno's Bar.

I’m excited to:
1. See Mom, Dad, and Bennett.
2. See family.
3. See friends.
4. Drive my car.
5. Eat pepperoni pizza.
6. Cuddle up on the couch.
7. Be cold enough to want to use a blanket.
8. Take a hot shower.
9. Use DVR to watch the end of ER.
10. Show off all my Barack Obama souvenirs.

See many of you SOON,
Moriah

Update from Tanzania

2009-06-25T20:01:09Z

click to enlargeHi everyone!

Wow, it’s been a long time since my last update! Our internet problems have continued since my last update, but I think we FINALLY got to the bottom of the problem and now we are back up and running. There’s so much to write about, but I’ll stick with a few highlights from the last month and a half . . .

I avoided it for as long as I could, but I did make my first trip to a Tanzanian hospital in the beginning of April. I had a pretty bad cough and sore throat for long enough that I gave in and went to a hospital to have everything checked out. I went to one of the more expensive hospitals because I think the local doctors tend to tell you that you have things you don’t, just to get you to buy medicine. After telling the doctor my symptoms, he took a throat swab, but didn’t do anything else. He didn’t take my temperature or my blood pressure. He didn’t listen to my chest and he didn’t look in my ears. Then three days later when I called for my results they told me that I had strep. I did start a round of antibiotics to be safe, but I still don’t believe I had strep because I haven’t had strep in 15 years, since getting my tonsil removed. Things got better for a while and then the symptoms returned. Through an extensive process of elimination, I finally figured out that my throat was hurting because I was leaving my ceiling fan on too high at night and drying my throat out!

It didn’t seem to make the news in the United States, but there was a large explosion in Dar on April 29th (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8024656.stm). I wasn’t close enough to be in any kind of danger, but I did hear it. Honestly, it didn’t faze me at the time, maybe because I’m just used to hearing the canons at Norwich!

May was filled with lots of traveling. I took some time off to travel west to visit Pommern, the village I volunteered in during my first two trips to Tanzania with Norwich. I hadn’t been there since June 2007, so it was amazing to see how things had changed in two years. I was only able to visit for a few days, but it was wonderful to be remembered by so many people. I also took a long weekend getaway at the end of May with my boyfriend, Martin, to visit the northern beaches of Zanzibar! We stayed at the same place I did last year called Sunset Bungalows and as you’ll see from the pictures, it’s a very appropriate name!

It was quite a cultural experience to watch the madness leading up to the Barcelona vs. Manchester United Premiership Championship football match on May 27th. Their love for football (soccer) is amazing. It was like watching the Super Bowl or the World Series. All the local bars set up extra TVs and everyone crowded around them. They don’t seem to care too much about the Tanzanian teams, but they are crazy about the European football clubs.

I made my first visit to the American Embassy at the end of May. Frances scheduled a meeting for us with Patrick Brown, the Community Grants Coordinator, to discuss grants that might be applicable to the Mapinga project. It was very difficult to get inside because Mr. Brown forgot to put us on the visitors list, but once inside it was beautiful and very cool to see.

Last Friday I attended the Miss Dar es Salaam beauty pageant/competition as a VIP guest. Art in Tanzania was one of the major sponsors and they asked me to go to take pictures for our magazine. It was quite an experience! In some ways it was like Miss America with the usual portions such as formalwear and swimsuits, but there was no talent portion!

I can’t believe I have just a month and a few days left before I come home! I get back on July 21st and yes, I am still coming home! I still don't know what's next for me. Now that I have internet back, I'm looking for jobs of various kinds and in various countries! I welcome any suggestions!

I look forward to seeing many of you in August,
Moriah

Tanzania Update

2009-04-28T19:31:00Z

Click to enlargeHi Everyone,

The end of March was filled with lots of excitement including traveling to Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, for the Art in Tanzania Talent Show and then celebrating my 25th birthday! April has been very busy for Frances and me, as we’ve made a lot of progress on the Mapinga plot development. I’ve attached the latest version of the Mapinga master plan for everyone to take a peak. We have the basic design complete for all the buildings, including an adaptation of my thesis project for the arts center! You can also learn more about the project on the Mapinga website: www.mapingaone.com. Click to enlarge.

I was able to go to church on Easter with another volunteer and some Tanzanians. There was a little confusion as to what time the mass started, but we eventually got there and actually ended up being early for the second mass. Rainy season has officially arrived; it’s unbelievable. I’ll be sure to send pictures of the rain in my next update!

I’m happy to hear spring has finally made its way to New England. Enjoy the picture collage and the master plan!

Lots of love,
Moriah

Update from Tanzania

2009-03-24T13:01:28Z

click to enlargeTHIS UPDATE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO OUT ON MARCH 10TH, BUT WE'VE BEEN WITHOUT INTERNET SINCE THEN . . .

Hi everyone!

I promise you that even if the following update doesn’t make it sound like I ever do any work, I do work every day during the week; I just get to do a lot of fun stuff at night and on the weekends! The school design is moving along; Frances and I have pretty much finalized the basic classroom unit that will be replicated. Benja did all the filming and basic editing for the next Mambo Jambo music video, but I’ve spent some time cleaning it up and making sure the lip-syncing matches up, so hopefully it will be on YouTube and Facebook soon!

A few Wednesdays ago a large group of volunteers went to the Irish Pub for Karaoke Night (see picture collage). I did not participate, but I have it all on video! Two weekends ago, I went to my favorite beach, White Sands, on Saturday and then on Sunday I took my boss’ kids (Kimi, Rosie, and Houstorn) with one of the other team leaders, Minna, to the local water park called Wet ‘N Wild (see picture collage)! It was a blast; the kids are fearless so we went on all the slides together and having the baby with us was a good excuse to play in the kiddy area. This past Friday we were hoping to go bowling and out to dinner for one volunteer’s last night celebration, but we discovered the bowling alley that I loved going to last time is gone! I was devastated, but we still went out for dessert and to the casino that’s in the same complex.

“Pub quizzes” (testing teams in a bar on general knowledge and pop culture and the winning team gets a round of free drinks) are very popular in Europe (do we have them in America?), so the team leaders try to create something similar for a group activity to do once a week. We usually do it after dinner at the volunteer house, but I suggested that we truly make it a pub quiz by going to our local bar and including locals on our teams. We tried it last night for the first time and it was very successful and fun.

I may be going to the capital of Tanzania this coming weekend to help out with the Art in Tanzania/Mzuka Records Dodoma Talent Show. Art in Tanzania has been organizing talent shows throughout Tanzania to discover new talent for the record label. We should call it “Tanzanian Idol”!

I hope all is well with you! Picture collage attached!

All the best,
Moriah

News from Tanzania

2009-02-19T16:36:56Z

click to enlarge (see previous post in Alumni)Hi everyone!

A month already! Things have been going well, but it’s been very busy. Two of the team leaders are on vacation this week, so I’m responsible for making sure all the volunteers get where they need to go, get fed, etc. and for handling the daily finances. Although I enjoy the organization involved with the job, it’s a lot to manage by myself while also trying to make headway with the architecture and video projects.

We finally got a site map of the land for our Mapinga (the name of the area) building projects! Well it’s not quite a site map; it only shows the property line and no information on the interior of the property, but it’s at least something to start with for master planning. We’ve also been working with others to put together a program for what buildings and services will be included in the first phase of construction.

It was a very last minute decision, but I went to Zanzibar last Thursday to Sunday for the internationally famous music festival called Sauti za Basara (Sounds of Wisdom) that celebrates music from all over the world. I didn’t have the opportunity to go last year, so I didn’t want to miss it again. The festival started around 4 p.m. in the Old Fort and lasted much past midnight each night. It was an amazing atmosphere to be in; there were people from all walks of life that had come from all over to attend. I’m really glad I went.

I hope all is well with you! Thanks for all the great replies to my last update. Picture collage attached!

Always,
Moriah

Greetings from Tanzania

2009-02-03T14:44:12Z

click to enlargeHi everyone!

I arrived safely to Tanzania on Friday, January 23rd after almost two days of travel! I had an 11-hour layover in London, which gave me the opportunity to go into the city and have a quick visit with my friend from college, Blake. Once I made my way back to Heathrow Airport and to my flight’s gate, I got an unexpected, early welcome back to Tanzania. Yuster, (Assistant Director of Art in Tanzania and Kari’s wife—Kari is the Director and my boss) was sitting at the gate for the same flight! She saw me first and called my name. She changes her hairstyle quite often, so I didn’t even recognize her at first and even once I did, it still took a moment for everything to register because I was so caught off guard. She was returning from a trip to Finland in preparation for a music festival and doing some promotional work for Art in Tanzania. We talked while waiting to board, went our separate ways during the flight, and then Kari was there to pick both of us up at the airport. What are the chances!?!

I’ve now been here just over a week and things are going well so far. Even though I’m returning to the same area and the same organization I worked with last time, there’s definitely still an adjustment period after arrival. Many things have changed since I left here a little over 8 months ago. The volunteers are all living in a new house that used to be an old hotel. I do miss the old house because it felt like my home here, but now I have my own bedroom and my own bathroom, so no complaints there! Most of the staff is the same, so it’s nice to be surrounded with old friends who were so excited to see me again.

My architecture partner in crime, Frances Jemini, has arrived. She’s an architect from Virginia and we’ll be collaborating on the Art in Tanzania architecture projects over the next 6 months. She has a blog, if you are interested in learning more about her: http://www.jeminilink.bravehost.com/. We basically have two major project areas. The first is doing some renovation work around the hotel because it is definitely a work in progress. It currently doesn’t have a kitchen, so our food is prepared off site and then transported by car to the hotel. So our first task this week was doing some as-builts and schematic design for the new kitchen. The second project is going to be creating a master plan of a 90-acre piece of land that Art in Tanzania has purchased about a half hour north of Dar es Salaam. The first building to be constructed on the site will be a primary school (because we already have sponsors to fund that project), but there’s plenty of room for lots more (including something like my thesis project). Everyone seems supportive of me balancing my time between architecture and video projects, so I also have some video projects under way including a music video for the infamous Dudu Baya, who is now under our record label, Mzuka Records (which I named!—it means “spirit,” but has become a popular slang word that everyone uses to mean “cool”).

Thank you in advance to those of you that reply to my updates. It’s so nice to hear from everyone and it really helps me keep in touch with what’s going on at home. I may not always have time to respond to each of you, but please know that I do read all of them and appreciate them!

One final note, I had to buy a new SIM card because my old one expired, [so ask Betty for the new number]. (011 can be used if your phone doesn’t support the + symbol).

Enjoy my first picture collage from this trip!

Lots of love,
Moriah