Reflecting on the Tanzania Trip: Jessieca Vorbeck

Published on July 12, 2012 in Chocolate University. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

Jessieca Vorbeck will be a senior at Central High School in Springfield, MO and hopes to pursue a career in pediatric oncology.

We traveled half way around the world and back in nine days. This incredible journey has yet to fully sink in for most of us. When we arrived back in Springfield at 6:30 Sunday evening, being greeted by our families and friends all I could think about was how I miss the family that I found at Mwaya secondary school.

Photo by Bob Linder.

Our bus arrived at Mwaya secondary school around 10:00am Tanzania time and we were greeted by all of the students. Our hellos began with shaking hands as we walked off the bus but as I walked over to greet the girls they surrounded me, and began to hug me with tears rolling down their cheeks. The welcome that I received from each individual was unlike anything I had ever experienced. That feeling of acceptance and appreciation continued to grow throughout the week.

Photo by Bob Linder.

These students are currently surviving on one meal a day which generally comes late in the afternoon. For them, that means they must sit through a full day of school trying to learn about science, math, literature, and much more on an empty stomach. Their desire to learn supersedes ours in a way you cannot imagine, the students first question to me was “What do you study?” which was then followed by the question:

“Can you teach me?”

Photo by Bob Linder.

With their desire to learn in the right place, Chocolate University’s goal was to make their dreams achievable. In order to do this we came with three goals, a sustainable lunch program, computers, and a new teaching plan. My group was focused on the sustainable lunch program, which was a collaboration of the PTA at Mwaya, the students of Mwaya and Chocolate University. In order to create a sustainable lunch program, Askinosie Chocolate worked with the PTA at Mwaya to sell one ton of rice to fund one year’s feeding program.  The parents had no words to express their gratitude for helping their students achieve a better life, and these students didn’t complain a single time about helping us stamp the bags, measure the rice, fill the bags, seal the bags, and finally prepare the product for sale. They were merely enthusiastic to help. We taught them how to stamp the bags, and they taught us how to use a candle to burn the bag in order to seal it. Though we all laughed at each other a few times this was an incredible experience, through language barriers and cultural differences we learned to work together in order to achieve our goal, bringing lunch to Mwaya.

By Thursday afternoon we had finished 1,045 bags of rice for their feeding program. This was an incredible accomplishment. Through this project I developed many friends which all taught me different lessons. As a whole my friends taught me about acceptance and beauty. I have never entered such a different community and been welcomed with such open arms. Everyone greeted us; there was so much happiness in the air, everyone was smiling and everyone was helping one another. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. However, there were two friends that made an incredible difference in my experience and in my life. These two girls had an impact on me unlike anything I could have imagined. In a five day period they had taken me in as their sister, they showed me their homes, and told me about their lives and invited me into their families. When our final day came they didn’t understand why I had to leave them. They told me that I could stay and that I would be happier there with them. It was very difficult for me to leave them because over those five days I had grown just as attached to them as they had to me. I loved them and cared for them as if they were my sisters, as they did me. This incredible feeling, inspired by two young girls changed me for the better. It not only showed me love and understanding unlike any I had seen before but it also taught me about what an incredible impact I can make on someone’s life and for me that made all the difference.

Photo by Bob Linder.

The realization that I can make a difference and that I can change things even if it is for one person was incredible. Regardless of the difficulties, knowing that because of our journey two young girls felt appreciation and empowerment made all the difference in my life and has only inspired me to do more.

Computer-Learning Program at Mwaya

Published on July 6, 2012 in Chocolate University and Projects. 3 Comments

Last week at Drury University, Eric Ham and the computer team of students shared the plan to start a video-learning program in the village of Tenende, Tanzania. We had goosebumps listening to all of the work the students and Eric had put into this program. Chocolate University is not just donating six laptops to remote Tanzania, they are creating an entire system of how to learn using a laptop and projector, in a school with NO Internet and NO electricity. It is mind-blowing.  Remember this is a school that until last year did not even have one textbook.

Here’s a little bit about the plan. While in the States, the team downloaded over 3,000 video lessons covering every subject imaginable from the Khan Academy website onto each laptop. The team, with the help of the Mwaya Secondary School staff, will install a generator and run extension cords throughout the rafters of the school. Eric and the students created documents explaining from how to change a lightbulb in the projectors to how to manually bring up the Khan Academy program.

All the documents, as well as all of the Khan Academy lessons on each computer, are stored on a hard drive, so if anything happens to a laptop, they can re-upload the programs. All of the donated laptops have new parts including a new battery so that all of them would have a guaranteed a four hour battery life. The team brought  white shower curtains to make the perfect weather-resistant screens for the projectors, and each item is numbered, so that if any issues arise, it will be easy to communicate the machine with issues.


Yesterday, the plan became a reality. The team worked with the Headmaster of the school and brought an Internet-based program and computers to this school. We have talked to government officials and believe that electricity will be here within a few months. Meanwhile we are using a generator. It is the only school in this district of 26 secondary schools with computers. 

This program was inspired after Shawn watched the 60 Minutes video about the Khan Academy. We highly recommend that you do the same. The Khan Academy is a non-profit, who’s mission is to provide, “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” The program is revolutionizing how classes are taught, and now, that same top notch program will be available to the students of Mwaya Secondary School.

Thanks to our Chocolate University computer team we believe that this has the chance to transform this school.

Stamping Rice Bags for a Nutritional Lunch Program in Tanzania

Published on July 3, 2012 in Chocolate University. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Hunger is a universal struggle affecting countless students throughout the world and inevitably impeding the process of education.

One of the projects the Chocolate University students are doing while in Tanzania is iniating a sustainable food program for the students at the Mwaya Secondary School. Like in the Philippines, the PTA is producing a product (rice), and Askinosie Chocolate is going to sell the rice to its customers and give all the profit to fund a nutritional lunch program for these students in Tanzania. This region of Tanzania is known for its delicious sweet rice offering Askinosie customers a unique tasting opportunity.

Yesterday, the Chocolate University students and the Mwaya students worked on stamping and filling the rice bags together. Another group also measured the height, weight and arm circumference of all the students, so that the effect of the food program can be evaluated throughout time. In the late fall, the rice will come ship with our container of cocoa beans from Tanzania so that no shipping costs will occur. Using this system, the program is fully sustainable, requiring no donations.

Created with cinemagr.am

This will come full circle when this same PTA who are producing the rice will have the opportunity to prepare prepare lunches for the students once the program is in place.

More updates from Tanzania coming soon!

CU Student Reflects on Preparing for Tanzania Trip

Published on June 29, 2012 in Chocolate University. 0 Comments

The Chocolate University students had an activity-packed week at Drury University led by Dr. John Taylor where they did team-building exercises, learned about the chocolate industry and practiced their Swahili leading up to their Tanzania trip.

One of the students, Kelsey, reflected on how this week prepared them for their African adventure. Check out this video, filmed by Bob Linder, of Kelsey discussing her experience on the ropes course.

Kujengana: To Build Each Other Up

Published on June 28, 2012 in Chocolate University. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Thirteen high school students have been preparing all week for their upcoming trip to remote Tanzania tomorrow. They have learned about the chocolate industry, the Tanzanian culture and how to work together as a team. I had the privilege of joining the group of aspiring adventurers on their last sessions in the States. I walked in on their Swahili language practice and crash course in cultural behavior norms. Donita Cox, teacher at Central High School, led the class in an impromptu quiz.

“Naomba Chai,” she said.

“I want tea!” declared an eager student.

Their wide eyes and enthusiasm brought me joy and reminded me about my first time traveling to El Salvador when I was 16. It was truly a defining moment for me, and this trip will surely be a defining moment for them as well.

As the session continued, I learned all the hard work the students had put in that week since checking in to Drury University on Saturday. On Sunday, they spent all day in the chocolate factory doing everything from making chocolate to tasting chocolate. Shawn taught them all the ins and outs of how he runs his business and how the relationship with the Tanzania farm was developed. Chocolate education was paired with an emphasis on social entrepreneurship, and the idea that this model could be applied to anything the students are passionate about.

Photo by Bob Linder.

On Monday, the group explored the wilderness of the Ozarks by participating in a ropes course to build teamwork and communication skills. Here, the students learned more about each other and how to work through issues before facing any possible crisis overseas. The students rose to the challenge. The group also toured the Convoy of Hope headquarters in Springfield and had lunch with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

Photo by Bob Linder.

This activity-packed week led by Dr. John Taylor acted as a chocolate and Tanzania culture bootcamp if you will for the students. By Tuesday (when I met them), the students were beaming with enthusiasm for the upcoming adventure. That day Shawn also brought them their itinerary for Tanzania, which includes attending classes at the Mwaya Secondary School with the local students, setting up a laptop system for the students, stamping and filling rice bags to help fund a future nutritional food program there and participating in the Empowered Girls Club. They also received the trip t-shirts with the group’s motto: Kujengana, which means to build each other up in Swahili.

The adventure bootcamp ended on Wednesday with an inspiring pep talk from the President of Drury University, Todd Parnell. He asked each of the students what they wanted to be when they grew up, and afterwards, he said that he hopes to ask them the same question when they return. He told them to stay awake because this trip could change them forever.

I hope I get a chance to see those eager spirits again, too. I know my first trip abroad changed my life forever. It gave me a new passion to always be a part of making a global impact and to understand cultures outside my own. I am so thrilled that six years later I do get to make a global impact daily with my job at Askinosie Chocolate. I hope these kids with have their fire lit just like mine was when I was their age.

This guest post is from Bethany Parry who was recently hired as the Person in Charge of Getting the Word Out at Askinosie Chocolate. She graduated in May from Missouri State University with a double degree in Public Relations and Spanish.