The Happiness Project in Tanzania – I feel very blessed to have participated as a faculty lead in the Happiness Now project in Tanzania. This year the project expanded to include four staff and  14 students from six different campuses of NSCC. We had the pleasure of working with 21 VHTTI students and several staff.

As I read back over my journal from the past two weeks I see the common theme is resilience and making the best of situations. The Tanzanian staff and students were so kind, positive and peaceful. I have learned that as a culture they express their feelings of happiness and sadness in a big way and accept things as they are. They aren’t a group that bottle things up inside! We could learn a thing or two from this culture.

The highlights for me for this project were meeting the local women who have started businesses here in the Arusha area. Some of the businesses were more successful than others such as the water filtration business that has expanded to many areas of the country. I also really enjoyed getting to see the NSCC & VHTTI students run their mini ventures on campus. 

The cultural highlight for me was being greated from the airport by the VHTTI students doing a local dance dressed in traditional clothing from their different tribes. This was a beautiful way to be welcomed to the VHTTI campus! And of course experiencing the Safari in the Ngorongoro Crater can not be described with words and is something that I will remember forever.

I am so grateful that our group of 18 got along so well and brought so many strengths to our team. Who would’ve thought that a group from so many different courses, backgrounds and personalities could become so close. This supportive team showed the strength to continue the project through its challenges and we will be forever bonded by that. 

Thank you to NSCC International, Tanzania, and the entire Happiness team for an adventure and learning experience that will be treasured. 

Krista Taverner

Civil Engineering Technology Faculty

NSCC Ivany Campus