Chuck and Sue Ruehle, two dedicated educators are no stranger to soil of Tanzania. Over the years they have been actively engaged in developing astronomy education in Tanzania. During Global Hands-ON Conference 2013 in Greece, GTTP Communications team; Lina Canas and Thilina Heenatigala sat with them to catch up on the latest developments of their efforts in Tanzania.
Kicking off in 2010 Telescope to Tanzania project has evolved in many ways. When asked from Chuck his view on how the effort developed, Chuck shared, “It’s been about 3 years since our first trip to Tanzania. We have held many workshops, trainings and meetings. But the key element of a good effort is to have a long lasting effect. To have something that continues. To fulfill this need, we are setting the ground to establish a new Centre for Science Education and an observatory to host a 12inch Cassegrain telescope. This will allow the community to continue and expand the educational effort and open more international doors. More importantly, the centre will be managed by a local consortium of teachers and educators.”
During GHOU 2013 conference, the dynamic duo took part in the GTTP workshop, “Astronomy@myBackPack” showing how to get more out of a Galileoscope. They also presented the “Telescope to Tanzania” project during the GHOU conference.
Ruehles will be heading to Tanzania this fall to catch the Total Solar Eclipse and use it as an educational tool to spread the joy of astronomy to the community. GTTP community around the world can support them by donating safe solar eclipse glasses through Astronomers Without Borders.
When asked why Tanzania, Sue replied, “It’s a place we built relationships with. To put an effort together you need to connect with the community, you need ground to stand, and the interest from the people. We have all that from Tanzania, it’s where we are called to be.”
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More information: http://astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/telescopes-to-tanzania.html
Telescope to Tanzania is not-for-profit, volunteer effort. We urge GTTP friends around the world to support the project by any means.