International visitors have returned to campus for the first time in nearly three years as we welcome Ms. Adventina Emmanuel from Tanzania, and a group of students and their headmaster from Denmark to SSES this week.

Ms. Emmanuel will spend nearly a month at Saint Stephen’s observing classrooms and other operations to help grow programs for her school and create an even stronger bond between her students and those at SSES. Tina hails from Iringa International School, one of eight current Saint Stephen’s “sister schools.” She serves as the WAHI (We Are the Hope of Iringa) Project Coordinator with Global Outreach Tanzania. The voluntary after-school program is designed to motivate primary and secondary students to become strong and confident leaders as it addresses challenges faced in Tanzania education, including a lack of science, technology, and reading focus.

“Most Tanzanian youth, especially the ones in rural areas, have potential but they lack the opportunity to show their potential,” Ms. Emmanuel said. “Therefore, it’s our responsibility to create a space for them to showcase their abilities.”

Students from another SSES sister school – Esbjerg International School in Esberg, Denmark – arrived on campus on Oct. 26 and will be with us through Nov. 2. The 10 students and their headmaster will experience a full schedule of events and interactions at Saint Stephen’s and will be hosted by SSES families during their stay.

A group of Saint Stephen’s AP Spanish students also had their own opportunity to travel abroad. The students recently returned from a 10-day trip to Spain that included stops in Cordoba, Seville, and at our sister school in Barcarrota. They took in the sights and sampled the local culture, tried a flamenco dance lesson, an art class, learned to prepare paella and gazpacho, visited an olive farm and olive oil processing agri-business, and much more.