Chuck Ruehle is an amateur astronomer and a member of the Racine Astronomical Society.
He has developed a program called Telescopes to Tanzania that has enabled him to teach
astronomy to students living in remote communities in northern Tanzania, East Africa.

Last October he returned for a second year of teaching astronomy, optics and light. He left 250
pounds of equipment and resources with five secondary and two elementary schools
on Mt. Meru (4,566 meters). He worked with 80 teachers, staff, and community members, and
more than 500 students. The total number of teachers and staff at the seven schools he visited
during the month is more than 150 teachers, with over 3,500 students.

Each of the schools received either a 50mm Galileoscope or a 70mm Vixen Space Eye telescope,
a tripod, three or four modern eyepieces and other astronomy related materials. Traveling most
of the time by Land Rover, he often lived off the grid between 1,500 and 3,000 meters above sea
level

Recently one of the students sent an e-mail and reported that; “I am just trying to teach other
people about night stars. The book (you gave me) has become more useful.” Chuck is also
developing materials to assist the secondary schools in the development of “Space Clubs” to help
students continue to learn more about the astronomy, physics, chemistry, math, and geography
subjects introduced last fall.

In November of 2012 he’ll return for another month of teaching. In addition to working at
schools he and a team of African astronomy educators will be teaching 80 Secondary and
Elementary teachers at the Mwangaza Partnership for Education Center in Arusha, Tanzania for
two weeks.

At ALCon2012 Chuck will give a preview of the work coming up this fall. He looks forward
to sharing the challenges of preparing materials and methods for teaching off the grid that don’t
require power or advanced technology. At 9,000 feet there are no “Big Box” stores available for
last minute purchases, so it’s helpful to be a blend of both Rube Goldberg and Mc Giver

You can view photos and read his blog on the Astronomers Without Borders web site by going
to: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/component/content/article/122/991.html.

Chuck is a retired Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pastor, and an anti-
racism organizer and trainer. He loves to teach adults and young people — especially his
five grandchildren — about the beauty of the universe and the night sky from southeastern
Wisconsin.

Fundraising Information can be downloaded here -Telescopes For Tanzania Fundraiser