Bubbles are a staple of a kid’s life in America, but in Tanzania, one of the poorest countries in the world, they are rare.

That changed when University of Rhode Island students came to town. Last summer, a remote village in the East African country hosted a Bubblefest, thanks to URI students on a 10-day trip to teach children who are poor or orphaned. The bubbles were a hit, as well as the books (Froggie Gets Dressed), the markers, the pencils, the paper, the soccer balls, the singing, the dancing, and the hugs.

Charles Starkey, a senior from Long Island, is ready to go back.

“Africa changed my life,’’ he says. “It was a pretty powerful experience.’’

URI kinesiology lecturer Karie Lee Orendorff, of North Kingstown, created the trip three years ago after falling in love with Tanzania, best known as the home of Mount Kilimanjaro—the highest peak in Africa—and the national park where Jane Goodall studied chimpanzee behavior.

Sixteen URI students, some going abroad for the first time, taught math, reading, writing and physical education to children aged 3 to 12 at the Maasai Joy Children’s Centre in Arusha in the country’s Ekenywa Valley region.

The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic herdsmen. They speak Maa, part of the Nilo-Saharan language, and are taught in Swahili and English. Many of the families are poor, at least by American standards. They live in huts made from cow dung, mud and straw, and cook in holes dug in the ground.

Besides teaching lessons, the URI students built a playground and two classrooms—a much-needed addition since some classes were held in chicken coops with cardboard walls.

The landscape was stunning: mountains, fields of sunflowers, winding roads. People walked everywhere; cars were scarce. Starkey turned his cell phone off in Amsterdam, with no regrets.

Tanzania, the students say, will make them more compassionate physical education teachers. The trip also gave them a greater appreciation for what they have in America.

“Now I want to help people who don’t have as much,’’ says Starkey. “It’s a good feeling. Everyone wants to go to Europe. I want to see the kids again. I want to go back to Africa.’’