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Making the Grade in Rural Tanzania – Often a Tall Order

Twice a year, Lucas makes his rounds to the various schools where our scholarship students attend. He checks in with the headmasters and teachers, he gets updates on our students, and he collects report cards. Like a proud but nervous baba and mama, Lucas and I wait in anticipation as the grades roll in. Well, Lucas has more of a wait as he has to sit there as the headmaster or secondmaster meticulously copies from the grade books into a report for Lucas. Subject by Subject, score by score, letter grade by letter grade, and then finally the average. (I just have to open the email and see all of Lucas’ scans.)

I’m not going to sugar coat it. Getting good grades in remote village schools is a challenge. You can view a chat on the topic with our students Hindu and Saidi here:

Here’s a quick refresher on the realities:

  1. Secondary School teachers in Tanzania don’t generally want to be sent to the village schools. They are often trained in cities and large towns and hope to get an appointment there. For those who want to work in the village, they have a sense of committment to the children and communities. For those who would rather be back in the cities, it’s a struggle to show up every day with the energy and motivation to teach well. Why? (see #2)
  2. Children in village schools are already at a slight disadvantage. Primary school teachers only have to complete secondary school, but are not required to pursue any further teacher education. Therefore, they are often underprepared to manage and promote learning well. Not to mention, one village classroom can have up to 100 students! (continued in #3)
  3. Secondary school subjects in Tanzania are taught in English. Primary school is taught in Swahili. (Need I say more? I will.) Teachers sometimes don’t speak English very well, but they teach subjects in English. Students barely speak English when they reach secondarly school, and now they are learning all their subjects (e.g., math, history, physics, biology) in English. This has been well documented as ineffective in my field (Applied Linguistics) but, it’s a byproduct of colonialism, so we just have to wait it out. Soon, the GOV will hopefully embrace dual immersion in primary or bilingual approaches in secondary (still requires English proficiency in teachers).
  4. Students don’t have books. Most village schools have one book – for the teacher. The students have no books. There is no electricity, therefore no copy machines (therefore nothing to take home and study besides what is copied into one’s notebook).
  5. Families in villages have a lot on their plate – from supporting large families through subsistence farming and fishing to managing health issues with limited infrastructure. The women rely on the children in many ways – they help mind siblings, carry water, tend animals, prepare meals, clean, etc. So, school can, at times, take a backseat to the rest of life.

Does it seem like I’m preparing you for the worst? Well, in part – I am, but not completely.

Some of our students are not getting very good grades in their subjects. When they are selected to the scholarship program, we have them sign an agreement that states that they will maintain a certain grade average and if they fall below that average, they will receive tutoring for 4 months. If their grades don’t come up, they will unfortunately lose support.

Can Lucas and I cut anyone from our program? No. Does that make us bad ‘business people’? Maybe. But, I know that even when our students get an F or a D in their courses, it’s not because they don’t want an education. It’s not because they hate to study or go to school. Most of them wake at 6am and walk for up to (and sometimes over) an hour each way without breakfast or lunch. (I love that last part because it sounds like a ‘fly-in-the-eye’ campaign – i.e., an exaggeration to tug at heart strings. It’s just reality. I do the walk with them when I visit, and their capacity to storytell and sing the whole way there and back blows me away! I’m usually the one complaining about the heat, dust, distance.) They are failing and flailing due to no fault of their own. The system – it’s all about the system, no matter where in the world you look. So, until the system changes (and beyond) – we’ll stand by them.

But, the good news is – we have some shining SUPERSTARS in the group who show us the potential of a bright young child when given the right balance of support (i.e., financial, emotional, physical and familial) and determination.

So here are the highlights!! (i.e., the Good News) (Note on Curving the Grade Scale: American A = TZ village B; American B = village C; students are praised for receiving Cs and Ds)

Girls

Amina, one of our first year Form 1 students really blew me away! She scored a B in Civics, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology!! There’s no stopping her if she can keep this up! Bravo, Amina!

Rahma, another new Form 1 student, earned an A in English, B in French, and a C in History, Geography, Chemistry and Physics. She has quite the range of strengths!

Khadija was one of our first ever scholarship students. She graduated from secondary school and now studies at the Vocational Training and Education Authority. She is doing exceptionally well and has secured a B average and a rank of 3rd in her class. Her favorite subjects appear to be French and Computer Applications.

Boys

Tumsifu is one of our Form 4 students. His overall, cumulative grade average is B!! That is amazing, folks. His top subjects are Civics, History, Biology and Geography.

Simoni, a new Form 1 student, was sure to be a rockstar. Our intern Katy knew that about him the first time she taught as a guest in his class. Sure enough, quiet little Simoni secured an A in Civics, Chemistry, Biology and Swahili with a B in History and English. He has an overall B average!

Samiru, one of our new Form 1 students, had a very successful first year. He earned a B in Geography and a C in Physics, Chemistry and Math!!

George had an amazing first year with an A in Biology and English and a B in  History, Geography, Swahili, Math, French and Chemistry! Way to go!!

Mussa, another new Form 1 student, rounded out his first year with a B in the following: Physics, Biology, and Chemistry!! Wow! Go, Mussa!!

Mahamudu also joins his Form 1 peers with a strong start, earning a B in Physics and Chemistry. (I’ll have to praise these STEM field teachers when I see them this summer!)

Ezekial, another Form 1 student, earned a B in History, English and Biology.

Albert held strong during his Form 1 year with a B in Civics and a C in Geography, Swahili, Biology and Physics!

And last but never ever the least, my best buddy since 2008 – Saidi!! Saidi moved from the village school in Kiganza last year to live with Lucas and attend a private school in town. His father wanted our support in that decision because the village school wasn’t keeping up with Saidi.

Saidi, as a Form 3 student, has earned an A in Math, Physics, Commerce, Swahili, and Beekeeping! He has a B in Civics, English, History, Geography, Chemistry, and Biology!! He is ranked 2nd in his class – in a big private town school! Remarkable!!

Wow – what an update! I wish I had more high grades to report, but you know – we’re really just proud of all of our students for continuing to get up every day and go to class. In fact, after recieving the reports, I emailed Lucas to find out why some of them were not doing so well. He went to their schools, met their teachers and conducted interviews. The findings: they wanted to be there, their attendance was good, their family support was in place, and they were having no problems at home. I can’t point a finger at the exact problem, but many factors are at play – student motivation and desire are NOT two of them. So, keep it up, kids!

Thank you so much to all of you for helping us keep them in school, in pursuit of their dreams. We’re in this for the long haul. You’ll know how they’re doing now and and down the road.

For now, there are three things you can do to help us:

  1. Spread the word. Please share our website and Facebook page through your  social media networks. Bring us up in conversation and let people know  why this cause, among the many you could support, matters to you.
  2. Build a Fundraiser. GlobalGiving makes it very easy  to build your own fundraiser. Go to our project page, scroll down to  just beneath the big Donate button; click on the little green fundraiser  button and voilà! You can build a page for a wedding, holiday,  sporting event, etc. You can personalize it and tell your friends why  you want to help.
  3. Donate. Of course, at the end of the day – Lucas and I are Project  Wezesha and we just have to keep making the ‘ask’. If you have a little  to spare, feel free to share. It goes a long way – literally and  figuratively – to complete the amazing start to what you see in these  pictures!
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This is Their Story

This is her story. The story of most girls in the village.

This is his story. The story of most boys in the village.

Are you ready?

There is no response more difficult to deliver than a ‘no’ to the request of a student for school support.  Unfortunately, if I said ‘yes’ to every student or parent with this request, I would certainly not be able to sustain the support, but damn I wish I could just say ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’.

I wish I could tell you the following with a wink and smile as if I were joking, but this is the reality of the children in the villages in Tanzania. I’m not trying to paint the ‘fly in the eye’ image either, but I do want to share what is real. This is real. They’re just kids – like you and I used to be, but they do ‘kid’ in a different world than I did.

For three years, Diana walked 1.5 hours each way to and from school daily. In the village, the particular children we support – Saidi, Hindu, Edina, Diana, Amosi and Jumbe – don’t eat breakfast before beginning the journey to school. In fact, they kind of smiled at one another when I asked what they eat for breakfast. Lucas chimed in quickly with a sharply falling tone of voice, “Rai, they don’t eat.” Of course, I’d heard it before, but hearing it again from a chorus of six students made me wince.  They all walk a great distance to school. Because secondary schools in the villages are rare, they usually build them in remote areas on the border of villages as to serve children from multiple villages. There are few children lucky enough to live within close range of a school.

In her final year of secondary school, Diana finally moved to the village where her school is located. This is not uncommon. If a secondary school offers boarding, those who can afford it will pay and sleep on site. Many schools in towns and cities offer this option. Village schools do not.

When I asked the kids about lunch at school, again they looked at each other and laughed with insider knowledge. None of these kids get lunch at school. If you have money, you can buy lunch – maybe some chipati and chai – from a woman making and selling on site. But for these kids, who would sooner walk 1.5 hours than pay $0.35 to take public transport, lunch isn’t in the cards.

So, they walk at around 6am, arrive for classes hungry and tired to study with no books in a language they barely speak or understand. They come home, help their parents in the farm or around the house with younger siblings and for the young ones and most boys, they have some time to run and play. Some go swimming, but you better believe they come home with a full bucket of water when they are finished.

On any given school day you will see school age children walking this way or that from neighboring towns and villages with firewood, sugar cane stalks, buckets of water, sacs of flour or baskets of fish on their heads. ‘Unatoka wapi?” “Where are you coming from?” Three girls we met were returning to Mgaraganza village from Mwandiga town by foot on a Wednesday. This is a trek of about 1.5-2 hours (depending on the heat of the day). There was school, but they had to go to town to buy the sugar cane on their heads and return to the village so their mothers could sell it in the market. This is not a surprising response to our question “Hakuna masomo leo?”

I could continue with more examples and stories that would just read like a prescription for depression, but I’ll stop here. I just want you to share this with your friends and especially with your young friends and children. We are so lucky in the United States and Europe and throughout the ‘developed’ world. We really can have no idea what a great fortune we posses with our lattes in hand, behind the steering wheel of even our old pick up trucks, with a degree or two tucked in our pocket and a paying job with a comfortable office. We can have no idea until we’ve walked 365 days in the feet (often without shoes) of a 12 year old girl or her 28 year old mother in the developing country of our choice.

Cheers to resilience! Now let’s envision a brighter future and make it happen from the ground up!

This is their story. But it doesn’t have to be…

 

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Watoto Wanataka Kusema ‘Mambo’ to You!

Saidi is one of the newest students in our scholarship program.  He just started secondary school in Mwandiga town this past January (2011).  I recorded him last summer in a very informal little chat at his house.   When you hear the voice in the background prompting him a bit, that’s Lucas – making my cryptic question about what he enjoys doing when he’s not in school a little more comprehensible.  Enjoy this bright youngster!

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Salt Lake City’s McGillis School Greets Mgaraganza Primary

A few days ago, I wandered through Mgaraganza village with Lucas and a couple of friends. Those of you who know her will laugh to hear that Rebecca (Becky) Burton is here in Kiganza, TZ living at GOSESO as I did three years ago! She worked with the Salt Lake Film Center and we collaborated on a Burundi film project a while back. I gave my business card to Shujie, another girl staying at GOSESO and when Becky saw it, she was in disbelief – just as I was when I got her subsequent email saying she was here.

Anyway, Shujie, Becky, Lucas and I were walking to see the building site for Amahoro Secondary School and we passed Mgaraganza Primary School. I remembered that I needed to set up a meeting with a standard 6 teacher to discuss visiting with letters I brought from Cassi Lanie’s second grade class at McGillis School in Salt Lake City, UT. I had visited Cassi’s class back in February when they were studying Africa. Hadley Rampton and I visited with slides about animals, homes, language, school and family in Tanzania plus some information about our upcoming summer project in Mgaraganza. After our chat with the students, they wrote letters for students in Mgaraganza. Continue reading “Salt Lake City’s McGillis School Greets Mgaraganza Primary”

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Tulienda Kiganza – Visiting the Children

Today we made our way into Kiganza village to visit with my friends – young and old. It was an emotional day for several reasons. Lucas met us in town in the morning and after puttering around a little bit to get some money changed and buy some sunscreen, which we shockingly found in the duka la dawa (pharmacy), we hopped on the dala dala for my first ever ride into the village. In past years, Lucas and I would ride part of the way until the road basically became impassible by cars and the transport cars wouldn’t go further. From that point, we would walk 1.5 hours each way in the blazing sun (uphill both ways). After walking 3 hours a day, eating dust, burning flesh and starving – we would grub down on a full fish and some rice together and I would collapse in the bed. This year, we three spoiled princesses get a ride right up to the Kiganza market – footsteps from the homes of the students Project Wezesha supports and the families I’ve grown to love. From here, it is still a 30 minute walk to Mgaraganza village, but it’s through the shaded forest and across a stream, so who’s complaining! Continue reading “Tulienda Kiganza – Visiting the Children”

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Watoto Wazuri Wanasoma

The children continue to blow my mind here. They are so excited to learn and therefore so delighted by the smallest of gifts … like pencils or pens. They take them shyly, with the right hand – left hand placed gently on their right elbow as a sign of respect and then turn and run screaming back to their homes to show brothers and sisters what they just got from Rehema. I can’t help think … but what will they write on? Most of them won’t have paper or notebooks at home and yet, the gift of a pencil is so coveted.

I delivered my last round of books, notebooks and writing tools to the village the other day. We set up a library of sorts in the home of one of my favorite little ones – Saidi. His father was so delighted to meet me this year and he’s 100% behind the children’s education. He won’t let them tire of learning and insists that it’s the only way for them to go somewhere in life. When I suggested using his house as the learning center, he was more than happy to say yes. The kids in the neighborhood have already come up with a system of ‘checking out’ books to read or use for a day or two. We’ll see how long the books survive and if they come back once they go, but I think in a village this small – the checks and balances will work easily as they all know each other and want to hold each other’s respect and friendship.

Continue reading “Watoto Wazuri Wanasoma”

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Watoto Watoto

Watoto is Swahili for children. Kiganza, a small village in the Kigoma region (not too far from Kigoma town) has no shortage of Watoto! The children are amazing and so beautiful, as I’ve said before. They are so independent and resilient. It is not uncommon at all to see a 10 year old carrying a load larger than herself on her head, walking the distance from Mwandiga to Kiganza (two villages connected by an hour on foot along a dusty dirt road). It’s also not uncommon to find young girls (as young as 4 years of age) toting their kid sisters or brothers on their backs, slung in a kanga with a big knot tied at their chest, the toddler on their back almost half the size of the sibling that’s carrying him/her – usually fast asleep – and all the while, the older sibling goes about with her actions: carrying a load, singing with the other children, walking to and from the market, or just sitting around, staring at the Mzungu (guess who that would be!).


Continue reading “Watoto Watoto”