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Our Boys – Approaching Graduation

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the start of a new season! I know in Tanzania, everyone is very excited about the coming end to a long rainy season … ah, but of course – the water and vibrant green of the landscape during this season is so refreshing!

In Tanzania, our students actually start their school year in January (not August or September as in many parts of the world). So, they are in the early stages of a new school year. Nonetheless, the year is off to a race for some of them – namely Saidi, Dibeit and Tumsifu who are currently in Form 4. This means that these three very bright young men are rounding the bend in their secondary school experience.

They will take two mock exams this year and then in October, they will take the high stakes final exams to see if they qualify for entrance into high school (and we know they will!). At that point, we’ll have some big decisions to make and we hope you’ll join us in making them. Continue reading “Our Boys – Approaching Graduation”

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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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A Summer Internship in Tanzania by Katy Lindquist

In the summer of 2012, Project Wezesha had the great opportunity to work with an intern who was committed to exploring international development, community engagement and the power of education. You can read more about how Katy Lindquist became part of our program in our last blog entry. In this blog, enjoy the experience through Katy’s words as she recounts her summer internship experience.  Thanks again, Katy!

This past summer, I spent two and a half months in Western Tanzania working as an intern for Project Wezesha.  It was among the most transformative, insightful, and beautiful experiences of my life.  I lived in the village of Mgaraganza in the Kigoma Region.  I stayed in the home of Jane and Ashahadu, who have been friends of Rai for a long time.  They have two kids, Mickey (5 years) and Sifa (1.5 years), who are absolutely joys.   They gave me my own room in the house with a nice big bed.  I immediately felt at home with Jane and Ashahadu. I was welcomed in the village by a group of Jane’s women friends who I came to be very close friends with and an army of children who I grew to love dearly.   I spent the first few days getting acquainted with my new home.  Lucas showed me around the village and introduced me to all of the village leaders.  And after a few days, I began to become adjusted to village life.

When I was searching for internships this summer, I was looking for an organization that was small and run largely on the ground by a local supervisor.  Project Wezesha fit that bill exactly.  I spent most of my days working hand in hand with Lucas on different projects.  I spent the first few weeks of my time in Tanzania traveling to the far away villages of Kigalye, Kagongo, Mtanga, and Bubango to speak with the village leaders about the new application program for Project Wezesha Secondary School Scholarships.  The executive chief of the five villages, Patrick Maganga escorted Lucas on I on the long hikes with “gentle slopes.”  Patrick was a soft-spoken man, but he was completely committed to improving the livelihood of the people in his five villages.  We were often stopped on our long walks while he talked to various citizens about their problems and what he could do to help.   Making the long walks from village to village showed me just how far many of the students have to walk to get to school.  Making these walks is no easy task and I can’t imagine doing it everyday on an empty stomach, which is often the case for many of these students.

I spent many days teaching English in Mgaraganza Primary School.  I have never been taught how to teach English but by the end of my time in the village I felt comfortable leading a classroom.  Working with the students was a joy.  They are so thirsty for knowledge and could not be more excited to be learning English from a native American speaker. I also got to know the teachers of the school very well over chai breaks and various visits to their homes.   They became my good friends.

I also worked with Lucas on overseeing the construction of Amahoro Secondary School.   This is a more complicated task than it sounds.  The construction of the school involves not only the hired builders but also the support and labor of the villagers.  Lucas and I had endless talks with the chair of the village and other village leaders to make sure that the village contribution was fulfilled.  As Rai highlighted in one of her previous blogs, we also had to meet with various government officials in Kigoma in order to ensure that the village leaders of Mgaraganza were going to continue to show support for the project.

I spent many afternoons hanging out at the school site with the builders and the neighbor kids.  I bought the children who live near the school a new soccer ball and volleyball and we spent many afternoons teaching each other new games.  No one in the village quite knew how to pronounce my name, so most people called me “Candy” instead of Katy.  Whenever I walked up to the secondary school I was greeted by laughs and loud exclamations of “Candy, Candy!”

During my last weeks in the village, I helped develop a pilot microfinance program with a few women that were selected by the executive officer of the village.  Lucas and I worked with them on writing proposals and talked them through what a small business could and should look like.  During my last weeks I also worked with five of Project Wezesha’s brightest scholarship students on developing a mentor program.  Lucas, the executive chief, and I led a workshop on leadership and community service.  All of the students are very excited to start working on their respective mentoring projects.

During my time in Mgaraganza, I also did a significant amount of research that I will develop into an independent study with a professor at my college. I led interviews, with the translation assistance of Lucas, with many village leaders, women, students, and teachers.  I wrote observations everyday and collected quite a bit of data.  I am an Anthropology major at school and this internship presented itself as a perfect opportunity to do real ethnographic research on issues of development, education, and local sustainability in Tanzania.

In addition to the more “official” parts of my internship with Project Wezesha, I also got the opportunity to learn what it means to be a “local” in Mgaraganza.  I lived, ate, slept, and walked like the villagers. Living in the village is more difficult than I thought it would be.  There is no electricity, running water, real toilets, transportation, or sugar. The poverty of the village is startling at first and it did take a toll on me mentally and physically. But one of my goals going into this summer was to show that I was in solidarity with the people that Project Wezesha was working with.  I wanted them to view me as their equal so I attempted to eliminate as many barriers between them and me as possible. I carried water on my head with Jane, washed my clothes by hand, helped cook, played with the children, did the dishes, and spent many long nights getting to know the people of the village.

It is a truly remarkable thing when two people who come from completely different worlds without a common language and culture are able to become real friends.  The friends I made in the village will stay in my heart forever.  I will miss hanging out with Agnes, Ellista, and Zainabu, Jane’s best women friends.  I will miss my evening chats with Pascal, a local farmer/tailor/pastoralist who spoke excellent English.  I will miss the long walks and talks with Lucas, who’s smile and sense of humor is untouched.  I will miss dinners with Jane and Ashahadu and the many times that they “joked” me for my fear of spiders. I will miss hanging out and working on English with our scholarship students like Jumbe and Khadija.  And of course I will miss playing with all of the beautiful children.  I now have a second home in Tanzania that I never expected I would find.

Working with Project Wezesha this summer was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  If you are looking for a real “on the ground” internship with an organization that works to expand access to education and build community development, consider interning for Project Wezesha.  You will not only learn about how an NGO in Africa works on the ground, you will also learn about Tanzanian culture, environment, tradition, and people.  And you will make unlikely friendships that will stay with you for a lifetime.

by Katy Lindquist, Colby College, Class of 2014

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The Tremendous Value of an Intern

In the winter of 2012 Project Wezesha was contacted by an undergraduate student via email:

My name is Katy Lindquist and I am an anthropology student at Colby College in Waterville, ME.  I am very interested in volunteering for your organization this summer.  As an anthropology student, I have become very interested in grassroots organizing and local movements especially focused on human rights and education.  I am interested in learning what the situation looks like on the ground and comparing how a local aspect compares to the overarching Western perspective I am used to.  I have been wanting to travel to Tanzania for years now and have done quite bit or academic research on Central and Eastern Africa.  Please let me know if your organization is open to international volunteers and if so what a three month summer commitment might look like.

Katy, our fabulous intern from Colby College

I instantly perked up because we had always wanted an intern, but were uncertain about recruiting and management procedures. In all honesty, I didn’t know exactly what we would do with an intern, but what I did know was this: the 3-4 weeks that I spend there every year is nowhere near enough time to do the deeper work that I’ve always wanted to do. When I’m there every year, I have big ideas about women’s groups, health initiatives, small enterprise endeavors, getting to know teachers strengths and challenges, etc. However, when I hit the ground – I am running. It seems that there is always some issue to address, some conversation to be had, some crisis to investigate – and often not related to Project Wezesha directly, but perhaps involving our students or other community members that we work with.

So – throughout the Spring of 2012 Katy and I communicated about a plan of action for her time in Mgaraganza. We organized the logistics of housing, travel and length of stay and we brainstormed projects for her to tackle while there. The work Katy did in the 2.5 months she spent in Mgaraganza Village was invaluable.

Jane - Katy's host 'mom', friend and future entrepreneur

She held meetings with women’s groups to investigate their grassroots efforts at micro-finance; she spent hours in the classrooms teaching the students and gaining an insider perspective on the biggest challenges to teachers and students; she was instrumental in setting up a new scholarship application and accountability process with the village leaders; she investigated local women’s entrepreneurial ideas; she initiated a mentorship model with five of our young students;  and, most importantly, she was a phenomenal ambassador for Project Wezesha, Colby College and the US through the relationships she made and the positive interactions she had with many in the community.

Katy (far left) and Rai with Isaya's Family

As Katy settles into Fall semester at Colby College, she’ll be compiling a report on her experiences in this internship. As that report develops, we’ll share with you the insights she gained and her recommendations from her new ‘insider perspective’.

Thanks Katy! You’ve really moved Project Wezesha forward in a positive, hopeful direction! Asante Sana!!

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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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Wanafunzi – Our Scholarship Students

Project Wezesha has two primary programs – the construction of Amahoro Secondary School and the scholarship program for secondary school students.  We currently support 13 students who are going to one of three secondary schools in the region – Mugonya, Mwandiga and Kagongo.  On Saturday, we arranged to meet with the students to sit, chat, catch up and see if they had any requests or views to share.  (“Share Views” is one of Lucas’ favorite phrases.)  The ones who were able to make it were:  the girls – Hindu, Silvesia, Edina, Diana, Khadija and the boys – Amosi, Ismael, France and Saidi.  We didn’t get to meet with Judith, Abuyu, Dibeit or Zainabu.

We all greeted one another, shared hugs and handshakes and then gifts.  I brought them each a Project Wezesha t-shirt, made and donated by my hometown friend, Richard Knott with his company Native Sons.  They loved the shirts!  Then, Lucas chatted with them a bit about their final exams and gave a couple of his little mini-lectures to see if they were prepared.  Four of our students – Hindu, Edina, Silvesia and Khadija – will graduate from secondary school on September 15th!  Then, on October 3rd, they will take their final examinations to see if they qualify to go to high school.  I have to say – given the stats that Hindu and Saidi shared the other day, I’m not very hopeful.  They all go to that secondary school that only passed 7 of 200 students last year.  But, I’ll ‘share my views’ about a solution suggested by the students.  First, let me introduce them.

Hindu is my long time friend and dada mdogo.  I met Hindu when I was a guest at GOSESO in 2008.  She lives at the top of the driveway for the guest house I stayed in.  For longtime followers of my story with this community, it was Hindu who lost her father only weeks after I left the second year.  It was also her sister who had the big village wedding that I attended in 2009.  Hindu was shy to warm up to me initially, but then she was relentless with her questions and her desire to know more and more and more about me, America and English.  She was an obvious first choice when I began brainstorming with Lucas about supporting some youngsters in secondary school.  Now, every year I return, it’s definitely like visiting my little sister.  We hold hands, hug, say each other’s name at random throughout the day – “Hindu …. Mambo” …. “Rai …. Mambo”.  After one of our recent visits, Hindu measured my whole body for a skirt and blouse that she is making for me.  I didn’t even know she could sew and she already called Lucas to tell us it’s ready.  I’m excited to see what she can do!  Hindu, after 4 years at Mwandiga Secondary School, is graduating next week!  I’m so excited for her, but it doesn’t stop here.  (stay tuned)

Edina is also a Form 4 student graduating from Mwandiga Secondary next week.  I met Edina when Lucas helped to select her for our first round of students to support in secondary school, back in 2008.  She comes from a single parent home – her mother passed away some time ago and her father and aunt raise her.  She is so bright and has a smile to die for!  As is the case with most girls, her English isn’t great – they are usually so shy to speak in class when they are one of 6-10 girls in a class of up to 90 students.  Imagine!  Having played on a boys’ golf team in high school, I know what that feels like – going through puberty with nothing but boys around … talk about nerves!  But, Edina has some hopes.  She wants to go on and learn about computers when she finishes secondary school.  I don’t think she, or the other girls to be honest, have high expectations about the final exams and therefore high school, but their educational dreams don’t end with graduation next week.

Diana is so tall and strong!  She has the posture of a dancer and so much strength in her character.  She greeted me with a huge hug and told me how much she had missed me, even though we’ve only met briefly on two separate occasions since 2008.  She was beaming on this day together – and walked with me all the way back to Kiganza, asking about my family, my home, my language, etc.  She told me she hopes to be a nurse so she wants to do well in her examinations so she can continue her studies.  Diana is also from a single parent family and was also chosen back in 2008 with the help of Lucas, who investigated the brightest ‘vulnerable’ children in the village of Kiganza.  Diana is a Form 3 student, so she still has another year of studies before graduating.  She also attends a different school – Kagongo Secondary School.

Khadija has one of the most delightful smiles I have ever seen.  She has great cheeks and dimples and if you don’t see her smile, you might be intimidated by her seriousness – but once you crack the shell, she shines!  She, too, is a little bit shy – though not as much as Edina.  She likes to hold hands, ask questions and learn about all types of things.  She is graduation from Mwandiga Secondary next week.  If she can’t go to high school, she wants to study electronics so that she do maintenance on equipment such as computers, radios, TVs.

 

Silvesia is one of our students who is also graduating next week – but this year is the first time I have ever met her!  So, I don’t know much about her except that she lives in Mgaraganza village and she is a firecracker.  She warmed up to me instantly and was asking questions, making jokes, smiling easily and just wanting to know more and more.  It was so great to finally meet her after knowing that we’ve been supporting her in school since 2009.  After secondary school, she would either like to attend vocational school and learn more about computers or go on to high school if possible and become a nurse.

 

France is a very shy young boy.   His English is a little sticky, but he tries – and he is super grateful for the support he’s received (as are they all). He is a Form 3 student at Mwandiga Secondary school.  I have met France a time or two before, but he is always very shy and Luas and I usually spend more time talking to his mother and sister.  His father passed away some time ago, so Lucas thought helping him and his older brother Ismael would be nice.  They have been supported by Project Wezesha since 2008.

 

 

Ismael is more outgoing than his younger brother France.  They are both studying in Form 3, but Ismael goes to Kagongo Secondary with Diana.  Sometimes, exam scores after Primary School determine the school students go to within their region.  I don’t know the details too well.  Ismael is a super delightful young man.  He’s very polite and inquisitive.  He has a big dream of becoming a doctor one day – so I really hope he can pull it off by first passing his final exams next year and then succeeding in high school.

 

Amosi is hilarious!  He seems almost gruff or angry when you first meet him but it’s because behind those eyes and under a slight frown, his mind is racing a mile a minute.  When he stops thinking, relaxes and smiles – his whole face changes! When I asked him what he wanted to do after he was finished with all his studies, he told me he wanted to be the President of Tanzania!  I believe, he might just get there one day – he has determination.  He had many great suggestions for ways he thought Project Wezesha could better support the students – some a little out of our range/mission, such as buying students kerosene to study by light at night.  I know it’s necessary, but there are some components to the children’s education that their parents have to invest in, too.  This was also the first time I’ve met Amosi – it was great to put a face to a name.

Saidi, like Hindu, almost needs no introduction.  Saidi and his good friend Dibeit* used to come over and sit with me daily when I was in Kiganza the first time in 2008.  They always came with notebook in hand and would ask if they could copy from my English/Swahili dictionary because they didn’t have one.  By the end of that trip, I just gave them each a dictionary because they were so determined.  They always came with questions, ideas, enthusiasm and something just sparkled in both of them.  *Dibeit is also in our scholarship program, but he studies in a school in Dodoma, another city in the middle of the country where he has some family.  Saidi’s house is usually the hub for our visits.  When I come to Kiganza, we meet at Saidi’s house and the other kids in the village that we know (Hindu, Clemensia, Dibeit, etc.) come to his house to visit.  This is also where they set up shop for the English books (little library) that we compiled on a visit in 2009.  Also, it was Saidi’s grandfather (Babu) that we spent a lot of time trying to help last year (with his weepy eyes, which are better this year).  Saidi – well … he’s going to go somewhere if Project Wezesha has anything to say about it. J  Not only does he have smarts, but he has integrity and a strong moral sense about him.  He’s just ‘good people’, ya know!  So, Saidi and Dibeit are Form 1 students.  Saidi goes to Mugonya Secondary school which is in Kiganza village.  According to Saidi, it’s a little grim – teachers not always showing up, 60+ students per class and no books.  It’s still so early for Saidi and I think we may investigate either a better school or additional support outside of school – such as a tutor, and definitely books.

Our young friend Asheley was with us, too.  I supported Asheley briefly to go to a supplementary school because his final examinations from secondary school weren’t good enough for him to go to high school.  However, the teachers at this school – called Brothers of Charity – were flippant and only came to teach when they felt like it.  So Asheley invested his school fees into a business and now has saved over 250,000Tsh in the bank.  He rotates profits and purchases and in this way, he supports his mother and his younger siblings.  On Saturday, he just wanted to come along and see the progress on the school as he helped carry some stones and sand with us last year.

So – moving forward and considering the situation with the teachers, we’ve decided to buy textbooks to support the students outside of school.  For each secondary school, we’re buying one set of books for each subject (Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics) for our scholarship program students to share in study circles.

In terms of the girls who are graduating this coming week, we have to wait until the end of October to find out if they will pass their secondary school exit exams and be accepted into high school.  I am crossing my fingers that they will pass, but as I mentioned before – it’s not looking so good.  So, Hindu and Edina made a suggestion/request that Project Wezesha continue to support them after secondary school as they attend VETA – which stands for Vocational Education and Training Authority.

Today, Lucas and I visited VETA to see what the situation is.  They have short courses (1 week to 1 month long) on computers and driving.  These courses (addressing topics such as Intro to Computer, Microsoft Word, Internet and Email, Basic Driving, etc.) cost anywhere from 20,000Tsh to 100,000Tsh depending on length and intensity ($15-$80USD).  They also have long courses that last about one year in many vocational areas, including welding, electrical installation, carpentry, food production, information and communication technology, computer and secretarial studies, electronics, tailoring, etc.  There are two options for the year-long courses – attend as day students or board on campus.  For our students, given the fact that VETA is close to Kigoma town and they live in the villages, the best option is to board on site while studying and go home on the weekends.  The cost is 120,000Tsh per year (~$100USD).

After considering the alternative (end of education all together), we’ve decided to continue supporting these four girls and not take any new students into the program until we see how this VETA experience is going and if there will be enough funding for additional students.  If they pass their exams, we’ll support them in high school.  If they don’t pass their exams, we’ll find a way to board them at VETA for the long course of their choice.  We’re thinking of finding individual benefactors to support each of the four girls – so for those of you who wanted to support one individual specifically – this will be your chance!!  I’ll keep you posted as exam results unfold.

Finally, it’s a little bit of a gamble, but I’m thinking about changing my return ticket to Dar es Salaam by two days so that I can stay for the graduation.  I didn’t realize how close it was and currently I’m scheduled to return to Dar the day before!!  So, for no charge I can change my ticket, but it means flying back to Dar the day before my flight to Amsterdam … which is the gamble part.  Precision Air swore the flights would go and there would be no problem.  I think it’s worth the risk to see the girls walk with their class and celebrate successful completion of secondary school!  Wahoo!!

 

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Empower through Education

Project Wezesha is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2009 by Lucas Lameck and Rai Farrelly.  We founded Project Wezesha to address the needs of children in rural villages within the Kigoma Region of Western Tanzania.  Wezesha is the Kiswahili word for Empower.  The aim of Project Wezesha is to empower local communities through increased access to education for the children.  By engaging the community and relying on village leadership, Project Wezesha is able to target the locally identified needs of the community.  Our current programming includes a secondary school scholarship program for children most in need as well as a building project to provide Mgaraganza Village with its first ever secondary school – Amahoro Secondary.

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Nime Choka Sana! Lakini, sasa naweza kubeba mawe!

Which means: I’m so tired, but now I can carry stones (‘to the head’, as they say). If I had typed up this blog yesterday after working with the villagers in Mgaraganza at the school site, the title might have read ‘Eff That!’ And ‘That’ would have been a reference to the work that we did – which was ridiculously difficult and in my opinion just plain ridiculous. But let me back up a bit… Continue reading “Nime Choka Sana! Lakini, sasa naweza kubeba mawe!”

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Interview with Hadley and Laura

I asked Laura and Hadley some questions on the veranda of our hotel the night before they left. Emotions soared as they thought back on some of their experiences.

You’ve been in the city, the beach, the small town and the village. Which do you prefer and why?

L: I don’t like the big city at all. Zanzibar is good for tourism. I felt relaxed there and wanted to go to the beach. I liked the atmosphere. It’s touristy so if you’re looking for that, it’s good. If you’re looking for life experience and something deeper, then being here(in Kigoma) is the thing.

H: I would say that Dar was not my favorite place, but I’m glad that I experienced it because it let me see kind of the sad state of affairs of the reality of things here. That people would be coming from villages to Dar looking for a better life only to find more desperation is unfortunate. Zanzibar was a nice touristy respite, but it did feel touristy and didn’t feel as real. And now that we’re in the villages the landscape is incredibly beautiful and while the people are probably just as poor as they were in Dar, there is more warmth and there is more friendliness. It makes me sad that people would leave the villages where there is still warmth and love to go to a place like Dar where the desperation is that much more evident. Overall, I would say that I’m enjoying my experience in Kigoma and surrounding villages the most because it feels the most real to me and I am enjoying connecting with the people on a more personal basis. Continue reading “Interview with Hadley and Laura”