New Teacher Centre
Hello, all our friends,
We have just returned from another amazing trip to Tanzania. This one was to celebrate the opening of another building; the new Teacher Centre at Gongali Primary School, and to start another phase of construction on our RMC Class of '70 project, Tidivi Primary School.
We were fortunate to have two of our Directors come as well; Peter Daniels and Blaise Salmon with his wife BC Green Party MLA Sonia Furstenau. It was an exciting and memorable first trip for Blaise and Sonia. They were able to visit a couple of our schools, experience some of the local culture, and obtain insights into other NGO activity in the area.
The new Teacher Centre provides a Teacher Room, Headmistress Office, and Library Room. The school finally has its much-needed Teacher's Room, thanks to our donor, African Book Box Society of Victoria, BC. The teachers have vacated Classroom 7 which they had commandeered for their use to grade papers and organize their work. That meant the Standard 1 to 7 classes were being organized in only 6 rooms. But now, each class level has its own room.
We have just returned from another amazing trip to Tanzania. This one was to celebrate the opening of another building; the new Teacher Centre at Gongali Primary School, and to start another phase of construction on our RMC Class of '70 project, Tidivi Primary School.
We were fortunate to have two of our Directors come as well; Peter Daniels and Blaise Salmon with his wife BC Green Party MLA Sonia Furstenau. It was an exciting and memorable first trip for Blaise and Sonia. They were able to visit a couple of our schools, experience some of the local culture, and obtain insights into other NGO activity in the area.
The new Teacher Centre provides a Teacher Room, Headmistress Office, and Library Room. The school finally has its much-needed Teacher's Room, thanks to our donor, African Book Box Society of Victoria, BC. The teachers have vacated Classroom 7 which they had commandeered for their use to grade papers and organize their work. That meant the Standard 1 to 7 classes were being organized in only 6 rooms. But now, each class level has its own room.
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| the new Teacher Centre |
The Library Room has bookshelves and scaled down computer desks and chairs suitable for kids.
Our builder Restus Sanka continues to build high-quality construction, considering no electric tools are used. Only hand tools; hammers, saws, shovels, etc. Amazing.
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| new library room |
The opening was the usual wonderful experience with kids and locals entertaining the guests, local politicians making inspirational speeches, and of course, the ribbon-cutting.
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| opening ceremony |
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| ribbon cutting |
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| the new Teacher Centre with teacher's room, headmistress's office and library room |
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| Alan with Peter Hayshi |
Peter Hayshi reminisced about the very first opening ceremony at this school in 2010, and about Alan's very first meeting with Tanzanians, when, as the District Vice-Chairman then, he decided that Alan "has permission to build a school in our village".
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| Sonia's and Blaise's cash donation for school sweaters |
Blaise and Sonia were generous with donations; a bag of soccer balls and $200 USD for new sweaters for the kids. Thank you, Blaise and Sonia.
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| kids new sweaters from Blaise/Sonia donation |
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| Peter Daniels receiving Community Award |
A note of sadness at the school was the replacement of headmistress Magreth Macha due to Magreth's recent health problems. Magreth was OK, mostly recovered, at the opening. The new headmistress is Nahami Mwambunga, a Maasai woman, earnest, tall and well-dressed, who appears to be well suited for the job.
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| aerial view of the new pathways linking all buildings |
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| reaching for the drone |
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| Photographer Stephen Otero |
A pleasant surprise a few days later was meeting photographer Stephen Otero and Julie, and American couple staying with us at our lodge. They volunteered to take "drone" photos and videos of Gongali school. At the site, we organized the excited teachers and kids in a circle and Stephen's drone dropped down from the sky and circled around the kids, tantalizing them and just keeping out of their reach as they waved frantically, shouting and screaming in delight, to try to touch it. An amazing new experience for them. The drone's overhead photos really highlight the effect and beauty of the new pathway system.
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| Sonia Furstenau receiving Community Award |
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| Blaise Salmon receiving Community Award |
A Working Trip
School Inspections: Gongali, Kilimamoja, Tidivi, Flame Tree, Simba Milima
Peter, Restus, and Alan toured all the Karatu District schools to determine priorities for funding allocations. Peter and Alan later sat down with Restus's cost estimates and crunched the numbers to see what they could accomplish with their limited funds. The result:
Gongali and Kilimamoja Primary Schools will be getting some needed upgrades to deteriorating ceilings and cracked floors.
Tidivi Primary School will be getting a new Classroom 5 building with the concrete floor slab extended to receive a future Classroom 6 and 7 building. Digging of the foundations at Tidivi has already begun.
On a pleasant note, we noticed that Tidivi teacher Neema Milaki has moved into the 2nd teacher residence. She's bought furniture, window curtains, kitchen appliances and is comfortable and extremely happy with her new home.
Gongali and Kilimamoja Primary Schools will be getting some needed upgrades to deteriorating ceilings and cracked floors.
Tidivi Primary School will be getting a new Classroom 5 building with the concrete floor slab extended to receive a future Classroom 6 and 7 building. Digging of the foundations at Tidivi has already begun.
On a pleasant note, we noticed that Tidivi teacher Neema Milaki has moved into the 2nd teacher residence. She's bought furniture, window curtains, kitchen appliances and is comfortable and extremely happy with her new home.
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| Teacher Neema Milaki (right) |
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| Neema's sitting room |
At Flame Tree Vocational Centre, we mapped out locations for future teacher residences and water storage tanks. A special thanks to African Book Box Society for continuing to fund the development of this important community facility.
Simba Milima Primary School is doing very well with its recent addition of a Classrooms 3,4 building, but one important issue must be addressed. The government cannot assign a female teacher since there is no female accommodation available yet. The school's remote location makes it unsuitable for females to travel the distance. PSFA will have to consider this as a project as soon as possible.
It's not all work! Peter and Alan still had time out to do a little cycling and visit the Ngorongoro elephant caves. The elephants come to the rocks which are very rich in calcium. They poke at the rocks with their tusks and eat the sand that drops down, to receive the minerals that make their bones strong.
It's not all work! Peter and Alan still had time out to do a little cycling and visit the Ngorongoro elephant caves. The elephants come to the rocks which are very rich in calcium. They poke at the rocks with their tusks and eat the sand that drops down, to receive the minerals that make their bones strong.
Our schools are in continuous need of further development as they grow in size with more pupils each year...
So please donate generously towards the education of these young children who are so eager to learn.
Visit PrimarySchoolsforAfrica.com and click on the "Donate" button, or send a cheque made out to:
"Primary Schools For Africa Society", and mail to:
3301 Wordsworth Street, Victoria, BC, V8P4B9
Asante Sana Sana (Thank You very very much)
