Tough Day, Pupil Selection

Beginning in January, the School of St Jude is taking in an additional 150 pupils (thanks to the purchase of new land and building of a new school wing). In preparation for the new term, the school conducts pupil selection sessions every Friday.

Today was the final Friday for pupil selection, so while the numbers today were relatively small - they can have up to 1000 pupils show up on a Friday afternoon for selection - this was the day that all remaining children who had not previously been able to make it through the selection process showed up for one last shot at admittance. And, keep in mind, admittance means everything to these children and their families - a paid education in a progressive school, meals, books, supplies, and uniforms paid for - and a staff that will do just about anything for a St Jude's child who needs help.

Today, I was asked to participate in selecting pupils, and conducted the reading test with pupils who would be in Standards 1 and 2 in the coming year. Selection begins with the lineup, where pupils are arranged by how old they say they are and by height. Then the taller pupils, who experience shows are likely to be lying about their age, are sent home.

Then pupils are brought into the school campus, where they line up again for a reading assessment. The assessment is comprised of reading 1 or 2 simple sentences from a primary reader (kind of like a Dick and Jane book). Those pupils who are able to read well are moved on to where they take a written exam.

Those pupils who are not able to read well are sent to the gate and asked to go home. Today, I sent many children home, most of these pictured here with my colleague Freda.

But some children made it through both the reading and written test, and were asked to return tomorrow with their school records, where they will work to pass through another obstacle to becoming pupils at the school of St. Jude. In the end about five out of two hundred will make it.

Ferocious Beastie

On the day I arrived, I met Sausage. She was abandoned by her mother, and is being bottle raised by the young volunteers at the school. She has attached herself to me, and is current asleep in my shirt as I write this post. Some things never change, no matter where you are!

How They Make It Happen

The School of St. Jude functions with the help of partners and sponsors. There are many people who are waiting and wanting to sponsor a child at St. Jude.

The problem lies in that St Jude can not take every child, because there are not enough classrooms for all of the children who could have a sponsor, there are not enough buses to get the children to school who could have a sponsor, and there are not enough teachers to teach the children who could have a sponsor.

So even children who qualify and who have a sponsor waiting somewhere are not able to join the School of St Jude at as rapid a rate as the school would prefer - because they need the buses, teachers and classrooms to transport, teach, and house the pupils.

That is why St. Jude's is always working on new kinds of partnerships and sponsorships.

One example is the Rotarians from Australia. Rotary clubs actually donate money and labor to help build the infrastructure the school so desperately needs. Other groups and individuals do the same. Still, most people want to experience the "feel good" that comes with receiving a child's photo and letter, and with sending occassional gifts to that child. While everyone wants to be a child's sponsor, the children would not be able to be in the school at all if it weren't for the sponsorship of qualified teachers.

This is Mr. Nestory, the Head of Academics, an incredibly committed and hard working teacher leader. He is in charge of helping the sponsored teachers in the school be the very best teachers they can be.

The school also needs five new buses beginning in January to bring the new pupils to school. The buses travel dirt roads that in America would not even be considered roads, and they faithfully bring pupils to and from school each day. There is a wonderful crew of about 15 bus drivers who repair and drive the buses, and who care for the pupils to and from school.

Finally, the School of St Jude is almost constantly under construction. There is a secondary school being built on the current campus, and an additional parcel of land has been purchased to build another entire k-12 school on the other side of the district.

Many of you have asked how you can help. Become a sponsor for a teacher, for a bus, or for a classroom, or take a look at the list of needed supplies on the website and send a boxful. I can assure you that every item and every penny will be used to help change the lives of some of the neediest children you could possibly imagine.

Thanksgiving in Tanzania

Today, I observed teachers all day, and then had an American Thanksgiving in Tanzania - with all of the Aussie's and Brits at the school. Many people brought many dishes, and they even made a pumpkin pie, just for us! A lovely time was had by all!

For Max

This post is for Max, to answer some of the questions he has asked about the school. So Max, here it goes:

1. What do kids eat for lunch? They have different lunches each of the five school days every week. So far . . . Monday we had beans and rice with a spicy salsa - Tuesday we had something like grits with okra and kale (the kale was very good, very spicy) - Wednesday we had a rice and goat meat dish (it was the best so far). I have really liked lunch everyday. In addition to lunch, they have mid morning tea with some kind of sweet (very british and very ausie), then those pupils who stay after school for clubs or tutoring have tea and cookies (they call biscuits) in the afternoon.

2. Which language is spoken? At school, they speak English. At home they speak Kiswahili (the same as Swahili), which is a native tribal language that has become the national language of the country. It is a very beautiful language, but not easy to understand. I know how to say hello - Jambo, and thank you - Asanti. All words are pronounced the same as they are spelled.

3. Do they have grades like in America? They have grades that are somewhat the same as in the US, but they call them "marks," and they are very strict about how they grade here. The pupils are expected to do very good work and to be very well behaved. No messing about.

4. What are the rules for net ball? Take basketball, but you cannot dribble the ball, and anytime you have the ball in your hands, you cannot run. So, it is a passing game, catch - stand still, pass and then run. In addition, there is no backboard off of which to put the ball through the net, so it is much harder to make points. Netball is mostly a girl's sport in Australia, but is apparently very serious and can be very physical as well.

So these are some of the questions Max had posed in his response to the last posting.

I am including here a photo of a young man in grade 5 who I worked with today. He spent two class periods creating diagrams of simple and complex machines, and then made a poster with them - as a part of a class assessment he was completing for the end of the term. He is just about your age, so I thought you might be interested in seeing his photo.

Focused on the Task at Hand

I was outside at the end of the day today, watching some children playing netball, a version of our American basketball (without the backboard or dribbling). It was noisy and busy and very exciting. As I stood watching the game, I noticed a small girl working outside her classroom door with some clay.

I shot this series of pictures over a thirty-minute period. Talk about focused, nothing was going to interfere with the completion of what appears to be a small-girl sized turtle.

When the turtle was completed, and the time had come to go home, she allowed me to take her picture again.

Who Invented the Wheel?

Today, I spent the day working with Standard 2 classes (7 to 9 years old, and the equivalent of about grade 2.5). I taught a lesson on verbal fluency, working with think aloud, paired verbal fluency, choral reading, and readers' theatre in combination.

I also spend much of the day observing in Standard 2 science classes, and saw some very wonderful exploration going on. Students modeling the workings of the solar system, and others creating models of simple and complex machines. In one classroom I met a young man who asked the most important questions I had heard in a long time. There were two: Who is the man who invented the wheel, and how did he think of it? - and - Where did magnetism come from? Very curious and very intent on knowing the answer to these and all other questions. At the end of the day, he found me on the playground and asked if I remembered him from science class. Of course I thought, how could I forget?

His name is Godlove and the picture here shows him with two friends on the playground (Godlove is center).

Arriving

Today, on my first full day in Tanzania, I spent the day getting oriented to the campus, and then took a ride to a local crafts fair with some folks from the school.

At first glance, Tanzania is an interesting mix of contradictions - unbelievable beauty and crushing hardship side by side - kindness and easy smiles next to a strong competitiveness for western patrons and dollars. Clearly a country where individuals are struggling to have a twenty-first century life, and at the same time just trying to make ends meet with few resources.

I have met some wonderful people already, each of whom has a unique story about where they are from, the life experience they have had, and how they ended up here at the School of St. Jude.

I came across this plant this morning during a walk around the school campus that summed up my early impressions of Tanzania very nicely - a beautiful flower with plenty of thorns.

School of St. Jude

I am working with a school in Moshono, Tanzania (a small village just outside of Arusha, which is in the heart of north central Tanzania, safari country). The school has approximately 750 children, ranging from grades Pre-Kinder through 6. It was created and is run by a wonderful young Australian woman, Gemma Sisia, and staffed by about 45 dedicated teachers (mostly African, with various western teachers scattered in the mix from year to year).

The mission of the school is very simple - Fighting Poverty Through Education. And the goal is very focused: to take the most needy pupils in the country, educate them well, build in them a sense of commitment to their communuty, and in doing so, ensure that the most important natural resource of Tanzania, its people, stay in the community and build a better future for the country. An amazing commitment on the part of the school, and an amazing vision for the future.

I find myself lucky enough to be able to support this in some small way by spending a month with the teachers and administrators at the school, helping them better understand what effective teaching practices look like, and how to implement and support those practices over time. We are working on making sure the children receive a first-class, western-style education.

For more information about the school, visit www.schoolofstjude.co.tz and take a look at both their photo gallery and their sponsorship pages. All children in the school have a sponsor who funds all fees, materials, books, food, and uniforms. They can use all the help they can get.

More later about what it is like during my first few days at the school.

Focus on Wildlife

As a part of my trip to Tanzania, I will be visiting Lake Manyara, famous as the best wild bird viewing area on the continent. It is specifically reknown for its large, ever-present flock of Flamingos.

Lake Manyara is one of a series of lakes in Northcentral Tanzania that are home to a wide variety of predators and prey. It is on the regular migration route that runs from the Serengeti southeast through Ngorongoro and toward Tarangire national park.

Each area is known for particular wildlife, as well as for regular migration routes. Serengeti, for example, is known for the Big Five (elephants, lions, leopards, cape buffalo, and rhinos). Ngorongoro Crater is known for its relatively closed ecosystem, with the walls of the crater essentially creating a unique integrated system of predator and prey. It also has a unique population of black-maned lions.

As stated before, Manyara is perfect for bird photography, but is also home to a large mahogany forest, tree-climbing lions, and spectacular Rift Valley views. Tarangire is known for its ancient rock paintings, a large zebra population, and a combined swamp and dry land formations that provides for a greater variety of species than seen in other areas.

Together, these natural travel locations comprise some of the most concentrated African wildlife on the continent.

Welcome

Welcome to my online journal where I will share experiences, observations, and photos of my work and travel in Tanzania. I am a first-time traveler to Africa, and so count this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to see and learn about things I would never see elsewhere. This online journal will include my reflections on both the work and play adventures I will have along the way.