As a result of the help and donations from volunteers and other community members, our fundraisers were more successful than we could have imagined. Through this blog, we will keep you updated on our journey as we put all of your donations to good use.



Tuesday, April 26

Unknown Depth

Greetings and salutations once more, fair followers!

Its been a while since I’ve updated you on the Tanzanian Education Project blog. If you’re unaware, we’re currently writing weekly updates on two sites; the TEP blog and a blog for Winona360 (www.winona360.com) are serving as bases for illuminating the outside world to the exciting adventures happening in Bunju A, Tanzania. The past two weeks I (Eileen) have been writing for Winona360, as my compositions were more secular and viscerally based than our typical TEP blogs, which are to keep donors and supporters abreast of the developments of projects at Fanaka and our other partner schools.

However, I’m back, and we’ve had yet another eventful week. Today is Good Friday, and so the students at Fanaka have been sent home for Easter Holiday, which includes today, this weekend, Easter Monday, and the following Tuesday, which is Union Day and a national holiday. Its another long break, and I’m a bit peeved that I’m losing out almost an entire week of lessons, but then again, it gives us more time to work on more administrative tasks in the interim. (Babu says the Tanzanian government is just going to keep adding public holidays so that no one ever works.)

Its continued to be rainy and cool, and of course I am totally digging the weather, but everyone at home seems to be getting colds and the flu and walking around huddled under down jackets. “This condition is not good,” Jasintha told me from under her heavy jacket, sniffling “It is too cold.” Its about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It still gets hot enough for one to break a sweat by the middle of most days, but there were a couple days this past week where the rain did not let up all day. This has been good for our Hydrate 2 Educate Project, as the current water tanks are consistently full to the brim. However, we have yet to install the pump in the large cement tank, so there is a risk of backup in the pipes and overflow.

I have been conducting an informal survey in the area of other rainwater catch systems, and would like to compare the systems set up at other schools near Bunju. It seems that some schools (like Olof Orphanage) have two tanks, usually in the range of 150,000 liters to 300,000 liters. This, in addition to utilizing some drip wells for washing clothes seems to be enough to last a boarding school the whole year- even through the dry season. Olof has all boarding students, about 120 right now, compared to Fanaka’s about 70-80 boarding students. However, despite the abundance of water right now, it is quickly becoming clear based on my observations and some other readings I’ve found (including a survey of rainwater catch systems in Kenya) that the current tanks at Fanaka will not last the school through the entire year. The goal of H2E is to supply the school with enough water to last through the dry season (from about September to January), and at this point, though the new tanks will help lessen Fanaka’s dependence on water pumped from town, it will not be able to operate completely independent of those systems. Fanaka needs a 150,000-200,000 liter tank on the premises to more safely ensure that it collects enough water to satisfy the hygienic and nutritional needs of its students. It is imperative that the Tanzanian Education Project continue to work towards the funding of building another tank and utilizing the large roof space/catch surface available from the school room buildings.

As far as other projects are going, we are taking the next step in our “Raising a Future” project! The chicken coop here at Babu’s house has been cleaned and sterilized, and yesterday morning Babu placed a call to Interchick, the chicken-supply company, for an order of 300 chicks. We should be able to pick up the chicks in about two weeks, and that first batch of “broilers” (chickens sold for meat, as opposed to eggs) should be ready for sale after another five weeks. Barring any unexpected onset of some sort of fatal disease, there should be about a 200,000/= profit (in Tanzanian shillings, about $150 USD) on each batch of chickens, after expenses. This means that if we are able to continue the program, the chickens will pay for themselves every month, with additional revenue available for the school. We have not yet integrated a program for incorporating the chicken project into Fanaka’s curriculum, but this will come in time, and after the program has proved to be self-sustainable.

Yesterday we were able to pay another visit to Olof Palme Bethsaida Girls Secondary School and Orphanage, thanks to our friend and partner of African Children’s Haven, Dr. Aichi Kitaly. The trek was a bit arduous on the way to Olof, as due to the rains we were advised against using the “bush road” we normally take through Bunju B and up to Mbezi. This meant that we had to go south into Dar es Salaam, connect with Morogoro Road, and take that back north and west until we reached another dirt road. This road led us up into the bush from the north. After much bumping and rattling, we finally arrived at Olof. Aichi talked with some of the girls and we were able to better survey the new library, which is well built and aesthetically pleasing. It seems the books are well-organized and utilized. Visiting with the girls was nice, and we shared some sodas and cookies with them before heading back out into the wilderness (sort of).

On the way back, Aichi, in the interest of time, and because the morning had been dry, decided we should brave the shorter bush road back to Bunju. We were going on alright until we came to a low, sharp curve in the road which was washed out and submerged in water of an unknown depth. Aichi and I tried to determine the depth with sticks (as she didn’t want to get her car stuck, which would take even more time than turning around and taking the tarmac road home). We couldn’t figure out if the curve was navigable with sticks, so Aichi resolutely declared she would walk through the puddle... even though she was wearing dress shoes and a suit. Kristina and I protested, and Kristina volunteered to brave the puddle.

It turned out to be merely about ten inches of water, and the bottom was not too mucky, so we made it through with great success, and back home without incident. And, as usual, despite obstacles and braving the unknown, we arrived home in time for tea. I hope all is well at home, please keep supporting the TEP and our projects and feel free to contact we volunteers with any questions about how projects are working here if you want more details. ‘Til next week!

Thursday, April 14

Tut Tut, Looks Like Rain

Waking up to pull a sheet over myself is not something I have needed to do very often since arriving in Tanzania. Even as someone who enjoys sleeping under blankets, I have grown accustomed to going to bed with the bare minimum and still waking up slightly warm. Recently however, I have found myself reaching for that sheet during the night with increasing frequency. This is not to say that things are getting cold here. No, no, no, I would never say that the weather is cold. But in the past week or two, in the wee morning hours just before sunrise, the temperature has dropped to what I might call a bit…chilly. This, along with random downpours of rain, is how one recognizes that winter has begun in Tanzania.

Along with the new season this week has brought with it something that resembles order at FANAKA, at least as much order as existed in the weeks prior to midterm examinations. Classes are back on schedule and it appears as though most of the students who had issues with school fees have dealt with this issue and are back at school. It is a bit of a shock after the virtual anarchy of last week how easily everyone has fallen back into his or her old routines, but I suppose it should not be. In fact the routine is not quite the same, as the thunderous sounds from a torrential downpour do occasionally interrupt classes. Now when I say thunderous sounds I am not speaking literally of thunder, although this does accompany the rain once in a while. No, I am in fact referring to the sound the rain makes on the tin roofs of the school buildings. On more than one occasion this past week I have had to stop teaching for a few minutes to wait-out a particularly strong (and therefore loud) bit of rain. But for the most part, we are back on our daily routine of old. The return of routine has, for us, meant the return of lesson planning and an increase of the time we spend at FANAKA after our lunch break. At these times we may help students with studying if they wish it, but most often it means being able to spend some more quality time with the students. Sometimes we may get to partake in their games, but most of the time we are fortunate enough to just sit and talk with them awhile, learn more about them, and teach them more about us.

This past week has also been busy trying to move along some of the TEP projects I mentioned in last week’s blog. The first steps in Raising a Future (the chicken coup project) are underway. Several of the boys who work at Babu’s house managed to clear out the large chicken coup on the property Wednesday afternoon. Today they are cleaning and disinfecting the interior and laying down sawdust to prepare for the chickens we will be purchasing in the next week or two.

Eileen has been extremely busy this week trying to gather up information regarding the finances of the FANAKA stationary that TEP began last year. Unfortunately, FANAKA’s first stationary manager, Jonathan, took up a teaching post with the government schools and was therefore relocated to a town about 10 hours South of Bunju. Due to his reassignment, he has understandably not been able to manage the stationary, and so this job has fallen upon the shoulders of people closer to home. While the loss of Jonathan as stationary manager is unfortunate, the biggest problem with this has been that the financial records of the stationary have not been kept together. Locating and copying the various records of expenses, purchases and sales of the stationary have been keeping Eileen busy most of this week, but with a bit more time we will have complete, accurate records of how much money the stationary is bringing in to FANAKA each month.

Eileen and I have also spent a bit of time discussing the garden project with Babu. Currently we have scouted out the FANAKA property and have a preliminary decision of where we want the garden to be located at school. We have also discussed some of the possibilities for what will be grown in the garden. As it is our goal to have the garden eventually be under the care of FANAKA’s boarding students, it is important that we choose to cultivate crops that are nutritious, but also that these crops are not overly delicate, so they will still thrive under the care of the students. The goal of the garden project will be to supply the boarding students with healthy food that does not need to be purchased at FANAKA’s expense. With the implementation of the water-catch-system water should not be an expense for the garden, making start up fees the only significant cost of the project.

I am sorry to end this blog on a negative note, but I must bring to your attention that I am also the barer of some sad news. Earlier this week, Alan, the bursar of FANAKA, suffered a personal loss with the death of his father. As expected, this has meant that Alan has been absent from school this week while he has been dealing with his loss and arranging the wake and funeral processes. Eileen and I stopped at Alan’s home on Wednesday afternoon to pay our respects to him and his family, and to represent everyone affiliated with TEP. Alan is a dear man and friend the Kahatano family, FANAKA, and TEP, so please keep him in your thoughts this week.

It seems as though that is all I have to report. Thanks for reading up and I hope you all have a wonderful week and watch out for those cloudbursts back home! After all, April showers and all that jazz….

Love,
Kristina

Sunday, April 10

The Madness Resumes!

Hello once again to my fellow TEP loyalists and friends! This past week has been a bustle of activity for Eileen and myself, and began last Thursday with our first visit to Olof Bethsida Girls’ Secondary School and Orphanage since arriving in Tanzania. Obviously, since this is my first trip to Tanzania, this was my first experience with Olof, and at a first glance the school is impressive to say the least. After a beautifully scenic drive out to the school, we were welcomed into the hide-away school grounds. The layout of the grounds is very visually appealing, with garden plots tended by students, and large school buildings and dormitories fixed with a water catch system. The piping system leads to a huge underground water tank that holds something like 200,000 liters of water! It was so large that I almost convinced myself there was no way it could be a water tank and felt silly asking, but it turns out it was just that. And look at me now, getting so excited over a water tank when prior to two months ago my father would have tried earnestly to share his enthusiasm with me, and I would not have given it a thought!

Putting aside this marvel of a water catch system, what we really went to Olof for was to get a look at the library, and scope out their chicken coups. Our super sleuth-work led to success-super sleuth being that we asked one of the matrons to show us the grounds and she willingly complied, sorry Carmon Sandiego! The Olof library is a beautiful room with a number of bookshelves filled with the books donated by TEP last year, and equipped with a number of very nice ceiling fans. The chicken coup at Olof was good for us to look at, however they were uncertain of the costs of construction, as it was a few years ago and was a project of one of their volunteers and not of Olof itself. It was clear that the girls who live at Olof are still extremely hard working both inside and outside of the classroom, however Eileen was able to enlighten me to the truth that while the school is a very good place, there are still a great many problems it faces. For example, it is far too often that the girls go without meals. It seems that many days, all the girls eat is a bit of bread and tea in the morning, and no, “please sir I want some more” doesn’t work at this orphanage either. Beautiful grounds and buildings may look nice, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot if the girls can’t concentrate due to hunger. Clearly there are still goals to be met and the need for donors help is stronger than ever.

Eileen and I then spent the last few days of break writing up lesson plans, working out the details for the chicken coup project, and talking to Eve and Ana about ELA Nursery School and Daycare. This last project has probably been the most confusing to trying to navigate. After weeks of inquiring, we were finally able to get some answers regarding the status of ELA. As we were aware, Eve, Ana, and their brothers were the original owners of the property on which ELA is built, but ELA became an important project to Bibi during her life, so it was she who really drove the nursery school and daycare forward. After Bibi’s death, Frida, the old teacher who ran the school, no longer felt comfortable continuing her work with ELA, and instead decided to go back to school and continue her training. It is the hope of Eve and Ana to have ELA again becoming a functioning nursery school and daycare, so in trying to bring this to realization, they rented the property out to another woman who was going to run the school. Unfortunately, while this woman has paid rent for the use of ELA through August, she has not, at this point, started ELA back up. We are still hoping for such success, and to support ELA in its goal to provide a safe and educational haven for the young children of Bunju A.

Raising a future (the chicken coup project) is to be underway shortly, with us buying the first batch of chickens within the next few weeks. After talking to Babu we are probably going to purchase something in the neighborhood of 400 chicks that we will raise for 4-5 weeks and then sell to market as broiler chickens. Outside of the initial purchasing costs we must pay for medication for each chick and then obviously we will need to feed and water them for the weeks they are in our care. Luckily Billo and Eve raised three different batches of chicks for their private investment earlier this year so we have a good idea about how much the entire operation will cost us. As I am in Tanzania for only five more weeks I know I won’t be here to see the completion of things with this first group of FANAKA/TEP chicks, but as Eileen is here a full month longer than I, she will be able to oversee the entire progress with this group from purchase through sale.

Other than these endeavors, Eileen and I spent our last weekend relaxing before school started again. This was a very good thing because the craziness started up as soon as we returned to FANAKA on Monday. Since the last day of classes was midterm examinations, and the students took their examinations together in the dinning hall, all of the desks were still locked up in this building when we arrived for classes on Monday. This meant that before any classes could begin, the students needed to go move the desks from the assembly/dinning hall back into their classrooms. Of course this sounds completely simple, but required Eileen and I to turn into sheep dogs, herding the students around the yard between the dinning hall and the classrooms and trying to keep them from wondering off, and reminding them that “yes you need to work until ALL of the desks are moved back into the classrooms because ALL of the students need a place to sit in class.” In the meantime, teachers wondered onto the grounds whenever they decided to grace us with their presence and it was finally decided that classes were going to begin after the mid-morning break was over at 11AM. During this time students continued to slowly move the desks and chairs back into the classrooms, cleaned the outside environment and cleaned the bathrooms (these last two tasks are apart of the students’ responsibilities, but took a very long time to complete because they had not been done in over a week because of midterm break).

The rest of the day was your basic chaotic mess. Most classes did not convening because most of the teachers did not show up, and those classes that were held were only semi-successful as only about half the student body came to school that day. Tuesday was much more of a normalized day, with the daily routine back in full swing and classes beginning as close to on time as they did before midterms. More students came to school on Tuesday than on Monday, and it looked as though the majority of the student body found their way back to school by Wednesday. I don’t hold out much hope for the rest of the week though, because Thursday is a national holiday to honor the first vice president from Zanzibar, so school is canceled, and I was told that this means many students will likely stay home Friday as well. So overall, the first week back from break was a pretty big crapshoot, but apparently it is commonplace for both students and teachers wonder back sporadically within a week or so of the day classes’ resume, so no one other than I was surprised by this. Now, this should mean that everyone is back in class by next Monday, but of course this will not be the case as many students had to leave school this week because they have not paid their school fees. Unfortunately, even at FANAKA’s low fees many students still have trouble coming up with the money to pay for their schooling, and it is now catching up with them. I hope the majority of them are able to the necessary fees within a few days so they are able to get back in class before missing too much.

Overall, midterm break came at the perfect time and allowed Eileen and I to accomplish some postponed goals as well as get a bit of relaxation time, and the first week back at FANAKA was as unpredictable as ever. Everyone in our family here is doing well except for the occasional battle with malaria as that lovely time of year is just beginning! Well I think that is all I have for you this week. Our love and greetings to all of you stateside, enjoy the beginning of spring, and go to your nearest corner store and pick up a packet of Easter egg shaped Snickers and think of me while you munch away at them. For whatever reason I find the Easter egg shaped Snickers to be one of the most delightful candies in the world, and far superior to your typical Snickers bar. I’m hoping my mother will remember to buy me a package this moth and have it waiting on my desk when I return home in May, otherwise I will have to wait another year for this scrumptious treat. Peace out homeslices, tune in next week for what I’m sure will be a much more entertaining update from my counterpart, and until then keep on truck’n.

Love,
Kristina