Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 6

July 1, 2014

Oldonyosambu Secondary School

Paolo (a young boy that lives on the
compound with his family) visited us
everyday to play!

presenting Mr. Nassari with gifts

The 'city' councilman, Mr. Nassari met us after breakfast.   He walked us at least 2 miles (45 minutes) to the secondary school.  We walked outside of the compound, across the main road, down a dirt path, through cornfields, and arrived at the Oldonyosambu Secondary School.

on our walk to the secondary school.....

These plants are stripped down
to make rope

On our 'walk', a small pickup truck drove near us, down this dirt path.  It was loaded with elders, men and women.  They were all dressed up in their shukas and jewelry.  We were told by Mr. Nassari that they were coming back from a circumcision celebration.  [Teenage boys are circumcised without any medication or sedation.  They are then sent to live away from their family for 3 to 6 months. When they return, they no longer live in the same hut as their mother and siblings.  They share a hut with other boys their age.  Their faces are also painted black and white, to show they are not yet ready to enter into relations.....more about family life in a future blog.]

We came upon a small medical clinic.

Mr. Nassari with the head nurse.

You can see the world cup on the TV!

 

We met the director of the school.   He knew we would be interested in the World Cup soccer games that were going on at the time, so he had a TV set up and was streaming the game live for us to see.  The boys were pretty excited. 

The secondary school grounds....the bottom right picture
is the chemistry room.
 

The students were on break also.  We presented the director with gifts and he gave us a tour of the school.  Like many of the schools in Tanzania, students have to often travel miles to and from school each day.  Teachers do not pick which school they will teach at.  The school is assigned to them after they receive their teaching degree.  Teachers are given a place to live, either a dorm, living with a nearby family, or several teachers living in one home together - mostly at or very close to the school.   We saw where the teachers live, chemistry class, computer class, regular classrooms, etc.  The classrooms themselves seem primitive to us (cement, dirty/dusty floors, poor/no lights, broken windows), but they were actually very nice for their standards.  The chemistry lab had limited supplies, but was still sufficient for their teaching needs.  Don't get me wrong, there is still need for improvements and donations to up keep school buildings and make sure there are adequate supplies.  

Our students understood much more
when we wrote on the board. 

We walked 45 minutes back to the compound to grab a few things and headed off to the primary school.  We divided into our same groups and worked with the students for about an hour.  We were able to get the students to talk a little bit more! 

Our students

 

Fried chicken and French fries....yum!

Lunch was really good!!!  The women made us a ‘western’ lunch of fried chicken and French fries and treated us to sodas!  We had time after lunch to relax and do whatever we wanted.  Some of us walked to the duka to get soda and some candy.  I also sat on the porch in the sun.  The local boys were supposed to have a soccer game that afternoon, but the other team didn’t show up.  Our boys were asked to play again.  Everyone had a good time running up and down the field in the dust. 

a spectator - "Girls Rule"

This man and his donkeys actually walked
right through the field......only in Tanzania!

 

 

 

Even though there was a language barrier, soccer is still the same game!

 

 

After dinner, (rice/meat sauce, salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, papaya and pepper) we gathered in the Schuster’s room for a quick recap.  Everyone was tired from a very busy day.   ***On a side note, I wore my fitbit the entire trip.  Because I couldn’t sync it very often, I wrote down the information in my journal….we walked 16200 steps and 6.57 miles today!

Beautiful sunset in Tanzania!










 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 5

June 30, 2014.....Off to School

Breakfast time!

After breakfast, it was time to go to school!   We would spend the day at the Oldonyowa Primary School.   Most of the children were on break, but some of the students were there to study and prepare for upcoming exams.  The students we met were comparable to 7th graders in the states.  We had divided ourselves into groups earlier in the morning.   We prepared materials for working on the students' English and geography.  

A beautiful view of Mt Meru and the church in the background

 

 

 

We had about a 15 minute walk from our compound to the school, down the dusty path through the cornfields, opposite direction of the church.   We met the director of the school and presented them with gifts....cases of notebooks and chalk.  We also gave them some soccer balls, ball pumps, jump ropes, flashcards, and a few other things.  

Our group at the school

 

meeting the students

The old school is in the photo above.....pieces of the
metal sides were used on the roof of the
new buildings (bottom photo).

 

The students were very shy but polite.   A few selected students spoke, and said a little about their class.   The students practiced their numbers and counted off to be put into groups.  Each group had about 7 or 8 students.  Our group had 7....Leah, Godseth, Anna, Israel, Edward, Entioth, and Janeth.   Michelle and I were paired together.  We found that our group did better if we wrote the questions on the chalkboard for them to read.   We used their English book to come up with some of the things to work on with them.  We focused on he/his, she/her, their/there, numbers, colors, possession, just to name a few.  

colobus monkey

We headed back to the compound for lunch.   Stephan (manager of the property) offered to take us for a hike in the afternoon.   There was a ravine that ran up the side of the property, and we would hike up the ravine for an hour or two.   As we started off, we came across a dead colobus monkey.  They are a rare breed of monkey, and it was unusual to see one there.  There was nothing obvious wrong with it.

The kids were fascinated
with seeing their own
pictures.

Along our walk, Stephan pointed out some interesting sights.....plants, birds, limestone, etc.  We saw some skeletal remains from a cow.....they often fall off the hillside into the ravine, break their neck and are left to die.  Some young boys that live nearby joined us along the way.  They were fascinated with seeing their pictures on our cameras.  



carvings in the limestone

the ravine

weaver bird nest

At the end of the hike, Stephan showed us their renewable resources and how they are using the cow poop and cow urine to produce gas/fuel to power the stove in the kitchen.  They collect the urine, by allowing it to run off and drain into a collective area.  Cow poop is scooped into the collective area and over time, a gas is produced.  The gas is run through piping and used to fuel the stove.   It's a huge cost savings to the compound and they are working on improvements and expanding the project.  

Mt Meru

 

Mt Kilimanjaro

wild poinsettia

The boys (Kyler, Connor and Nathan) were invited to practice soccer with some of the local boys.  One of the soccer coaches was a caretaker and lived on the compound.   The soccer field was normal size and had goal posts but no nets.  It was dry grass, and VERY dusty and dirty.  The boys all wore cleats, but some of the younger boys that came to practice on the side had tennis shoes or no shoes at all.   Our boys really enjoyed getting to know the players.

dirty feet

 

After the practice, some of us did laundry, and I took my first hot shower.  I had been showering, but they were either cold showers or barely warm!  Dinner was very good.....we had chapati (homemade tortillas, yum!) and beans.  We gathered in John and Laurie's room for a fire and our nightly recap.  It was a very good day....rewarding time spent with the students (I can still see their shy, smiling faces), a beautiful hike, relaxing time in the afternoon, soccer, a delicious meal, and together time to reflect on the day!

 

 

 

 

Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 4

June 29, 2014 - Oldonyosambu



Breakfast

My least favorite thing of the trip was doing laundry......in a very small bathroom sink!  This morning was 'laundry' day.  After washing up some clothes and hanging them outside to dry (we were fortunate to have a clothesline outside and I brought clothespins),  it was time for breakfast!  Breakfast each day in OS consisted of coffee, tea, fruit juice, sliced bread, Golden African brand jelly (yum), peanut butter, honey, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, sliced avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers, cheese wedges, and corn flakes with warm milk.  It was all very good. 

They have been building a new church for
several years now......

Being Sunday, we headed off to church at the Oldonyosambu Lutheran Church.    It was about a 10 minute walk, out the backside of the compound, through a dusty trail in the cornfields.  We were greeted by Jennifer, the church evangelist (comparable to our lay pastors).  After we met Jennifer and learned a little bit about her, we were treated to the gift of sodas! 

Pastor Jane, Jennifer and Mama Jean

Cheers!

The service was very long....about 3 hours.  It was mostly in Kiswahili, little English.  Our group was introduced, and we sang our two songs in Kiswahili.  The pastor had an amazing voice and sang for us.  The people were all very nice and friendly.  During the service, they have two offerings....one for the tithe and one for thanks.  Instead of a monetary offering, some give items to be auctioned off after the service.....fresh vegetables, cloth, even a live chicken.  It was fun to participate in the auction after church. 

Mt. Meru

The pastor joined us for lunch. We ate rice, a gravy with meat (very tough meat) and fresh fruit. 

People of all ages would come for miles to fill their water buckets
from the well outside our compound.

It was a beautiful day - blue skies and about 80 degrees.  We were able to get a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro after the church service and decided to take an afternoon hike for a better look.  We walked down the road, past the Maasai market place and several dukas (small shacks where you could buy soda, candy, liquor, canned coffee, etc.) and cut in on a dirt path.  Gideon was our guide.  We were greeted by many young children along the way, often asking us for candy.  It was a great 2 1/2 hour hike with amazing views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. 



A common sight...women carry water buckets and food
from the market and dukas back to their home.

Children are fascinated with having their photo taken
then seeing the picture of themselves!

Mt. Kilimanjaro

Kyler met a young man, David, that walked with him on our
way back.....they talked the entire time!

Kyler managed to fall in the dirt on our way back and scraped
up his arm pretty good.  The dirt is contaminated with feces
among other germs.  Michelle, a 3rd year nursing student and in
charge of the first aid kit, clean him all up and his wound healed nicely!

Dinner this night was pasta with meat sauce - sort of like spaghetti.  We were all surprised at how good the food was.  We were not sure what we would be eating and if our palates would agree with the food, so we had brought backup food just in case (pepperoni sticks, beef jerky, protein bars, nuts, etc.).

After gathering for our nightly recap in the Schuster's home (my favorite way to end the night), it was time for rest!  We were all looking forward to meeting the school children the next day!