Friday, May 4, 2012

Prevailing

A pictorial history of Beregea kindergarten and first grade.

This was the preschool on the first week. Pre renovation.
We painted  over Jesus, but it was for a good cause.
Our original free meal program, peanuts and water outside. 
You can see enrollment increasing.

Part way through, usable but still pretty bare.
9 students and teacher Martha

That leopard took me three days.
Look at John's mural in the background, it's a beaut.
One room done.
Morning uji, enrollment still increasing.
Movie day every Friday.


Lunch. We're up to 20 kids now. 




We painted the room next door so we could separate the 
preschool and first grade.

The room next door.

 School library

Simon Says aka Simon Anasema

Some of Standard !, we've got 2 classes
 now, chekechea and first.



I enjoy my vacations, in spite of Africa's seemingly continuous efforts to sabotage any trip I take. Or any other activity for that matter, like eating, shopping, breathing...Sometimes you just have to decide to not let it get you down.

Likizo started on Good Friday, and at dawn's early crack I took a 2 hour daladala ride to Morogoro so I could catch my luxury bus for the 10 hour ride to Mbeya. I arrived at 07, the bus was to arrive at 09, but by 0815 I realized, after much inner debate, that I really needed to use the choo (bathroom) before I boarded the bus for said 10 hour ride.

In Africa I religiously eat light the night before a long bus trip, and during the trip I sip water and nibble salty stuff (sometimes it's good to retain water). The toilets in transit are too brutal to talk about, much less use.There's a public pay toilet at the bus stop, but it's unearthly, so I decided to catch a cab to Ricky's Cafe and use their clean First World toilet complete with TP.  The bus guy warned me not to be late, actually he nagged me for a good while, but it's a small town so I wasn't worried. I grabbed a cab and roared into Ricky's, which on a normal Friday is open for business, but not this Friday. There are very few other non lethal toilets in Morogoro. What to do..

Ricky's is conveniently located adjacent to a gas station so I asked to use theirs. While gas station toilets have improved over the years in America, I'm not in America. It was a squat choo, which I don't mind, and the floor was kind of a mess but I found a place for my backpack on a cleanish spot. I was planning to put it in the sink, until I looked into the sink. So there I was squatting and unlike Ricky's, there's no TP. There is, however, a grimy yellow water bucket situated under a faucet located beside my left tako. I squatted there for a bit mulling over my options, which were few. I considered doing what the locals do, you don't want to know, until I looked into the bucket and decided there must be something in my backpack I was willing to sacrifice.

I got back to the bus stand with plenty of time to spare (minus a sock), and waited till 9 o'clock. Then I waited till 10. I started nagging the bus guy who told me bado (not yet). While I was being repeatedly badoed I eavesdropped on a call he had made to the driver of our bus and discovered all the buses were backed up because there was a lorry stuck across the road somewhere along the route. So I asked how far down the road and he said only 130 km. That's about 2 more hours and the lorry was still across the road. 


I asked for a refund so I could get another bus. He gave me my money and he wasn't smiling, this after badoeing to me for the past 2 hours. I guess I can forget about ever getting a good seat on Mbeya Express again. But as ALL the buses were late and everyone with better Swahili than me (which is everyone) got seats on other buses,  I was left alone, dejected, and busless on the first day of my vacation.

Anyway I decided I was too tired/old for this and went to the Morogoro Hotel where I spent the day watching movies, eating Indian food and drinking Safari Lager. An auspicious start, despite the public transport systems efforts to the contrary.

Vacation was fine, all is well in Mbeya, except I discovered my banker is being investigated for fraud. My balance looks about right, so if he's stealing money, it's not mine.

For the return trip I decided I wouldn't go by the same bus, and opted for Green Star, which is a very nice bus, or was. We broke down for the first time while we were still in Mbeya, the second time just outside of Ilula. It could have been worse, there's a whole lot of nothing between Mbeya and Ilula, but we were able to coast into town and were back on the road in about 2 hours. 


I got to Morogoro too late to catch the bus to Berega, so spent another night in Morogoro Hotel, more movies and beer, and a very nice pork steak. So despite all of Tanzania's attempts to mess up my vacation, I had a good time. Sometimes you need to make the effort.

School started again, the kids are doing well. There's lots of reading going on in Standard 1, in English and Kiswahili. The Kiswahili is going a little faster, it's not as complicated as English, but then, what is? Besides, once they sound out a word in their own language, they know what it means.

I've had tables and chairs made to accommodate the new kids, but now I think we need a reading table. We have kids who routinely finish more quickly than the others, so I think it would be good to have a table in the back so they can  read while I help the slower ones. 


I've always been a reader, and right now these kids are excited about this new thing they can do. It's a amazing thing to see the looks on their faces when they finish a book.

If you've never lived here, you can't begin to know how bad most of the schools are. Kids here are working without a net, so if they can get a few really good years in early, they can do ok. Most kids don't get that, that's why so few pass. That and the lack of teachers, books, parental concern...

The fundraiser was a success, but I will accept further donations if you're of a mind. You might like to know how the money was used. There was a total of 1330 USD, which comes to 2,100,000 tsh. Nashukurani sana Leslie, Sharon,Chris, Sheila, Doc, Kathy, Max and Joanne. I has been spent as follows:

2,100,000  total received
  540,000  2 full scholarships
1,560,000
  570,000  5 partial scholarships
  990,000
  230,000  books
  760,000
    30,000  videos
  730,000
    15,000  mats for nap time
 715,000
    10,000  repairs to the door of the school
  705,000
    20,000  paint
  685,000
    15,000  buckets for water to wash hands
  670,000
  374,000  two large cupboards to hold supplies and kids stuff
  296,000 remaining

We have a wonderful school here. A few weeks ago John painted a preschool at Mgugu Primary where there's 160 kids in the class. So I am aware of just how lucky we are. Our kids get help when they need it, 2 meals/day, movies on Friday. 


We've got books, a library, two full time teachers and a volunteer. I refuse to spend any time feeling guilty about the schools that don't have what we have. H4A is helping those schools as well, but what can you do with 160 kids in one classroom? We did what we could, it's not enough, but then, this is Africa, and it's never enough.

L

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