Marine Project Hours
Teaching Project Hours
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KISWAHILI LESSON:
“Hongera!” “Congratulations”
Marine Project: “I had a great time - everyone was really friendly and the project really makes a difference. The ethical training of the boat drivers is fantastic and I really hope that more complete the course so that the dolphins stay around Zanzibar forever and are allowed to behave naturally.” Anouska, UK Teaching Project: “African Impact is definitely living up to its name! It was a privilege to be part of such an experience. All of the community really appreciate what A.I. are doing and they are welcoming and friendly. I loved this experience, Asante Sana guys!” Chantal, UK
Dolphin-Tourism Research - Volunteers undertook 39 dolphin tourist monitoring sessions, where we monitored 845 tourists’ behavior on 283 boats, interacting with a total of 393 dolphins. We continue to see an increase in tourist boats even in low season, and are observing dolphins moving further away from the Kizimkazi coast. A reminder of how important it is for us to monitor this industry and promote sustainable change. Ethical Dolphin Tour Workshops – We were very happy to see 5 more boat drivers complete and pass their Ethical Dolphin Tour training. We held a graduation with Dr Narriman (from the Institute of Marine Sciences in Tanzania) to give a speech about the importance of this training – we now have 17 graduate drivers in total. Creative Conservation Club – Our Graduate Club made a bench at their school! 200 eco-bricks were used in the construction that they worked so hard to make, using rubbish they collected from within the community. The school is delighted with the seating area and the project was such a success that we will be starting another in Q2. Coral Conservation - We took part in a Coral Bleaching 2 day workshop with the leaders of coral conservation in East Africa – CORDIO. We now have 3 new surveys to implement into project which will provide greater accuracy and more information on the health of reefs. Annual Turtle Release – 7 volunteers took a trip to Mnarani Turtle Sanctuary in the north of Zanzibar to watch the release of 62 turtles back into the wild. This annual conservation event was a privilege to see and a once in a lifetime experience for all.
Jambiani village is experiencing a severe water shortage, meaning the community is relying almost solely on water from wells. This water can carry disease and is not clean, posing a higher risk to health particularly to younger children who do not know the risks of drinking dirty water. In response to this, we developed a water hygiene workshop and visited a local primary school to teach the students about the effects of drinking dirty water, what they can do to make it safer, and to be aware of symptoms of sickness that can be caused by unsafe water. 120 students took part in the interactive and activity-filled morning. Thank you to our volunteers for putting so much passion and energy into the workshop.
Washy Washy Week – A new Washy Washy workshop week was introduced to all 4 nursery schools to teach our students about the importance of brushing teeth and washing hands. Volunteer and local teacher involvement was at an all-time high and we had great feedback.
Final Exams for Adult English - All students who had attended enough classes throughout their 15 week semester sat their final exams at the start of February. 38 students received marks high enough to go up and one student graduated from the group.
Child Assessment – All 210 of our nursery students completed their start of year assessments, which are crucial in understanding the various levels of support they need. The assessment was also developed to better reflect the ability of students’ verbal and motor skill development, memory, letter and number recognition, and mathematics and social integration.
Road Safety - Another amazing week of Road Safety was delivered to 210 students at Mwendawima, Kikadini, Sirajatil and Ibrahim nursery schools. Business Course - We ran a business course for 5 weeks with 2 sessions each week, with an average of 20 very engaged students. An English volunteer with an impressive background in business and professional development contacted us before her arrival with an interest to share her knowledge. Lessons included marketing, profit and loss, business partnerships and sales. 2 students were so inspired they have already created and have started selling their own jasmine oil!
We’ve had a fantastic start to the year fundraising for our focal projects. The biggest donation was from 2 wonderful families who volunteered with us for 1 month. Halla Ros and her daughter Solbjorg, and Margret and her son Vignir set up an online fundraiser on behalf of their husbands climbing Kilimanjaro. They raised an incredible $2000 for our Jambiani Community Center! Total $ raised on ground this quarter: $2311
The Zanzibar Team