Tanzania May 2013 Part of the Connecting Classrooms global education programme
Connecting Classrooms - an overview of the project Earlier in the year we applied for a grant from the British Council to become one of the schools involved in the internationally recognised Connecting Classrooms project. Our bid was successful and we were granted £3000. This money was to pay for reciprocal visits from England to Tanzania and from Tanzania to England. In actual fact this grant will just about pay for the four flights. Miss Stone and I were happy to pay for ourselves on our visit there and it is likely that we will need to consider some fund raising activities to support our future work. The aim of the project is to give us the opportunity to work together with our partner school, making the link sustainable. Tanzania is home to some of the most incredible tribal diversity and the population greatly values its multicultural heritage. The Maasai are probably the most well known tribe. They are pastoralists, who fiercely protect their way of life, traditions and culture. Christianity and Islam are the two predominate religions in Tanzania, and religion plays an important part in daily life. The main language in Tanzania is Swahili and it is seen as the unifying language of the country between different tribes who each heave their own tribal languages. The cultural differences are stark and the experiences of children who are all inherently the same the world over are indeed very different. At Hill West we acknowledge that our young people are growing up in a world where prosperity and technological process exist alongside mass poverty and an environment under threat. Including global education in our teaching means that links can be made between local and global issues. It also means that our children are given the opportunities to critically examine their own values and attitudes; appreciate the similarities between peoples everywhere, and value diversity; and develop skills that will enable them to combat injustice, prejudice and discrimination. Such knowledge, skills and understanding enables our pupils to make informed decisions about playing an active role in the global community and will hopefully inspire them to want to make a real difference in their adult lives. We will be hosting two of our Tanzanian colleagues in late September or early October. We are currently in the process of issuing them with the relevant documentation, passports etc. We want to ensure that their experiences here are valuable and enriching and I will be discussing their visit and how we can best tailor it with parent council at our next meeting. The following pages detail our experiences there‌
Thursday 16th May 2013 Having left Birmingham at 6:00am this morning we have finally arrived at our destination "The Keys Annex Hotel" in Moshi at approximately 9.00pm. We arrived in the dark and checked in to candle light as the hotel was without electricity. We received a really warm welcome at the airport from our new friend Charles who works for Childreach International. We talked about the education system here in Tanzania and learnt a great deal about local culture. Tomorrow we are going to meet Monica who is the head teacher at James Ole Millya School. Charles explained that although primary education is free, parents have to be able to afford to contribute to the running of school day meaning things like food and fire wood. Parents also have to pay for uniform and all the text books the children need, often resulting in children not being able to afford to go to school. Charles also explained to us that attendance rates are linked to seasonal variations. For example, children are needed at home during harvest time. Our hotel staff have been extremely friendly and welcoming. The facilities are sufficient. Mosquito nets cover the bed and my room has a flood stemming from the toilet. However, both rooms are equipped with a fan and two sockets; one to operate the fan, and one for the mosquito plug-in deterrent. One of the first things we noticed on arrival are all the insects, there is a significant number of moths/ butterflies ranging in size and colours. We were greeted at our room door by two lizards!
James Ole Millya School
The Keys Annex Hotel
Friday 17th May After a very good night’s sleep we woke this morning around 7.30am and after a refreshing shower headed to breakfast. Coffee/tea followed by cereal and sausage and bacon. We then went for a walk around the immediate vicinity. We found our hotel pool but don't think it has been used in recent years. We then ventured out, passing local ladies carrying all sorts of items on their heads. They were friendly and people seemed happy to say hello. We were collected from the hotel mid-morning and headed to the offices of Childreach International where we were met by Charles and eventually Monica and Eddiness. Monica is the Head Teacher at James Ole Millya and Eddiness is one of the teachers. They are both looking forward to coming to England in the Autumn having never left Africa before. Once the introductions were complete we were taken by taxi to JOM School. The school seemed a long way from the town of Moshi and the lack of tarmac on the roads made the journey slow and uncomfortable. On route we passed a funeral procession where the men from the village were carrying a coffin to a local cemetery. We passed roaming chickens, small children and groups of men congregating at the road side. When we got to school the children met us with a song. They were all assembled at the front of the school and started singing in English to greet us. Monica showed us around the school that she started from scratch just a couple of years ago with two classrooms. It now has in excess of ten classrooms and two teacher houses. The classrooms are typically Victorian with hardly any furniture and much of the learning takes place through the black board and chalk at the front. There are approximately fifty children in each class and they all come from the local village of Changa. Each class is made up of children of different ages as children need to pass an end of year exam to move on into the next class which they refer to as Standard 1, Standard 2 etc. The children are extremely well behaved and almost ordered in military style. In order to attend school they all have to have their hair shaved so they look the same. They all have to wear uniform, including shoes, which they all seemed keen to take off whenever possible. They were curious but reserved. They eat lunch alone as the teachers have their lunch at the same time. They eat in their classrooms and some students act as prefects, giving out and collecting bowls. In fact they spend much of their time alone in their classrooms waiting for a teacher to arrive to teach a lesson. The taxi ride back to town was long and dusty and we were stopped by the police for checks. We then called into a local Bureau de Change to convert some dollars into local Tanzanian shilling so that we can pay in shops and restaurants. Everywhere else seems happy to be paid in dollars.
Saturday 18th May 2013
Day one of safari. We got up and packed early to await collection by our tour guide and driver Julius. We drove for five hours through many villages and the town of Arusha. One of the highlights was having a fantastic view of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro. It was beautiful! We saw so much it is hard to describe it all. We passed many children herding sheep and cattle, women carrying enormous loads on their heads, Maasai tribes and bustling busy roads. One thing that struck us was the responsibility the children were given. This made us reflect on how children are treated in the UK, by both schools and parents. If a six year old boy can be responsible for a whole herd, on which his family is dependent then surely our children should be given more credit for their potential capabilities. We stopped for a quick toilet break and a browse around a local tourist shop. There was much on offer, drums, statues and paintings. Next we travelled along an extremely bumpy road. For over an hour we bumped around in the back of the Land Rover! However, we were rewarded with spectacular views, and were taken aback by the impressive red silhouettes of Maasai tribe members walking through their lands. We also saw bananas growing, rice fields and coffee plantations too. At lunch time we arrive at the Manyana Lake National Park. We were very excited and eager to spot some wildlife. We paused for some lunch before our adventure began. We didn't have to wait long before we got an entertaining show from some olive baboons, they were in the trees and sat on the ground right next us. This turned out to be the first of many exciting and up close encounters. We spent a lot of our time with different families of elephants, so enormous but gentle at the same time. We also saw blue monkeys, wart-hogs , impala, zebra , giraffe , hippos, wildebeest, flamingos, pelicans, and lots of other birds. Although the hippos and giraffe were seen from a distance, we saw everything else right outside the Land Rover, we could practically touch them. The giraffes we saw were magnificent, Julius advised us they are over 5.5m tall! We took lots of pictures. The park winds up a mountain and around the huge lake. We saw some flawless panoramic views across Tanzania, the contrast of the forest, lake and savannah was breath-taking. We then travelled onto our camp for the night. We were greeted with huge smiles, mango juice and pop-corn to help us relax after a long day. We sat and tried to comprehend everything we had seen. We were still a little apprehensive about where we would be sleeping. We were lead through very well maintained grounds set amongst trees and local plants. Our new friend showed us into our own tent consisting of two comfy beds. We almost fell asleep there and then! We managed to stay awake for a delightful tea with Julius. The food was very good, we both had second helpings! With full bellies we returned to our little tent to get some rest before our 5.00am start the following morning! I wonder what tomorrow will bring during our trip to Ngorogoro National Park?
Sunday 19th May 2013 Day two of safari. Miss Stone woke me this morning from a deep sleep at 5.00am. It was still dark and we had no light within the tent. After a quick wash in the bathroom facilities we headed to breakfast. It was by far the best meal of our stay and we both enjoyed pancakes and toast. We were in the Land Rover by 6.00am and driving toward Ngorogoro. We reached the park at about 9.00am and entered to find zebra and antelope galore. The basin wasn't able to be viewed from the top because of the early morning fog but on arrival at the basin floor we could see for miles around us and animals of all descriptions were dotted round. After close encounters with zebra, antelope and buffalo we stumbled upon a single hippo. We were amazed as it grazed peacefully on the plain. Next we found the hippo pool with three hippos - fast asleep and not moving a muscle. From here we headed towards the water (salt) and saw flamingos and wildebeest as far as the eye could see. Next we stumbled upon a pride of lions, five in total, three females and two males, again fast asleep in the early morning sun. We watched them for quite some time as they moved lazily in the early morning sun. We were really amazed. It was then we both needed a toilet stop and realised what this would mean! Once back inside the Land Rover our guide Julius must have realised that something was afoot and drove off speedily past a lone elephant. Soon we realised why... a lioness had just killed a wildebeest and was feeding frantically next to the road. We had prime position next to the kill and remained with her for an hour or so, mesmerised by the event. After this we needed lunch and headed to the nearest hippo pool to relax and recharge. The hippos squirted water in the distance and one kept popping up to take a look at us at closer range. With lunch finished we headed to the loos. They smelled of elephant dung, the sort of smell you experience in the elephant house at Twycross Zoo. On exiting we realised that the water used to flush the toilets was being pumped out of the hippo pool. That explained the strong smell! We then returned to the lioness who was trying to find shade while still remaining close to her kill. This brought her adjacent to the vehicles. The only thing that had eluded us was the black rhino. We continued our search and after approximately another hour, passing zebra, elephants, wildebeest and buffalo we spotted one far off in the distance, lying down. With binoculars it was just possible to make out the head and the horn. After this we decided to leave the park and make the six hour plus journey home. Again this was hard driving with much of the road closed or not covered in tarmac. We passed many Maasai villages and children herding cattle and goats. We finally arrived back at the hotel at 7.30pm that evening and were good for nothing! What an amazing adventure however. We feel so lucky.
Monday 20th May 2013 We were collected from the hotel at 7.30am and headed for James Ole Millya School. We picked up John our translator who proved to be invaluable. On arrival we dropped off our gifts before being taken to the staffroom where we were greeted by all the staff. Monica asked us to talk through some of the gifts we had brought and why we had brought them. We showed the dice and talked about how we use them in England. We showed them the mini whiteboards and pens and they were astonished and really excited to try and use them. They had never heard of or seen Blue Tac and so we showed them how we used it. We talked about some of the books we had brought and read them the story of The Gruffalo. John translated it and they all enjoyed it. Then we were given a timetable and sent to teach whatever was being taught in that lesson. The children don't have a class teacher but are taught by different teachers throughout the day. Much of the day in between lessons they spend on their own in their classes, on the playground or doing chores like fetching water, watering the garden, sweeping the floor, cleaning the cooking materials, preparing the meals for staff etc. The staff stop for breakfast at 10.00am. While they were meeting with us and during breakfast the children were alone in their classrooms. Breakfast was a roll and a hard-boiled egg. The first lesson we went to was maths with Eddiness. She was doing a great job at teaching multiplication with two foam dice and beer bottle tops that the children were using as counters. We introduced our dice and a group competition. The children were excited and enjoyed getting up to write on the board in chalk to compete with each other. Next we took them outside and played a maths game where the children had to run to the correct tree, each assigned with a number. Next we joined a Standard 7 maths lesson on angles. The children in this lesson seemed older than our children in Year 6. Robert was already handing out whiteboards and pens as we arrived and the children began using them to draw angles from the board. When we intervened we used the resources to show Robert how the children could be asked quick fire questions or write a series of number sentences in a given time which equal a particular answer. The children struggled with this - we gave them the total 180, as they weren't used to working independently in this way without instruction and modelling. Then it was lunch. We decided to eat with Standard 7 as they knew us quite well and the children from our first lesson had already gone home. We served the children out of plastic buckets; maize and beans. We too had a bowl and ate with the children as they asked us questions. Then we went to eat with the staff. This time it was rice, vegetables and runny stew. After lunch we joined an English lesson where they were being taught first, second, third etc. The children found this extremely difficult and there was no differentiation. The children were being asked to write the words on the whiteboards we had brought with us but there was no modelling and nothing in the classroom to refer to. The pace was very slow and some children found this extremely
difficult. We intervened and delivered the lesson through the use of the very hungry caterpillar. The children responded more positively with modelling and we also incorporated the days of the week. Much of their English learning seems to be by rote with little understanding. In this lesson the teacher seemed disappointed if children got anything wrong and there was very little praise. After school many of the children have chores, collecting fire wood, collecting water, sweeping, washing the lunch things, cleaning classroom floors etc. We joined a group who were singing and dancing called the Mgoma Choir. This was largely led by the children themselves and none of them seemed to be in a hurry to leave to go home. A couple of things stuck us today. 1. The responsibilities the children have. 2. The amount of time they spend alone unsupervised. 3. The perfunctory nature of the school. 4. The narrow syllabus which squashes creativity and individual thought and expression. 5. The hard work of the teachers who have a really long day starting at 7.00am and finishing after 4.00pm. After school we took a tuk-tuk to Monica's house for less than 20p. Her house was largely brick built but part of it had a tin zinc roof. Her mother in law and husband were buried in the garden which housed two enormous tomb stones. The house was warm and welcoming and we were invited to make a hot chocolate. After some light conversation we returned to our hotel to look forward to our day at school tomorrow.
Tuesday 21st May 2013 We were collected at 8.30 am and taken to school by Honest, our taxi driver. On route today we passed a group of people slaughtering a cow. Apparently this was to feed the relatives at the funeral who will have travelled a long was (as Miss Stone put it, "it is like the buffet at the wake”). On arrival we headed quickly to Pre-Primary. Their teacher was absent today and therefore they were being covered by Zainab. This meant that another class was left without a teacher. We were happy to lead and started a session around the Enormous Crocodile. We read part of the story, took them outside to play tag, with ten of them wearing crocodile masks. They simply loved it! We used this activity to teach them numbers to 10 in English and Swahili. On returning to class we read some more of the story and asked the children questions, they found it difficult to use their imaginations to answer open questions. At this point Miss Stone became upset with the overwhelming realisation that these children had never been read a story from a book before and therefore found it difficult to use their imaginations. After a cup of Kilimanjaro tea we went to Standard 6. Here we used the book The Gruffalo and having read part of the story asked the children to work in groups (for the first time) to come up with a suitable ending. We took them outside into the shade to do this. Then they presented their endings to the rest of the class. This too was quite unusual and many of them were shy. We introduced peer assessment and they gave each group a score out of 10 for their ending. We then taught the children to write English sentences to describe The Gruffalo. They did this on white boards which they used for the first time and made very good attempts at English sentences. After the sentence writing we went back outside to end the session with a game of mouse, mouse, mouse, Gruffalo. The children loved this and laughed heartily. It was really good to hear them laugh! This took us up to lunch. We walked a short distance across the maize fields to Eddiness’ house where we were warmly greeted by Joseph her husband. He welcomed us into their home where a feast had been prepared. We ate and then chatted about their return visit to England. Returning to school we visited the loo. This is just a china hole in the floor, the smell was toxic but we had little option restraining ourselves to one wee a day. Then we joined a geography lesson with Judith. She was teaching the children about the minerals in Tanzania, gold, rubies, tanzanite etc. Different regions mine different minerals and they need to know which region mines what. They were using a very old text book and sharing one between ten. We taught them a little about the UK, using Miss Stone’s fantastic drawing of the map of the UK on the board (not)! The children then
asked us a range of questions; what the children eat for lunch, what religion we are, what the weather is like, how big is our school, etc. We showed them pictures on our iPhone of the snow in England and then we showed them pictures of their amazing country - lions, giraffe, elephants etc. After school we joined them in their clubs. Again these clubs were completely unsupervised. While half of the children did their chores, the other half amused themselves in their allocated club. We were meant to join football and gymnastics club. However there was no football and so this club couldn't take place. We watched some of the acrobatics as the children tried to impress us. As we had taught most classes over the last two days the children were now very inquisitive and followed us around, wanted to hold our hands, arms, touch our legs, ask us questions. The enjoyed high fiving us and Miss Stone taught them to do it high, do it low etc. We soon became swamped and so decided to leave them with their clubs and go and await our driver in the shade.
Wednesday 22nd May 2013 Today was a tough day in school. We arrived early to find approximately twelve PrePrimary children on their knees on the cold concrete floor. I was shocked so decided to go into the classroom to ask the teacher why they were kneeling. As I entered the children were sent back to their tables and so I returned to my allocated class to teach The Enormous Crocodile. During this lesson two very small children, in PrePrimary uniforms wandered into our classroom. They sat with Miss Stone and climbed all over her. They were very young and playful and had very short attention spans. When we asked about them at lunch we were told that they are too young for school but dressed in uniform to fit in. They were one of the teacher’s children. They didn't tell us which one. Our next lesson was the Queens Knickers. This was with Standard 4. They loved the story and designing knickers for the Queen to wear on her next visit to Tanzania. We played games, counted the knickers and taught them to write 1-30 in English words. Unusually we had some free time next and this was when I saw one of the teachers hit a girl on the arm and throw two books at her across the concrete passage way. At lunch I took the opportunity to ask her if some of the students had displeased her. She laughed and said that the book had insects inside it. I said the girl must have had an insect on her arm too then. This is the first physical contact we have seen with the children either to reprimand or to nurture. After lunch we headed to Standard 3. Here we used three old diamonds off my shoes and introduced them as magic stones. We told the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, slightly adapted and then the children worked in groups to make up a story about what happened when they had the magic stones. They shared their stories with each other. After school we learnt a new song that we hope to teach to the children back in Hill West. After leaving school we headed to Moshi and John accompanied us on a walk around the town, with him we felt very safe. We took him for a drink in a local bar where they were replaying an Aston Villa match and had two soft drinks and one beer for less than £2.00. We then returned to the hotel to shower and reflect on our day.
Thursday 23rd May 2013 We left for school as usual at 8.20am and headed down the very bumpy road for the last time toward James Ole Millya. We had awoken early to pack our things and took our suitcases to school. On arrival we were welcomed warmly for our last day. We started our teaching in Pre-Primary. We both love Pre-Primary. We used the story of the Hungry Caterpillar to teach numbers to ten. They loved the story and writing on whiteboards. We took them on a number hunt outside and finished the lesson by showing them how to draw and design their own butterfly. We stuck them on the blackboard and they were proud as punch. Then it was break time and after a cup of Kilimanjaro tea we headed to Standard 2, our first class again. They were going to be our first and last class and so were very special. We took the dice back and played a number of adding games. They were so excited to be getting a whiteboard and pen and two dice. Their eyes shone with glee. They sang the song Ten Green Bottles for us which we had taught them on the first day. Then we had some down time as the school prepared for our farewell celebration. The village chairperson, the school chairperson and the school gathered outside to make speeches and gestures of thanks. The two visitors talked eloquently and really seemed to realise that James Ole Millya had a lot they could learn from our experience as teachers in the UK. Next some of the children performed for us there was dancing, drumming, gymnastics and singing. Next Monica made a speech in English and Swahili and John translated throughout for us. We were very touched. Then came the presentation of gifts. The teachers gave us a Maasai shawl and dressed us up in it. They presented us with bracelets and ankle bracelets. Lots of pictures were taken and we were very touched. Next the Chairperson presented us with a laminated certificate each and also one for the school. Childreach International then arrived and also made a speech. They presented us with elephant paintings and a Childreach bracelet and a pair of earrings. Then we were taken to the Pre-Primary classroom for our farewell lunch. It was a feast of rice, noodles, spicy lamb stew, vegetables, chips and pop. We finished eating at 3.30pm and were keen to collect our things together. Monica explained that some teachers were really impressed with us but others were sceptical and afraid to embrace change. We asked her if she had policies that detailed how teachers should behave, how pupils should behave, but she said she didn't. She explained that the government issued all teachers with a policy (we thought she meant a job description) and that schools couldn't deviate from this. She said she wondered if we could get her a laptop when she visits in September. After more photos, more singing and hugs from the children we departed with a sense of relief, satisfaction, sadness and humility.
In the car, whilst driving away we asked John if he thought we had made any difference and he said he definitely thought we had, especially in the way we asked the children to think for themselves, to work together and to solve problems. That was good to hear. We then headed, dirty and tired, to the airport to check in for our flight. We washed as best we could and changed some of our clothes. Miss Stone put her pink canvas shoes in the bin as they smelled awful! Ten minutes later a porter opened the bin and got them out. He had a smile from ear to ear as if Christmas had just arrived. Fortunately the airport had a free Wi-Fi area and so we passed the time checking work emails before we headed the plane for our very, very long flight home via Dar el Salam and Amsterdam.
Our Reflections We appreciate that the opportunity we were given by the British Council was truly amazing and are keen that our visit has a lasting impact on us both as Teachers and the Leaders of Education in the UK. We too want to be able to make a real difference for the staff and pupils of James Ole Millya both in the short term and in the long term through a sustainable relationship. Our immediate thoughts turn to Hill West and how what we experienced can be applied to our school practices here. SO we are considering the use of teaching resources and how these can be more sustainable the responsibility and independence given to our children and how we can maybe better prepare them for their transition to secondary school the role we can all play in raising awareness about global poverty and being truly appreciative of what we have
When we consider James Ole Millya we would like to support them to develop school policies for behaviour and discipline adopt a more creative approach to teaching and learning where children are asked to collaborate, imagine, present and problem solve to personalise the learning through differentiated tasks build a bank of sustainable resources that can be used to teach for many years to come Inevitably teachers learn to improve their practice by watching others model different approaches and as such we hope to plan many more reciprocal visits over the coming years. This will of course mean that we will need to fund raise and we would be grateful for any suggestions about how you think we should go about this. We also want to ensure Monica and Eddiness have an excellent visit here at Hill West later in the year and we are now in the early stages of planning this (do you know anyone who speaks Swahili that could be used as a translator for us)? If you have any ideas or suggestions they would be gratefully received.