Spring 2008 SST Unit in Tanzania
Follow along on our journey! You can click on any square picture to see a larger image.
Thu, 27 Mar 2008Visit to Musoma – Laura and Lydie
One good thing that came of this change was that Laura and Lydie have had the opportunity to experience both public (Buturi) and private (Victoria) secondary schools. There is a huge shortage of both teachers and resources (money, books, teaching materials) in both cases, but the situation in public schools is particularly difficult. All of our students who are teaching in Tanzania also struggle with teaching methods heavy on lecture and copying from the board (teaching to the all-important exams does not promote creativity in the classroom, something our state-side teachers are familiar with as well), and discipline in the schools where caning is accepted and widely used. They do find that many of their teaching colleagues struggle with these issues as well.
The school and their host families are located about 50-minute walk from the town of Musoma and the area feels as though they are out in the county. The school is on a hill with a beautiful view over the town and Musoma Bay of Lake Victoria, and their walks home from the school take them on paths that are shared with chickens and cows and goats through homesteds and fields – including some sizable rice paddies.
Laura lives with Pastor Olimo, Director and founder of the school, and his wife. There are quite a number of children and grandchildren living in her home. (You will recall, too, that one of the grandchildren died of a sudden illness a couple of weeks ago which was tramatic for everyone.) Laura has enjoyed running on the roads and paths in the area. In the school she is helping to teach English classes and has started to teach a fine-art class in one of the free periods.
Lydie lives with the Headmaster of the school and his wife. There are a number of grandchildren and assorted relatives living in this home too. Lydie also teaches several sections of English at the school. As with Laura, encouraging students to be imaginative and creative in an environment where those skills are generally discouraged has been an interesting experience. They have also noted that the numbers of girls in secondary school classes – never a high percentage in the first place – suffers a significant decline in the higher grade levels. By Form IV (equivalent to senior year) it is not unusual to only have two or three girls in a classroom of 30 students. Girls getting pregnant along the way is a huge problem, but also as family resources are scarce, many find it simply impossible to continue paying school fees for all their children and opt to complete their boys’ education first.
We should be able to finish Annali’s visit here at Nyabange tomorrow when the Theological College has a farewell for her. Time is really feeling short now. One week from today (Thursday) we gather all the students in this region for the long bus trip back to Dar. Two weeks from today (after visiting Zanizibar) we put all these students on the plane back home (except for the few traveling here on their own). And three weeks from today we ourselves should be back in our own home in Goshen! In the meantime we make sure to look about each day and think about what an amazing and beautiful place Tanzania is.
Those of you who have been following this blog know that Laura and Lydie had a week stay in the village of Buturi before moving to their final assignment at Victoria Secondary School outside of Musoma town. Their host in Buturi was our good friend Mzee Siso, a man who has had an amazing life and who is also an engaging story-teller. You might infer from the pictures of the inside of his house that he had been an avid game hunter (and amateur taxidermist) for much of his younger years. Siso is a warm and welcoming host and the women were sorry to leave the village and their first assignment teaching at Buturi Secondary School (because of a bureaucratic snafoo).
Posted at 09:38 #
International Education Office
Kevin Koch
kevinak@goshen.edu
+1 (574) 535-7346