Geita - Part 2

 3 School Visits

We are up promptly this morning as we have a busy day. We have breakfast and are ready to leave by 8.30, although Robert and Hamisi don't arrive until about 9. Today they have a driver with them called Tim, as we will be doing a lot of driving, some of it over rough roads.

We are going to visit 3 school in Geita Rural Region but first we have to call in at the District Council Offices. The drive takes about an hour.

When we arrive at the District Offices we have a bit of a wait before we meet the Assistant District Executive Director of Geita District Council. He is happy to hear about out project and asks some relevant questions before thanking us for all we do. We then meet the District Education Officer who organises for her assistant to accompany us on our school visits today. 

We are now free to leave and go to the schools. Because we now have one extra person there is no room for Hamisi in the car so he has to get a boda boda (motorbike) for most of the day.

Our first school is Nzera Primary School which has 30 teachers and 1648 pupils. We have supported them since January 2020 and they now have 6 computers and a printer.

Today we are finishing our support here and signing over all the computer equipment to the school. We have a meeting with the headteacher, the ICT teacher and some other teachers and members of the local community. They are happy that the computers are now theirs to keep.

We then do a quick check on the computers and take a few group photos. They ask if we would like to stay for a soda but we don’t really have time so we decline.

It is about a15km drive to our next school. Again Hamisi has to get a boda boda as we still have the lady from the Education Office with us. I am not sure how happy is about this 😀.

After an hour or so we decide we must have missed the school and have to ask for directions. While we are stopped these children gather round the car and are happy to have their photo taken.

So we eventually arrive at Mwaloni Primary School. This is a new school for us. They have 2164 pupils and 25 teachers.

We are greeted by the deputy headteacher  and taken into a room to meet some of the other teachers.

We also meet the Chair of the School Committee and the Village Chairmen

At this time we are also introduced to the ICT teacher who will be the one to write and send the computer reports.

Robert now explains a bit about ACTT and our project and we tell them that they will be getting 3 computers and a printer, they are very happy.

We then hand over the equipment which leads to lots of photos, after which Hamisi and Robert set it all up and check it works.

We then talk to the teachers about the reports they need to send and the Loan Contract which they then sign.

The headteacher then takes us round the school to show us the classrooms and to tell the children that the school is getting some computers.

The Standard 2 Class is very large, around 200 children and is usually split into 2 classes but today we are using the other classroom so they are all in together.

In the Standard 6 class one boy wants to come and thank us personally which is lovely.

 

In Standard 5 Hamisi talks to the children and asks if anyone has seen or used a computer. The answer is a resounding NO. However when asked who would like to learn to use a computer all the hands went up.

It has been a good visit but it is now time to leave as we still have another school to visit. This last school is near the District Offices so we have to drive the 15km back along the rough road.

It is now 3pm and we haven't had any lunch so before we go to the school we stop for something to eat. We get rice (an absolutely massive amount) meat and greens for TSH 2000 (about 70p). I know a lot of people say Tanzania is really expensive to visit but really that is just the tourist areas. As soon as you travel away from these areas it is very cheap. Pete actually took a photo of the menu for anyone who is interested.

Luckily the food arrived very quickly and the school was only just around the corner.

So our final school today was Kakubilo Primary School. They have 40 teachers and 1875 pupils and we have supported them since January 2020. So far they have received  have 5 computers and a printer.

We are met by the headteacher and the new ICT teacher and shown to the teachers room where we had a meeting. The headteacher did an introduction and then thanked us for supporting their school. The teachers then all introduced themselves. 

2 students also came and thanked us for the support we had provided to the school.

One of the students was from the Special Needs Unit and was deaf. He did his speech in sign language and a teacher interpreted for us.

After this we were given a soda and the ICT teacher then gave quite a long speech in English. He gave a review of their computer usage over the last year and the impact this had had on the pupils and teachers. He also gave us a written copy of the speech to take away.

Robert then gave a short speech and informed them that this time we would be  adding a projector and laptop to their equipment which they were very pleased about.

The ICT teacher then invited us to visit the computer lab where the some students were using the computers.

While we were watching the students and talking to the teachers Hamisi had set up the projector and laptop.

The teachers then wanted more photos.

 

After all the photos we managed to have a catch up with the headteacher and the ICT teacher and then signed the loan contracts.

By now it was gone 5pm and it was clear that the woman from the District Education Office wanted to leave. We dropped her back near the offices and then Hamisi was able to join us in the car again for the drive back to Geita.

We got back to the hotel just before 7 so it had been a long day but a very successful and enjoyable one.