We spent last weekend in Moshi taking students to compete in the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon and 5-K fun run. We had eight boys, Lisa and Ben compete in the half and six girls plus Peter compete in the 5-K fun run. I was too busy drinking Coke and eating cashew nuts to be bothered with running! It was fun to take kids on their first overnight trip. We slept in classrooms at International School Moshi the night before the race. We also ate an enormous dinner in their cafeteria. I say enormous because it was a buffet and those Maasai boys can put away the food! It does make you wonder where it all goes because they are so skinny! We did have one boy finish with a time of 1:20 in the half...pretty darn fast. Maybe it was the food...
School Inspection
We had a random school inspection this week. I equate it to the horsemen of the apocalypse descending on your school which is soon followed by much wailing and gnashing of the teeth. I guess this is the way Tanzania does quality control for their schools. Basically the inspectors (two of them in our case) show up unannounced and look at all of your paperwork, interview some students and watch a few teachers do their lessons. Everyone is hustling and bustling around to find all of the right forms, etc... And, at the end of the day, their score doesn't mean much. Nevertheless, it was a stressful 24 hours when they arrived.
Crazy Friday
Yesterday was just crazy. First, we had scheduled all of the student's parents to come help at the school. This is supposed to be a regular occurance and is an effort to have the school become truly a community run effort. But, yesterday many of the parents did not show. So, students were sent home to get their parents. To be clear, this meant that students had to walk home for several kilometers in the hot sun, find their parents, and bring them back to school. I was gone for part of the morning tending to a sick kid (I'll talk about that more later). When I returned, it was crazy! Students and parents were everywhere! I think the point was to send a message to the parents that we are serious about their attendance at these things. However, from a western perspective, it didn't make much sense.
Student Sickness
We have had quite a few sick students lately. Many of them are pretty serious. Some are simply because boiling water is such a difficulty. It requires finding fuel (likely wood or charcoal) and burning it. Plus, most of the time the water really doesn't make the local folks sick. But, around this time of year, for some reason, there are more bacteria in the water and people get sick. I've visited a couple student's homes now and the scene is really sad. I think I've already voiced my frustration with the sanitation and water situation here. However, lately it has taken on a whole new and very sinister head from what I have seen.
The Chicken Coop
In light of the craziness of this week, one very cool thing stands out. I asked the Form 2 (sophomores) class to take care of the chicken coop. I read off the names of the groups in class and gave a general overview of my expectations. I thought I would have to remind, cajole, yell, kick and scream for a while to get them to take care of the chickens. So, I was really surprised when one student came to me with the key to the chicken coop. I asked him why he had it. He said he went and took it from another student so he could take care of the chickens like I had asked. My jaw must have been on the floor! He not only had listened to my instructions, but he had also taken the initiative on his own to make it happen. Sometimes just some simple things like that really strike you.
Seven Year Itch (caution sensitive material below....ha ha ha!)
I have sensitive skin. Everyone who knows me knows how frequently I get poison ivy. For some reason, I have been itchy for about the past month. And not just a little bit! I don't know whether it's the dust or the unclean water I shower in or the clothes that don't really get rinsed of their suds very well... but something is getting me! And getting me from head to toe! Now, I know many of you don't want to know this. But, as an accurate and thorough blogger, I felt obliged to share ALL of my woes with you! So, there you go. Have a scratch for me.
Garden and Livestock Projects
I'm pretty excited about some of the things happening around the school. We're trying some different projects in the garden and also some possible livestock projects. In the garden we are developing a distribution plan for grey water that will go to the fruit trees. We are also using plastic drinking water bottles to irrigate other trees and bushes around the campus. In the near future we are hoping to establish a drip irrigation system throughout the rest of the garden so we're not so dependent on the unpredictable rains. There is also the very real prospect of building a barn for dairy cattle, goats and sheep. I'm hoping all of these things come to some fruition while I'm here because they sound like fun challenges.
Football and Netball Matches
In addition to teaching English, Lisa has been coordinating the athletic events. For the past two weeks we have taken the students in to Monduli (7 dalla dalla busses full) to play football and netball. Football means soccer. Netball is like basketball, but with significant differences. These festivities are a fun way to see our kids in a different dynamic. Plus, they are really good! Our boys football team won last week against the best team in the district!
American Football in Tanzania
Lisa started an American Football club. She teaches them the basics of the game. Sometimes they watch football movies. I think someone sent us the Super Bowl so I imagine that will be enjoyed soon. My hunch is this may be the only American Football being played in Tanzania, if not Africa! However, soon there will be an American football match between Iowa (Drake University) and Mexico (no idea what team there) in Arusha! These two teams are coming as part of an aid program of some sort. We are hoping to take Lisa's students there to experience what I'm sure is bound to be an interesting event.
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