Teaching Tractors with Boxes and Blocks

ISM Track and Field

Yesterday we competed in the International School Moshi (ISM) track and field events. We took nearly 150 people which was quite an accomplishment. Efforts towards effective transport were made much more difficult due to the rain we had had the night before! I went on a small bus called a dalla-dalla until the mud made the road impassible. The driver kept saying "I have no four wheel." I thought he was saying "I have no oil." I was less than sympathetic! You idiot…why didn't you put oil in the darn thing! Ah, language… Anyway, with some pushing, some walking in the mud, some laughing and some cursing, we were able to get everyone loaded and off to the event. One boy was nearly left! He came running up, dripping with sweat, just as we were about to load the busses. "Good morning, sir!" he chimed! I love this kid!

We arrived about ½ an hour late (not bad considering the mud bogging bus event) and competed well all day. Our kids, who walk a long way to and from school, have no problems in the distance competitions. They easily win the 1500, 800, 400 and any race that requires some endurance. Shot and discuss and some of the short distance races are more difficult, though, given the size of some of our kids. I can remember sitting in Mr. Parsons' biology class learning about fast twitch and slow twitch muscles. Turns out, our kids have great slow twitch muscles! We were 4^th for the day which was a little disappointing. But, I think the kids enjoyed the event and we were able to bring home two trophies for winning some divisions. Not bad for a Saturday in Arusha.

On the dalla-dalla ride in, I sat next to some boys who were singing. Sometimes our kids, just like kids everywhere sing loud obnoxious songs. These guys were just singing some Maasai songs…not trying to draw attention at all. Pretty soon, a few more students joined in, then more, then the parents. Soon, the whole bus was singing. But, not trying to draw attention to themselves…just singing! I can't tell you how cool it was. After the stresses of the morning and the general stresses of the week, I felt like I was being blessed with an incredible gift. I don't know where these songs came from, or even what they were saying. I just knew this was one of those moments where I have to say to myself "stop and pay attention to this bud because this is a good one." And it was.

Phone Calls that Never Quite Work Out    

I get so excited when someone calls me or I get to call someone from home! Yesterday my sister Sara called. We talked for about 10 minutes. Then, just as I was hearing the final dramatic conclusion to what happened to Alice the cat, click…the phone lost connection. ARGH! Communication is tough enough (see the dalla-dalla story above for example!) even with the best of devices! Sometime over the next year I am hoping to discover a really great way to stay in touch with family and friends! I don't know…maybe message in a bottle…anyone tried that one in a while?

Teaching Tractors with Boxes and Blocks

Form 3 agriculture has been learning about tractor parts and operations. It's been fun! I do wish for a real tractor. Since we don't have one, I've had to improvise. So, on Friday we quickly built the "Maasai Furgeson 8880" in their classroom using a box as the engine block, a pencil as the dip stick, a cup as the radiator cap, a surge protector as the battery and wooden blocks as the pedals. We did have a real tire too. I thought the students would just groan over how ridiculous it was (because it was pretty ridiculous!) But instead they asked great questions and acted really interested! We even did a driving lesson with a couple of them…using a stick as the gear shifter!

Goodbye to Robert for a While

On Monday this past week we said goodbye to our principal Robert. He is leaving for a few months to get his Masters degree in international development. We had a ceremony and gave him some gifts. Robert has been a really important piece in community relations. It will be difficult without him here…but he'll be a stronger leader when he returns!

Goodbye to Francis

We also said goodbye to a student worker named Francis on Friday. He's been with us for over a month helping teach math and chemistry. He's studying to be a medical doctor. When we asked him if he had anything to say to the students he said "I hope when I come back you will tell me that you are now in Form 3 and Form 4… not 'Here is my husband or here is my wife'." I was really impressed by this young man and he'll be sorely missed!

Goodbye to Peter for a While

We will also be losing Peter for a while as he is back in the US raising funds for the school. Peter brings a lot of energy and vitality to the school. Thankfully he'll be back in a short time!

Hello Jeff, Kim and Laura

And of course THE NELSONS ARRIVE ON TUESDAY! This is really exciting to have Lisa's family coming for a 10 day visit! We have a break the week after next. So, Jeff, Kim and Laura will visit the school, students and Monduli for the first few days. Then, I think we'll head to Lake Manyara and the Serengetti for a few days. They are in for an adventure!

Sweet, Glorious Rain

Last night I woke up to the sound of pounding rain. It was one of those noises that was really out of place. The rains have been all out of sorts lately. It's really dry right now. But, I didn't expect it to start raining for another month. Peter has been predicting the rains to come in the first part of October for a long time. When something is truly needed (i.e. water) the sound the that thing becomes really sweet!

Lisa – Possible Rockstar

Reasons Why Lisa Rocks

We all know Lisa is a rock star for multiple reasons. But, for those of you out there with some lingering skepticism, look at the evidence produced in these past two weeks. Lisa is not only teaching a subject that she has no background in (English) 18 time per week, but she is also organizing all of our activities. She puts together the sports list. She puts together the after school activities. She puts up with me. So, anything on top of that should kill a lesser soul! Please read on to discover why Lisa is a rock star.

Basketball Scrimmage with St. Judes

Saturday of last week we had a basketball scrimmage against St. Judes. We had nearly 200 students, teachers and staff attend. We played on the new basketball court. Lisa was a main contributor in organizing and executing this event. St. Judes is a school about 10 times our size in Arusha. Their mission is similar in that they sponsor really poor kids to get a great education. We are trying to develop a strong relationship with them because we have a lot in common. So, it was fun to get their boys and girls (and even teacher's) teams out there to play.

Arusha ½ Marathon

Hot on the tail of the St. Jude's basketball scrimmage, we had 22 of our students compete in the Arusha Safari ½ Marathon and 5K fun run. Since the event started at 6:45 AM (Yeah right…more like 7:30!) we had to find a place for all of our students to sleep. So, we kept them here! Yes, last week at about this time we had 18 snoring students on our living room floor and extra beds with the remaining ones down at Peter's house. It was a kick feeding them the night before….popcorn, pasta (brought from Peter's house in two big pots), tea (with loads of milk and sugar…in fact we ran out of sugar!), cookies, bananas… Needless to say that next morning our house looked like a hurricane had blown through! We finally got to bed around 10:30 only to hear our kids laughing and talking. Lisa had put on a movie for the girls to watch…I think it was Little Rascals. I finally went in after about an hour and said it was time to go to bed. At 4:00 the next morning, what do you think they did first? Yes, those girls finished watching Little Rascals! Anyway, we got everyone fed, washed, put to bed, woken up and down the road by 5 AM last Sunday morning. All of our efforts paid off too because we had the top two runners in the boys and girls 5K as well as the top two boys in their age division for the ½ marathon. And, here's the kicker….LISA RAN THE ½ MARATHON TOO! After no sleep, working her buns off all week and at the basketball game, she ran the ½. In case you were wondering, I was way too busy drinking coffee and talking to be bothered.

The Fear of Haircuts

It's not that I am afraid of cutting my hair. I do it regularly. It's more the fear that the electricity will go out in the middle of it and I'll be left looking a bit like Mr. T. Yesterday, for example, the electricity came on. I rushed in and grabbed my stuff and was buzzing away. No sooner had I cleaned up and clicked the clippers off than, sure enough, the electricity went off. I dodged that bullet. But, rest assured, one day it's going to happen. And, you're going to be looking at pictures on Lisa's Facebook page and ask "Why does Seth look so bedgraggled? Does he have mange?" And, while I may have mange too, it will likely also be because of a nasty run in with clippers, power cuts and poor timing.

Maasai Eyes

There is an interesting phenomenon I have encountered here that I would like to refer to as Maasai Eyes. We use white boards in our classrooms. All of our classrooms also have many large windows which allow sunlight to come streaming in. Great for mood enhancement, terrible for glare on the whiteboards. Several students have complained of eye problems, headaches, etc… So, we try to remedy the situation by putting up curtains. Pretty soon all of that wonderful natural light is blocked and the rooms are dark. Still not good enough. Still have kids complaining of eye problems. Now, last night we dropped a kid off after dark to walk home. And I began to put things together. I'm fairly convinced that our kids have a much higher amount of rods (or cones…can't remember which ones are responsible for night vision) than the average person. I think this helps them see at night like no other, but makes that white board like staring at the sun. Just a theory. Not going to get my PhD in that study just yet. And of course, it is a far cry better than Man Eyes which is the syndrome where you can't find anything even if it's right in front of your face. I might blog about that some other time.

Swimming in the Bush

Yesterday we took four students to TGT to experience squash, lifting weights, eating some great food and, of course, swimming. There is no water where these kids come from. They walk for miles to get water and bring it back in buckets on their heads. So, I can't imagine what must have been going through their minds yesterday when they saw that ENORMOUS pool of crystal clear water, just for people to play in! After some encouragement they got in. It was a treat to watch them encounter such a foreign concept. Mostly they just walked back and forth in the shallow end. Then they would try the arm motions while walking. By the end a few were brave enough to put their heads under for some time. I would have loved to have been there later in the night when they tried to explain to their friends and family what they did that day. I'm sure it's a little like me trying to explain some of our experiences here. Sometimes, words just aren't enough.

Week of Celebration

Turning 30
Much like Peter, I had the "never ending birthday party" this week! Wednesday - Friday we had celebrations! But, easily the capstone was Friday. I had NO idea any ideas were in the works. Then, Peter called me down to the school library. There were ALL of our students with soda in their hands singing "Happy Birthday." It was the best. Then came the gifts... two Maasai blankets (put on by a Maasai man wearing jeans...ironic) and a load of cards made by the kids. Then came the dance! Out came some of our boys...dressed as girls! They danced and the whole group of kids watching were beside themselves laughing (myself included!). Then came the cake! Ahhhh, the cake. It was a chocolate cake. I ate one bite then shared the rest with the students. No surprise it was gone in no time flat. Between the sodas, the cake and the lollipops, the kids were pretty well sugared up. It was just a great celebration.

That afternoon we had soccer and netball games. We won the soccer game. The kids declared it was because of the party. They also allowed that perhaps we should have a party before EVERY game if we want to win. I told you they were clever kids!

That night we went in to Arusha and ate Chicken at a place called Nicks (AWESOME chicken!). I got another cake from Rapha. So, we are all well sugared!

6 Year Anniversary

Lisa and I celebrated 6 years of being hitched on Saturday. As a treat, Peter got us a room at the African Tulip. WOW! We drove the Land Rover in (covered in mud and dirt) and discovered one of the nicest hotels in Arusha. We walked in to be met by a man who served us fruit juice as we checked in. Not too shabby! Then, he walked us to our rooms, opened the door and turned on our television. Then he changed the channel. In fact, he kept changing it until he got to the Discovery Channel. Bear Grills was surviving the Arizona desert. I guess our man thought that was the right spot because he left the TV there and was out the door. Oh, glorious hot showers, hot food and comfortable bed.

New Kids Start Tomorrow!

In the midst of Form 2 Mock Exams, the new "pre-form" class will start TOMORROW! They'll be working on English immersion for the next three months. We saw them for a short time on Saturday. They are small! It's going to be fun getting to know them... and add them to the family.

New Stuff...

New Volunteers Arrive

This week we had the third pre-form English immersion teacher arrived. Michelle from Canada will join forces with Andrew from California and Amy from Ireland. I made a great first impression because she had read my blog...yes the one about peeing in the garden! Today they will all move to the other volunteer house (called Mzee Mboze) to stay together for the next three months.

New Student Selection

Peter and Rapha have been busy driving around in the bush interviewing potential students. They have to verify the financial status of the family and just get a feel for the student. They should be done soon and we'll see the fruits of their labor as the next group of students arrives in Mid-September!

New Science Laboratories

The science laboratories have been built, now we need to outfit them with equipment! This is fun for me to see the possibilities. The labs will have wood cabinets, sinks, gas and of course lots of equipment. I've been helping gather information on what sorts of things need to go in them (i.e. chemicals, beakers, etc...). Thanks to the folks at Pine Bluffs High School we have quite a bit of equipment already!

New Electricity

For some reason (knock on wood!) we have had electricity for the past five days! Solid! What the heck? Noone can figure it out, but we have been taking advantage of it...lights are on...music is blaring... Lisa made cookies! We watched a movie last night. Ah, the good life!

New Shoes for Lisa (and renewed energies for running!)

Andrew brought Lisa some running shoes that she had ordered and had shipped to him. Now she is back to running. In fact, she ran 10 miles yesterday! Just like that...woke up and said to herself "I'm going to run 10 miles" and she did! That's how Lisa rolls. I usually wake up and say "I'm going to make coffee." She is getting ready to run the Arusha 1/2 marathon coming up in a couple of weeks.

Form 2 Mock Exams Next Week

Form 2 will be taking national exams this week...you know the ones that determine whether you get to go on to Form 3. Well, this week the district will be administering a "mock exam" beginning Friday and continuing all next week. Our students are, of course, nervous. It is a little frustrating though because the exams are really poor quality - misspelled words, poorly worded questions and some for which there are just no proper answers. We will take the exam anyway because it's a good way for the students to get themselves prepared for the national test.

Bees in the Woods

Peter's Never Ending Birthday Party

We celebrated Peter's birthday this week…for three days! Picked up a new volunteer Andrew on Wednesday until late…BBQ on Thursday then in to Arusha on Friday. Needless to say, by Saturday we were all TIRED! But…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Genetics in Swahili

But…no rest for the weary! Friday I found out I had to attend a biology seminar in Monduli which would be held at 8 AM on the campus of a high school. Peter and Lisa said "don't go…it will start late and be done in Swahili..." not really helpful. But, some other folks wanted me to go. So I did. Bad idea. Both predictions were right. Now, for some people, learning the topic of genetics may sound as if people are speaking to them in Swahili. Now I understand where they are coming from!

Bees in the Woods

This may be the best story I have yet! I am teaching a unit on keeping bees with my Form 3 students. They said there is a man keeping bees near here…you should get him to come here and be a guest speaker. I asked Peter to call some people…he did…the guy was supposed to come on Friday at noon. He arrived Thursday at 8 AM (not too surprising). So, I thought he could speak to the class as long as he was there. But NOOO. He had something better in mind. "Just a little way from the school" there was one of his hives and we could help gather honey from it. I say great – but can we make it there and return before the end of the hour. He says "Sure, no problem!" Hind sight and all that…. Anyway, we start walking….I don't have my cell phone and I certainly havn't told anyone my plans. We keep walking…and walking… Soon, we pass tracks of elephants. My students said they heard people had speared some of them last night because the elephants were trying to get to the water. Now the elephants were angry. Ah, this is really good news since I have 32 students tromping through prime elephant habitat! We keep walking… Finally we arrive. It is now time for the class to end, but we are 2 miles away!

Before I know it, one of my students is up the tree. 30 feet up the tree. He has to lower the bees down (of course). In the meantime another couple of students are lighting a fire to "smoke the bees." They also have some mushroom thing they are going to use to smoke (the bees of course…no students were smoking the mushrooms as far as I know). So, student up the tree….other students lighting fires….mushrooms are involved…recipe for one good time right? Well, it gets even better.

We got the hive down to the ground and ready to be opened. More smoke was blown in. More students crowding around. More grey hairs are added to my head. Then it came time to lift the lid. I'm picturing that scene on My Girl when the boy gets swarmed and then…well you know the rest. Anway, the bees don't swarm. They are just laying around. Must have been some mushroom! So, then it was time to cut the honey comb.

The honey comb was in sections and loaded with bees and honey. The students cut it using a machete. Then they went running into the woods with their booty! They were eating it comb and all! I even had some…not too bad. I was thinking this whole thing might not be so bad and I might not get fired from my volunteer position when, of course, someone got stung.

Now, these students know how to act when they are hurt! My students can withstand pain, hardship and difficulty. They do every day of their life. But, give them an audience and a sudden and intense situation (i.e. a bee stinging your honey smeared hand) and it's a recipe for d.r.a.m.a. One girl got stung and started flailing her hands about and screaming. Then another. I got them calmed down and was saying "OK…seriously now….I think it's time we are heading back." But, of course, the man needed help hanging the hive again! CRIPES!

While students were over helping hang the hive, some others were milling about (nursing their wounds). Some told me they get stings on their lips. The problem with the whole situation when you eat honeycomb is that there are still several bees inside!

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, we finally got to leave. We re-traced our steps through the bush and arrived at the school 5 minutes late for their third class (yes, I had taken the second period thank you very much.) Thankfully I have EXTREMELY flexible coworkers (one of whom is my wife) who just rolled with my disorganization.

Anyway, we got to see how honey is harvested, ate some local product, and no one died. I count that as a success!

What a Friend we have in Jesus

Today in church we sang that classic hymn. All of a sudden I was 9 years old in the Hulett First Baptist Church standing in front of Bruce. Bruce was a friend of my grandpa and lived just up the road from us. He stood about 6'2" and had just huge hands. He would clap you on the shoulder and say "How's Seth today" and other expressions like that I used to associate with real men like my grandpa and Bruce. There's a picture of Bruce and Dick and Grandpa all standing there with beards. None of them EVER wore facial hair, so I asked about the picture one time. Grandpa said they were going hunting in the mountains and thought it would be a good idea. Makes sense I guess. Bruce had a deep bass voice and would belt out those hymns such as What a Friend we have in Jesus. I know of lots of folks who have had just terrible experiences with their churches, especially when they are young. Or, they have never had good men as their role models. Today, for whatever reason, I was just remembering that I have had neither. I had the Hulett First Baptist Church (average membership of maybe 25 ish….average age of maybe 98 ish…) and men like Bruce. We had pot lucks and things like that. I suppose you could hear that song and it could make you remember bitter feelings…or the irony of singing about this supposed friend if you are feeling particularly lonely. But, thankfully today, I had none of that. I was just remembering Bruce.

Eid… the Tanzanian Snow Day

Well, once again, we have cause to celebrate. Somewhere between Monday and Wednesday we will have one to two days off of school because of Eid, a Muslim holiday which marks the end of their fast. The actual date of celebration is affected by whether the moon can be seen the night before. So, we are blessed with that element of unpredictability. Which, quite frankly, always makes it just a bit sweeter don't you think.

Dust and Selection in Monduli

New Student Selection

Last Friday we had over 400 students on our campus vying for a spot at the entrance exam to Orkeeswa Secondary School. After a long day of matching students with their actual home (we can only select students from three villages) we had narrowed the field to something like 268. So, last Saturday and Sunday, most of us were back at the school helping to proctor and grade entrance tests for these students. They took two different tests and we took the average score to help rank them. Needless to say, that was a tiring process! Then, yesterday and today Peter, Rapha, Thomas and Robert sat down one on one with about 70 students (the top 70 from the test) and interviewed them. Lisa and I ran screaming into the night…and wound up in Arusha…well away from the selection process for a while! Sorry for those guys who have now worked like 20 straight days. From here we will narrow the selection down to about 40 student who will get a "boma visit" to determine the relative wealth of the family as we only take the hardest cases. Then…it's time to make the selection of the 30-35 students who will be our next class! It's exciting. When I think about the personalities we will get….the skills….the stories… the future woodworkers (of course!)…

Hike to the Waterfalls

Since we were not helping with the interviews this weekend, Lisa and I ran away to Arusha. In fact, that's where I am right now! Yesterday, we hiked to a waterfall just outside of Arusha. The trip was organized by a local club called Tuende (meaning….Let's Go!) The waterfalls were beautiful…a far cry from the dust of the road it took to get there. There were lots of other volunteers and NGO workers on the walk…mostly female…representing Australia, Germany, Holland and the US. From my experience this is a fairly good representation of all volunteers around this area. The trip took about six hours and we lounged around afterwards!

New Volunteers

Starting today three new volunteers will trickle in to help English. Amy from Ireland arrived last night. Andrew from California will arrive next week and a third gal (name escapes me right now) from Canada will be coming the following week. Apparently they are all good cooks…which is really more exciting than their teaching abilities! They will all live together in the other volunteer house….no running water or electricity…oh wait, that sounds more like ours lately! Don't worry, we've already begun to consider ways to trick them into coming up and cooking for us in exchange for….well, we're still working out those details.

Track and Field Tryouts

This past week Lisa has been busy auditioning students for the track and field competition. We'll take most of our students to compete against the international schools around Arusha. We always do pretty well in the distance events (go figure) and javelin throwing (again, go figure) but struggle in the sprints and shot/discuss. We're hoping for big things this year though from our little guys! (ahhh…)

 

The Tarp in the Back of the Truck

I have to tell you about the epic tale of the blue tarp. We've all been riding to school in the four door pickup ever since school began this term. The favored ones would ride in the front, safe and sound, listing to music and drinking Champaign (kidding about that Champaign thing….) while the rest of us suffered the dust and cold temperatures in the back. I would end most days covered in a thick layer of dust from head to toe that would take a long time to get washed out….not to mention rob us of precious water. Well, that all changed the day I brought a big blue tarp to cover ourselves with. The first day I was the only one covering myself with it. Most of the other teachers looked at it with contempt. On the second day they were all under it with me….laughing and telling jokes. By the third day when I went to climb in the back, they told me there was no room and I would have to sit in the front! Perhaps I created a monster. The bed of the pickup, covered in a big blue tarp, had become way more, um, awesome, than the front. More jokes, stories and songs were shared back there in the past two weeks than in all the other weeks combined. Interesting phenomena. I'm still waiting for acceptance from the group to get back in…

Let me introduce you to…

Let me introduce you to our students…

My blogs miss the heart and soul of what we are doing here. Our students are the heart and soul of our experience here. I spend a lot of time complaining about the conditions and whining about my own shortcomings … both topics about which we could write novels! But, I realize you may not know our students. Let me introduce you to them…

 

Our students walk to school and arrive at 7:30 in the morning. They study on their own. They assemble at 8:00 and discipline each other on dressing properly, studying and whatever else happens to be on their mind that they need to be doing to be a good student. They do this on their own…the adults are just trying to just get everyone rounded up, collect the food for the day, and get out to the school! We teach, they learn until 2:40. Then they do after school activities. Some days they get to watch a movie. Some days they play basketball. Some days they work with me down in the garden. Then they walk home. And then they study some more. On their own. Then they come in on Saturday and study some more. We didn't have school last Friday. They came and studied at school. On their own.

 

Our kids aren't angels. They have their own issues…just like any other kid. But read the above general introduction to our kids again. Then you begin to get some idea of the really incredible side of being here.

 

The Garden

The garden is really coming together! While we were gone visiting family in the States, students and volunteers re-built the fence. They also cleared the grounds of weeds, etc… and created new beds in many of the sections of the garden. We've built 15 benches for an outdoor classroom. We've also created a drip irrigation system in one section to experiment with. If it works we hope to expand to all of the garden. We also built a sand filter to use the grey water from the kitchen to irrigate the fruit trees in the garden. I realize that when I have to watch a sport for after school activities, I keep checking my watch wondering when it will be over. But, when I work in the garden with our kids time seems to fly. Maybe I am boring after all…

 

The Basketball Court

Over the five week break in June and July our students worked to create a basketball court. This isn't just any court! It's a full length concrete basketball court which, when finished, will have six hoops around the perimeter. In a word…it's cool! And, it sure beats the dirt courts we were playing in before. The project was done as part of a service learning project done by a high school in Boston called Groton. Groton brings about 15 students here to work and interact with our kids. This is the second year they have come.

 

Nanenane Agriculture Show

Yep, it's that time of year again. Prepare your eyes, your ears and your noses for the Nanenane (pronounced nah-nay nah-nay) Agriculture Show! We are taking the Form 3 agricultures students to the event tomorrow. Apparently there will be animals, crops, machines…and a whole boat load of Tanzanians! Should be a good time…so long as we don't lose any students….

 

Lisa stays overnight at a student's home, Seth celebrates MANduli…

Last night was monumental for two reasons. First, Lisa and Whitney (office manager from New York) went to a student's house to stay the night. They had to travel all the way out to Usa (pronounced u as in you – sah) River. So…it meant about d4 hours of travel one way. While she was gone, Peter and I celebrated being men in Monduli with the first ever MANduli. It involved, in short, cooking meat on a fire. I hope to repeat the event soon. But, since we had to use her fingernail polish remover to start the fire, I am not sure about Lisa's stance on the event just yet.