Arusha Again

Ombemi says: “ Mountains don’t meet, but people do.”

We find ourselves once again in Arusha, right back where we started, packed and ready for transport to the airport. And so, do we just go home?

Always, our interactions with other people, whether they be Maasai, Iraqw, or fellow travelers, leave something of themselves behind…become a part of our mix and perhaps alter who we are and what we understand.

And places too can change you. This one did.

We walk through the boarding gate with a tiny swagger…been there, lived to tell the tale. But more so, there is humility for our insignificance in the grandeur of this enchanted place.

And so it’s over.

Asante.

Kilimanjaro: The Shy Lady Comes Out To Say Goodbye

Njiapanda Primary School

This morning we drive to Karatu to visit the Njiapanda Primary School.

School Building

Agnes, the head teacher, greets us and invites us to sit in the desks of an empty classroom while she shares information about the school. Agnes is an impressive woman who represents the school with confidence and perceptive understanding.

The school buildings have corrugated metal roofs and stuccoed walls; glass paned windows are opened to the outdoors. Wooden desks and benches with black metal legs sit in rows on a painted concrete floor. The green chalkboard is decorated in colored chalk designs.

Agnes

A Lesson For Us All

School Grounds

We sign the ruled pages in the cardboard covered visitor’s book.

Njiapanda was established in 1986 and has 562 students attending today. It’s a public school and anyone is free to enroll. Students begin in kindergarten at age 5 or 6; first graders are 7 years old. There are two male teachers and 14 women. Seven teachers live on site.

Girls and boys attend school together. They come on foot, walking one to five kilometers. They arrive between 7:15 and 8AM. School’s out at 4:30PM.

School’s in session from January to June. They take one week off in March, with no school in June. Another session runs from the end of June to December. They take one week off in September, with no school in December.

Classes in math, science, history, civics, home crafts, English, sports and geography

are taught in Swahili. K-2 teachers teach all subjects. From third grade up teachers specialize and move from room to room.

The Library

Books Are in English

Students are tested in the fourth grade. They must pass to go on to the fifth grade; if they fail they stay in the fourth grade, (60% pass).

In the 7^th grade students take the national exam. They must pass in order to continue on. A smart child may pass the exam but if his parents can’t afford to pay he or she can’t continue.

Seeing Themselves On Camera Screen

Four years in secondary school comes next, then another exam leading the way to two years in high school. If you get an A grade you go to University; with a B grade you go to college with a C grade you go to vocational school.

They rent out the dining hall on weekends to villagers for parties and gatherings and raise a garden and sell the produce to support the school. The solar green house, if working properly, recirculates water and protects the garden from Billy goats.

OAT’s Grand Circle foundation has identified several projects for school improvement:

Solar greenhouse

Water containment

Textbooks

Solar lights for dining room

Laptop

Cooking pots and facilities for cooking without smoke

The school supplies we brought will be used as rewards for students who are doing well.

Agnes sees many people come through her school but for us she is the singular and symbolic representative for her school and a formidable public face for the school community.

Second Grade Classroom of 54 Students

Grade 6 classroom has hard packed dirt floor and about 49 students

They sing “If You’re Happy And You Know It” for us and of course, we join in.

We are asked to introduce ourselves and convey where we’re from and what we do, (not so simple to explain when you're a "financial planner"), and how far we traveled to get here.

Lunch Preparations

Cafeteria

School Cook

Not To Be Forgotten

"Africa doesn't export much, but if they could somehow export appreciation for education, they would fill a need in most of the schools in the developed world." From Safari Jema written by Teresa O'Kane

Paulu greets us at the nearby brick factory where 50 families work in a quarry making bricks to help finance their children’s education. He’s from the Iraqw Tribe. Pronounce the last syllable “keh” like you’re going to vomit, he tells us.

Meeting Paulu

The Quarry

The Mold

The bricks are made by hand, no machines involved. In the red clay quarry the earth is dug and mixed with water to form the rectangular blocks. Once formed, the bricks are carried out of the pit along a narrow path on the head of a worker. We watched a woman pile four or five bricks on her head, lift one in each hand and trudge time and again up the path.

These Bricks Are HEAVY

Thanks to a conversation with Sandra, an OAT representative living in Africa, I will be able to send my new friend some leather tipped breathable gloves that just might make her work a little easier. (I’m including some hand cream!)

The bricks are fired in a kiln for three days with the vents open. Then the vents are sealed and the bricks are fired for seven more days. When they come out of the kiln any excess clay is chipped away to make them smooth. Seven bricks = one US dollar.

The Kiln

It’s a ten-minute walk to Paulu’s two-room, thatched roofed, red brick house. We’re invited to visit and meet his family. One room is a large sitting area; the second room is the kitchen.

Richard and Friend

Paulu is first a mason, then a village guide. He is also the assistant chief in his tribe.

His family has two houses, a modern house and a traditional one. They live in the brick home in the hot season.

They have babies “chop chop” one after another before the men lose their “power”.

Good leaders have many children, 6-15. A man isn’t considered for leadership if he has merely one or two children.

Women do all the cooking; men do the heavy labor. If a man goes into the kitchen he is considered lazy. The women have prepared mucuna, a dish of beans and corn to share with us.

Marilyn and Richard

We are entertained with music and dancing. Paulu uses a gourd fiddle with a handmade bow of bent wood. His children chime in with drums and chanting. We’re all enfolded in brightly colored headdresses and wraps and invited to join in.

Nancy and Becky

Pauline and Pauline