The first week and a half of school has gone great so far!
After rearranging the schedule, I’m actually only teaching Form 1s. At first I
was a little disappointed but now I realize that I can spend extra time making
sure the Form 1s have the best year possible. I picked out some free periods on
the schedule so I will be teaching each stream (class) 4 days a week- 2 double
periods and 2 single periods. The single periods aren’t ideal, but I figure
it’s more than they would have, so even if they can’t absorb that much in only
40 minutes, at least they are being exposed to English two more days each week.
Right now it is still their English Orientation Course, AKA Baseline. The
lesson plans are pre-written so it has been really easy to teach so far. Last
year the Form 1s completed 6 units of Baseline. So far we have completed 14
units…and we still have a week and a half to go! There is no schedule for
Baseline, so there is no accountability for the teachers. I have been going
every morning and sometimes am the only teacher the Form 1s have all day. Last
night I created a “master notebook” with all of the notes, so today the
students who registered late (AKA arrived 3 weeks after school began) copied
all of the notes and I marked the other students’ notebooks.
I have been a lot more active and wander the streets of
Newala more often. In part, it is because Lisa (the new volunteer) lives in a
different neighborhood so I have found different routes leading to her house. It
is really nice having another American so close! On Friday I got to shadow her
at work. She is working with TZ21 whose goal is to install computers at every
primary school in Mtwara region. They were checking installation preparedness
at each of the schools, so we went out in the bush in a private Land Rover
(with air conditioning and all!). I sat in on some of the meetings and other
times I would wait outside and try to talk to the local kids. For the most
part, the schools were unprepared for the computer installation. The main
issues: teachers who attended TZ21’s training were no longer teaching at the
school, there was a new Headmaster who had not been informed of TZ21’s plans,
there was no paperwork or any documentation to be found of what was expected of
the school, they complained there was no money to fund the required security
items (a locking wooden cabinet, 2 tables, 2 chairs, a metal grill for the room
the computers would be in, a strong support beam to mount solar panels, a
leak-free ceiling).
One of the schools in particular was heartbreaking. There
were two buildings. The original building had been made out of mud, sticks and
cow poop. The roof was collapsing, there were huge holes in the walls, no
floors, and destroyed chalkboards. Thankfully they weren’t using that structure
anymore. They built a new cinderblock building-one long hall with 5 rooms (to
teach 7 grades). There are still no floors, the blackboards are still trashed,
and the rooms just look so sad and dreary. To make matters even worse, the
school was being run by 4 teachers who all looked like they were less than 30
years old. This means that as soon as teachers’ contracts expired at this
school, they got the hell out of there. But that also makes it unstable for the
students because there is no one who knows the history of the school or who has
been there long enough to gain the respect needed to run a school.
On Saturday all hell broke loose in Masasi. Masasi is my
banking town that is about 2 hours away by bus. Natural gas has been discovered
in Mtwara region and government officials are wanting to build a pipeline all
the way to Dar es Salaam to then process the natural gas there. The people of
Mtwara want the gas to stay here, in turn creating jobs and revenue and
providing a steady supply of gas. A few peaceful riots had happened in December
and earlier in January, but for some reason things got very violent in Masasi.
Somewhere between 4-9 people were killed. The rioters burned down several
government buildings and private residences. There was gunfire, and the police
set of bombs trying to disperse the crowds. We had 3 volunteers who had gone to
Masasi to bank that day. Two of them got caught in the gunfire and then they
had rioters board their bus, armed with shovels searching for government
officials. A smaller riot broke out in Newala later that day (about a half mile
from my house). The police once again had to set off bombs to disperse the
crowd. Peace Corps put us all on lockdown so I didn’t leave my house for two
days. Now everything is fine. I feel completely safe. Not sure how things are
being resolved politically, but there have been no more riots.
In other news, students are working on “school cleanliness”
every day after school. On Monday I decided I’d ask them if they could sweep my
backyard. Ten minutes later, all my grass was cut, the leaves were thrown out
and all the dirt was swept. Payment? Stickers were all they wanted. And I’m
sure they were happy I didn’t beat them like the other teachers. The next day
my trash pit got re-dug so the wind doesn’t blow my trash everywhere. Today
they tidied up my walkway to school. It’s amazing!
Deirdre spent the night here on Monday. One of her villagers
came to Newala Hospital to deliver her baby, so we decided to go visit her.
They don’t provide food when you are a patient at the hospital, so we made
rolls and a potato stew. The woman’s husband had to sell his bicycle the day
before to pay for firewood to cook their meals, and also to pay for her medical
bills. Everyone in the maternity ward was so happy/amazed/confused to see
Mzungus visiting a Tanzanian at the hospital. We greeted the Mama’s whole
family and they were so welcoming. Apparently when I go to visit Deirdre I’m
going to sleep at that family’s house. It felt so good bringing so much joy to
a few people.
As we walked home from the hospital we saw people going into
the disco where we had gone on New Years Eve. We decided to check it out.
Apparently it was an invitation only event for all of the District Officers.
But who needs an invitation when you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer? We even got
announced during the introductions. We only stayed for maybe ten minutes
because we felt out of place and didn’t really understand what was going on.
Today I was eating lunch in town, sitting talking to the waitress and this guy
came over and kept greeting us. I gave him my usual glare, but then he asked me
why I had left the celebration early. Suddenly he started speaking perfect
English and we had a great conversation. He is a Social Worker at the Hospital
and I asked him if it would be possible to shadow him a few times. He works
many different cases: Orphans and Vulnerable Children, exemptions for the
elderly, family counseling, etc. He said he spends most of his time in the bush
evaluation people there. I am so excited I made that connection. Even though
all of the evaluations will take place in Kiswahili I’m sure it will still be a
meaningful experience and it will help me improve my language skills.
In other news: my electricity at my house is fixed;
according to the fundi there are many rats living in my attic; I bought a new
mattress today so I don’t need to roll out of the hole in my bed every hour;
tomorrow Tetsuko and I are making ginger, BBQ’d pork; Juice Man greets me by
name now; I got another proposal by an old man at the market; my spare room is
now a storage room for a kid who is supported by Baptist Missionaries who are
now leaving the country; two Form 3 girls asked me to “practice spoken English”
with them; I finally decided to hire a house girl to wash my clothes and my
sheets twice a month; I have had many people compliment me on my improved
Kiswahili; after the kids finish “cleaning the environment” I proposed they try
cleaning the library; I found carrots and avocados at the market last weekend
and was ecstatic….
Also, just another huge THANK YOU for all the packages and mail. Still haven’t gotten around to writing each of you individually. I’m so sorry!
Here are some links about the riots:
