Tabora, Jamhuri and Mkoani Primary Schools

 We have a lie in this morning and don’t have breakfast till 9. Peter has a cold shower, they said there was hot water but clearly there isn’t!! At breakfast we are joined by 3 guys who are involved with the growing of sisal so we have an interesting conversation. Breakfast is a boiled egg, sausage and sliced white bread.

Shabani arrives about 10ish. He checks the car over and then we are ready for our drive to Tabora.

Peter takes some photos of crops that people are growing including rice, potatoes, maize, beans and sunflowers.

He also takes some photos of a market as we drive past.

We arrive in Tabora a bit after 1 and check into the JB Series Hotel. This is TSh 80,000 per night (about £25) so is a far higher standard that last night. We have stayed here before and know that there is always hot water and a great shower.

We have a quiet afternoon. I was actually not feeling great so skipped dinner this evening. Peter went out with Robert and Frank, Robert’s agent in Tabora. When Pete returned he said I didn’t miss anything, it was probably one of the worst meals he’s had in Tanzania!

The next day is Sunday and a rest day for us. Really not much to report as we just chilled at the hotel. I have to say the shower is great and did not disappoint. We also got some laundry done. This has to be the quickest laundry service in Tanzania. It was collected it in the morning and was all back by early afternoon.

So the next day is Monday and we are back to school visits. Robert, Frank and Shabani pick us up just after 9. Our first stop this morning is Jamhuri Primary School which we started supporting last year and so have 3 desktop computers and a printer. 

Our drive there only takes about 15 minutes. Pete takes photos of the different types of road we use to get to the school.

Since our visit last year I have had some communication problems with this school. The teacher assigned to send me the reports and generally keep in contact and tell me how things are going has not done a good job. As well as this there has been a change of Head Teacher. This has therefore made it difficult for us to assess how well they are using the computers. We therefore feel that at this point we cannot give them anymore equipment, however we will go to the school and explain our project to the new Head Teacher and talk with a different teacher about the importance of sending an informative and interesting report. They will be able to keep the equipment they have for another year and we will give them another chance to prove that they can use it effectively.

On arrival we are met by the Head Teacher and the teacher who will now send the reports. We are also joined by the Chair of the School Committee. We all sit down and have a long discussion about how things need to improve.

We visit the computer room and check on the equipment. We do have to remind them of the importance of using the surge protection leads as we find one computer plugged directly into the mains electricity. However everything else is fine though I would like them to move the computers further apart so they can get more children around each one. It’s certainly a large room so they have plenty of room for more computers if they improve.

The school has 1140 pupils and 13 teachers and we are taken to see Standard 1 and Standard 7 for a brief visit before then being offered refreshments of sodas and samosas.

By now we have spent over 2 hours at the school with the teachers so hopefully they have a better understanding of how they need to communicate with us. It’s difficult to understand why some schools are so much harder to work with than others.

We now drive another 15 minutes or so to Mkoani Primary School. One thing that is good about Tabora is that at the moment all the schools we support are in or around the town. On the drive Pete takes photos of some different types of buildings that he sees.

We have supported Mkoani School for the last 2 years and at present they have 4 desktop computers and a printer. They have around 1700 pupils and 17 teachers. Our plan today is to give them 2 more desktop computers.

When we arrive we are met by the Head Teacher, the Academic Teacher and Leah, the IT teacher who sends me the reports. We are taken into a couple of classrooms to say Hi to the children and then taken to the computer room.

When we arrive at the computer room we see that the 4 computers are all together on one side of the room and some of the teachers then seem to have taken over the other side of the room as an additional Staff Room. I suspect some teachers like to be near the computers so they can use them when they have free time. However……I was not happy to see this as part of our agreement with all the schools is that they have a dedicated room for the computers. This is important so that the children can have unhindered access to the computers throughout the day. We explain this to the Head Teacher and say we have brought them 2 more computers but that they cannot have them until this is sorted out. He then seems to think he needs to find an alternative room and takes us to a classroom he thinks is suitable but will mean moving the children (I wasn’t sure where!!). Anyway we eventually get him to understand that the original room is fine, he just needs to move the teachers out (back into the Staff Room they already have).

Anyway he obviously wants the computers because very quickly he organises some children to remove all the teachers books etc out of the room.

We then bring in the 2 new computers and reorganise the room so that more children will be able to use the computers. We stress the importance of keeping the room like this and not letting the teachers move back in!! I have told the Head Teacher I will ask Frank to do some unannounced visits in the future to check this. We also talk about how they can get more children using the computers. Leah’s reports are generally good so we just talked about adding a few more details. On a light hearted note Pete took a photo of a stripped skink who was on the wall watching us all.

Again we have been at this school for over 2 hours and it is time to leave. It has been hard work this morning. It does seem that we have more problems with the schools here in Tabora than we do in Geita. 

Anyway it is now time for lunch and we head to Nazareth Canteen which we know does a good selection of hot food.

It is early afternoon by the time we finish lunch and Pete and I decide to just have a chilled afternoon/evening at the hotel. When we get back to the room we find our bed has been decorated. A nice touch.

Tonight we eat in the hotel and it’s actually pretty good and huge portions. We may suggest to Robert he joins us here tomorrow night.