Season's Greetings

Here we are celebrating our longest day (by 10 minutes or so).

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season, and all the best for the New Year!

Lars and Molly

Scenes from the Serengeti

Finally, some lions and other wild creatures!

There has been a long gap in postings as I have been traveling - first to Toronto to visit with Kirsty, Ryan, Immy and of course new baby Evelyn. Then,  off on safari to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro with my  81 year old (today - happy birthday!) Mum and sister-in-law Rita. We dubbed ourselves the Ladies #1 Tanzania Touring Company, and what a time we had!

We flew to Arusha, where we were met by Naiman, reputedly one of the best guides in the business, and then drove straight off to Lake Manyara, where we caught sight of our first giraffes and hippos, basking in the setting sun. We slept that night in a tent (quite luxurious by the way) overlooking the Rift Valley.

The next day, we drove to Lake Ndutu lodge, 28 km along a dirt track away from the main  road through the Serengeti. The wildebeest migration had started, and the plains were full of them, many kinds of antelope, zebras and other less visible animals and birds. We had 3 days here, each one full of excitement!

Breakfasting with the lions - really! As we were setting up, Naiman announced he could see a lioness. We thought he was joking - fortunately, the lioness had already had her breakfast.

Sunrise at Ndutu                                                    One of 3 male cheetahs lazing under a tree

This shot of a leopard took 2 hours to get! We watched, riveted, while he stalked some reedbuks who were feasting on watercress by the Seronara river. We couldn't actually see the leopard at this point, but the drama was in the reedbuks' reaction - they sniffed the breeze, ran away, pranced back, irresistibly drawn by the watercress and then finally took off up the river. At this point the leopard gave up and went back to the tree, where he laid along a branch to get some sun.

After visiting a Masai village, where we supported the local economy by paying exorbitant amounts (relatively) for our souvenirs, and a stop at Oldupai Gorge, we continued on to Ngorogoro Crater, where we stayed in a lovely hotel perched on the rim.

This little kindergarten in the Masai village, with its blue desks donated from China, was taught by an unmarried girl (so therefore under 18) with maybe primary education. Educating girls is still not a priority, although that may be changing slowly.

Somehow gin and tonics taste better wearing dressing gowns and Masai necklaces. I have spared you the shots of Mum and I dancing with the Masai women...

Inside the crater was tremendous...we saw 14 black rhinos, beating Naiman's personal best of 13 in one day. Black rhinos are the same colour as white rhinos...the difference is in the shape of the snout. Rita and I also took a stroll around on top of the rim, accompanied by Lyimo and his AK47. I thought that was a bit of overkill (!) until he told us about having shot 3 charging African buffalo a few weeks before. Luckily we didn't meet any elephants, lions or buffalo on our walk, although the next day we saw buffalo right outside the gates of the hotel. We did climb down and meet 7 or 8 Masai women who had spent the whole day waiting for a small water hole to fill up with water. By the time we got there, they had filled only one of their buckets and it was late afternoon.

The whole trip was a completely different tourism experience from anything else we have encountered in Tanzania - 4 course English style meals, driver and a planned schedule of activities. It was beautifully planned and carried out from beginning to end - I highly recommend it for a once in a lifetime experience!

Oysta Bay - Shule ya Sekondari

Just thought I'd include this picture  of a giant baobab tree that is growing in the yard (and threatening to break the fence of) the house that Roald Dahl lived in for a couple of years in the late 1930's. Apparently this is the biggest baobab in Tanzania (could be up to 1000 years old!) Baobabs are my new favourite tree - I have so many pictures of them I could do a separate post, all about baobabs and the life that goes on in, under and around them. Maybe I will, now that I know that Laura's Middles at Halifax Independent are studying them!

So, the story goes that Roald Dahl lived here while working for Shell Oil as a young man. He used to look up the coast towards the cement factory (which still exists) and apparently it gave him the idea for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Does anyone know if he has any references to baobabs in his books? 

Roald's baobab is in Oyster Bay (pronounced Oystabay), which is on the peninsula (where all the rich people live). The school where I have jumped into teaching  is also in Oyster Bay, but once inside the school walls, one could be in any school anywhere in Tanzania. 

It is actually a fairly new secondary school (about 4 years old) and shares the site with a primary school which has been there for years. Because it is so new, the classroom block to house them all has not been finished (see below to the right of the picture) and they have had to go in shifts - the Form 3 and 4s from 7:00 to 1:00, and the Form 1 and 2s from 1:00 to 6:00. However, now that the school year is almost over and the Form 4s have finished their exams and gone, everyone is squished into one shift, and the Form 1's are housed in primary school classrooms.

So what is this school in the richest neighbourhood in the richest region of Tanzania like? The students come from all over the city and are not necessarily middle or upper class. There are 50+ children in a class, no textbooks or indeed books of any kind that I can see (I was told there were some English books in a cupboard, but the key seems to be lost). At this point in the year, there also don't seem to be many teachers in evidence - it seems that after the mid-term break a few weeks ago, many of them just didn't return. 


When I arrived, the Head was very happy - she immediately made me the Form 1 English teacher, even though I didn't really want any major responsibilities. What could I say ? It appears I may be the only Form 1 teacher - most times no teacher comes when my 70 minute class is up, and I have actually never seen another teacher with any of them. One of the first things that a teacher asked me in the staff room when she found out I was from Canada was "Is teaching a respected occupation in Canada?". Obviously there is work to be done on that front here!


I insisted on one day of observing and "helping" in a class, and I was assigned to the Form 3 English teacher, who turns out to be just about as new as me (in fact he and I were introduced to the students at the same assembly). Poor guy to have me following him around - I wondered why he didn't seem to know any of the kids!


And then I was on my own - 3 classes, no books, no syllabus to follow, and no idea what they had been doing up to that point. But there are only 2 weeks left in the term, so it didn't seem that difficult, except that now it seems there are 3 weeks and this  last one is stretching it a bit.  It has been an education for me (my ESL teaching is a bit rusty!) and the big challenge is to get the students to talk. On the positive side, they are very eager to learn, although shy about sharing what they know. My teaching tools are chalk (of which there is a plentiful supply!) and a blackboard. 


Here are some quick sketches of life at Shule ya Sekondari OysterBay: 
on Thursday mornings, the whole school has religion classes; nuns, imams, ministers and preachers descend on the school, and it comes alive with singing, chanting etc. I was hanging around in the staff room, when I became aware there was a girl flat out cold on the floor, and a group of other girls were in the process of dragging her out by the limbs. I was shocked and wondering why none of the teachers was leaping to her aid - they laughed and said she was just overcome by the religious fervour, and that it happens all the time!


At break time, women come in from outside, and open unofficial tuck shops with fires etc just inside the school gates. They sell homemade popsicles, cassava chips and many other  delicacies. The teachers share tea from a big thermos, and are absolutely shocked that I don't take sugar in mine.


Classes are incredibly noisy - from the outside. Being on a primary school campus, there can be so much noise at times that I can't hear myself - either there are primary kids drumming and singing right outside, or sweeping the veranda while singing, or just being kids and banging on the metal goal posts! With no glass in the windows, this can be just a little disruptive!


There is a lot of exhorting to be better students, to respect the teachers etc at assemblies. A lot of it seems to come from the prefects. Recently, because it is exam time coming up and it is crunch time for getting school fees out of recalcitrant parents, names of non-paying students are read out at assembly and they are directed to see the Headteacher - "for your own benefit". I have seen students being made to hop across the field on their haunches (not easy to do in a skirt) as a punishment (hopefully not connected to the school fee issue).


Finally, I assigned a paragraph to the 13 -18 year old Form 1 students about what they would like to be when they grow up and why (practicing the structure "would like" and occupations). Nearly all of the ones I read almost brought tears to my eyes - I had thought they would say things like, "I want to be a pilot because I love flying and I want to travel etc" but instead they were incredibly altruistic - for example I want to be a lawyer because I want to help people learn about their rights or I want to be a doctor to help  reduce maternal deaths (not quite in those words, but you get the idea). One person wanted to be president so he could eliminate poverty in the country and make Tanzania more prosperous.  Could this be part of the Nyerere legacy that even with such huge obstacles, Tanzanians still care about their community and have such lofty aspirations? 


So, I am almost finished my first 3 weeks here, and will come back in January for the start of the new school year. What will my role be, I wonder? NOT Form 1 English teacher....but perhaps I can help with setting up a programme and getting some resources so that children can learn in spite of the external difficulties. Perhaps some good textbooks with relevant reading material and enough so that they are only shared by 2 students instead of 4 or 5 which seems to be the norm? I will be thinking hard about it over the next few months.

Rainy Season in Dar

This was the scene from our bedroom window yesterday during a 2 hour downpour which overwhelmed the ditches, washed away a lot of the new gravel just put down on our road and flooded many lower areas. It was very welcome though,  because it signaled that there really will be a rainy season this year, in spite of the gloomy prediction that global warming is causing droughts in this part of the world. The lack of rain til now (and the season is starting late) is directly causing all the power cuts we have been having - the dams are low on water ergo no power. We now have a generator for our complex, but it burns smelly diesel, and what is that doing to the atmosphere? Our fingers are crossed for the climate change deal coming up in Copenhagen.

This little "restaurant" under the baobab picked a bad day for its first day in operation! Business was not brisk!

A brave soul getting out and about...

Lars and I were passing by this office one day a few weeks ago, and were looking at this little wall around the door area wondering what it was for....now we know. (Incidentally, while we were discussing this, Peter came out and became the agent who later found us our new house!)

I guess s/he thought there was a road somewhere under here...

Remember my favourite pothole at the end of our road? It got filled up with tires, and then water!

Just a few more scenes from our window...these boys playing remind me of the Makonde carvings this area is famous for.

Looking down the beach towards where the boats unload fish for the market. We went down on Saturday, and bought fresh red snapper. Some have questioned the safety of fish caught in this bay, and after what we saw running off into it after the storm, I have a few questions myself! However it tasted good, and probably we'll never know...

Waiting around...the engine seems to break down frequently, or perhaps they are waiting for the last member of the crew to arrive.

That's it for this weekend! Have a great week everyone - enjoy the warmer weather I hear that you have been blessed with (at least in NS).

Nevada Village

Well, once we decided to move, I had an entertaining week of looking at apartments and houses for rent, and poked around many neighbourhoods of Dar I might not have visited otherwise. It was lots of fun, and it seemed there are many vacant places in our price range, many of which would have been just fine, and all of which were much closer and more convenient! But it wasn’t until the end of the day, when we had almost decided on another place, that Peter, our agent showed me the Nevada apartments, completely in upheaval, but oh! the beach! the balcony! So that was that, and all that remained was negotiations about wire transfers and offshore accounts (they wanted the entire 6 months rent up front, as seems usual). The place was ready for us to move on the 14^th as  promised, and the landlords turn out to be very accommodating – we have some new furniture and the biggest, most embarrassing TV I have ever lived with!

Moving day was easy - except for saying good bye to Temius and Isaya...

And then of course, the rainy season, which is very late 

this year, decided to start just as 

we were driving up to the new place...

We are so happy to be here, not least because Lars walked to work on Friday, and it took him only 20 minutes (he got a little bit lost, so it should be faster next time). We revel in the views from our windows and the balcony...there is never a dull moment around here!

     One morning, this class of school children arrived by bus - a few minutes later, they were all down to their underwear, and frolicking in the water.

Most evenings there seems to be a pick up football game here, which we can watch from the little beach side bar on the other side - only problem with it is the litter scattered everywhere - where is Clean Nova Scotia's beach clean up when you want it?

These fishermen seem to go out at all hours

Always working...

View from the balcony (including laundry)

We inherited some lovely plants, including lots of these "Mexican Hat Plants" which remind me of my school at home.

And it seems that, like most neighbourhoods in Dar es Salaam, we have a truly terrible road leading in - this pothole right by the Old Bagamoyo road is capable of swallowing a car like ours! However, it seems that there is some work going on, and a rumour is going around that the road may be paved - I will miss this pothole!

So, it seems that Lars and I are very happily ensconced here and our daily life has become infinitely less stressful. It is all helped along by the existence of a little gym for Lars, and a small pool where I have been swimming twice daily...also by the fact that there is a rather nice international community living within these walls. There is a flotilla of small, naked children who descend on the pool everyday (mostly Danish), and people from Ireland, Congo, France, Sweden and Tanzania who live in the other apartments. 


Today, I venture out to visit a secondary school where I am volunteering my time. Of course the school year is winding down here (something I had forgotten about), so it may be that I will be more useful come January. 

Nyerere Day - October 14

Julius K. Nyerere  1922-1999

October 14  is a national holiday here in Tanzania which marks the anniversary of Mwalimu Julius K Nyerere’s death and this year it is a special because it is the 10^th anniversary.  Mwalimu means “teacher”,  because that was Nyerere's first job, before going into politics, and  this is what he is reverently called by everyone, still today. Nyerere was the first and founding president of Tanganyika, who negotiated a  peaceful independence from the colonial “masters” the  British and went on to establish “ujamaa” or “family” socialism, the Tanzanian  version of African socialism. He based this on the idea that before colonialism, African society was founded on the village or extended family as the basis for society. Land was held in common, and was farmed  more or less communally, laws were  passed and justice meted out by village elders and the community took care of its weakest members. Nyerere’s ujamaa socialism involved nationalizing many large industries and foreign owned plantations (such as the sisal estates), and giving power back to the village level.

One of his greatest accomplishments was the adoption of Kiswahili as the national language, and its promotion among Tanzania’s many tribes who spoke so many different languages that they could not communicate with each other, other than in English. By doing this he broke down tribalism while encouraging national pride. To this day, many people here feel that this policy has contributed to Tanzania’s strong sense of national identity, and its relatively peaceful, caring society. While he was President, Tanzania boasted one of the highest literacy rates in the developing world - it is still higher than in India.

"In Tanzania, it was more than one hundred tribal units which lost their freedom; it was one nation that regained it."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his Stability and Change in Africa speech given to the University of Toronto, Canada, 2 October 1969.

Nyerere stepped down from power in 1985, establishing the precedent of peaceful, democratic transitions of power. Although he saw hard economic times affect his country, and the influence of the World Bank and structural adjustment programmes forced the country’s leaders to backtrack on many of the educational, health and social reforms he had instituted, he is still remembered today as the Father of the Nation. He died on October 14 1999. Many people we talk to attribute the fact that Tanzania has not been afflicted by the civil wars, internal violence and undemocratic regimes experienced by many other African countries to Nyerere’s vision. Although Tanzania is a very poor country, and has many problems, there is a sense of caring and community here which is heartwarming, and the fact that the people still celebrate and honour Nyerere gives me hope.

"We, in Africa, have no more need of being 'converted' to socialism than we have of being 'taught' democracy. Both are rooted in our past -- in the traditional society which produced us."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Umoja (Freedom and Unity): Essays on Socialism, 1967.

"No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his A Peaceful New Year speech given in Tanzania on 1 January 1968.

"The African is not 'Communistic' in his thinking; he is -- if I may coin an expression -- 'communitary'."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere as quoted in the New York Times Magazine on 27 March 1960.

Visit to a little school

Now that Swahili classes are over, it is time to get serious about finding something serious to do with my time. I have put out some feelers, and have been doing some thinking about how best to make use of my skills in the short time I have here. In talking to many people and reading about the education system here, I find the hopefulness and faith put into education as a way forward is touching (future blog photo essay on school signs). It seems that primary education (all in Swahili) has about 95% enrolment, but the quality is uneven at best – lots of factors, but the education level and pay of teachers is a big concern. However, the big inequality occurs at the secondary level where all of a sudden all the teaching is in English – many children do not get in because of poor teaching at the primary level and if they do, they often suffer from being taught in English by teachers whose English is minimal at best. From my limited perspective, it seems that the government here is doing well with its objectives at improving the status, education and pay of teachers, and hence the quality of primary education – but it will take time and lots more money. Same goes for secondary education, but in the meantime thousands (millions?) of bright children from poor or rural areas are being denied the opportunities to go on in education, and the country is losing out on all this potential! This is my current thinking, after only 6 weeks in the country.

Main Street Mikadi, Kigamboni District

When Claire, my young VSO friend, met some teachers by chance in a teashop and was invited to visit a small, struggling “English Medium School” in Kigamboni (just across the harbour from Dar, but a ferry ride and a world away – see previous blogs), I encouraged her to go and take me along. So this Tuesday, we braved the ferry (in the process managing to go the wrong way down a one-way street in downtown Dar, and earning a severe lecture from a policeman for it) and managed to find the “Academia English Medium School” in the middle of a sandy little village. English Medium simply means taught in English, but also means that it is privately funded. We were warmly welcomed, even though they had no idea we were coming and the teachers she had met were away that day on a course.

Academia from the outside

The Headteacher Meshack looked like he had been hit by a bolt from the blue (us) – this struggling school with 70 children from nursery age to Standard 5 sees some kind of foreign involvement as the key to success. He would love to see volunteer teachers coming, curriculum materials and of course, donations of money. Within minutes of us arriving, the children were all brought out of their tiny classrooms and assembled in the tiny courtyard. We were given a formal welcome with songs and a dance and of course we had to introduce ourselves. I was quite impressed with the level of English of the songs – one of the lines sung by the Standard 5 children was “Although you come from far away, we will never forget you”. It was obvious that they were prepared for this moment; however in looking around and chatting, it doesn’t seem like they had had any foreigners dropping in yet.

Getting ready to welcome us

Standard 5 getting ready to sing ....

and dance.

The rest of the children

We walked around the tiny classrooms, which looked no better equipped than the state schools I remember from Nigeria 30 years ago and from Kenya. The walls were bare, except for a few tattered hand drawn posters. There were about 3 rows of benches in each class, seating about 20-30 kids. Higher benches serve as desks. I saw no books in the classrooms - I believe each child at least has one notebook, but they must have taken them home.

This little guy had to stay after to finish copying his homework.

Homework - Standard 1

Homework - Standard 2 0r 3

The Headteacher's office reminded me eerily of the old office at Dalhousie Co-operative School, in our old digs at Dal....in fact the whole school had somewhat the same spirit. Rundown, grungy, with few materials, but lots of determination  to get better, lots of idealism and hope.  Meshack talked a lot about "doing something for the local community" - he is looking for government funding to provide lunches for children who can't afford to go home to eat. Although this is a private school, each child only pays about $6 per month (still a considerable sum) and I get the impression there are some non fee-paying students. It was a short visit, but I would like to go back and spend a little more time there, and really suss out what they are doing.

This is the Headteacher's office... there is a "roaster" of teacher duties on the wall, and a copy of the curriculum, which I didn't get to really look at. At the bottom though, it encourages:  "All teachers consider the school prospector for preparing scheme of works and lesson plan. BE STRICTLY OF THAT (sic)" Also in the office was a world map and a shiny new globe - obviously very precious!

This is Meshack, and another teacher. 

Altogether we had a lovely visit, and I want to go back...my dilemma is that it is hard to get to, and I am not convinced that a private school is where I want to spend a lot of time. I'll keep you posted!