Meru East Community School

As you may recall, Ian (the art teacher here) and his wife Mary (the Administration Manager) have been working at building a school in Mary's village of Meru for some years now.

Yesterday October 22nd was the most wonderful culmination of so much hard work when the first 24 students were presented with their uniforms.

Most of the uniform and the school furniture have been made at the local leprosy mission. I was privileged to bring 24 pairs of green socks from Australia which they could not source locally.

The smaller block of land belongs to Mary's family and a house and stables have been refurbished to provide two classrooms and a residence.

The residence and office

Classrooms under the shade of a jacaranda tree

Through donations, their NGO - Tikundane- (which means love in Meru) purchased the adjoining block and they have had a multifunction structure built with an adjoining kitchen.

The children have been selected from the poorest and most needy families of the area. In Tanzania 50% of the population is under 25 years old and their simply aren't enough schools. Poor children have basically no opportunities.

At the appointed hour (give or take half an hour or so) the children arrived with their mothers, grandmothers or aunties.

This was the first time they had been inside their classrooms or formally met their new teacher Elly-Woo (in the orange dress).

Just sitting at their new desks was a new experience as some of their homes literally have no furniture.

Then it was time to collect their uniform. Uniforms are very important in Tanzania and a source of great pride.

The children had all been measured a couple of months ago for their uniforms and shoes however the jumpers only came in small, medium and large so the children were lined up in height order.

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What a transformation..........................



The children's names include Glory, Happiness, Advent, Viola, Jackson, Nickson and Godrester. Aren't those green socks something special!!

This is Advent. He doesn't know it but he is the only child still needing a sponsor. He is a really bright lovable kid .The cost is $25 per month.

If you would like to read more about the project the website is http://www.tikundane.com/



I'm B-ack

Yes, it's true......I "re-arrived" at St Judes on Monday October 17th. This time I flew all the way connecting from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro via Precision Air. It was just on sunset on a clear evening as we approached my final destination and the sun shining on the snow of Kilimanjaro made a spectacular backdrop to what is becoming a greener Tanzania.

The "short rains" have thankfully arrived (this description refers to their duration rather than the size of the rain itself!).

Laura met me in a school bus and we were soon back at Usa secondary Campus (now re-named Smith campus after the family who has provided the funds to build this amazing facility). Helen and Bernice had made dinner and I caught up on the latest news before heading off to bed. It was wonderful to be in the horizontal position again after a 24 hour journey.

The days are longer here now so I was awake in plenty of time to have breakfast before starting the English Language Exams for the teachers at 8.30am the next morning.

Thirty five teachers undertook three hours of written papers which is a culmination of their ESL studies this year. (It is also the culmination of the work Laura and I have been doing for the last 5 months!)

Now the marking begins.............

Today, Wednesday we have had a full day of speaking tests with the same group of teachers. These will continue for the rest of the week. Next week Laura and I will go to the Primary campus to begin testing the 84 teachers there.

This morning, Cindy Smith (of Smith campus fame) was able to sit in on the first speaking test I conducted  (no pressure though!).

Also today, Laura and I laid out some mats Mr Rasul had found on the tiled floor of the ESL room to try to reduce the echo (especially with the listening test coming up). They work to some extent however, we were then informed by the teachers that, as the mats are in fact Islamic in design, we should, out of respect, take our shoes off before walking on them. Of course we can comply but footwear choices are now dictated not only by the mud and rain but also ease of removal. A lot to think about early in the morning!

No photos yet  (people taking exams is not visually very exciting) but hopefully I will be able to get some up after the weekend.

Hope all is well with you all on the other side of the world. Text me anytime.

A Tourist in Arusha

Leaving St Judes  was difficult. I have made so many good friends there and on my last day they surprised me with gifts and a special party put on by the office team - Mary, Grace, MJ, Elizabeth and Marietta. I felt very loved and appreciated and so sad to be going.

In the evening Helen prepared a special "hello and goodbye" meal for Steven and another guest of Ian and Mary's from Holland.

Then I had one day to be a tourist in Arusha.
My good friend Laura (who had her husband, sister, son and daughter-in-law visiting) had a arranged a duladula for the day to take us about.

In the morning we went to the Cultural Heritage Centre. This is a fantastic facility and worthy of a good few hours to explore everything.

From there we went to Shanga Shanga which is a wonderful place where disabled people make the most fantastic jewellery  - mainly from recycled glass.

(They also do a spectacular lunch that we enjoyed greatly!)

Off on Safari

Term has officially ended for the children and Steven is arriving tomorrow night. We are going on a short 'safari' holiday together as he has never been to Africa before either.

I can't wait to see the national parks and the animals. Imagine lions, and giraffes and flamingos right there. We will also go for a few nights to the island of Zanzibar. I will have heaps to write about and loads of pictures to show you I'm sure when I get back. Until then, take care. Miss you all. Love Jill

PHOTO GALLERY

Don't forget to have a look at the Photo Gallery page every now and then. Lots of interesting (?) shots there too.

The End of Term Approaches

Sadly, the end of term is approaching. Believe it or not, whilst seeing and doing all these amazing things I have been working five days a week.

It is a luxury to live on campus and not have to battle traffic to get to work or run for the bus.


The staff have been eager and receptive learners. They come to ESL twice a week in their department groups. There are six departments: Languages, Vocational Studies, Business and ICT, Maths, Science and Humanities.

Once a week I have a class with the administration staff and another with the boarding teachers - 14 one hour periods in total.


The admin team at morning tea. Everyone has a mug of sweet black ginger tea at 10.30am.

The total group numbers 61 and I am pleased to say I have learnt all their first names at least. Their names are both Anglicised and local. They include Ernest and Daniel, Stella and Mary as well as Mcharo, Oisso, Mwita, Elibariki, Koringo and Fauz. There is also one man named Forehead and a woman named Charisma.

Some of the secondary teaching staff

As the end of my time approaches I can feel that I have achieved what I set out to do in terms of assisting the ESL department. Firstly, with the terrific assistance of Laura Commins (who some of you will know) we have formalised the teaching syllabus so that those volunteers who come after us will have a program to follow and staff will know what they are aiming for at each level.

                                                              My classroom at Usa
In addition, we have devised test specifications so that versions of a test benchmarked to CEFR Level B2 (some of you will know what I mean) can be used when recruiting new teachers and to measure the improvement in the English of the current staff at both the primary and secondary schools.

The next step is to create the C1 level syllabus and test specifications. As the school is aiming to be an international school, they want and need to have teachers with very high levels of English proficiency.

So that the individual teachers could feel that they had made improvements in their language over the last five or six weeks, they have all set and are working in their own time on a language goal. This week the timetable has been completely changed for exams so, instead of lessons I am seeing a steady stream of teachers either handing in their work or coming for assessment in relation to their personal goal. Some of them have made an enormous effort considering the conditions they live under at home with an irregular power supply for light and generally none of the resources we take for granted.

While I would have also enjoyed working with the children, most of my experience is with teaching adults so this was the most appropriate role for me. In fact, there are very few non-Africans who work directly with the children. These are Ian (secondary art), Helen and Sarah (teacher librarian) and Cam and Lucy (PE). Most of the other volunteers are teacher mentors or are involved in senior administration roles, marketing and visitor services.

There are always opportunities here so, if you're looking for a complete change, have a look at the school website under positions vacant. I would thoroughly recommend it.

An Invitation to a Wedding

Yes on Saturday July 23rd Ian and Mary invited Helen, Laura and me to Mary's cousin wedding in Usa River. Wow! We were all so excited.

Of course we had to shop for presents and wrapping paper at the market the Thursday before and decide what we would wear.

Incredibly, the previous week one of the teachers, Miss Stella had brought me a gift - a dress that she had had her tailor run up for me and jewellery to match! I was so surprised and pleased (but did wondered if and when I might wear it).

Well, here was my chance.

But my outfit was nothing compared to the dress Mary had for the occasion. She looked beautiful.

We didn't go to the church as apparently the ceremony is only attended by the closest family members. The time of the reception seemed to change quite regularly but we arrived about 10 minutes before the bride and groom at around 3.30pm.

The wedding party arrives in a motorcade the leading car being a ute containing the brass band and anyone else that couldn't fit in the cars. On this occasion it was the bridesmaids in royal blue and white outfits.

The colourful MC doubled as the band conductor. Although he was dresses as a Maasai I was told his KiSwahili accent was not Maasai.

Then we (and more than 500 others!) made our way into the hall where we were seated on rows of plastic chairs.

The hall was not decorated but the stage at one end had been in readiness for the bride and groom, the best man and his wife.

Can you see all the fresh flowers and coloured fairy lights that blinked on and off madly when ever the electricity was on or the generator was working?

There were chairs and tables at the front near the stage for the close relatives of the bride and groom. The wedding is arranged and all decisions made (including who is an appropriate best man) by a wedding committee. They also need to raise the money from family and friends to put the wedding on.

Once they were seated, we enjoyed some songs from a terrific gospel choir dressed in matching green shirts.

When the electricity or generator did fail, cutting off the microphones, lights and DJ, the band would just play (under the direction of the MC) until power was restored. Meanwhile everyone just sat quietly and waited.

In turn the bride and then the groom had to stand and firstly wave good bye to their families and then hold their hand up to say stop to any others who might want to be a potential new "boyfriend" or "girlfriend".

After that the cake was cut and the bride and groom fed small pieces of it on toothpicks to each other. Parts of the cake were then presented to the parents of the bride and groom.

Then the bride and groom each vigorously shook a bottle of champagne and then uncorked them to the great amusement of the guests. A small glass of champagne was presented by each to their respective in laws.

Then the highlight of the wedding feast - the goats- arrived.

While the goats were being carved the different groups of family and their friends were called out and invited to present their gifts to the bride and groom.

Our gifts were a set of glasses, a silver tray and a set of insulated containers.

Others were somewhat larger.

Yes that's part of a three piece lounge suite and there was also a wooden double bed carried in as well as solar panels and a TV. Basically everything for their new home. Those amongst the guests who were the poorest brought a spoon or a plastic cup.

While the gifts were being brought in, very loud music with strong African rhythms was played by the DJ and people danced through the hall with their presents rather than walked.

Then it was time to eat! It took almost an hour to get everyone served at the buffet. We waited until the end and missed out on the cake and the goat but did have plenty of rice and meat dishes and hot chips. Everyone also got a bottle of "soda" (coke, fanta or lemonade). There was water to wash your hands as you were expected to eat by hand but someone took pity on the four white people and produced spoons not too long after we had started eating.

Then it was time for the dancing.You can see how fast the music was by the fact that I couldn't get one photo with everyone in focus!

We left about 9pm. What a fabulous experience! It was also a great pleasure to meet so many of Mary's family who were all so gracious and welcoming.