Visiting Sumawe Primary and Mlimani Secondary Schools

Continuing July 5th, 2017
(Written July 5th)
(Edited and Continued July 16th and 19th)

Back in March, Simon's Promise visited Kiretono and they planted some trees, so we went to visit the little things. We walked around the entire cornfield to see which ones had died or been eaten, and which ones were thriving. The view from the top was stunning.

No picture will do it justice. :) I don't have to go to Nebraska to be a corn husker. 

Once we exited the cornfield our legs were covered in little thorns. Cindi's were especially bad, so we all stopped to pluck them out when a small group of kids noticed us and came over to say hello. When they saw all the burrs on her pants they immediately started to help. It was just so pure and sweet. They stayed until all of them were gone. I was able to help a young boy named Josiah who was also covered in the burrs. He was very gentle and we got to have a nice conversation.

After we got that situation all cleaned up we headed off to see the school.

I took these another day when we were checking on the playground.

The kids that weren't in class came to greet us, and we all got to play for a few minutes before our group headed off to the meeting with Headmistress Grace. She was very kind and let us sign the school's visitor book. We talked to her about keeping the playground locked, and she told us the kids were very excited. She took us to the site where phase one was supposed to go; if there's one thing I learned about Tanzania it's that the plans you make will change. Before our next stop I got to play with the kids, but they couldn't understand anything I said, in either language, so I just hopped around and we all laughed.

Joy is a universal language.

As we were exiting, Grace let us visit a classroom. The kids stood and sang their little welcome song, so our group sang "You Are My Sunshine" to them. I hope it made them happy even though we did interrupt learning time. Then it was just a few cornfields up the hill to Mlimani secondary school.

We were supposed to meet with the headmaster who planned on speaking with us, but he wasn't there. Talemwa talked to the head teacher, who didn't know we were coming, so he pulled our group of Summer, Adam, Jill, Brad, Cindi, Talemwa and me into the office. The teachers/administrators were hesitant to trust us since they didn't know about the visit. They asked us questions about why we were there and about our trip. Eventually they understood our intentions we about helping the school and not just coming in to take pictures. We got to ask them some questions about students passing exams and their post-test process to help the students that failed. They were all very kind, and then they offered to give us a tour of the school. 

Mlimani means 'hilltop' or 'on the mountain' and the view is just gorgeous! But back to the tour; in the first class, our hello was all of the kids standing and singing the national anthem. We visited two classes while we were there, and in both classes we got to introduce ourselves and what our job is. (Everyone in our group is a teacher so it was pretty simple). Cindi said she is an English teacher, so one of the Mlimani administrators was like, "Would you like to answer some of their questions?" since we were in an English class. Cindi got very excited, and one boy was very adamant that she come help him. 

(Cindi told us this story later). He wanted to understand the difference between much and many, so Cindi explained that you can't count much of something. You can't count dirt. Dirt is just dirt, but when there is many of something you can count them. He understood immediately and said, "Like many oranges!" Her face just lit up when she was telling us the story. :)

The rest of us got to go around the class answering questions and meeting the kids. One group I was talking to wanted to know about circumnavigation, satellite imaging, and the line of sight in images. I was hoping for some questions about sentence structure, but I answered to the best of my abilities. We had way more fun laughing at my attempts to speak kiswahili. The kids also love seeing pictures of themselves, so I took some selfies to let them see. 

In the second class the kids were in Form 4, so their ages went from about 16 to 18. We got to introduces ourselves again and then broke off to go talk to them. It was a Swahili class, so the teacher had one volunteer translate some stuff we were saying. A very brave boy did so quite successfully. I talked to two boys sharing this tiny desk for a while. They want to be pilots when they grow up, and Brad and I ended up with one of their emails. Since it was a Swahili class I asked one of the boys to translate what was in his notebook, but his teacher was right in front of the desk. He got so flustered so we all just giggled. I didn't mean to embarrass the poor kid! They were very sweet. 

I also sat with a group of girls, and they thoroughly enjoyed making fun of me. :) They were all sixteen, and when I said I was eighteen they all laughed and said I was "too little" to be eighteen. I tried to ask them questions about their exams, but they say they have no problems with them, so I just had them teach me random words in kiswahili. Most of the girls were understanding and let my mispronunciations slide, but one sassy girl was adamant I get them all right. She was so cheeky, but when they wanted to take pictures she was the most shy. Two girls taught me to count to ten in Iraqw, so I taught all of them how to count to ten in Spanish. They explained how the school day went. They arrived by 7am (I found out later that's when they clean). Classrooms open at 8am, lunch is at 2:20, they clean after their afternoon classes and leave. We had to say goodbye to them, but right before I left the girls asked me to sing the American national anthem. I did, but it wasn't very good. 

I asked all the kids I talked to, "What do you want your job to be?" There were doctors, nurses, policemen, pilots, teachers and lawyers. When we mentioned this to the administrators they were honest and told us they aren't sure they can get them there. 

On the way out of the school we passed by the kitchen. A few women were putting the final touches on lunch for the school kids. The administrators told us we could pop our heads in, and the ladies offered us bowls of makande. They were persistent, so we said we'd have a taste. We washed our hands, and they gave our group three heaping bowls of corn and beans. Summer and Adam, Cindi and Brad, and Jill and I all ate in those pairs. Summer and Adam finished theirs quickly. Cindi ate as much as she could, but between Brad and Talemwa that bowl was emptied relatively fast. Jill ate some, but didn't want much, so I was left with this huge bowl of food and I knew it couldn't be wasted. I ate a few more bites (everyone else is long done), looked at one of the administrators, but he must of seen the look in my eyes. "You finish," is the only response I got. Luckily Talemwa came to my rescue, and we finished the bowl, but we were there for a good ten or so minutes after everyone else had finished.

Here is the kitchen where they cook lunch. At the beginning of the school year kids who want to eat the school lunch bring a certain amount of corn and beans so the women can cook everyday. If they don't bring the corn and beans, they can walk home for lunch or they have to go without. They were so kind to give us their food, and it was delicious. 

Then it was time to say our goodbyes. We hugged each of the administrators, and thanked them for their hospitality. They said we are welcome back, and that the school is our home now. They fed us and called us family after only a few hours off knowing us. Their kindness meant a lot to all of us and certainly touched my heart. I hope we are able to return the favor. 

July 5th is still not complete, but I'll need yet another post for it. Until then-

Much love, 

Kami

P.S. Fast forward to July 19th!

I made makande, and I think it's pretty good. Not nearly as fresh as the school's but I did it. My first attempt at Tanzanian food!