Day 5 - Opening Eyes

A glorious day in Arusha today. On the way to the CASEC offices we passed a wide expanse of lush green bush, leading up onto a forest covered hill. Randomly there were two wicker chairs sitting there with a small wicker table between them. Almost as if they were ready for us to sit down and watch a reality TV show with a difference. 

I spent last night catching up with African Initiatives’ ex Volunteer Jill who came out to Tanzania in January to volunteer for 6 months. She now has a job with PWC, one of our partners who, she tells us have just received a grant from Oxfam to help build the capacity of school councils to demand their rights. Schools proved to be a theme today as I trained CASEC staff and volunteers in School Partnerships, or links. In the UK a lot of my work is around supporting these between schools in the south west of England and the rest of the world. Because of our work in Africa I often get asked whether we can facilitate links with Ghana and Tanzania, and, according to the Head Mistresss of Sombetini Secondary School yesterday, schools here want to expose their students to the ideas and friendship of another country just as much as our own. 

In the CASEC offices, above the door as you leave to climb up the wide steps and see the large, freshly cut lawn, you see a portrait of Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania with the title Baba wa Taifa underneath it – Father of the Nation. The jury may be out elsewhere on Nyerere’s socialist policies, but within Tanzania he remains defiantly popular. 7 people have asked me whether I know of him, and when I say I have, I receive satisfied nods as if I have passed a test. He was called Muralimu, the teacher and it was he who said (I may be paraphrasing) “Take all the money you give in aid to Tanzania and spend it teaching your children about the causes and effects of poverty”. 

School partnerships do this on both sides – the developing world does not hold copyright on poverty. It exists everywhere. Partnerships allow children to see this, to realise that there are challenges everywhere, to see that they are not alone. Young people who may never have come into contact with different cultures suddenly have a ‘way in’ that means something to them; they have a context to share. Teachers have the opportunity to explore new methodologies, new ways of working and expand their own horizons. 

Today we talked about how every partnership has to be equity-based. This is harder than you may think. The way of the world is that one school will be wealthier than the other. However It is the materialism within us, and our society, which couples wealth to money. There are far more important things that Tanzanian schools have to give – a beautiful environment with the animals which every kid (and adult) dreams about seeing; young people who are eloquent and passionate; a notion of ‘family’ which goes far beyond 2.4 children and TV dinners and an innate knowledge that we are here on this earth to help each other, learn from each other and make it a better place. But today I realised the most important thing that Tanzanian schools have to give,  as stated simply by Pendo, one of the staff  "perhaps the UK school needs friendship.”

Day 4: The same yet more so

I visited Sombetini and Oloirian Secondary Schools today to talk to the students and teachers involved with CASEC’s Health Clubs – part of the HIV/AIDS Youth programme. 

On the way to Sombetini we drove through the industrial part of Arusha; past factories  producing lorries, textiles and beer amongst others. The school itself is within what was described to me as “the squatter area” with a line of small shops and businesses barricading the houses behind from the busy road. These shops sell anything. 12 exquisitely carved wooden bedsteads and frames reposed next to Massai Solicitors and Legal Aid; food sellers jostled for pride of place in front of clothes, handbags, mangoes and melons; whilst young Tanzanian men sat on motorbikes, talking and smoking.

Sombetini School was founded 5 years ago and since then has grown in numbers from 250 students and 7 staff to 1159 students and 29 staff. Their school buildings have multiplied and they have a computer room and a temporary laboratory as well as a kitchen with huge metal stills to provide lunch daily. The Head Mistress, Bertha Lyimo, has a lot to be proud of and she is convinced that the Health Club has had a big part to play, “The kids are always smartly dressed compared to the rest of the school,” she says, “they are knowledgeable and able to impart that knowledge to the other students. It has had an impact across the school.” It has also had an impact on Health Club ‘Guardian’, John Chamanga, “I have developed stronger and closer relationships with my students, as a teacher and as a friend. It is a better environment for learning.” 

The drive to Oloirian School couldn’t have been more different. The school is out of Arusha along the main road which goes in and out of the Serengeti, where you sit in traffic watching the inevitable train of land rovers. You pass buildings of a completely different sort to the small, old shacks by the road near Sombetini. The Anglican Cathedral; the famous Arusha Hotel; important compounds surrounded by high, immaculately painted walls Bertha Lyimo would love to have for her school; and in between- the tall, waiving maize, promising a harvest of plenty. 

I spoke to about 15 students, shy at first, but once we’d ascertained that they supported Manchester United -and commiserated with them- they became quite chatty. 250-300 of them meet every Monday during the school day and they do many things – debates, songs, dances, listen to talks. They also go on school trips to National Parks (not quite the same as the beaches at Weston Super Mare) and have a focus of learning while they are there. Every year each member pays a sum of money which they use to improve their school – I sat in front of a bookcase of gleaming new books. What they enjoy most they say is imparting their learning to others, especially adults. They often train the teachers. 

At the end they asked me questions and I realised how far away the UK must seem to these young people; in the same way that Tanzania is world away from Bristol schools. Most of the questions were attempts at relating their own lives to the unknown. “Do you have clubs like ours in the UK?” “Do girls at school get pregnant in the UK and what happens when they do?” “Do young people do drugs?” And then the slightly perplexed “Why, when the UK education system is so good do young people get pregnant or do drugs?” (Answers on a postcard to Mr Cameron please)

Then they asked about the differences between them and young people in the UK. It was hard to explain to them but for me these kids are switched on to their world in a way that 13-15 year olds in the UK often aren’t. There are very few children of that age in the UK who would cite influences such as globalisation as a factor in social behaviour change. Tanzanian youths see a world around them that needs to be changed, but most importantly, because of programmes like CASEC's they know that they have the power to change it. 

The last question? “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Nice to see that teenagers are the same the world over.

Day 3: It takes time

I actually managed to see Mt. Meru today, the stately lady who looms large over Arusha. The clouds are a bit of a shroud but there are a few holes. This volcano (which last erupted in 1910 according to the ever helpful Wikipedia) sits as a centrepiece in Arusha National Park and can be seen from Kilimanjaro on a clear day. It adds to the beauty of the town. The sunshine also helps. 

A humorous moment earlier. Two representatives of PWC were talking about one of their trips to the field last week in Ngorongoro District, which, of course includes the great Serengeti. Apparently they were tootling along quite happily when they came face to face with 9 lions in the road. Unable to go around them they had to wait for them to decide to move on. I find I have this problem with busses sometimes; but the story doesn’t have quite the same impact at parties. 

It was the second day of training with PWC and CASEC – ‘training the trainers’ - and we looked at the ethical student-teacher relationship. It is a sad fact that a proportion of the abuse – sexual or otherwise – suffered by girls takes place in school. Melau, a Lawyer and Selina, a project officer, who work at PWC told the story of an 11 year old girl experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of her teacher who she went to for ‘extra tuition’. In order to try to catch him and prove that the girl was with him, they went, with a District Education Officer to his house; only to find that he had been warned that they were on their way. The teacher was transferred away from the district. 

Conversation today showed that there are many people complicit in this systematic abuse- as Melau said “for some, it is a business”. Bribes are given to police, to the victim, even within education itself.  But it also showed the passion of those combating it, and the difference which grassroots community based organisations such as our partners can make. Together we discussed different approaches which could be used; and the power of training students, teachers and head teachers together, making sure that every group has a voice.

There are existing structures for student leadership in the Tanzanian school system – clubs, and school councils. 10 schools CASEC works with have already agreed to invite students onto leadership teams to include them, and listen to their needs in school development and improvement. Together they can build relationships of trust, take ownership of their education and create a safe learning and teaching environment for everyone. Alfred Sakafu, Director of CASEC knows that it will take time “It’s a process. We are trying to mould good people, good citizens. When the students are adults – perhaps teachers – themselves; then we will see the benefits.”

Day 2: Education, Education, Education

I really like Tanzania. The weather is still a disappointment (the sun cream remains sorrowfully in the suitcase) but I enjoy wandering or driving around Arusha. Wowed by the sight of a towering glass hotel or the pristine houses behind cream walls; watching the busy inhabitants going about everyday life as they hurry past with mobile phones and notebooks. Despite these trimmings of globalisation there remains the intrinsically African: The woman cooking huge corn on the cob in a big pan at the entrance to a compound; the boy navigating his bike expertly through pedestrians and traffic despite the huge, towering load of boxes and bundles. The wafting smells of spices and Chai Tea – which is the most delectable substance ever – permeates the air and right now the crickets are bashing out a dusk chorus like no other. 

Today has been spent training partners CASEC and PWC (The Pastoral Women’s Council), part of the capacity building programme which runs alongside our overseas girls’ education projects. They will then go and deliver the training to the schools with which they work. Today and tomorrow is all about

 Safeguarding Children, in particular, girls. Girls in Tanzania frequently do not complete their education. In the districts in which our partners work the statistics speak for themselves, 48% of girls will complete Form 4 (GCSES) in Mbulu and Kilolo; 36% in Ngoronogoro – a mostly Maasai district. 

The challenges they face are sobering: forced marriage, a cultural tradition which favours boys education above girls; a long and arduous distance to travel to school and violence. Violence often on the way to school, violence sometimes within school, and violence in the unsupervised ‘ghettoes’, buildings close to the schools where girls sleep because it is too far to go home. They are vulnerable. They are targets. PWC and CASEC are making startling changes in partnership with the schools and communities in which they work. Educating school boards, communities and teachers is a big part of it. 

I’ve learned a lot about the structures within Tanzania today that support child protection – the ten councils in villages (someone who holds responsibility for the 10 houses around them); traditional laws which have to be taken into account when working with the 120 ethnic groups and the existing national laws and child protection policy which are there to be implemented. We had interesting discussions around the cultural differences between Africa and the UK, and perhaps the wider ‘west’. In Tanzania it is legal to cane a child, with strict restrictions on the number of times, the parts of the body which can be caned and the person who can do it (the Head of the School). Whilst Alfred Sakafu, Director of CASEC said that experiencing it “made him what and who he is”, I struggle to understand this from my inevitably ‘western’ viewpoint. On the other hand, it is completely against the law in Tanzania to smack a child and the suggestion was met with abject and complete horror by the Tanzanians present. I distinctly remember my mother smacking me on a very few occasions and yes, to a certain extent, it probably made me what and who I am.

There was however agreement on one central point. The way to protect a child is to empower them to protect themselves. As Simon Daffi, from CASEC put it: “Children should be taught their rights because until they are taught them, they can’t claim them and until they claim them they can’t exercise them”.

Val Bishop

Head of Communications

Day 1: Day Camp

I flew into Tanzania yesterday from Nairobi. My first impressions on the drive from Kilimanjaro airport were the lush green of the well manicured garden hedges, the bright reds and pinks of the flowers, and the tall maize and sun flower plants swaying in the wind outside Arusha. I am told that June to August are the Tanzanian winter and the time rain falls – thus central to the wealth of the farmers for the rest of the year. This may be, but I do feel that rain, wind and cold in Tanzania is a breach of trade descriptions. I had to wear two cardigans last night and feel somewhat cheated. 

I have rarely been in a country for such a short time and felt so completely at ease. Arusha is a tourist town, due to its proximity to Kilimanjaro (which I haven’t yet seen because of the cloud). They are therefore accustomed to foreigners, yet the gentleness and courtesy with which I have been welcomed have been overwhelming. 

I spent today at our partner CASEC’s Youth Centre, where they were holding a Day Camp for students from the 14 secondary schools in Arusha they work with on health issues as part of their HIV/AIDS programme.

Today’s camp trained 4 students from each school in the factors which influence our behaviour, both biological and social. The programme aims to prepare young people for the vulnerable situations they may, perhaps already have, found themselves in. These students will then go back to their schools and train other students in what they have learned. 

CASEC has worked with these secondary schools to set up Health Clubs, opted into by the children from across all age groups, where they have a safe environment to discuss and learn about reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other such challenges. They use song, dance and drama as well as debate and the input of external speakers. 

The impact on the children is clear. Boys and girls are confident about speaking in front of others, including adults, on issues which I’m not sure I would have done at the age of 13. Their Health Clubs are not 15 kids at break; they are 250-300 students of all ages.

I spent some time talking to those teachers who had accompanied their students. Many of the schools are newly built, part of a Tanzanian government programme to enable all children to access secondary education. As such they vary in size from 200 (the school has opened this year) to 1400. The clubs are both well established and newly formed but already the impact is plain. One teacher, whose club has been in place for 4 years talks about the increase in the confidence of the students who now train the other teachers in the school as well as their peers. For him the club “has given students responsibility” and shown them how, whatever their age they “are responsible for their community” and have the ability to make a difference. In his school the students have to buy lunch and not all can afford it. He went to his club and asked what they were going to do about it. The kids went out and dug a garden. 

The power the clubs give to their individual members was brought home by a small 13 year old girl at the end of the day. The facilitator posed the question “What would you do if your boyfriend/girlfriend came up to you and wanted to have sex?” She said “I’d tell him that now I have self-awareness. The girl’s in control.”

 

Val Bishop

Head of Communications