The Work Place

 

Mr. Abdallah and Les Fry during  the Farewell Party in Miti Ulaya Primary School Computer Room 

Paying Anneke and Walter a visit in Micheweni Hospital 

Talking to a village lad.

Joan Vasquez, distributing school materials to the  pupils of the island.

A souvenir photo at base of a Baobab tree with Mr. Ali Kombo Ali  .

My neighborhood bakery where they sell buflo,, a local bread that I nicknamed " Gold Bar ".

Who will come to the training center if the trainees  will not come, the kuku ( chickens).

A young lad and  his ox cart.

Common scenario in the workplace.

Said Daudi   help carrying the supplies to the school in the  village.

Dala dala, the island mode of transport.

Using  and re-cycling local resources as educational materials.

Andrew Coulson of the Tanzania  Development Trust during his  visit in  Pemba , hanging out with Les and Carol Fry discussing work projects and having a short singing session.

The beautiful Carol Fry making balloons for the special pupils during our visit to Pandani Primary School.

The First Quarter in Pictures

Meeting the Taarab Queen, the legendary Bi Kidude @ the Police Mess in Chake chake.

Eivind Fjeldstad of the Norwegian - African Business Association based in Oslo, Norway with  his beautiful wife Sigrun Marie Moss who is conducting her doctoral thesis from Norwegian University of Science and Technology during there visit. With them is Dr. Irma Baltes , a VSO doctor base in Wete Hospital.

Joan  Vasquez, and the Kojani School primary  pupils accompanying during the consultative meeting where she  distributes school supplies, clothes and other school materials

Free rides offered by Rodrik  of Holland to  Miti Ulaya pre-schoolers during my  regular school visit.

Inspecting the mangroves in Mtabwe with Johnny Moorhouse.

Johnny Moorhouse, checking the mangroves in Mtabwe mud flats.

Reint and Deni Baltes, on our way back to Wete after that suspense trip crossing the treacherous Pemba Channel from the mystic Misali Island

Wete summer skies.

Fredrik Knoeff cycling on our way home in the shamba

Eastern Sunday in Misali Island with Les Fry, Perfecto Tubal, David Jones, Liesbeth Kanis, Rodelio Pilapil and Fredrik Knoeff

Malengo and Joan in my courtyard chatting.

Joan Vasquez , on the jetty ramp of Changuu Island

My  Zazu in the shores of Micheweni

Relaxing afternoon with Kaka Fredrik and Dada Liesbeth

Jadidah pupils performing during the Parent's Day

The Thin Red Line

Pemba, a predominantly Islamic East African island in the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania a thin red line exists between the men and women.   A line though thin is an obstacle that hinders the context of development and equality.  A line that is difficult to break, woven by culture and religion that serves as the fiber that is difficult to break.   However, the thin red line can be cross through education. For this past few years, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO) volunteers and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) is very keen in their partnership to   break the unbreakable line by doing gender mainstreaming.  Last November 2011 the gender mainstreaming program of VSO and the MOEVT step a little higher in their quest from their previous works in gender mainstreaming.

This time thirty participants mostly compose of head teachers, school administrators, and teacher leaders converge in Miti Ulaya Teachers Resource Training Center from   the different parts of the Wete District to identify the existing concerns on how to advance gender mainstreaming from the classroom to the school level.    The VSO Tanzania Gender and National Volunteering Coordinator, Imisa Nashitsakha helps steer the oar in navigating the two days training   in order for the participants to understand better the concept of gender mainstreaming in the African context of education.   Also the expertise of Les Fry ( VSO U.K. Volunteer )  in school leadership and management and the author (VSO Bahaginan  Volunteer)  sharing his knowledge  in  integrating gender mainstreaming in teaching   ushered the school administrators and teachers to create the own action plans in their respective school on how to address the gender issues in t own school. The office of the  District  Education  Officer  of Wete  headed by the  dynamic  Bi Fatma Mgeni   and  the Coordinator of Miti Ulaya Teachers Resource Center  (TRC)  Mr. Ali Kombo Ali  commit to ensure  that this action plans  will be implemented  in the schools. As more school leaders and teachers   from the other parts of Wete district were not able to attend the previous training, the Resource Center will be having another training, this time this is financially supported by the MOEVT and the TRC I order for the remaining schools to make their own action plan on how to integrate it in their   school management plan.  Another positive impact of the VSO sponsored gender mainstreaming training program, the head mistress of Miti Ulaya, Bi Sabahi will pilot the creation of the students Gender Mainstreaming Club.  She hopes that this will serve   as model for others schools to starts their own Gender Mainstreaming Clubs too.  As the schools in Wete try to navigate to cut the unbreakable thin red line, VSO Volunteers will continue to assist them to totally erase the durable line that hinders development in Pemba Island.

The challenge is still there  for us here  on how  to sustain what we have started, Les  Fry  will continue to help the school leaders to make and implement their school action  plans,  the blogger  will continue to encourage  and share on how to integrate gender mainstreaming  in teaching  techniques and  providing support  in the creation of  Gender Clubs,  and  the  head teachers  in  motivating their students and  teachers . The Ministry and VSO Tanzania to help in providing the resources and leadership, then we will cross the thin red line of gender mainstreaming in education here in Pemba.

¹The   VSO Pemba Gender Mainstreaming Report 2011 -2012, Pemba Island, United Republic of

                Tanzania

² Pemba   Island VSO Volunteers   Regional and Gender /HIV –AIDS representative

Ordinary Machine Catalyst to Extraordinary Development

The blogger interact with the students after watching the film.

Silence permeates in a crowded open classroom despite of the escalating African summer heat. Everybody’s attention was on the screen, holding their breath and all of the sudden an applause    break the silence. Some girls were sobbing, and one lad said to me “Juanito, I will not escape from class anymore “.  This is just one of the student’s reactions after watching the film Nemo.

For most students and some teachers , this is the first time that they watched a film in their schools. This is one of the initiatives that I am doing to support and improve the quality of teaching and learning  in the schools of Pemba especially in Wete District.   Through the support of British Council Tanzania and VSO Tanzania,   I am piloting the implementation of the Program in Improving English (PIE) Primary and supporting the PIE Secondary here in the island. The lack of resources in mentoring teachers sometimes will hinder the process of transferring skills and it is always a concern to me on how to address it. Though, we can find a lot of alternatives for the lacking resources but there are things that we need that we cannot do because it is impossible to have it or make it such as the LCD projector.

Through the courtesy of the Tanzania Development Trust, we are able to acquire an LCD projector that makes our work more effective and to reach more people. It also help to improve the coffer of the  Miti Ulaya Training Center  because it  also upgrade the facilities of the training center where  they can ask for a rental fees anytime people will come during the weekends to conduct their events such training  and seminars  in the training center using the  equipments. This is one way of making the training center more self sustainable. 
Currently, as Methods and Content / Language   Advisor of the Training Center the equipment is an indispensable tool for me in  conduct training to upgrade the teaching skills of the teachers, gender mainstreaming in the schools,  and most recently my film showing project to create environmental awareness and instilling life skills in schools and in the community. But best of all,  it also provide new   form   of infotainment (information and entertainment)  to improve everyone’s  English skills.The LCD projector is an ordinary machine but an important catalyst in making my small share development work here an extraordinary one for everyone here in this side of the East African coast of the Indian Ocean.  Ashanteni sana Tanzania Development Trust Fund for making our dreams a reality and for trusting me to have the grant.