Sunday, February 20, 2005
Saturday, February 19, 2005
By now I have almost all of the essays to send to Shari and the Young African-American Achievers in Yorktown. I am missing a couple of classes because Mr. Kabika got a new job and has kind-of dropped everything. He told me he had the final essays for me, but I haven’t seen him since. If I do get his essays, they may have to follow later.
Every class was involved, from Form I (equivalent to the U.S. 8th grade) to Form V (U.S. 12th grade, but Tanzania has a 13 year education system, so these students are not quite “seniors” yet). The difference in expression between Forms I and V is interesting. Since the primary grades (1 through 7) are taught in Kiswahili, the Form I students are in their first year where they have to use English in school. English is their second language and, for some who grew up speaking a tribal language, their third. Given this, I think they really do quite well. If I had to write something in Kiswahili (or even express myself clearly orally in Kiswahili) it would be a disaster.
Anyway, an example of a Form I essay, picked not quite at random:
What Education Means to Me
Raymond Nyasebwa, Form IB
In difinition education is a system where by people trained to improve their skills and knowledge.
Education on my side is very important because it helps me in the following ways:-
Education helps me to know the different parts of world, that is by studying various subject e.g climate of different country population.
Education is very important for human being, because it helps man to controll his daily activities.
Education helps me to know my body. Through education I can be able to know how I supose to eat in order to get good health.
Skipping to the end...
My coments is that education must be given by all people because is very important for them.
And from Form V:
What Education Means to Me
Rafiki Lufunga, Form VB
Educational Essay Writing, Feb 10, 05
Living organisms especially man has different ways through which can live while tamming nature. It is education that makes human being to be differentiated from other living creatures like cow, birds and even plants. Education means knowledge, skills or wisdoms. There education is something that inculcates knowledge, skills or wisdoms in one’s mind for one’s betterments.
Skipping to the end...
By summing up, I argue that education as a ‘tool’ or ‘weapon’ can be termed as a bush-fire that play a double role to perpetuate development of one’s welfare or the whole society and on the same way can be a tool for Social Stratification and destruction of the purposes of true education are embezzled. for instance the prevailing situation of planting nuclear weapons which are terrifying the World peace and harmony. Therefore by so to say I am extrimely targeted to use my education for the Welfare of me and the rest world.
By now I have almost all of the essays to send to Shari and the Young African-American Achievers in Yorktown. I am missing a couple of classes because Mr. Kabika got a new job and has kind-of dropped everything. He told me he had the final essays for me, but I haven’t seen him since. If I do get his essays, they may have to follow later.
Every class was involved, from Form I (equivalent to the U.S. 8th grade) to Form V (U.S. 12th grade, but Tanzania has a 13 year education system, so these students are not quite “seniors” yet). The difference in expression between Forms I and V is interesting. Since the primary grades (1 through 7) are taught in Kiswahili, the Form I students are in their first year where they have to use English in school. English is their second language and, for some who grew up speaking a tribal language, their third. Given this, I think they really do quite well. If I had to write something in Kiswahili (or even express myself clearly orally in Kiswahili) it would be a disaster.
Anyway, an example of a Form I essay, picked not quite at random:
What Education Means to Me
Raymond Nyasebwa, Form IB
In difinition education is a system where by people trained to improve their skills and knowledge.
Education on my side is very important because it helps me in the following ways:-
Education helps me to know the different parts of world, that is by studying various subject e.g climate of different country population.
Education is very important for human being, because it helps man to controll his daily activities.
Education helps me to know my body. Through education I can be able to know how I supose to eat in order to get good health.
Skipping to the end...
My coments is that education must be given by all people because is very important for them.
And from Form V:
What Education Means to Me
Rafiki Lufunga, Form VB
Educational Essay Writing, Feb 10, 05
Living organisms especially man has different ways through which can live while tamming nature. It is education that makes human being to be differentiated from other living creatures like cow, birds and even plants. Education means knowledge, skills or wisdoms. There education is something that inculcates knowledge, skills or wisdoms in one’s mind for one’s betterments.
Skipping to the end...
By summing up, I argue that education as a ‘tool’ or ‘weapon’ can be termed as a bush-fire that play a double role to perpetuate development of one’s welfare or the whole society and on the same way can be a tool for Social Stratification and destruction of the purposes of true education are embezzled. for instance the prevailing situation of planting nuclear weapons which are terrifying the World peace and harmony. Therefore by so to say I am extrimely targeted to use my education for the Welfare of me and the rest world.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
So, Classes. During the week without teaching, I talked with small groups of students, the Asst. Academic Master talked to the classes and small groups of students, and so did the 2nd MasterI also pulled in the Academic Director of the Peace Corps in Dar for consultation and suggestions. . The administration and other teachers were gracious and generous in offering ideas and help. The problems, as I see them after all the consultations and reflection, can be summarized as:
1. My blackboard notes last year were disorganized and very confusing. I certainly see that now. My teaching style would have been fine for students who had a textbook to use for reference, but not for instruction where the “textbook” is what the teacher writes on the board and there ARE no textbooks. I do learn. By contrast, my blackboard notes this year have been highly organized and methodical, but some students had already decided that they could not learn from me and consequently have refused even to try.
2. I tend to talk as I write on the blackboard, to amplify and give background to my notes. But English is my student’s second language – third language, for those whose communities still speak a tribal language. They just cannot write and at the same time listen in any meaningful way.
3. Although I write the concepts to be covered in each class on the board before starting to teach, I also need to do more review – to recap what was important at the end of every period, also.
4. Perhaps most importantly, my students think that I am teaching from American textbooks and that this is not the information they will need to pass the Tanzanian National Examinations. It is really unfortunate how the National Exams skew the system from learning to memorization, but it is a fact of life, here. (I only hope that the US trend to National Exams and Evaluations under the guise of No Child Left Behind can avoid this trap.)
The fault for our impasse is not all mine, of course. For their part, the students must also make an effort. They:
1. MUST copy the notes I write on the board, and they MUST review them the same day to be sure they understand them.
2. They must BE in class. And if they are absent from class, it is their responsibility to get the notes from a good student and copy them, on their own.
3. They really must supplement the classwork with other sources of information as well – books in the library, copies of old National Exams, notebooks from students who took the class before, whatever.
Overall, I really had lost control of the classes. Attendance had been low and dropping. Students wandered out of the room if they chose, didn’t take notes, etc. I talked to students individually about this – what to do. The uniform answer was “Whip them.” The whole system here is geared to punishment, negative reinforcement, hitting. I’m not QUITE ready to give in to that yet, but....
Another issue is that students are required to take chemistry, and some students just want nothing to do with it. Those are the really disruptive students. So the administration has agreed to let students drop chemistry if they understand the consequences (they will not be able to take any science curricula in the future).
Attendance in the first classes this week was about 1/3 higher than it had ever been before. I began by showing them how I start preparing a lesson, by looking at the Tz syllabus, then at the kind of questions on that topic asked in the National Examination, then I look at books both Tz and American to put together the best presentation I can. After that, we spent the period reviewing material from first classes I had given, and I gave them homework to review the material I had covered in other classes. They were generally attentive, and discipline wasn’t bad.
During the week, the school specifically invited students of several of the classes to opt out of the course if they chose.
The second set of classes were the more interesting ones (I teach each class 2x per week). I figure this was the critical time – if they didn’t do their homework, and got away with it, any discipline I might have earned would be lost. Soon after I began teaching, I looked at my class and there was a student sitting there – again – with no pen, no notebook, arms crossed. I confronted him. “Are you a student? Where is your notebook? Why don’t you have a pen?” Got only the familiar Blank Tanzanian Zombie Stare. Confrontation repeated, louder. Got a response this time, almost a sneer: “I am not taking chemistry, sir.” Aha! “Have you accepted the invitation to drop chemistry?” “Yes.” “Oh. And who else in the class is dropping chemistry.” About ten hands went up. I “invited” them to go to the library, as “this class is only for chemistry students.” I have never seen Tanzanian students move so fast – suddenly no more of the zombie resistance. They were OVERJOYED to get out of there!
It created the most amazing change. After that, the room was silent – no more jokes, fake coughing or side conversations - and the remaining students were literally soaking up everything I said. There was a participation, attention and energy level that had NEVER been there before. If this is a sign of the future, there are good things ahead!
Of course, it ain’t ALL hearts and roses. I gave a short quiz, and the kids did really quite well on the work that I presented in the previous period, but had almost NO knowledge of the work I asked them to find and study as homework. But still, we certainly do have a basis to begin learning chemistry, at long last.
So, Classes. During the week without teaching, I talked with small groups of students, the Asst. Academic Master talked to the classes and small groups of students, and so did the 2nd MasterI also pulled in the Academic Director of the Peace Corps in Dar for consultation and suggestions. . The administration and other teachers were gracious and generous in offering ideas and help. The problems, as I see them after all the consultations and reflection, can be summarized as:
1. My blackboard notes last year were disorganized and very confusing. I certainly see that now. My teaching style would have been fine for students who had a textbook to use for reference, but not for instruction where the “textbook” is what the teacher writes on the board and there ARE no textbooks. I do learn. By contrast, my blackboard notes this year have been highly organized and methodical, but some students had already decided that they could not learn from me and consequently have refused even to try.
2. I tend to talk as I write on the blackboard, to amplify and give background to my notes. But English is my student’s second language – third language, for those whose communities still speak a tribal language. They just cannot write and at the same time listen in any meaningful way.
3. Although I write the concepts to be covered in each class on the board before starting to teach, I also need to do more review – to recap what was important at the end of every period, also.
4. Perhaps most importantly, my students think that I am teaching from American textbooks and that this is not the information they will need to pass the Tanzanian National Examinations. It is really unfortunate how the National Exams skew the system from learning to memorization, but it is a fact of life, here. (I only hope that the US trend to National Exams and Evaluations under the guise of No Child Left Behind can avoid this trap.)
The fault for our impasse is not all mine, of course. For their part, the students must also make an effort. They:
1. MUST copy the notes I write on the board, and they MUST review them the same day to be sure they understand them.
2. They must BE in class. And if they are absent from class, it is their responsibility to get the notes from a good student and copy them, on their own.
3. They really must supplement the classwork with other sources of information as well – books in the library, copies of old National Exams, notebooks from students who took the class before, whatever.
Overall, I really had lost control of the classes. Attendance had been low and dropping. Students wandered out of the room if they chose, didn’t take notes, etc. I talked to students individually about this – what to do. The uniform answer was “Whip them.” The whole system here is geared to punishment, negative reinforcement, hitting. I’m not QUITE ready to give in to that yet, but....
Another issue is that students are required to take chemistry, and some students just want nothing to do with it. Those are the really disruptive students. So the administration has agreed to let students drop chemistry if they understand the consequences (they will not be able to take any science curricula in the future).
Attendance in the first classes this week was about 1/3 higher than it had ever been before. I began by showing them how I start preparing a lesson, by looking at the Tz syllabus, then at the kind of questions on that topic asked in the National Examination, then I look at books both Tz and American to put together the best presentation I can. After that, we spent the period reviewing material from first classes I had given, and I gave them homework to review the material I had covered in other classes. They were generally attentive, and discipline wasn’t bad.
During the week, the school specifically invited students of several of the classes to opt out of the course if they chose.
The second set of classes were the more interesting ones (I teach each class 2x per week). I figure this was the critical time – if they didn’t do their homework, and got away with it, any discipline I might have earned would be lost. Soon after I began teaching, I looked at my class and there was a student sitting there – again – with no pen, no notebook, arms crossed. I confronted him. “Are you a student? Where is your notebook? Why don’t you have a pen?” Got only the familiar Blank Tanzanian Zombie Stare. Confrontation repeated, louder. Got a response this time, almost a sneer: “I am not taking chemistry, sir.” Aha! “Have you accepted the invitation to drop chemistry?” “Yes.” “Oh. And who else in the class is dropping chemistry.” About ten hands went up. I “invited” them to go to the library, as “this class is only for chemistry students.” I have never seen Tanzanian students move so fast – suddenly no more of the zombie resistance. They were OVERJOYED to get out of there!
It created the most amazing change. After that, the room was silent – no more jokes, fake coughing or side conversations - and the remaining students were literally soaking up everything I said. There was a participation, attention and energy level that had NEVER been there before. If this is a sign of the future, there are good things ahead!
Of course, it ain’t ALL hearts and roses. I gave a short quiz, and the kids did really quite well on the work that I presented in the previous period, but had almost NO knowledge of the work I asked them to find and study as homework. But still, we certainly do have a basis to begin learning chemistry, at long last.
Friday, Feb 18
Quite a week! I have been back teaching again, after letting my students stew (or celebrate) without a chemistry teacher for a week, so had a lot of angst over that. I’ve been collecting the school essays from the English teachers to send to Shari and the Young African-American Achievers for their judgements. And I’ve been handling all the details to send nine instructors off to Mbeya for training in how to use the TechnoServe/NFTE materials to teach entrepreneurship. I saw them off on the bus today, and that has been the issue taking most of my time and energy.
The first crisis was over the project funding. Headquarters assured me that the money had been deposited in my account. So I squeezed time between classes and went to the bank on Wednesday – the deadline for purchasing the bus tickets – to take out enough money to pay for them. But there was no money in my acount. The PC cashier at headquarters answered my frantic call to casually tell me that “Oh yes, we deposited the money to your account, but it will take several days for the deposit to clear.” More phone calls. Finally, the Chief Financial Officer (bless her) said she would make a personal loan of $1500 and have a driver take the cash to the bank in Dar and put it in my account so I would have it within an hour.
Wow. Time out. I’m typing this on my front porch, looking across the football pitch. And there are dozens of white butterflies (moths?) fluttering across the pitch. Haven’t seen them before, and now, suddenly, here they are. So many strange and wonderful things seems to happen here, suddenly, and then they are gone. Someone said that Africa is the land of extremes. The storms are sudden and strong. The droughts are severe. The wars ferocious. The wealthy extremely rich and the poor destitute. The ants appear without warning or preamble. The beauty exquisite. The possibilities endless and the reality depressing. Incredible flowers and flowering trees. Corn grows twelve feet high. A land of continual surprises.
I had lunch, went back to the bank and THE MONEY WAS ACTUALLY THERE! Of course, by the time I got from the bank to the bus station and waited for them to write out and record nine tickets, my class period was long gone. At least I did get back to the school in time, barely, for the second and last meeting of all the people going on the trip. One woman in particular kept raising questions – Why aren’t we being paid the government rates? Is this a school function? Is the school providing MEDICAL COVERAGE on the trip for god’s sake! It was a looong meeting, in the typical Tanzanian style.
Another break time. I need to go watch the sunset and listen to nature sounds.
OK, back again. The sunset was a little weak tonight, there was a small cloud bank along the horizon that kind of blocked things. Anyway, yesterday, one day before the trip, that Mama Mbilinyi decided there wasn’t enough money in it for her and the timing was so late that her Headmaster wasn’t able to find a replacement. So yesterday I had to go back to town again to try to refund her ticket at least. Well, they wouldn’t take it back, but they did make it open-ended so we could use it on the return.
Then Austadius Kabika from our own school announced that he had found a new job and was quitting on the spot and reporting to the new site on Monday. Fortunately, Mr Magota immediatly volunteered to take his spot, so we had a long talk about the program goals. He will be a good addition to the group. Then, about 10:00pm Adam Kazioba dropped by to say that he heard there was an opening and could he participate in the program. He would be a great guy, so I said YES, IF he could get a temporary passport in time, and IF I could still get a seat on the bus, all before the bus leaves at 1:00pm.
The passport is needed because the roads through the middle of Tanzania are so bad that the best way to get from here to the eastern side is to go north through Kenya. The bus makes a midnight stop in Nairobi at a bus station that looks straight out of Iowa. Sleepy, kind-of dusty, tired dusty people just hanging out, fluorescent and some neon lighting, with the Tanzanian version of a fast-food diner upstairs.
There was a final scene with our Headmaster this morning after the assembly (Parade) because things happened so fast and he hadn’t been in on the changes. His feathers were ruffled. So he was reluctant to let Adam leave for a week, but I cajoled him a bit and he relented. It helped a lot that I was not going. Still, he is losing four teachers for a week and Kabika just quit, so he has his problems.
So we went to town, I got the seat, Adam and Magoti got their passports. YES!!!
There was even time to handle another issue. I had lost my ATM card, so needed to inform the bank for security, and get a new card. Well, before they will start to process a new card, you must fill out a police report. So off to the Central Police Station, where things move slowly. It is Tanzania. It turns out that before you can file a police report, you need two passport-size photos of yourself. Don’t ask why. So off to get the photos taken, back to the police station where there is a 500 shilling fee to file a report. Then it needs to be processed and stamped at 4 different desks in 3 different offices. I finally got out of there and back to the bank to fill out more forms. The new card will be ready in two weeks, they say.
Everybody showed up for the bus, excited and eager. I handed out the tickets and food money and gave Mama Mtayangulwa the latest information that I had received from TechnoServe by email. Gosh, I wish I was going with them. To get to know the group, to be aware of the program even if it will be taught in Kiswahili, and because this was probably my only chance to see the Southern Highlands. The gang will have a 19hr bus ride to Arusha, where they will spend most of a day plus a night. Then they leave at 5:45am on Sunday for another 14hr bus ride to Mbeya where the course will be given. Mtayangulwa sent me a phone message to say that they were at the Kenyan border and everything was going well.
Gosh, this saga has gotten long. I will hold off on talking about my classes (they seem to be going pretty well, actually) and the essays, for now.
Quite a week! I have been back teaching again, after letting my students stew (or celebrate) without a chemistry teacher for a week, so had a lot of angst over that. I’ve been collecting the school essays from the English teachers to send to Shari and the Young African-American Achievers for their judgements. And I’ve been handling all the details to send nine instructors off to Mbeya for training in how to use the TechnoServe/NFTE materials to teach entrepreneurship. I saw them off on the bus today, and that has been the issue taking most of my time and energy.
The first crisis was over the project funding. Headquarters assured me that the money had been deposited in my account. So I squeezed time between classes and went to the bank on Wednesday – the deadline for purchasing the bus tickets – to take out enough money to pay for them. But there was no money in my acount. The PC cashier at headquarters answered my frantic call to casually tell me that “Oh yes, we deposited the money to your account, but it will take several days for the deposit to clear.” More phone calls. Finally, the Chief Financial Officer (bless her) said she would make a personal loan of $1500 and have a driver take the cash to the bank in Dar and put it in my account so I would have it within an hour.
Wow. Time out. I’m typing this on my front porch, looking across the football pitch. And there are dozens of white butterflies (moths?) fluttering across the pitch. Haven’t seen them before, and now, suddenly, here they are. So many strange and wonderful things seems to happen here, suddenly, and then they are gone. Someone said that Africa is the land of extremes. The storms are sudden and strong. The droughts are severe. The wars ferocious. The wealthy extremely rich and the poor destitute. The ants appear without warning or preamble. The beauty exquisite. The possibilities endless and the reality depressing. Incredible flowers and flowering trees. Corn grows twelve feet high. A land of continual surprises.
I had lunch, went back to the bank and THE MONEY WAS ACTUALLY THERE! Of course, by the time I got from the bank to the bus station and waited for them to write out and record nine tickets, my class period was long gone. At least I did get back to the school in time, barely, for the second and last meeting of all the people going on the trip. One woman in particular kept raising questions – Why aren’t we being paid the government rates? Is this a school function? Is the school providing MEDICAL COVERAGE on the trip for god’s sake! It was a looong meeting, in the typical Tanzanian style.
Another break time. I need to go watch the sunset and listen to nature sounds.
OK, back again. The sunset was a little weak tonight, there was a small cloud bank along the horizon that kind of blocked things. Anyway, yesterday, one day before the trip, that Mama Mbilinyi decided there wasn’t enough money in it for her and the timing was so late that her Headmaster wasn’t able to find a replacement. So yesterday I had to go back to town again to try to refund her ticket at least. Well, they wouldn’t take it back, but they did make it open-ended so we could use it on the return.
Then Austadius Kabika from our own school announced that he had found a new job and was quitting on the spot and reporting to the new site on Monday. Fortunately, Mr Magota immediatly volunteered to take his spot, so we had a long talk about the program goals. He will be a good addition to the group. Then, about 10:00pm Adam Kazioba dropped by to say that he heard there was an opening and could he participate in the program. He would be a great guy, so I said YES, IF he could get a temporary passport in time, and IF I could still get a seat on the bus, all before the bus leaves at 1:00pm.
The passport is needed because the roads through the middle of Tanzania are so bad that the best way to get from here to the eastern side is to go north through Kenya. The bus makes a midnight stop in Nairobi at a bus station that looks straight out of Iowa. Sleepy, kind-of dusty, tired dusty people just hanging out, fluorescent and some neon lighting, with the Tanzanian version of a fast-food diner upstairs.
There was a final scene with our Headmaster this morning after the assembly (Parade) because things happened so fast and he hadn’t been in on the changes. His feathers were ruffled. So he was reluctant to let Adam leave for a week, but I cajoled him a bit and he relented. It helped a lot that I was not going. Still, he is losing four teachers for a week and Kabika just quit, so he has his problems.
So we went to town, I got the seat, Adam and Magoti got their passports. YES!!!
There was even time to handle another issue. I had lost my ATM card, so needed to inform the bank for security, and get a new card. Well, before they will start to process a new card, you must fill out a police report. So off to the Central Police Station, where things move slowly. It is Tanzania. It turns out that before you can file a police report, you need two passport-size photos of yourself. Don’t ask why. So off to get the photos taken, back to the police station where there is a 500 shilling fee to file a report. Then it needs to be processed and stamped at 4 different desks in 3 different offices. I finally got out of there and back to the bank to fill out more forms. The new card will be ready in two weeks, they say.
Everybody showed up for the bus, excited and eager. I handed out the tickets and food money and gave Mama Mtayangulwa the latest information that I had received from TechnoServe by email. Gosh, I wish I was going with them. To get to know the group, to be aware of the program even if it will be taught in Kiswahili, and because this was probably my only chance to see the Southern Highlands. The gang will have a 19hr bus ride to Arusha, where they will spend most of a day plus a night. Then they leave at 5:45am on Sunday for another 14hr bus ride to Mbeya where the course will be given. Mtayangulwa sent me a phone message to say that they were at the Kenyan border and everything was going well.
Gosh, this saga has gotten long. I will hold off on talking about my classes (they seem to be going pretty well, actually) and the essays, for now.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
3 o’clock in the MORning 2/11
I feel like I am being torn in half, one half at long last on the verge of really accomplishing something that could be valuable and significant, and the other half, my teaching, having all the rank appeal of a cellpool.
Atiba could only spare us one day, but yesterday he gave us the window from his arrival on the first morning flight from Dar es Salaam at 8:30a to his departure on the last flight at 6:00p. I hired a taxi for the day and met him on his arrival. Mama Mtayangulwa and I accompanied him around – although really, I had set up all the meetings – to meet the Headmasters of the schools. To Mwanza Secondary at 9:30, VETA out in Nyakato at 11:00, Lunch at Kuleanas. Nganza at 1:30 got cancelled because A. Lopa was in the hospital with malaria so we went to the University instead so Atiba could pick up some information for his files, then on to Nsumba at 2:30. Finally the important meeting with all the Instructors who will be going to Mbeya for a week of training, Feb 21-25. It was their first meeting together, and I talked about why I wanted to establish the project, then Atiba talked at length about the program and the success it has had. With rapt attention and good questions, the meeting ran until the last minute, and we just had time to get him back to the airport.
Atiba gave a great presentation to the headmasters. Even I was impressed with the scope of TechnoServe and their partner NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship). And Atiba was impressed by the lavish support all the headmasters promised. They not only gave us their time freely, but all of them then personally escorted us all the way out of the school while other people who needed to see them sat outside their offices, cooling their heels. VETA expects to use the program as a pilot project and if it works, expand it through the whole Lake Region. Since TechnoServe is already working with another VETA district in southern Tz, this could well expand to include the whole country.
TechnoServe is active with Entrepreneurship programs in Africa and Central America. Hmmmm. Possibility for followup adventures in Central America? Well, first things first, and right now I have teaching problems to contend with.
Somehow, I thought that with my not teaching this week, the way forward would become clearer. Wrong. I think I see some methods I’ve used that were perhaps not wise, and some errors on the part of the students. And there are certainly some students who don’t want to be there at all and should be given the freedom to depart.
But I don’t know how to get things back on track. And what concerns me even more is that I do not see how to present the course material ahead. The syllabus covers too much ground, including as just one part a lengthy section of Qualitative Analysis at a content and detail level that I did not encounter until my Sophomore year at Juniata. This just has to be crazy! Kagua, the Dept. Chairman who last year felt like an adversary, has offered to help me and to work with me on the QA section. Adam has volunteered to teach that section FOR me, in return for my teaching other sections to his classes. Lord, I just don’t know. In spite of these offers of help, I feel like I am stuck in quicksand while the world goes by.
I’m writing this in the middle of the night – couldn’t sleep worth a damn. Bright and early tomorrow (today), I am scheduled to talk with my headmaster Msasa. What to say? What to propose?
I feel like I am being torn in half, one half at long last on the verge of really accomplishing something that could be valuable and significant, and the other half, my teaching, having all the rank appeal of a cellpool.
Atiba could only spare us one day, but yesterday he gave us the window from his arrival on the first morning flight from Dar es Salaam at 8:30a to his departure on the last flight at 6:00p. I hired a taxi for the day and met him on his arrival. Mama Mtayangulwa and I accompanied him around – although really, I had set up all the meetings – to meet the Headmasters of the schools. To Mwanza Secondary at 9:30, VETA out in Nyakato at 11:00, Lunch at Kuleanas. Nganza at 1:30 got cancelled because A. Lopa was in the hospital with malaria so we went to the University instead so Atiba could pick up some information for his files, then on to Nsumba at 2:30. Finally the important meeting with all the Instructors who will be going to Mbeya for a week of training, Feb 21-25. It was their first meeting together, and I talked about why I wanted to establish the project, then Atiba talked at length about the program and the success it has had. With rapt attention and good questions, the meeting ran until the last minute, and we just had time to get him back to the airport.
Atiba gave a great presentation to the headmasters. Even I was impressed with the scope of TechnoServe and their partner NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship). And Atiba was impressed by the lavish support all the headmasters promised. They not only gave us their time freely, but all of them then personally escorted us all the way out of the school while other people who needed to see them sat outside their offices, cooling their heels. VETA expects to use the program as a pilot project and if it works, expand it through the whole Lake Region. Since TechnoServe is already working with another VETA district in southern Tz, this could well expand to include the whole country.
TechnoServe is active with Entrepreneurship programs in Africa and Central America. Hmmmm. Possibility for followup adventures in Central America? Well, first things first, and right now I have teaching problems to contend with.
Somehow, I thought that with my not teaching this week, the way forward would become clearer. Wrong. I think I see some methods I’ve used that were perhaps not wise, and some errors on the part of the students. And there are certainly some students who don’t want to be there at all and should be given the freedom to depart.
But I don’t know how to get things back on track. And what concerns me even more is that I do not see how to present the course material ahead. The syllabus covers too much ground, including as just one part a lengthy section of Qualitative Analysis at a content and detail level that I did not encounter until my Sophomore year at Juniata. This just has to be crazy! Kagua, the Dept. Chairman who last year felt like an adversary, has offered to help me and to work with me on the QA section. Adam has volunteered to teach that section FOR me, in return for my teaching other sections to his classes. Lord, I just don’t know. In spite of these offers of help, I feel like I am stuck in quicksand while the world goes by.
I’m writing this in the middle of the night – couldn’t sleep worth a damn. Bright and early tomorrow (today), I am scheduled to talk with my headmaster Msasa. What to say? What to propose?
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Tuesday Feb 8
I’ve got the feeling that I have really gotten wordy in my last posts. Sorry.
I’m not teaching this week. Today I talked at length with the 2nd Headmaster – my report pretty much confirmed what he heard from other sources, and neither of us think it is a very serious problem. But it probably won’t get resolved until the Headmaster returns on Thursday. I’m happy with this – let the students who do care, stew over it a little bit.
The teachers have told me that another teacher had similar problems a couple of years ago. And that teacher was Tanzanian, and a damn good teacher. Also Kara, a PC teacher at Sumve, had her kids go on strike against her methods. So maybe this is just a tough age to teach. Form IV. Correlates to 11th grade in the US system.
Anyway, I am busy working this week to schedule the visit for Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, to visit the Headmasters of the schools participating in my economic empowerment program. He had planned to come for two days, but now only for one, arriving by plane at 8:30a on Thursday, leaving at 6:00p. So I have put together one mighty packed itinerary for him. He will sleep on the plane back to Dar.
This is also the week that the students in all grades should be writing essays to send to Shari’s Young African-American Achievers group in Yorktown for judging and awards. Subject: What Education Means For Me. I’ve got to check on that tomorrow to be sure that it is happening, but teachers have been enthusiastic and it should not be a problem.
I’ve got the feeling that I have really gotten wordy in my last posts. Sorry.
I’m not teaching this week. Today I talked at length with the 2nd Headmaster – my report pretty much confirmed what he heard from other sources, and neither of us think it is a very serious problem. But it probably won’t get resolved until the Headmaster returns on Thursday. I’m happy with this – let the students who do care, stew over it a little bit.
The teachers have told me that another teacher had similar problems a couple of years ago. And that teacher was Tanzanian, and a damn good teacher. Also Kara, a PC teacher at Sumve, had her kids go on strike against her methods. So maybe this is just a tough age to teach. Form IV. Correlates to 11th grade in the US system.
Anyway, I am busy working this week to schedule the visit for Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, to visit the Headmasters of the schools participating in my economic empowerment program. He had planned to come for two days, but now only for one, arriving by plane at 8:30a on Thursday, leaving at 6:00p. So I have put together one mighty packed itinerary for him. He will sleep on the plane back to Dar.
This is also the week that the students in all grades should be writing essays to send to Shari’s Young African-American Achievers group in Yorktown for judging and awards. Subject: What Education Means For Me. I’ve got to check on that tomorrow to be sure that it is happening, but teachers have been enthusiastic and it should not be a problem.
Feb 3, Thursday - Yes, this posting is out of sequence. But I didn't want to post it until I knew a little more where things were headed. It took some time for the dust to settle. By now I am sure things will work out OK, but meanwhile I have not been teaching this week - 2nd wk of Feb. So, what I wrote back on Feb 3 ...
CRISIS TIME.
We are now five lessons into the term – 10 periods actually, since I teach double periods. I have completed the section dealing with “Extraction of Metals.” It really has required, at least as I see it, presenting dense material in a lecture format for memorization by the students. Not how I want to teach at all, but given the nature of the National Syllabus, I see no other real option. I’ve tried to add personal commentary and draw analogies to supplement what I write on the board and insist that they copy from the board into their notebooks. And I have insisted that they DO have notebooks, open, and DO copy down what I write on the board.
So I scheduled a quiz for Lesson 6. I gave it yesterday to Classes A and B, will attempt to give it to C, D and E today. But I am hitting such passive resistance that it amount to open rebellion. Tanzanian students are MASTERS of passive resistance. As I passed out paper to A for the quiz – I had to personally buy the paper downtown the day before because the school could/would not provide it – I got comments like “We do not understand.” This is before I put any questions on the board at all. I had written out the questions – all taken directly from past National Exams - on flip chart paper and taped them on the board. In Class A, the students wrote their names on the paper and at least began to copy down the questions, but ONLY TWO STUDENTS in the class made any attempt to answer them. I stopped the quiz and formed small groups to have them answer the questions together, using their notebooks. That worked a little better, but I still had to show them where in their own notebooks they had copied down the answers to the quiz questions.
If A was bad, B was worse. Like A, there was lower than usual attendance. But NONE of these students would answer the questions or even put their names on their papers. We couldn’t do the small group thing, because they all claimed not to have their notebooks. Left it in the dormitory – gave it to a friend – it is in somebody else’s desk that is locked – never had one – every excuse under the sun.
I want to see what reaction I get from the remaining three classes today, and I will try to talk to small groups from A/B to see what they say is going on. Then it is time to talk to the school administration and to the Peace Corps Education Director. However things came to this pass, it is not working. I have failed, no learning is taking place.
There is some kind of group thing going on. This level of passive resistance has to be organized. A few students have told me, privately, that I am good at presenting material, and that some of the students who claim not to understand in class are just saying that so I will have to go back and take class time to re-explain something they already do understand. I suspected that, but I respond to it anyway, and always try to encourage my classes to tell me whenever they do not understand what I am presenting. So now????
LATER
Class C is my smallest group – today, only seven students. They were unprepared for the quiz, but said that it was because there was no electricity last night so they could not study. So we used the questions as a review, and it struck me as a pretty good session.
Class D. Two students answered the questions well. The class did not fight me though, and splitting into groups to solve the questions worked rather well. Then we talked about what is going wrong. They said:
l. They do not understand what I am presenting.
2. I am presenting material too rapidly.
3. They do not think I am presenting material that they need to know.
Class E, the smartest class. Again, total passive resistance. I asked several students if they had their notebooks with them. They just sat there and looked at me. Would not even say either yes or no. So I called them LOSERS and left the class. Then came back to take out 4-5 students to talk with them about what is wrong and what can change. I think I won some sympathy, at least – I showed how I am organizing material and presenting it, and I think that surprised them. But in practical terms, I could get only:
1. Use only Tanzanian textbooks.
2. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU AND NEVER DID. NOT A LANGUAGE ISSUE, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR ENGLISH FINE, BUT NOT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. Huh?
This morning I had talked to the Asst. Academic Master about this situation. He understands the depth of the problem, and in response has talked to some of the Classes about it. He is due to come to my home tonight so we can discuss it some more.
By the way, the Director of VETA says he will come to Nsumba tomorrow at 11 to talk with my Coordinator and me about the business course we are planning for later this year.
Meanwhile, Brian said he is coming in to Mwanza on Friday evening. Sarah said she is, too. Kim and Kathleen are probably coming in on Saturday. Regina, who I never met but is from an NGO in Dar es Salaam, is supposed to be bringing me some pills from HQ tomorrow for the third treatment of my fungoid toe, and to talk with me about some HIV/AIDS program or other on Ukerewe Island.
Guess that from time to time life may not be good, but it sure ain’t dull.
Also, a student came to my house tonight, complaining because my final report from last year said that he had not taken the final examination, and so failed. He said he did so take the exam. I checked my record, but do not have any Jackson Michael in the roster. However I DO have a Jackson Marco listed, who was one of the better students. Jackson Michael says he IS Jackson Marco. So he answered to the wrong name all last year? His official record is wrong? This year I passed around the attendance sheet for students to complete for themselves (until they sabotaged the sheet), and to make sure their names were spelled correctly, listed in first name/last name order. So I checked the roster: I have BOTH Jackson Marco and Jackson Michael listed this year – and a Jackson Mwendwa, too. But JMichael has attended most classes and JMarco has never attended a class. So why didn’t Jackson ever correct the roster? Or the official record? Or my attendance sheet from last year? Tanzania!
Sunday, February 6th
The weekend has been crowded with activity, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Certainly my students have been on my mind a lot, especially in those wee small hours of the night. I heard back from Tom Msuka at PC Headquarters that he had been in contact with the school headmaster. Bw. Msasa had been in Morogoro for a workshop all week and isn’t expected to be back until Tuesday. I doubt that anything will happen in his absence.
By now I have talked with several groups of students and so has the Asst. Academic Master, who is a very capable guy. But he has his own problems, including a 5 year old young sister who fell out of a car and went into a 17hr coma and was not expected to live. Anyway, the consensus by now is that I have been presenting material too rapidly for my classes, plus a perception that I am not presenting the material they are required to know. On the other hand, several students have gone out of their way to tell me how much they like the way I have been teaching. So these are solvable problems, and I feel sure that we can come to an amicable conclusion and get the classes rolling again. But it will take some time, so I expect a few days without teaching duties.
Actually, a break from teaching right now is fortunate. I anticipate needing Tuesday and Wednesday to host Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, in meeting the headmasters and instructors for the Small Business Training Program we will be jointly sponsoring. Strange, how stuff works out.
It is good that I inherited a bunch of foam pads from Steve when he transferred to the south. I had five other PCVs sleep across, this weekend. Sarah and Mina (Musoma), Kathleen (Bunda), Kara (Sumve), Brian (Misumwi) – and Ryan dropped in too (Nganza). We spent Fri night talking and drinking at the Royal Pub, Sat night watching the sunset and then cooking up a tremendous stew – while forgetting to cook to last of my sweet corn that was the genesis of the whole cooking idea. We all have our teaching problems of one sort or another. Like me, Kara is facing rebellious students so we could compare notes and commiserate with each other.
It turns out that Mina is Indian, and Seik. So we went to the Seik Temple together this morning, and she was able to help me to begin to understand the structure of the service and a little of the history and philosophy of Seikism. I wish the Hindi language of the service wasn’t so impenetrable, but .... I am still enjoying attending the services there, and the delicious meal that they serve immediately after the services. The feel of the Seik service is certainly MUCH closer to Unitarianism than any other religious option that is available here. During the meal I sat next to a man who had left Tanzania in the 1985 exodus when Tanzania kicked out foreign businesspeople, built a business on Long Island, retired to San Diego, and now spends part of every year back in Tanzania visiting family and friends. Interesting guy.
CRISIS TIME.
We are now five lessons into the term – 10 periods actually, since I teach double periods. I have completed the section dealing with “Extraction of Metals.” It really has required, at least as I see it, presenting dense material in a lecture format for memorization by the students. Not how I want to teach at all, but given the nature of the National Syllabus, I see no other real option. I’ve tried to add personal commentary and draw analogies to supplement what I write on the board and insist that they copy from the board into their notebooks. And I have insisted that they DO have notebooks, open, and DO copy down what I write on the board.
So I scheduled a quiz for Lesson 6. I gave it yesterday to Classes A and B, will attempt to give it to C, D and E today. But I am hitting such passive resistance that it amount to open rebellion. Tanzanian students are MASTERS of passive resistance. As I passed out paper to A for the quiz – I had to personally buy the paper downtown the day before because the school could/would not provide it – I got comments like “We do not understand.” This is before I put any questions on the board at all. I had written out the questions – all taken directly from past National Exams - on flip chart paper and taped them on the board. In Class A, the students wrote their names on the paper and at least began to copy down the questions, but ONLY TWO STUDENTS in the class made any attempt to answer them. I stopped the quiz and formed small groups to have them answer the questions together, using their notebooks. That worked a little better, but I still had to show them where in their own notebooks they had copied down the answers to the quiz questions.
If A was bad, B was worse. Like A, there was lower than usual attendance. But NONE of these students would answer the questions or even put their names on their papers. We couldn’t do the small group thing, because they all claimed not to have their notebooks. Left it in the dormitory – gave it to a friend – it is in somebody else’s desk that is locked – never had one – every excuse under the sun.
I want to see what reaction I get from the remaining three classes today, and I will try to talk to small groups from A/B to see what they say is going on. Then it is time to talk to the school administration and to the Peace Corps Education Director. However things came to this pass, it is not working. I have failed, no learning is taking place.
There is some kind of group thing going on. This level of passive resistance has to be organized. A few students have told me, privately, that I am good at presenting material, and that some of the students who claim not to understand in class are just saying that so I will have to go back and take class time to re-explain something they already do understand. I suspected that, but I respond to it anyway, and always try to encourage my classes to tell me whenever they do not understand what I am presenting. So now????
LATER
Class C is my smallest group – today, only seven students. They were unprepared for the quiz, but said that it was because there was no electricity last night so they could not study. So we used the questions as a review, and it struck me as a pretty good session.
Class D. Two students answered the questions well. The class did not fight me though, and splitting into groups to solve the questions worked rather well. Then we talked about what is going wrong. They said:
l. They do not understand what I am presenting.
2. I am presenting material too rapidly.
3. They do not think I am presenting material that they need to know.
Class E, the smartest class. Again, total passive resistance. I asked several students if they had their notebooks with them. They just sat there and looked at me. Would not even say either yes or no. So I called them LOSERS and left the class. Then came back to take out 4-5 students to talk with them about what is wrong and what can change. I think I won some sympathy, at least – I showed how I am organizing material and presenting it, and I think that surprised them. But in practical terms, I could get only:
1. Use only Tanzanian textbooks.
2. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU AND NEVER DID. NOT A LANGUAGE ISSUE, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR ENGLISH FINE, BUT NOT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. Huh?
This morning I had talked to the Asst. Academic Master about this situation. He understands the depth of the problem, and in response has talked to some of the Classes about it. He is due to come to my home tonight so we can discuss it some more.
By the way, the Director of VETA says he will come to Nsumba tomorrow at 11 to talk with my Coordinator and me about the business course we are planning for later this year.
Meanwhile, Brian said he is coming in to Mwanza on Friday evening. Sarah said she is, too. Kim and Kathleen are probably coming in on Saturday. Regina, who I never met but is from an NGO in Dar es Salaam, is supposed to be bringing me some pills from HQ tomorrow for the third treatment of my fungoid toe, and to talk with me about some HIV/AIDS program or other on Ukerewe Island.
Guess that from time to time life may not be good, but it sure ain’t dull.
Also, a student came to my house tonight, complaining because my final report from last year said that he had not taken the final examination, and so failed. He said he did so take the exam. I checked my record, but do not have any Jackson Michael in the roster. However I DO have a Jackson Marco listed, who was one of the better students. Jackson Michael says he IS Jackson Marco. So he answered to the wrong name all last year? His official record is wrong? This year I passed around the attendance sheet for students to complete for themselves (until they sabotaged the sheet), and to make sure their names were spelled correctly, listed in first name/last name order. So I checked the roster: I have BOTH Jackson Marco and Jackson Michael listed this year – and a Jackson Mwendwa, too. But JMichael has attended most classes and JMarco has never attended a class. So why didn’t Jackson ever correct the roster? Or the official record? Or my attendance sheet from last year? Tanzania!
Sunday, February 6th
The weekend has been crowded with activity, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Certainly my students have been on my mind a lot, especially in those wee small hours of the night. I heard back from Tom Msuka at PC Headquarters that he had been in contact with the school headmaster. Bw. Msasa had been in Morogoro for a workshop all week and isn’t expected to be back until Tuesday. I doubt that anything will happen in his absence.
By now I have talked with several groups of students and so has the Asst. Academic Master, who is a very capable guy. But he has his own problems, including a 5 year old young sister who fell out of a car and went into a 17hr coma and was not expected to live. Anyway, the consensus by now is that I have been presenting material too rapidly for my classes, plus a perception that I am not presenting the material they are required to know. On the other hand, several students have gone out of their way to tell me how much they like the way I have been teaching. So these are solvable problems, and I feel sure that we can come to an amicable conclusion and get the classes rolling again. But it will take some time, so I expect a few days without teaching duties.
Actually, a break from teaching right now is fortunate. I anticipate needing Tuesday and Wednesday to host Atiba, from Technoserve in Dar es Salaam, in meeting the headmasters and instructors for the Small Business Training Program we will be jointly sponsoring. Strange, how stuff works out.
It is good that I inherited a bunch of foam pads from Steve when he transferred to the south. I had five other PCVs sleep across, this weekend. Sarah and Mina (Musoma), Kathleen (Bunda), Kara (Sumve), Brian (Misumwi) – and Ryan dropped in too (Nganza). We spent Fri night talking and drinking at the Royal Pub, Sat night watching the sunset and then cooking up a tremendous stew – while forgetting to cook to last of my sweet corn that was the genesis of the whole cooking idea. We all have our teaching problems of one sort or another. Like me, Kara is facing rebellious students so we could compare notes and commiserate with each other.
It turns out that Mina is Indian, and Seik. So we went to the Seik Temple together this morning, and she was able to help me to begin to understand the structure of the service and a little of the history and philosophy of Seikism. I wish the Hindi language of the service wasn’t so impenetrable, but .... I am still enjoying attending the services there, and the delicious meal that they serve immediately after the services. The feel of the Seik service is certainly MUCH closer to Unitarianism than any other religious option that is available here. During the meal I sat next to a man who had left Tanzania in the 1985 exodus when Tanzania kicked out foreign businesspeople, built a business on Long Island, retired to San Diego, and now spends part of every year back in Tanzania visiting family and friends. Interesting guy.
Monday, February 07, 2005
OK, the Cliff Notes INTRODUCTION TO TANZANIA, since Diane asked for it:
Historically, many tribes with lots of languages mostly based on Bantu language group, but with strong arab influence along the coast. Brutally colonized by Germany, as German East Africa (Duetsch Ostafrika), by strategy of playing chieftains off against each other, than double-crossing whoever came out on top. Given to Britain as a League of Nations Mandate after Germany lost WWI, and all the Lutheran priests from Germany were replaced with priests from the US. Where else could replacement Lutherans come from? Name changed to Tanganyika. Given to Britain as a UN Protectorate after WWII.
Gained independence peacefully around 1960 under leadership of Julius Nyerere, who called himself the First Teacher. Name changed to Tanzania. Nyerere was brilliant in uniting the country and overcoming tribal factionalism, in part by (1) making Swahili the national language, and (2) setting up education as primarily a boarding school system with student bodies scrambled to include as many tribes as possible in each school. Unfortunately he was also a strong socialist, and the economy went from nothing to disaster. For a time, Tanzania kicked out all the Asians and Indians who know how to run businesses, and made owning a business illegal.
The country is peaceful, and there is no threat of war. Its only war followed Idi Amin’s attempted land grab from Uganda. It took Nyerere about 6-9 months to build something that could be called an army, and the Ugandan army took one look at it and ran away. There is a continuing problem with the crime and guns that enter along with refugees at the western border with Rwanda and Burundi, however. This seems to be quieting down though.
The government has been supporting a capitalist economy for about 10 years now, and is getting tons and tons of foreign aid (more than 40% of its annual budget, plus all the NGO efforts). But the country is still saddled with an extremely high debt burden, highly exploitive long-term contracts with (mainly) South African mining firms (gold and diamonds) and the usual discriminatory World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund directives, plus political and general corruption. P.J. O’Rourke calls Tanzania a rich country full of poor people. He is right.
Politically it is a democracy and has now been forced by the WTO and IMF to support the formation of opposition parties, with the result that there are MANY parties that form before an election to receive foreign donations, and then quietly disappear until the next election. There is no real system of checks and balances. The President controls the legislature and appoints the judges.
Today: I call it a dependency culture – a leftover of socialism. Tanzanians do not know how to handle business finances, to start or run a business. The only way they see to get ahead is by getting a gift or donation somewhere, or more money from the government. Their traditional culture mitigates against anyone getting more than anyone else – if anyone gets a windfall, they are expected to help out all their relatives until they are equally poor again. Likewise anyone in crisis calls on his relatives, however poor, for aid. It is the Tanzanian version of a safety net. Unfortunately, it also means that heads of households inherit the families and widows of their brothers who died of AIDS, so HIV rapidly spreads through entire families.
But NOBODY dies of AIDS here. Premature, slow deaths are always attributed to maleria, pneumonia, bad liver, tuberculosis, something – anything – else.
Tanzania is about 1/3 Islamic, with the greatest concentration along the coast. Zanzibar (The old Spice Island is united with Tanzania – think cloves and ...) is essentially all Islamic. Otherwise, Catholicism is historic and strong, but Anglican and Pentacostal christianity is very strong. I am told that tribal rites and religious beliefs are still much practiced in the bush regions. Hence a continuing campaign against such brutality as female circumcision, especially since it is preformed as a rite, using one knife, and so spreads HIV.
General Background Reading:
Read Isak Dinesen’s “Out of Africa,” and think about what her attitude and those of the colonizers were toward the native inhabitants.
Kuki Gallman – “I Dreamed of Africa” is an interesting, quick read of a very self-absorbed woman who still accomplished a lot, in fairly modern Kenya.
Joseph Conrad’s “Cry, the Beloved Country” will give you a real sense of the cultural clash between native and European cultures.
The Song of Owino (try
Look at a bunch of african movies, just for the landscapes and scenery – Out of Africa, Piano Player, etc.
Historically, many tribes with lots of languages mostly based on Bantu language group, but with strong arab influence along the coast. Brutally colonized by Germany, as German East Africa (Duetsch Ostafrika), by strategy of playing chieftains off against each other, than double-crossing whoever came out on top. Given to Britain as a League of Nations Mandate after Germany lost WWI, and all the Lutheran priests from Germany were replaced with priests from the US. Where else could replacement Lutherans come from? Name changed to Tanganyika. Given to Britain as a UN Protectorate after WWII.
Gained independence peacefully around 1960 under leadership of Julius Nyerere, who called himself the First Teacher. Name changed to Tanzania. Nyerere was brilliant in uniting the country and overcoming tribal factionalism, in part by (1) making Swahili the national language, and (2) setting up education as primarily a boarding school system with student bodies scrambled to include as many tribes as possible in each school. Unfortunately he was also a strong socialist, and the economy went from nothing to disaster. For a time, Tanzania kicked out all the Asians and Indians who know how to run businesses, and made owning a business illegal.
The country is peaceful, and there is no threat of war. Its only war followed Idi Amin’s attempted land grab from Uganda. It took Nyerere about 6-9 months to build something that could be called an army, and the Ugandan army took one look at it and ran away. There is a continuing problem with the crime and guns that enter along with refugees at the western border with Rwanda and Burundi, however. This seems to be quieting down though.
The government has been supporting a capitalist economy for about 10 years now, and is getting tons and tons of foreign aid (more than 40% of its annual budget, plus all the NGO efforts). But the country is still saddled with an extremely high debt burden, highly exploitive long-term contracts with (mainly) South African mining firms (gold and diamonds) and the usual discriminatory World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund directives, plus political and general corruption. P.J. O’Rourke calls Tanzania a rich country full of poor people. He is right.
Politically it is a democracy and has now been forced by the WTO and IMF to support the formation of opposition parties, with the result that there are MANY parties that form before an election to receive foreign donations, and then quietly disappear until the next election. There is no real system of checks and balances. The President controls the legislature and appoints the judges.
Today: I call it a dependency culture – a leftover of socialism. Tanzanians do not know how to handle business finances, to start or run a business. The only way they see to get ahead is by getting a gift or donation somewhere, or more money from the government. Their traditional culture mitigates against anyone getting more than anyone else – if anyone gets a windfall, they are expected to help out all their relatives until they are equally poor again. Likewise anyone in crisis calls on his relatives, however poor, for aid. It is the Tanzanian version of a safety net. Unfortunately, it also means that heads of households inherit the families and widows of their brothers who died of AIDS, so HIV rapidly spreads through entire families.
But NOBODY dies of AIDS here. Premature, slow deaths are always attributed to maleria, pneumonia, bad liver, tuberculosis, something – anything – else.
Tanzania is about 1/3 Islamic, with the greatest concentration along the coast. Zanzibar (The old Spice Island is united with Tanzania – think cloves and ...) is essentially all Islamic. Otherwise, Catholicism is historic and strong, but Anglican and Pentacostal christianity is very strong. I am told that tribal rites and religious beliefs are still much practiced in the bush regions. Hence a continuing campaign against such brutality as female circumcision, especially since it is preformed as a rite, using one knife, and so spreads HIV.
General Background Reading:
Read Isak Dinesen’s “Out of Africa,” and think about what her attitude and those of the colonizers were toward the native inhabitants.
Kuki Gallman – “I Dreamed of Africa” is an interesting, quick read of a very self-absorbed woman who still accomplished a lot, in fairly modern Kenya.
Joseph Conrad’s “Cry, the Beloved Country” will give you a real sense of the cultural clash between native and European cultures.
The Song of Owino (try
Look at a bunch of african movies, just for the landscapes and scenery – Out of Africa, Piano Player, etc.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Jan 31
So, what is going on? I’m way behind in putting together a Scheme of Work for this year’s chemistry course. I blame it on not being able to find out what the school year IS. Word has it that Form IV will end in October this year instead of the usual December. But then, stories differ as to whether the mid-year break will be shortened to make up for the shorter year. If the Form IV year really is over in October, than that raises the interesting possibility that my service with the Peace Corps may also end early, as my teaching duties will be over. Well, time will tell. But it would be nice to know how to plan my coursework.
I am getting more and more pissed off by the kids who come late to the morning classes, the kids who are late to class because they are held after the morning parade so they can be whipped, and my inability to get the school to provide me with class rosters. Tanzania.
On the other hand, it felt great at Parade this morning to announce to the students that there will be an Essay Contest, with an award of ½ the annual school fee to each class winner, as determined by the Young African-American Achievers in Yorktown, VA. The essay topic will be “What Education Means For Me,” and must be written in class (to prevent students from having parents or older students write the essay for them), and completed by a week from Friday (Feb 11). It is Shari who got this ball rolling, with the YAAA Group, and it is such a tremendous idea!
Some students are really disruptive. I’ve sent kids out of class, moved seats, yelled... Sometimes it helps. I thought that this year, instead of taking the time to call the roll, I would pass around the attendance sheet and let the kids sign themselves in. It seemed to be working. But the attendance sheet after Class D today indicated that EVERY student was there. Patently and obviously wrong – only about half the class was in attendance. And, moreover, many marks had been placed in the columns from previous dates too, so the whole damn attendance record is worthless. Live and learn. Guess I should have expected it, but...
The really exciting news is that the Peace Corps, through its Small Project Awards, is going to fund my program to teach seniors (Form VI) how to be entrepreneurs, and how to start and run a small business. Now the manager of TechnoServe, who will be providing the workbooks and instructor training, wants to come out to Mwanza next week to meet with the school headmasters and the instructors, and see what is happening. This will be great, but it is hard to put an itinerary together for him. All the headmasters are in Morogoro for a workshop all this week, so arrangements will have to be made next week, pretty much on the fly. I’m not exactly sure how to mesh my teaching responsibilities with sheparding Atiba around, but I guess that part will work out somehow.
The problem is, TechnoServe wants to give the Trainer Training course in Mbeya. That is about as far from Mwanza here as you can get and still be in Tanzania. The best travel arrangements I can come up with are a 28hr bus ride to Dar es Salaam plus another 14hr bus ride from there to Mbeya. Not something my group of instructors is going to want to hear about. I’ve appealed to Atiba to move the training to some place closer – I hope he can do it.
So, there is a bunch of stuff in motion. Hopefully they will all have their own momentum, so that the hard work on initiating something is over. Guess we shall see.
Banteze came over last night and we had my first Kiswahili lesson of the year. Spent most of the time actually conversing, after a fashion, in Kiswahili. It is tough, though.
I went back to the Seikh Temple again last Sunday, and again enjoyed the period of meditation. It feels like it is time to learn something about this religion I have been sharing, and several people suggested that I may like to read a book about it. There is a library as part of the temple, and I do expect to visit it sometime this week. Also, they told me that every Seikh Temple maintains a guest facility, and anyone is welcome to make use of it for a few days just for the asking. They suggested that I certainly would want to make use of this, especially if (when) I visit India after completing my service in Africa. Sure thing!
So, what is going on? I’m way behind in putting together a Scheme of Work for this year’s chemistry course. I blame it on not being able to find out what the school year IS. Word has it that Form IV will end in October this year instead of the usual December. But then, stories differ as to whether the mid-year break will be shortened to make up for the shorter year. If the Form IV year really is over in October, than that raises the interesting possibility that my service with the Peace Corps may also end early, as my teaching duties will be over. Well, time will tell. But it would be nice to know how to plan my coursework.
I am getting more and more pissed off by the kids who come late to the morning classes, the kids who are late to class because they are held after the morning parade so they can be whipped, and my inability to get the school to provide me with class rosters. Tanzania.
On the other hand, it felt great at Parade this morning to announce to the students that there will be an Essay Contest, with an award of ½ the annual school fee to each class winner, as determined by the Young African-American Achievers in Yorktown, VA. The essay topic will be “What Education Means For Me,” and must be written in class (to prevent students from having parents or older students write the essay for them), and completed by a week from Friday (Feb 11). It is Shari who got this ball rolling, with the YAAA Group, and it is such a tremendous idea!
Some students are really disruptive. I’ve sent kids out of class, moved seats, yelled... Sometimes it helps. I thought that this year, instead of taking the time to call the roll, I would pass around the attendance sheet and let the kids sign themselves in. It seemed to be working. But the attendance sheet after Class D today indicated that EVERY student was there. Patently and obviously wrong – only about half the class was in attendance. And, moreover, many marks had been placed in the columns from previous dates too, so the whole damn attendance record is worthless. Live and learn. Guess I should have expected it, but...
The really exciting news is that the Peace Corps, through its Small Project Awards, is going to fund my program to teach seniors (Form VI) how to be entrepreneurs, and how to start and run a small business. Now the manager of TechnoServe, who will be providing the workbooks and instructor training, wants to come out to Mwanza next week to meet with the school headmasters and the instructors, and see what is happening. This will be great, but it is hard to put an itinerary together for him. All the headmasters are in Morogoro for a workshop all this week, so arrangements will have to be made next week, pretty much on the fly. I’m not exactly sure how to mesh my teaching responsibilities with sheparding Atiba around, but I guess that part will work out somehow.
The problem is, TechnoServe wants to give the Trainer Training course in Mbeya. That is about as far from Mwanza here as you can get and still be in Tanzania. The best travel arrangements I can come up with are a 28hr bus ride to Dar es Salaam plus another 14hr bus ride from there to Mbeya. Not something my group of instructors is going to want to hear about. I’ve appealed to Atiba to move the training to some place closer – I hope he can do it.
So, there is a bunch of stuff in motion. Hopefully they will all have their own momentum, so that the hard work on initiating something is over. Guess we shall see.
Banteze came over last night and we had my first Kiswahili lesson of the year. Spent most of the time actually conversing, after a fashion, in Kiswahili. It is tough, though.
I went back to the Seikh Temple again last Sunday, and again enjoyed the period of meditation. It feels like it is time to learn something about this religion I have been sharing, and several people suggested that I may like to read a book about it. There is a library as part of the temple, and I do expect to visit it sometime this week. Also, they told me that every Seikh Temple maintains a guest facility, and anyone is welcome to make use of it for a few days just for the asking. They suggested that I certainly would want to make use of this, especially if (when) I visit India after completing my service in Africa. Sure thing!
