School Field Trip

Today we took a trip into the field to tour a couple of boarding schools in the Moshi area. We've started to work on a little research project assessing the accessibility of secondary schools versus primary schools for children with disabilities. Primary school is considered what would be grades 1-7 in the U.S. for children ages 7-13. Secondary school is another 4 years for children ages 14-17. Then there is something called secondary advanced, and then students can go to a University if they want. Swahili is the main language for all primary schools, then once students move up to secondary schools the classes are taught in English (with the exception of Swahili class itself). Apparently, recent statistics show that children with disabilities are more likely to drop out of school before completing secondary schooling, or are performing more poorly. Ruth, our program manager, and a special education teacher from America put together this little study and recruited us for some help.

Our first school we visited is called Moshi Technical School. This is a boarding school for secondary education. We got to tour a couple of the classrooms, the bathrooms, the dining hall, library, and dormitory. I was completely surprised at the lack of accessibility in these buildings. There were hardly any ramps, and if they were they were not the standard "1foot for every 1 inch" rule. There were technically only 3 children with wheelchairs, but they required assistance for nearly every aspect of moving around on the school grounds. There are quite a few hearing impaired students that attend this school as well, but not all of the teachers know sign language. In this case, they have another student translating for them in the front of the class.

One of my favorite pictures. Just Mount Kilimanjaro chilling in the background. 

This is the outside of the laboratory classrooms. There's no way a wheelchair could navigate this! Apparently if someone wants to get in then they have to grab a few friends to lift them over this.

Inside one of the labs.

One of the lovely bathrooms. It was probably one of the worst smelling things I've ever had the opportunity to smell. But this is what a typical bathroom looks like in Africa (luckily I haven't had to use the "squatter" yet). Other than the rancid smell, there's no way a child with a wheelchair could navigate this! 

Outside of the school library. There are holes in the walkway that make it impossible to navigate a wheelchair around. All of the students in wheelchairs that we spoke to had told us they've never used the library because they can't get in. 

This is the ramp that goes to the "handicap accessible" bathroom. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, because it is much steeper than it looks. I had a hard time just walking up it! 

The second school we went to was called Msandaka School for the Deaf. This is a primary school for children with hearing impairments. There are about 8 or 9 classrooms, but only 2 or 3 teachers. They spend time rotating between classrooms. I got to whip out my extensive knowledge of sign language (and by extensive I mean spelling my name). The classrooms are quite small and there are only 10-12 students in each class, which make it much more conducive for learning. The kids here were awesome, and so bright!  I was also impressed by their resources, they have a lab with 19 computers.

 Msandaka was sponsored by the Lions International Club. 

Small classrooms that are close to the chalkboard, making it easier for children to see and learn.

I had to add this picture in here too. We caught a glimpse of the cooking in process. These are huge vats of beans and ugali over wood fire stoves.

I always wish I could post more photos of the children I see every day. They are so outgoing and fun. Hopefully I'll be able to snap some in the near future!

-K

Poa Kichizi Kama Ndizi

Nature is Neat.

Today we went for an awesome hike in Materuni Village to the huge Mnombe waterfall. Our guide, Richard, was awesome and explained a lot of things to us along the way. We saw many different plants (eucalyptus, spearmint, lemon leaves, guava plants, wild tomatoes, arabica bean, passion fruit, avocado, banana, and a lot more!) There were also a lot of plants that apparently are used for medicines (upset stomachs, malaria, and other illnesses). Everything here was so green and absolutely gorgeous.

 Driving into Materuni Village.

 Walking up to the falls. It was amazing!! 

The spraying water felt like rain if you were close enough. A little too cold to go for a swim though.

We climbed along the rocks behind the falls.  I was contemplating jumping in. But I didn't want to do it alone and the water was freezing!

After we spent some time at the waterfall we hiked back to Richard's house. He invited us into his home and showed us how to make coffee. The Chagga people are a tribe that lives in the area and are known for making coffee.  I don't normally like coffee, but for the sake of being in Tanzania and actually  making my own cup of coffee from scratch, I drank it.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN ARABICA COFFEE =)

Step 1: Pluck arabica beans from tree. When they are red that means they are ripe.

Step 2: Take the red shell off of beans. Soak the beans for 2 days and let dry in the sun. This step takes the longest and obviously we weren't around for this part of the process. When the beans are soaking they can also sort out any of the "bad" beans. The ones that float are separated and thrown out. 

Step 3: Twanga!!  In other words, pound the beans until the second shell is cracked and comes off. There is a local Chagga song that the group sings and claps to while one person pounds the beans.

 “Twanga, Twanga Marc twanga, twanga mara moja, mbili tatu nne, tano sita saba, nane tisa kumi"

Step 4: Separate the shells from the now green colored beans

Step 5: Roast beans until dark brown, continue to stir so they don't burn

Step 6: Twanga!!  Pound the beans and sift into a fine powder

Step 7: Boil water over fire.

Step 8: Add coffee to water and voila!  

Step 9: Enjoy fresh cup of homemade coffee.

POMBE

After we ate lunch and had a cup of coffee we drove down to another local part of the village for a homemade pombe, which is the native banana beer. Richard explained how exactly they make the beer, but it is quite a complicated process involving fermented bananas. They brought out a plastic pale full of this stuff and it looked like sand mixed with water. The millet rises to the top of the bucket and you have to scoop it out to drink the brew.  

Once you got over the texture of the millet, it didn't taste too bad! We also tried banana wine.  The banana wine was much stronger than the pombe (also stronger than most wine coolers and beer in the US).   Drink happy, and fly!  

 

Richard taught us a new saying in Swahili. Poa kichizi kama ndizi¸ which means "crazy cool like a banana". I'm not quite sure what it means, but it makes sense when we're drinking alcohol made from bananas! 

- K