May 7, 2017: Swimming (Ann)

We’re so impressed at the determination of the community in Unguja Ukuu to help improve the lives of their own community. Five of the strongest swimmers from the village are learning how to teach water safety and swimming skills. They are being trained by a group from Nungwi who are supported by the RNLI.  Although Zanzibar has the most beautiful beaches, there is a high incidence of drowning.  Hence the RNLI’s initiative to help prevent more deaths from drowning.  There’s quite a bit of theory as well as practical sessions and the RNLI has developed a great book that has been developed to help teachers understand the specific conditions around the island. Training started with a lesson and test in Kendwa to ensure each swimmer could swim for 200 meters.  Our volunteer, Chloe spoke to one of the trainers who told her that he was motivated to teach swimming after a boat sailing from Zanzibar to Pemba ran into trouble and many people died from not knowing how to swim.

Chloe has now returned to England after an amazing year in Africa and spending 10 months running the Safari English Club.  She’s achieved so much, giving the children more confidence in speaking English as well as enthusiasm to try activities they have never dreamed of! Before she left Zanzibar she ran a final outing (safari) to Kendwa.  The students said they had never been anywhere so beautiful before.  They swam, played games and even had a boat trip – all the while practicing English, of course!

For much of April the students were on school holidays…but not the students in Safari English Club!  They had an intensive day of English with Chloe and the teachers from Safari English Club.  There was plenty of time for students to stand up in front of their peers and gain valuable experience in talking to the group.  And there were more stories about the debate in Dar for Haroun to relate and a birthday to celebrate.

The students staged a farewell talent show for Chloe in her last week on the island. The range of skills on display included acrobatics, dances, comedy sketches, singing, poems, speeches, magic tricks and a fire show. And the teachers did a rap!

Meanwhile, Gasica has attended the third part of the Headmasters’ Management Course in Arusha, sponsored by the Brighton and Hove Rotary Club and the Goodall Foundation, also from Brighton.  One of the main benefits of participating in the course is that he’s now part of a supportive and active network of professionals across Tanzania.  He says he’s benefitted so much from learning from his peers.  This time the focus was on learning about having a growing mindset (rather than a fixed mindset) as well as about working effectively with donors (and sponsors). As ever, he’s returned to Zanzibar keen to share what he’s learnt with the teachers at ZL4LF.

April 17, 2017: The debate in Dar (Ann and Chloe)

So the two debate teams have returned to Zanzibar!  Five of the advanced students from Safari English Club and a team from Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation along with teachers Chloe, Sadiq and Mohammed went to Dar es Salaam for the Africa Open Schools Debate Championship.  It’s hard to describe how excited they were – they’ve never left the island of Zanzibar and were really looking forward to seeing a big city on the mainland.  As well as being excited, they were nervous too. They were representing their village and the island.  Everyone had practiced hard, but they knew that they’d have a tough job as the competition would be native English speakers or Tanzanians who have a much better English education than they do. 

Everyone loved the ferry journey and approaching the city skyline of Dar was a thrill. The organisers met the team at the port and took them to the Feza Boys Boarding school.  The event was scheduled for the school holiday so the school dorms were available for the debators. The first day consisted of training for the students and the teachers. It turned out that apart from the Zanzibar students, the other competitors were all from private schools.  There was a massive difference not only in English-speaking ability, but also in their training to be analytical, form arguments, knowledge of current affairs and ability to use smart phones/the Internet to find the information they needed to win a debate. On the first day, the Zanzibari students become worried about their ability to participate. However, Mohammed, Sadiq and Chloe had a big pep talk with the students and explained that they were in Dar to enjoy taking part and enjoy the experience.  Winning isn’t everything, especially when you’re not playing on a level field and you’re the newest to speaking English.

The conversation paid off and the students relaxed and had fun.  The format is based on the UK parliament system with a PM, Deputy PM and whip. Each team talks for a total of 28 minutes and has a specific role they have to fulfil in order to score high points. There were also two impromptu debates where the kids only have 30 minutes to prepare a debate on a surprise subject. As adjudicators the teachers were not able to help their teams at all with this, even though they tried to (a tiny bit...) They were hard! One was "This house believes Donald Trump is a one term President" – quite a challenge for the kids from Zanzibar who don't even know who Donald Trump is!

It’s fair to say that it was mind-blowing for them to see a school with so many facilities.  Haroun said that he couldn’t imagine failing an exam if you have all that support. Everything was different.  In Zanzibar there are heavy wooden desks, in Dar there were chairs, individual tables, windows and lots of glass!

When they completed their registration forms they had to list dietary requirements.  They mostly listed chicken and rice.  They couldn’t have imagined that they would have three big meals a day.  They’ve never eaten like that before! The chairs, classrooms, glass buildings... Everything was such a new thing for them. Although Safari English Club lost every debate and were last overall we’re so proud that they kept at it and didn't let it affect them. And their behaviour was impeccable! While other teams cried and complained when they lost, our students remained positive and kept taking the opportunity to learn all that they could. They really are very special young people. One evening they went to the cinema and the shopping mall. It was amazing! They loved taking a lift to the 10th floor and going up and down on an escalator! Everyone was so happy. And on the last day they went to the zoo and met some big African animals.

The results of this massive adventure? They all LOVED the Dar experience and we think the students got a lot from it. It’s given them even more drive and they’re eager to try again another time. The want to have regular debates at Safari English Club and see it as a good way to improve their English and thinking skills. And they made friends with some lovely kids from around Tanzania. Our teachers are now qualified debate adjudicators and know what you have to do to win!  The teachers had their own training and had to judge the debates. We’re happy to report that Chloe won the prize for best new adjudicator!

But better than us telling you what the students got from it, please read the report below from Haroun (aged 17) who is from the village of Unguja Ukuu and has been at Safari English Club for 14 months now. The interview is with teacher Chloe and is unedited.

How did it feel to spend so much time at Feza International School?  It felt great because I met with different friends and got experience to talk in front of people. I got a chance to improve my English as there they talk English at all times. The conditions are good there, and the teachers are good. There I would learn so much more. In a school like that I would get a real chance to learn. My efforts would be turned into good results for sure. There are different kinds of playgrounds… Football pitch, netball and basketball, swimming pool. I would also get time to play. That's what I want.

The food I also liked because it was delicious. It's important to eat 3 meals a day. If people want to really learn they need breakfast, lunch and dinner. If people want to learn the mind can be constant and concentrated if you have eaten.

How did it feel to lose each round of the debating? I felt good. The 1st time we lost it was like training. There were many things I didn't know. When I fell down I learnt many things – that is good. Each round we lost, I got more and my confidence increased. I knew better what I was saying and I could follow the debate rules and got used to talking in front of people.

What were the best things about going to Dar? The attitude of the people from there. Their respect is very good. I made friends from Arusha – we went into their dorm room to discuss about debating. That was good. I liked the debating system they used.

I liked the bedrooms. I slept in a very good condition. I slept with a pillow and could choose to sleep on the bottom or top bunk bed.  I liked our teachers Sadiq, Chloe and Mohammed very much. When we fell down they made us feel good. When we failed they told us not to worry and to enjoy and learn everything. That was good. Sometimes when I failed I worried about what my teachers would think, but when I met them they made me feel good again.

I loved the cinema – just to arrive in Milimani city was amazing and the cinema was very exciting. We watched a film called Life. It was about how people can live, how they create things and can force problems and then how to overcome the problems. I loved Bahari zoo because I saw many animals I have never seen before… Lions, zebras, giraffes, snakes, monkeys.

Anything else you'd like to say?  I want to say thank you to everyone who helped us go to Dar. It was my first time in Dar and when I arrived there I got delicious food and I have never eaten like that. I lived there for 5 days and I didn't expect in my heart I would live like that. And I can say I learnt more than more from there. You helped me to learn so much from there and now I have the experience which means I can speak in front of many people and it has helped me to think. Sometimes we only had 30 minutes to plan a topic which means I had to change the way my mind works. It was very good.

March 18, 2017: A New Teacher (Ann)

The advanced students are on their way to Dar es Salaam and we can’t wait to hear about their adventures!  They’ve worked so hard to prepare for the Africa Open Schools Debate Championship.  The last day before they left, the team practiced in front of the rest of the Safari English Club. One of the debate topics is particularly relevant to Zanzibari students: This House Believes that the Use of Swahili as the primary language for Education in Tanzania will Enhance the Quality of Learning Content… this is one of the big challenges that students in deprived rural communities face – English language teaching is so poor that it limits what students can learn about other subjects, which have to be taught in English, in spite of the limitations of the teachers.  People from the village of Unguja Ukuu hardly ever visit the mainland – the students in the debate team are leaving the island for the first time.  It will also be the first time the students see sky scrapers and go on a ferry.  There’s some extra money in the budget for them to visit a few tourist attractions while they’re in the city.

We’re delighted that volunteer Chloe is back in Zanzibar and is accompanying the team to Dar es Salaam.  The parents of the girls in the debate team are happier that they have a female teacher with them.  Chloe is delighted to be back in Unguja Ukuu for the month of April – she’s impressed with the increasing confidence of the students and how hard they are working.

We now employ four local teachers, all of whom have been trained by Gasica at ZL4LF. Khamis is the latest recruit to join the Zanzibar Schools Project teaching English in Unguj Ukuu.  He’s been studying English for 5 years now and started in Form One as he knew he’d need English to pass his exams. He came to ZL4LF and met Gasica and other great English speakers which inspired him to work as hard as possible and follow his dream to become an English teacher himself. He now teaches beginners at ZL4LF and is guiding the Beginner 2 class at Unguja Ukuu through the fun and pitfalls of the English language.

Khamis understands what it’s like to be a beginner and was at first very shy at speaking English. He learnt a lot of his English through watching films and interviews, and by reading books.   He says that slowly his confidence increased.  He now takes the opportunity to converse with English speakers whenever he can and is keen to bring these techniques into the classroom at Unguja Ukuu. Khamis is a great teacher and is a natural with children.  “I love teaching at Safari English Club because I myself was given the opportunity to learn English for free and now it’s my time to give back to the community”. Khamis believes that learning English is for everyone, not just children and he welcomes young and old students alike. “I want to help the students at Unguja Ukuu learn English and have fun on the way!”

It's now the rainy season in Zanzibar.  But it doesn’t stop Gasica and the teachers reaching the village in the Rav 4…here they are navigating the rains to reach the village.  Gasica has just returned from the second part of his Management Course in Arusha that’s designed for Tanzanian headmasters.  He enjoys both the live training and the follow up personal study.  Highlights this time were learning more about motivating his team (we think he could teach that himself), achieving SMART objectives and communications.  As usual, Gasica has been busy sharing his new knowledge with the team at Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation.

March 11, 2017: The Dhow Race (Ann)

Last year the village dhow race was one of the higlights of our visit to Zanzibar. So you can imagine how delighted we were when one of the Safari English Club students (who is a fisherman) asked us if we’d like to attend another race.  This would be in our honour!  We offered to pay the prize money and it was agreed thatWednesday’s tide would be favourable for a 3pm start.  School finishes at 1pm and we’d have time for a final meeting with the teachers, community leader and the school governor before the race.  Meanwhile the students could have lunch and walk to the beach.

The event snowballed and 18 boats from Unguja Ukuu and surrounding vilages took part.  The sailors decided that instead of awarding first, second and third prizes, the prize money would be divided equally between all the boat crews.  This seemed an excellent idea.  Arriving at the beach, we were greeted by a very loud sound system playing some energetic dance music.  Gasica and Sadiq entertained the students with some cool moves.  A lady passing by with firewood on her head stopped for a groove.  Then the white ladies took a turn on the dance floor. Caroline’s students took it in turn to dance with her. The boys executed amazing somersaults.  The girls posed in their burkinis and the rest of the village turned up to party.   Caroline blew the starter’s whistle and the Dhows sailed so far that they were nearly out of sight.  More people arrived and the beach was full! After an hour or so the Dhows raced back – the winner was escorted onto the beach by motor boats.  We presented soft drinks to the first, second and third boats and yet more photographs were taken!

The Dhow Race is an amazing experience. We don’t often come across music and dancing in Zanzibar.  Public music and dancing in the village seems to be reserved for weddings and other special events which is sad as the children love to dance. Daily life is pretty hard and pleasures are few and far between.  So when there’s fun to be had, it’s grasped with both hands.  And we’re so happy to be welcomed as part of any festivities.

We had two wrap up meetings with the teachers. They are so polite and took time to say how much they appreciated every improvement that we’ve been able to secure at the school with the support of the Rotary Clubs in Brighton and Stone Town.  The computer room has seen massive improvements and now has a tiled floor, 7 working laptops and the Kio Kits. 

There are English/Swahili dictionaries aplenty.  Everyone is excited about the debate team travelling to Dar. The girls who won scholarships to boarding school are a major motivation to the younger students. Gasica is keen to run a session with the teachers to encourage them to reflect on how they could improve their teaching practice to achieve more success with more students. He wants to brainstorm with the teachers to agree how best to support the students who have the potential to pass their Standard VI exams. The village leader exhorts the teachers to “work harder” but it’s really a question of “working smarter” and encouraging the teachers to try new approaches to teaching.  There’s some hope with the new science teacher, who speaks good English and is motivated to teach creatively.  The trainee teacher who we’ve got to know over the last few weeks has some innovative ideas.  But sadly lessons consists of writing copiously on the blackboard and students copying down notes without understanding what they mean.  We are setting up a structured “Standard VI” Life/study skills course which will help students prepare for their exams and give them a more equal footing with the students in Stone Town who have access to more opportunities. 

The final session with all the students was incredibly moving.  Many of them had written  letters for us to read on the plane saying how much Safari English Club means to them.   The letters are beautifully illustrated and many of them are folded into even more decorative envelopes. Lukman, who is the head boy and who has been at our classes since November 2015, included two photographs of himself – one that I’d taken of him last year, printed out on poor quality paper in black and white (the colour ink had run out) and one of him playing football.  They were clearly amongst his most treasured possessions and by giving back the photo he had from last year he was making a point about how important Safari English Club is to him and how he’d treasured the photograph of him.                                                                                                                                                                  Now we’re back home we can reflect on our second visit.  When we arrived in Zanzibar we saw amazing progress. The students’ English language skills have improved immensely – the beginners are now intermediate and the intermediates are advanced! Thanks to great teaching by Gasica, Chloe, Sadiq and Mohammed.  The more advanced students relish the fact that they can now talk communicate their hopes and frustrations to us and the younger students are brimming with confidence and enthusiasm.

Personal highlights of this visit to Zanzibar

ANN:  I loved running lessons that were inspired by classes I observed in the UK.  The Great Catapult experiment and the Tinga Tinga Art Class were just fantastic.  It marked a big shift from last year, when I thought we needed to “Teach English as a Foreign Language” now I think the children also need the opportunity to be creative and to develop analytical skills.  “Fun Mondays” were a highlight when students could watch Disney films or join me for Art and Craft sessions.  The students learn so much English when they are “doing” and they don’t realise they are “learning” too!  The arrival of the dictionaries was another highlight and it was great to see the younger children taking responsibility for their own learning and making their own mini dictionaries.

CAROLINE:  I particularly enjoyed working with the advanced group, most of whom were with us last year.  Teaching ‘work readiness’ which covered various skills relevant to the work place as well as a good smattering of English language was stimulating.  My favourite activity was the teamwork game that Gasica had learned on his management course.  Students had a great time and were very competitive.  The prize of 1000 TSH to the winners was well appreciated.  Mock interviews with guest interviewers gave valuable experience to students as well as exposing them to new faces from the outside world. Teaching the basic computing course where students got to grips with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint proved to be exciting as well.  Most of the students managed to type their CVs, written in the course of ‘work readiness’ into the computer.  A very satisfying result when you consider most of them had never used a keyboard before.  I was delighted to see the donated laptops put to good use.  English language training highlights included students reading aloud using material from the Kio Kits (loved by the students) and having their voices recorded and played back so they could hear how they sounded.  Exciting for all of us. The screening of ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ as a highlight and it was great to explore the subjects of culture, religion, gender, generation and personal ambition.  Much animated discussion in English ensued. 

March 4, 2017: One Dictionary per Child (Ann)

It’s hard to describe the excitement of one dictionary per child, but today we did! Children are so used to sharing that they never have exclusive use of anything.  That’s why the Kio Kits are so popular and now they have a rival – the dictionary! Thanks to My Book Buddy, we have some great books and LOTS of dictionaries.  Every student in my class could read a book, look up new words and add them to their personal dictionaries.  They can also look up other words they don’t know but come across in school. It helps so much when all the teaching is done in a foreign language and the teachers don’t always know what words mean. We have so many dictionaries that we gave 7 dictionaries to the teachers, one each for all the English teachers.  We all shared our bounty with Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation.

There was a slight misunderstanding about how they were getting to Zanzibar from Dar es Salam.  They suddenly turned up at the port on Thursday morning when we were at school, miles away. Gasica made a few phone calls and they were safely collected. Later in the day we went to retrieve them from the live poultry section of the market and Gasica bought a live duck which he arranged to be delivered butchered and ready for supper!

Last year we saw the arrival of the TOMS shoes.  They are donated by the Dutch shoe company and the kids are all measured so they get the correct size. The TOMS team also give a lecture on foot hygiene.  There’s some debate about whether the donation is a good idea as it may reduce the need for locally made shoes. However, the reality is that many school children are barefoot or they wear Chinese plastic flip flops.  So TOMS shoes, with their robust plastic soles stack up well against the other options when you have to walk a long way to school each day.

One remarkable outcome from the visit to the Permaculture facility in Fumba is that the students want to start their own sustainable business, using the concept that Gasica has developed at Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation.  One student has a large area of land and he’s thinking of how to irrigate it so that they can start farming.  We visited the site and it looks promising, as long as the water problem can be solved.

We found the UK penfriends scheme was proving difficult to run due to the turnover of students in the UK school.  So instead we’re going to collaborate on regular projects.  The first one was for the Zanzibari students to describe their daily routines.  The Beginners class was happy to take on the challenge and my rucksack is full of colourful illustrations for the English children.

On Tuesday we had some exciting news to share.  The Rotary Club of Zanzibar, Stone Town, has kindly agreed to sponsor two teams to travel to Dar es Salam to participate in the First Africa Open Schools Debate Championships that will be held in Dar es Salam in April. The event includes a day of training by a international expert.  The titles of the debates for the first round look fascinating; my favourite is “This house believes that the use of Swahili as the primary language for education in Tanzania will enhance the quality of education content.” All the advanced class want to participate, but there are only 5 places in the team.  So the class took matters into their own hands and self-selected their best English speakers, who coincidentally are the students who attend Safari English Club most regularly! The event will include teams from other countries and the students from the Safari English club are really looking forward to making new friends from around the world.  It will be the first time for all of them that they will leave the island.  Their teachers are equally excited that a team from Unguja Ukuu can take part in an international event.  Thank you to the Rotary club for making it possible.

Caroline and Gasica ran the final “Work Readiness” module and certificates were awarded to the students who completed the course and who are now able to use the computer as well.  The students want more time to improve their computer skills and it’s a challenge to share 4 laptops between 15 students.  However, 3 more laptops have been repaired and will enter circulation next week.  Haroun has now been entrusted fairly managing a system for one laptop to go out on loan.  There’s much more to be said about our last couple of days at school, but we’re saving those stories for next week!

February 25, 2017: Preventing Child Marriage (Ann)

Promptly at 1.30pm on Monday afternoon Safari English Club gathered to enjoy photos of themselves at Fumba Town Services and having their first swimming lesson in Stone Town.  The boys must have gulped down their lunches in 10 minutes flat as they rushed to claim front seats! We discussed impressions of the visit and what information was relayed back to their families.  They’ve really embraced permaculture concepts such as improving the soil and not burning waste.  Their favourite things at the site were the soil, the plants, the flowers, the rocks, the chickens, the kitchen and, most interestingly, the toilets! The students loved making thank you posters on the theme of “The Environment”...for some reason tennis players in short skirts featured in three of the montages.  Inevitably there was much amusement when one student found the photos of a naked tribe featured in “The National Geographic”!

 The advanced students put together more detailed presentations on Permaculture and several students are interested in how to irrigate a plot of land that one of them owns. They each had the opportunity to give a short talk on three things they had learned from the visit to Fumba and at least one way in which they intended to change their lives inspired by the permaculture project. Composting and improving soil quality were topics that resonate with young people from this rural community.

Teamwork is important in working life and isn’t something that students experience at school.  It’s this week’s topic in “Work Readiness” and Gasica had a fun activity that he’d learnt on the Arusha Management Course to illustrate the concept. Students were divided into two teams.  The object of the game was to turn playing cards over in a particular sequence, running from one end of the room to the other to accomplish it.  All communication had to be in English!  Use of Kiswahili resulted in instant disqualification.  Competition was hot, to say the least.  There were three rounds, between which the teams were encouraged to do a post mortem and come up with improvements.  The team which lost the first round improverd quite dramatically and won the third.  More to this than ‘third time lucky’.   Just to make it really interesting, Gasica offered the equivalent of 75p to each member of the winning team.  The conclusion:  you need a plan, a strategy and good communication to win. And nothing works as well as a good incentive!

The week ended with a talk by  representatives of the Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association (ZAFELA). The group aims to empower women and children by providing legal aid services, lobbying on policy matters and awareness-raising.  We invited them to speak, but weren’t really sure what they’d talk about.  It turned out to be an inspired choice.  The topic was child marriage and how to prevent it.  Tanzania has one of the highest child marriage prevalence rates in the world. 37% of girls in Tanzania are married before they turn 18 and in rural areas girls can be forced to get married as young as 11 years old.  The marriage generates an income for a poor family through a dowry which is then used by the boys in the family to secure a wife.  There is also a practice known as Nyumba ntobu which involves an older, wealthier woman paying a bride price for a young girl to become her wife. A man is then chosen to impregnate the girl and any children who are born belong to the older woman. When girls have to leave school due to failing their exams then they are particularly vulnerable to early marriage. The students were fascinated by the talk and they took copious notes about the causes and prevention of underage marriage. The headmaster, who is not usually known for his dynamism, wandered over to find out what was going on and said that this is a great topic for the students to learn about.  He dusted off the visitors’ book and got the contact details of ZAFELA so they may be back in Unguja Ukuu soon! 

Thursday was also notable as the day when lots of books arrived!  The new school text books financed by the Milele Foundation, arrived in an open air truck.  It was just lucky that it wasn’t a rainy day.  Students were seconded to unload the truck and we look forward to seeing the new resources in the classroom. 

February 18, 2017: Visit to Permaculture in Fumba Town (Ann)

It’s festival time in Zanzibar!  In addtion to the amazing music festival, Sauti Za Busara, it’s been a great time in Unguju Ukuu.  More exam results have been published and 6 girls from Safari English Club have passed their Form II examinations which are taken in English.  These girls are 15-16 years old.  If they didn’t pass the exams, they would have to leave school.  Before the results were announced they looked like moody teenagers anywhere.  Now they’ve passed, they can’t stop smiling!  They ditch the old blue and yellow school uniform and are priviledged to wear these sophisticated black and white numbers.  The girls asked for hard-backed manuscript books as a celebratory present – we were happy to oblige and Gail Arnesson from the Rotary Club of Zanzibar, Stone Town, presented the prizes.

Gail helped with two classes - she told the advanced class the story of the local boy who was selected to become a Dive Master.  She focused on the skills he learnt and the qualities he needs to be successful in his career.  The talk helped to reinforce discussions from the “Work Readiness” course.  Gail also rana mock interview for Haroun who missed last week’s interviews with visitor Leanne.  We were delighted that Gail got the opportunity to use the Kio Kits with the Intermediate class as the Rotary Club in Stone Town, Zanzibar, played such a bit part in helping us get the Kio Kits.  The students so love using the Kio Kits, either as a group exercise or for individual work.

Work readiness has completed the first part which focused on how to find a job, so now it’s time to think about working successfully.  So far we’ve covered induction, trial periods, polcies and procedures.  Next week, we’ll discuss working relationships, teamwork and customer care.  Certificates will be given to those who successfully complete the course.  Computer classes have moved on to using Powerpoint.  It will be interesting to see what sorts of presentations the students produce! 

This month the outing was to Fumba Town Services to learn about Permaculture.  In Zanzibar there are many environmental problems, not least of which includes burning rubbish and inappropriate planting techniques.  Our idea was to start the week with preparing the younger students for the visit and we’d developed a simple presentation on the cycle of life and environmental topics to be followed by measuring the biodiversity of the school gardens...but then it rained.  It rained too hard to be able to go outside and measure.  Plan B was to watch a film on African wildlife.  But it rained so hard that there was a power cut!  There wasn’t really a Plan C, so we reverted to Plan A, but without the illustrative slides!  Fortunately Tuesday was much better and we were able to go out into the gardens.  The idea of creating a grid system using string didn’t really work and we couldn’t agree how many butterflies had been spotted. But we did conclude that there was a lot of different life in the gardens and that everyone was excited about visiting Fumba!

Three buses were needed to take the 90+ students to Fumba Town Services.  Now we have 4 classes enrolled, the logistics for outings are more comploated and more expensive! The students were divided into groups of 8, each with an otlder student in charge.  They were named after an animal, which mostly worked except that the warthogs decided that they’d rather be crocodiles and no-one wanted to be kangaroos! The students loved meeting the apprentices and took a keen interest in how to develop a rich soil through composting and particularly enjoyed the recycling area.  They were hands on in mixing the soil and learning what to feed chickens to keep them healthy. Many of the students took  notes and we’re looking forward to Monday when we find out what they told their families about the visit. 

Everyone loves going in the sea but we still don’t have many swimmers as the students haven’t had formal lessons.  Ali, who is a great swimming teacher, bravely agreed to take on the challenge of teaching 90 the principles of breathing in water, gliding and leg kicks.  By the end of the session most had got the hang of the basic pionts that will help them to swim.  We’re going to talk to Ali about further help with swimming instruction over the next few weeks. We hope you enjoy the photos of fabulous Fumba Town Services and the swimming lessons on the next page!

By the way, the kids are still very excited about the goggles that were sent over from the UK by Amber.  This week some of them penned some gorgeous “Thank you” letters.

February 11, 2017: Exam Success! (Ann)

We set up after-school English language club in Unguja Ukuu because no student from the Primary School had ever passed their Standard VI exams, which they take around the age of 12.  The students take the majority of their exams in English even though Swahili is their native language and the school teachers don’t know enough English to be able to teach. With the help of some excellent teaching by Gasica and Chloe, we can now share the most amazing news. Two girls, Akama and Bahati, passed their exams with such great marks that they have been awarded scholarships to boarding schools on the Tanzanian mainland, where the education will be significantly better than they could experience in Zanzibar. For girls, boarding school is particularly important as it prevents getting pressurised into early marriage or child minding.   

The local teachers arranged an impromptu meeting to thank us for helping the girls pass their exams.  Apparently one day the girls heard that they’d passed their exams and the next day someone from the education ministry took them to Dar es Salam.  It is the first time they’ve been to the mainland, so a big adventure.  Sadly there was no time to say goodbye to their friends and teachers and they’ve been allocated to different schools. We’re hoping that their favourite teacher, Chloe, who played such an important part in their success, can visit them while she’s on the mainland and take them a gift on our behalf. The students in Safari English Club are very motivated by the success of the girls – it shows them what can be achieved by hard work and determination!

We were delighted to be invited to the launch of new text books and teachers’ books for Standard I to IV.  Currently the students don’t have text books and the books their teachers have are full of inaccuracies.  The new books were commissioned by the Milele Foundation and were expertly edited by the Oxford University Press. There are 200,000 books waiting to be distributed to schools around the island. The roll out may be challenging as the teachers will be asked to teach in a way they aren’t familiar with and don’t feel comfortable with.  Zanzibar Schools Project teacher Mohammed attended the launch and is ready to coach the teachers in Unguja Ukuu when the books reach the village.

The Work Readiness course continues to prove very popular with students and is on target to finish in early March.  Current topics include writing CVs, letters of application that win jobs  and interview skills.  In computer skills training the students are also learning how to format CVs and letters of application on the laptops that we’ve brought over from the UK. 

This week Leanne Winterton, avisitor from the UK, kindly ran mock interviews so that students experienced being asked questions by someone they don’t know. Leanne was impressed by the way the students handled the interviews – it’s not the cultural norm to talk about your personal qualities here!  Many thanks Leanne for searching interviews conducted in a facilitative style! Now we’re focusing on spoken English with students reading personal statements from their CVs into a recording device and having the opportunity to hear their own voice, for the first time!  We hope to improve pronunciation and diction. 

The lower intermediates love using dictionaries – it gives them a sporting chance to understand me!  While they’re learning the English, I update my Swahili/English notebook for future quizzes.  Then they have great fun correcting my pronunciation.  It feels like we’re on a learning journey together. At the training course I heard the idea of asking each child to start a personal dictionary.  Duly equipped with 26 small address books (helpfully the letters of the alphabet are cut into the pages), I shared the plan.  Nobody cared that the front of the notebooks said “Addresses” not “Dictionary”, the important thing was that they would each have their own book. There was much excitment and I was thanked by a rendition of the alphabet song and “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”!  My class has a reputation for being the noisiest, but on Thursday it was the quietest – the students went through various exercise books and used the dictionary to create their own books.

We love having our UK friends involved in what we’re doing.  Thank you Sheelagh Dunk for the origami-inspired fortune tellers (you must remember them from the school playground!) After following various folding instructions the students were able to tell each other their fortunes.  Much laughter when they got the fortunes “You will get married” and “You will have four children”.

Amber, a Suffolk teenager raised money to buy goggles on ebay and sent them out to us.  We’re hoping to arrange swimming lessons soon.  There’s widespread fear of the sea here, few people can swim and there are many drownings when fishing boats capsize. Students can only swim when we’re present so it’s always a great occasion. The goggles from the UK made it extra special.  Hope you enjoy the photos on the next page!

If you want to see the really good photos taken by Richard Harris, our friend and professional photographer, please visit http://www.bigbamboo.photo/zanzibar-zsp for the photos of the students and http://www.bigbamboo.photo/zanzibar for the Zanzibar gallery. Thank you Amber and Richard!

February 3, 2017: The Great Catapult Experiment (Ann)

The great catapult experiment....it’s quite simple...students learn about Medieval catapults and construct their own catapults using a ping pong ball as a missile. The lesson plan says students measure how far their projectile travels and modify their designs accordingly. Results are recorded,  conclusions are drawn and the activity is written up as a scientific experiment.  What could possibly go wrong? I got the idea from observing a lesson at a UK primary school.  The English students happily engaged with the experiement and I wanted their Zanzibar counterparts to have the same opportunity.  You’d never have this type of lesson here due to lack of resources, large class sizes and the tradtion of rote learning rather than experience-based learning.

Methodology
You’re probably not surprised to learn that there are quite a few differences between running this in the UK and in Zanzibar!  In the UK there  were 2 adults and 30 children in one room grouped around tables designed for team working. In Unguju Ukuu there were 75 students and 2 adults spread over 2 classrooms where the wooden desks are so heavy you can’t move them.  It turned out there was only one responsible adult as Sadiq was more interested in building his own catapult than supervising a class.  Our friend Richard Harris was darting around, but he was focused on taking these beautiful photos rather than getting involved in the experiment. Meanwhile Gasica and Caroline were powering through “Work Readiness” training (part 3) and just occasionally stopping by to find out what all the noise was about.  Due to a limited amount of equipment (10 coloured sticks, 1 ping pong ball, 3 elastic bands, sticky tape and a pair of scissors per team), we divided the students into groups of 5 or 6.  With the benefit of hindsight, smaller groups would have been better. We attempted to get equal numbers of older and younger students in each team. For cultural reasons boys and girls are always separated.  They sit in different areas of the classroom and never work together.  There’s always lots ofspirited competition between the boys and the girls and yes Sadiq and I did crank up the male/female competitiveness shamelessly.

Results:  Ping pong balls proved to be quite a novelty; 3 of 11 balls didn’t survive the class.  Much English was used in trying to elicit more equipment from me, but we stuck to the rules and it was only 3 elastic bands, even if they broke.A girls team completed the challenge first.  A good half an hour before any other team.  Their ping pong ball also traveled the furthest – 6.9 metres!  Seven of 11 groups successfully made catapults in the time allocated.  All 4 boys teams made successful catapults, but only 5 girls teams made successful catapults (but everyone claimed they would have done if they’d had more time). 

Conclusions: The highspot was a chaotic and ruthlessly competitive finale.  It was taken over by the boys and their triumphant war dances.  Teacher Sadiq proudly fired his catapult and did the wildest war dance. The winning girls team declined to participate in the finale and preferred to rest on their laurels for completing the task so quickly. One boy said it made him as happy as he feels after a piece of cake. 

And the differences between teaching this class in the UK and in Zanzibar? Well the catapults looked much the same. Initially the Zanzibari students were perpelexed by the lack of direction, but they soon formed cohesive teams to complete the exercise and sent out spies to see what other teams were doing. The novelty of the experiment combined with exotic ping pong balls made this the highlight of the week for everyone. As they do in life, the Zanzibar students find extraordinary delight in very little.  Richard and I couldn’t stop smiling. The next day everyone settled back onto their hard wooden benches and wrote up the experiment learning quite a bit of English along the way.  As a reward for hard work they loved reliving the great catapult experiment by watching Richard’s fabulous photos on TV.

Sorry Caroline and Gasica that the experiment has left no time for the great work that they’ve been doing, but they can make up for lack of air time next week!

January 28, 2017: Work readniess begins (Ann)

The week started with the second module of “Work Readiness” for the advanced class.  The first session generated much enthusiasm due to the amount of English learned as well as to the practical significance of the topic.  This week’s class was concerned with skills, qualities, attitudes, experience and qualifications.  Students were asked to speak to the class about their skills and qualities, their job aspirations, and what training they would need to gain the skills needed.  The demand is for two work readiness sessions next week!  Logisctically it’s a bit of a challenge as we need an extra teacher to cover the intermediate class so that both Caroline and Gasica can run “Work Readiness”.  Gasica is already planning to run the course at ZL4LF.

As part of the planning for the trip, Caroline had packed the DVD ‘Bend it like Beckham’. It proved to be an inspired choice as the majority of the class love football. The film stimulated animated discussion around gender, culture, generation, friendship and aspiration. They were surprised to learn that there’s a big English-speaking Indian population in the UK. The Sikh wedding scene along with the clubbing scene were the cause of much laughter.  It proved a brilliant teaching aid for our 14-18 year olds – we find that if the subject matter really grabs the students it overcomes any reticence to express themselves in English.

Currently we have 4 working laptops  at the school.  In addition there are 3 in the sick bay, waiting for the local computer expert to work some magic.  (Likewise the printer is resting up!)  Regardless, computer lessons are very popular with the advanced class.   Computer skills, along with English language proficiency, are seen as being essential to improve one’s life prospects.  So, large groups huddle round the laptops and Caroline works hard to ensure that everyone has a fair turn and that the quicker students support the rest of the class. Most students have no experience with a keyboard let alone a computer. We have them working in Microsoft Word, writing reviews of ‘Bend it Like Beckham’, which they watched on the previous day.  We also looked at adding pictures and graphics to documents.  Hopefully, we will have the INTERNET here one day soon!

Due to the failings of the educational system in Zanzibar, Gasica left school with few opportunities.  He’s self-taught but relishes learning especially as part of a group. So you can imagine how excited he was to be invited by The Goodall Foundation to join a conference in Arusha for Tanzanian head teachers on the topics of leadership and effective management. So he’s been on the mainland for the last 4 days, the only delegate from Zanzibar.  We’re pleased to report that support from Brighton and Hove Soiree Rotary club enabled him to attend and that the course was a huge success.  There was a bit of re-packing at the airport to make room for the obligatory Zanzibar spice selection pack/exotic Christmas decoration.

We had a couple of phone calls from Gascia to check that we were all on track without him. English language teaching in Unguja Ukuu didn’t stop just because Gasica was off the island. He arranged for Khamis to cover his class for the week. There was an official handover meeting and Khamis was left with instructions to ensure the intermediate class mastered at least 20 impressive adjectives and the present simple tense by the time Gasica returns!  Khamis proved an inspiration to the students – he’s just left school and is waiting for his results, but we think his English is excellent.  He’s also learning German at Zanibar Learning 4 Life Foundation and after just a week of lessons with German volunteers he can chat awary in German.  He really enjoyed using the Kio Kits and the class enjoyed reading a story aloud to him.

On Friday we picked up Gasica from the airport, still buzzing with ideas from the course. He has a structured plan of follow up to the course which includes goal setting and mentoring by one of the Tanzanian trainers.  There are two more residential parts to the course, one in March and one in May.  He particularly enjoyed the focus on teamwork and looking at working smarter.  Gasica says that some people in Tanzania believe they can’t succeeed and have the excuse “this is Africa” but the course gave out a clear message that there’s no excuse for not being successful. Gasica is keen to introduce “reflective practice” into his life and will be thinking about what he’s going to do different every year.  Although considering the many achievements and changes he’s made in his life, we think he’s a natural reflective thinker!

Gasica can’t wait to hold a meeting with the team at ZL4LF to share what he’s learnt on the course.  He’s also going to have a meeting with his community to present the developments at Zanzibar L4LF.  There’s some exciting news on the chicken farm front too – the recent visit from the CoCo Foundation and Food 4 Africa has led togenerous funding for a new dormitory, a store, a new batch of chickens and food!

So, all in all, a great week in Tanzania!

January 20, 2017: Safari Zulu Club (Ann)

There’s so much that’s been happening in Zanzibar there’s been hardly enough time to write a report!  We’re delighted that PLCIre-branding looks so fantastic – if you haven’t already visited Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Founadtion’s website, please visit at www.zanzibarl4lf.ninja  The students worked so hard on putting it together, we think it’s really impressive and shows the wide range of activities that Gasica’s school offers.

At the end of December, attendance was lower as school was out for Standard IV children who had taken their exams.  This gave us the opportunity to do some more challenging art work and we had a great series of lessons looking at the art of Rousseau and the local art known as Tinga Tinga.  The discussion as to who is better at painting jungles and monkeys got so heated that there were no inhibitions about speaking English on a complicated subject! The students loved using acrylics and came up with some wonderful art. 

Now school is back and the majority of students who were will us in 2016 have re-registered for 2017.  We also have 25 new students who are mostly beginnerse so we are running 4 classes and provide 75 lunches every day.  We are keeping an attendance register and everyone seems very keen and turns up regularly.

The upgraded Kio Kits are in big demand. Caroline ran a session with the teachers to demonstrate the new features and the science teacher has already expressed interest in using the section on HIV.  The Kio Kits have a “Wiki Slice” feature that covers a vast range of topics.  We are all using the new African stories section and they are proving very useful in working out what the students really understand.

Over the Christmas holiday we put together a “Work Readiness” programme that’s designed for the more advanced students.  It teaches the vocabulary of work as well as bridging the gap between the expectations of major Zanzibar employers (such as hotels and restaurants) and the limited education the students receive.  Caroline and Gasica enjoyed teaching the first session on time keeping and punctuality as well as the concept ofa “legitimate excuse” for absence!  The plan is for Gasica to run the course at Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation in the near future.  Thanks the kind donations of laptops from many of our friends we are running a computer class for the older students.  Even though the average age is around 15 or 16 years old, they haven’t used computers before.  Learning Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills will  be invaluable.  There are 3 students to every laptop, so more equipment is always appreciated!

While Caroline is busy with the Advanced students, Sadiq works his magic with the beginners, Gasica has the advanced intermediates and I have the lower intermediates.  This week my class learnt how to use a dictionary – it took 2 lessons as they aren’tused to looking things up.  However, it was immensely exciting when they all found words and couldn’t wait to show me what they’d found.  This week the fun activity was a choice between watching “Finding Nemo” or Art.  Fortunately it was an equal split so everyone could see the TV and there were enough art resources for everyone. We had some interesting questions to answer for a primary school geography lesson in Surrey – my favourite question from the British school was “Do you hunt for food?” to which the boys all responded “Yes, we kill small birds for food and go fishing”.  Not surprising when you don’t have enough to eat and live by the sea.

The students have gained so much confidence that they really enjoy meeting visitors from overseas.  This week we were delighted to welcome guests from the CoCo Foundation in the UK and Food4 Africa.  The guests included a young Zulu man who taught the students a few words of Zulu.  In his honour, the students changed the name of their club from Safari English Club to Safari Zulu club for the day! http://www.cocosfoundation.co.uk 

We had a great afternoon on the beach and introduced some of the children to beach cricket.  They took to cricket with gusto – but it’s unlikely to take the place of football as the first love!  The girls were straight in the sea and they loved the new pink floats.  They’re still timid about trusting themselves to float, but everyone had a great time.

And what else have we been doing?  Well Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation has a fantastic club called “Chakula Hai” which was set up to encourage students who are entering the catering and hospitality industry.  They will come and cook a traditional Zanzibari meal in your home.  We were delighted to welcome them to our apartment last week.  It was a large crew, each with their own area of speciality, including one young man who was just dedicated to making us the finest passion fruit juice imaginable.  For our Zanzibari friends reading this, we really recommend an evening with Chakula Hai!

December 10, 2016: Swimming and peg dolls (Ann)

Swimming lessons are high on our list of skills to teach in Unguja Ukuu.  There isn’t a culture of learning to swim, even though the island is surrounded by the most idyllic beaches.  As a result every year there are many drownings, particularly amongst girls who don’t learn to swim.  There’s always “something better” girls should be doing with their time. With the agreement of the Zanzibar government, the RNLI from the UK has started a learn to swim programme.  Lastweek we had a great meeting with the organisers to see if we can get Unguja Ukuu enrolled into the programme. Meanwhile we have a UK teenager collecting goggles from her friends to be carried out here by our friends when they come here.  If you want to collect googles and send them out with people travelling here from the UK, please let us know. 

Caroline is back in the driving seat, but there’s always something new to learn about road etiquette.  Last week we had a close encounter with the presidential motorcade.  Caroline didn’t realise that when you see an extremely large landrover careering down the wrong side of the road you should immediately give way and drive into the nearest ditch.  Failure to do this sufficiently quickly led to a tongue lashing from the policeman who was unfortunately observing the incident.  Sadiq, our local teacher, was in the car during the incident, was harranged by the policemen and even with our rudimentary Swahili we understood that it was his responsibility to tell the “Mama” to get off the road!

The Kio Kits have had a welcome upgrade.  An engineer visited from Kenya and he added lots more content which will be great for teaching English and also for the students to direct their own learning.  Monday and Tuesday was spent exploring the new programmes so that we could report back to the teachers on what they will find useful to enhance lessons.  It’s also going to be easy for us to add our own content.  And we have more visitors coming to see the kits in action – Unguja Ukuu is leading the way on this innovative approach to education on the island thanks to our Rotary supporters.

We were honoured that Gasica was the guest speaker at the local Rotary Club Gala Dinner.  Everyone enjoyed hearing him speak, especially the waiters and waitresses who cheered him from the side of the room. Gasica maintained sartorial standards with a jacket and tie in spite of 30 degrees heat and the event raised $17,000 to be spent on very necessary education and health projects around the island.  We’re excited that our silent auction bid was successful in securing us a dinner for 6 people cooked by his catering students.           

Gasica is firing on all cylinders after his UK visit.  He asked Caroline to run a basic accounting and spreadsheet course so that he can assess the profitability of his various enterprises including the Bicycle Workshop and Chicken Farm.  Six students participated and Caroline was really impressed with their enthusiasm and how quickly they picked up the principles of accountancy and gained skill in using Excel. 

I’m helping the website team to put together a new site which is all part of the re-branding exercise that will transform PLCI into Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation in January 2017.   As I explained to the keen web team, it’snot that I’m a website expert, it’s just that I’ve done one more than them!  We’re all learning together and they are doing a great job of checking the brief with Gasica and writing the copy.

The students love the “Fun Thursdays” concept that Chloe introduced and, using their best English they told us that they hoped the tradition would be continued.  So no pressure there!  We’d brought traditional wooden pegs from the UK which the students made into peg dolls.  They are now schooled in the great Blue Peter tradition of using pipe cleaners and bits of newspaper and ribbons to make magnificent objects.  Everyone entered into the enterprise with much enthusiasm, even the teenage boys.  The class wrapped up with small groups performing mini plays with their peg dolls.  All the dolls were carefully taken home at the end of the class.

One of the biggest problems on the island (and the reason for Safari English Club) is that students leave school unable to speak English, which is the key to getting a job on an island where the main economy is the tourist industry.  In addition, employers struggle to give jobs to local people whose culture doesn’t prepare them for the expectations of the first world hospitality industry.   Sowe’re planning to run a course for our more advanced students on the important concepts of time keeping, employer expectations as well as helping them prepare CVs, learn how to look for jobs and interview techniques.  The idea is to creat a sustainable programme that Gasica and his team can roll out as “Jobs 4 Life” at Zanzibar Learning 4 Life Foundation.  If you’d like to help with developing the course content, we’d love to hear from you!

Also, we are looking for volunteers to come to work at Zanzibar Schools Project in 2017.  So if you know of anyone who might be interested, please let us know.  Ideally candidates should have experience of working with young people, have taken a TEFLcourse or have teaching experience.  We’d ideally like people who are able to come for 3 months as this is the ideal time to get the most out of a stay.  In return we offer a fantastic experience!

December 13, 2016: A message to our penfriends (Ann)

We have a new logo...based on a design by one of our students and polished by our talented friend Louise Harvey Verenne...

November 24, 2016: What's changed in a year? (Ann)

Just over a year ago we arrived in Zanzibar and our friends Feroz and Hassan took us to Unguja Ukuu and we started teaching English with the inspiring local teacher Gasica. They weren’t too sure that we’d stay for the full 3 months, let alone come back for a second year. But here we are again! Just like our volunteer Chloe, who’s left after an amazing 9-month stay here, we find we learn so much more than we teach! This time we’re going to focus on helping English classes (known by the students as Safari English Club) become sustainable following Gasica’s ZL4LF model where he finances his initiative through the bicycle workshop, chicken and organic farm and bus service.
We went back to the school and were excited to see the Kio Kits working – they’d arrived after we left Zanzibar. The students love using them and we were impressed that the students use them for self-directed learning. There are three sections on the Kio Kit – Learn, Play and Grow. Students are using all three sections. We saw a group of older girls discussing a science module and making notes in English. They would not otherwise have access to well-illustrated and well-constructed information and we could see they were enjoying the experience. Usually maths is taught in English, which is confusing when neither the students nor the teachers speak English coherently. So the younger children were enjoying the Swahili cartoons that teach maths and were doing well with additions and subtractions with the aid of mice and elephant illustrations.
Unguja Ukuu is the first school on Zanzibar to have the Kio Kits thanks to the support of the Rotary Club of Zanzibar, Stone Town and Brighton and Hove Soiree. This week we had visitors from the Miele Foundation who are interested to see them in action as they are thinking of investing in a kit. The students were keen to demonstrate how they use the resources.
Also thank you to Brighton and Hove Soiree Rotary club for supporting improvements to the computer room. The floor is now sealed and tiled which means there’s much less dust in the atmosphere and electronic equipment will last longer.

One year on and so much has happened to Gasica, our local teacher who supports our work in Unguja Ukuu. He had an amazing time in the UK, meeting many people who are helping him shape his future plans. He’s so determined to reach his next goal of building a new school and he’s working hard to lay a good foundation for the future. But on Tuesday he was coaching, not being coached. Thanks to Feroz, we met James of the Manoa Foundation, who is based in Nungwe, at the North of the Island. He’s a Ugandan who first visited Zanzibar in 2011, interested in the history of the slave trade.

James realised that the local people need better education to achieve a better life and decided to set up a nursery school, focusing on orphans and those who might not be included in the education system such as the disabled. He set up a school and has 80 children enrolled. Some of the classes take place in the open air and some in a building owned by the local mosque. But the mosque has plans to expand so he’s not going to be able to stay on the site long term and the outdoor classes don’t always take place due to the heavy rains at the moment.
James is struggling to finance his school and to pay salaries (about £350 per month for 5 teachers). Gasica explained that 6 years ago he was in the same situation, struggling to afford to keep his school running. But he realised that by setting up businesses such as the bicycle workshop and the organic chicken farm, he could become self-funding.
James has great links with local hotels and has a lock up facility on a tourist road that doubles as a shop front when he has handicrafts and T shirts to sell. Gasica suggested that James could use his shop front to set up a bicycle hire facility for visitors. James looked as if he could cry with happiness as he realised he could solve his problems. He is already renovating a house as a backpacker hostel to fund the school, so he certainly has business acumen. The bicycle hire facility can be set up reasonably quickly – the next steps are for James to visit PLCI to meet Gasica’s team and for Gasica to decide on how much to charge for the loan of 15 bicycles for a year.

Back to Gasica: since his return home he’s been discussing his visit to the UK with his students and members of the community. They were keen to know about everyday life in the UK including where Gasica shopped for food and who shaved his head regularly (answer: Ann using borrowed electric clippers). This week he’s teaching his teachers the new TEFL techniques that he learnt at the English Language Centre in Hove. So, much that’s changed in a year, but the need to help educate the children remains a challenge.

November 2016: The Immersion Camp and Chloe's thoughts on leaving

It's with a very full heart that I write my final report from Zanzibar. It is hard to believe that so much has happened in the last 9 months, but it is also only now that I am leaving, as I look back at the students’ level of English when I first arrived and compare it to where they are now that I can see how much progress we have made together. That progress is not just in written, listening and oral skills though, but also in the way the students are engaging with the world... They are thinking more independently and trying out new things. Sharifa, one of our adult students, wrote these words to me in a good bye letter. “We learned different things from you, you are teaching us to refresh our minds to create something through our imagination. I like to do it, but actually I didn't know how to do it before. Now I can think and create quickly. It is a good step.” Using creative language is such a foreign idea to the students, but one they have been quick to grasp. In a recent workshop the students wrote this collective poem about the colour said they see around them.:

• Yellow, like the colour of sun shine in the world - it gives us good health.
• Light green like the colour of the garden after the rain fall has come.
• Black is the colour of people in Tanzania. I like black because it is the colour of my hair and skin and it is beautiful.
• Orange is the colour and name of my favourite fruit and I feel well when I eat it.
• Pink like the colour of balloons, they fly so sweetly.
• Dark blue like the colour of the ocean all over the world.
• Purple , like my favourite fruit, grapes! Light blue like the colour of clouds in the sky. White like the colour of the paint in my house where I feel happy.
• Dark green like the colour of leaves on the trees. It is a sensitive colour. Brown like the colour of my land where we dig.
• Grey like the colour of a rainy day.
• Red like the colour of the liver in my chest.
• Gold like the colour of a beautiful girl's hair.
• Silver like the colour of the tin sheets that protect my family when it rains.

An initiative we started many months ago, Fun Thursdays - a weekly session where learning is taken outside of the classroom, has also had a big impact on how students approach tasks. We have also put a lot of emphasis on trying things out and being happy when we make mistakes as it is only through daring to fail that we learn to succeed. This has been slow to achieve in a school system where a wrong answer is often punished by being beaten with a stick. So we have been rewarding the children who try regardless of the outcome and praising students who voice it when they don’t understand something.

All these new practices have not been going unnoticed by the Unguja Ukuu teachers, and at times they have found it difficult to understand what we are doing. I think it can make them feel insecure which in turn causes them to want to take control of our project. In the past months we have had ups and down with the teachers. We have found them too controlling and they have found us uncooperative. I think possibly they are feeling threatened that many of the students’ English is becoming better than their own. A big area of contention had been an English immersion camp I wanted to run during the time the school was closed for exams. I have led similar camps before and know how beneficial being in a sustained English environment can be for learning. We held a parents meeting and everyone present liked the idea saying how these kind of opportunities only ever happened in private schools in Zanzibar.
It was a tricky road ahead though, especially with the school teachers and the village madrassas (religious schools) and we almost gave up on the idea completely, especially when we heard some of our students were being punished by the Madrassa teachers for wanting to go. It's a very confusing line to negotiate with the teachers and madrassas as we believe their resistance is most probably due to them fearing we are ideologically corrupting their children. And if you believe that singing, dancing, having fun, swimming, and free thinking is wrong, then we are. So we somehow have to come to a partnership that is mutually respectful, and allows all of us the freedom to do what we believe is right, and support one another to do what is best for the students. The situation has calmed, but I think it will be good to have a community meeting between the village committee, the teachers, Ann, Caroline and Gasica so that the relationship between the Zanzibar Schools Project and the Unguja Ukuu school can be laid out, understood and agreed on by everybody.
And the wonderful news is that we were able to run the English immersion camp. It ran for four days and was based at a hostel by the beach in a village 1 hour away from Unguja Ukuu. We had the three ZSP teachers and were joined by three wonderful English and American volunteers which meant class sizes were small and people heard English being spoken all day long. It exceeded all of our expectations, and was an incredibly powerful, and I think life changing experience for our students. Every one of them made a big effort with the their English. The students reminding each other often to talk English and not Swahili and being surrounded by English speakers for 4 days had a big impact on comprehension and oral skills.
We packed in so many things, and the kids not only studied English, but had the opportunity to experience so much that was new to them.

• Living and sleeping in an English community
• Swimming twice a day (many of the girls can now swim! And a boy who has never dared enter the water before because he was so scared is now splashing and playing along with everyone else)
• Making chocolate cakes inside oranges on the fire, lotus flower paper lanterns
• Exploring creative language in English
• A terrifying night game in which the students defeated five evil monsters set on taking over the world
• A blind-folded night walk during which the students were silent for an hour and turned their focus inwards
• A celebration fire
• Discussions on what it means to be black and white
• Watching films and singing until we lost our voices during an incredibly heavy rain storm
• Making stalls and having an afternoon fair in which the currency was beans
• Ceremonial opening and closing circles

Everyone was very emotional on the last night/day. We had a lot of tears and I know we will all remember this for the rest of our lives. We had 48 students for the four days, with five extra students joining us on the Saturday. Each and every person there was so supportive and well behaved. And did everything we asked of them and more. I'm blown away by the experience, it was such an amazing way to say goodbye.
Haroun told me "The time in Makunduchi taught me that I am strong and powerful. It showed me many things about the world. It taught me many things about myself."
I personally feel very humbled and grateful. What an honor to spend such a magical time with the students away from all their responsibilities and watch them simply being carefree children for once. All while increasing their fluency in English. It is something that I will never forget.

The week since the camp finished has been spent saying good bye to everyone in Unguja Ukuu, at ZL4LF and in Stone Town. I cried when I left the village which is something that hasn't happened to me when leaving a place in over 20 years and the letters, gifts, words and time talking with everybody this week has been incredibly touching. Students from Unguja Ukuu are still making their way to town to bring me gifts and I spent a beautiful day at ZL4LF cooking and sharing a lunch at the chicken farm and then saying good bye at the school in the evening.

My happiest moments during my time here are:

• Watching the girls learn to swim
• Laughing our way through Fun Thursdays. Especially the egg drop challenge and BanzaiSharing evening meals with ZL4LF during Ramadan.
• Living in the village and making so many beautiful friends there
• Being invited to and taking part in a Zanzibari wedding
• Watching the students becoming more fluent in English
• Taking over an hour to cycle to school every day as I stop to greet everyone on the way.
• Adventures to places around the island with Gasica.
• Feeling very lucky to visit areas tourists never venture.
• Classes and games at ZL4LF which got every one shouting and up on their feet. Especially the rap battles with Rob.
• Visits from students at my home by the beach when we would discuss life and our hopes and dreams.
• Invitations to students homes to share meals and festivals together.
• Swimming in the sea every day and watching the sun set over it each night

Things I've found difficult:

• Watching a school system that so badly fails the students and which makes people believe they are unintelligent and destined to fail.
• Living in such a touristic island.
• The Zanzibaris attitude towards time and thinking nothing of being 2 or 3 hours late.

Before I go I want to say a huge thank you to Ann and Caroline for all their support and the trust and freedom they have given me at the school. I feel very lucky to have had such fantastic bosses who pretty much always said yes to all my ideas! Thanks also to everyone who has supported me to be here: Eleanor and Richard who have been so kind and patient in dealing with our funds, Dr Feroz who I have always been able to ask for advice. Our amazing donors and volunteers who have given the students so much, and both the Brighton and Hove, and the Stone Town Rotary Clubs who have been very generous and continue to support us.

And last but not least to Gasica, who has taught me what it truly means to be generous and who has welcomed me fully into Zanzibari life. We've gone on so many adventures into the heart and hearts of Zanzibar which I shall never forget. Thanks also for standing up to me and not being afraid to tell me when you don't agree. I love that our friendship is so equal

October 16, 2016: Gasica arrives in the UK (Ann and Chloe)

Here is a quick round-up of what’s been happening in Unguja Ukuu recently.
English Lessons: The advanced and beginner classes are doing really well, learning more each day and improving their conversation skills each week. We are still very impressed and happy with the classes Sadiq is creating for the beginner class. They are fun, simple and clear and the young students are all enthusiastic.
The intermediate class seems to have reached a stage where they are a little overwhelmed by all different subjects they have covered in the last year. They do really well in a class, but then forget what they have studied within a few days. I've experienced this myself when learning a new language – there comes a point when my brain feels saturated and it feels like I've taken a step backwards. Usually all that is needed is to stop learning anything new and to just practice talking with the knowledge you have until it feels natural and comfortable. So we have decided not to teach anything new to this class for the time being and just to concentrate on the things they have already learned. We hope that by creating fun, conversation based exercises the language will become a part of them, rather than something they have to try to remember.
Upcoming Exams: November and December is the time for exams in Zanzibar. The standard 6 children are still absent from our classes due to exam revision and 5 of them have now started boarding during the week at an exam revision camp half an hour away. And now the Form 2 students are also in extra revision which means they are missing our classes as well. The upside to this is that both the intermediate and advanced classes are smaller which means it’s much easier to get the whole class practicing conversation and giving individual attention to the students.
Swimming: Since the arrival of the burkinis back in August we’ve been having regular swimming lessons in Unguja Ukuu. It’s a very popular activity amongst the students, with a few having learned to swim already, and the others well on their way and feeling much more comfortable in the water. We had intended to train some local adults to be swimming instructors, but it’s been hard finding people with a level of commitment we can rely on. (Our top candidate has only shown up to one of the lessons so far, and then he decided not to swim even though he was there!) We are still thinking about how best to proceed, but in the meantime the three ZSP teachers have been leading the sessions along with different volunteers.
Reading programme: Students in twp of the classes are now proud owners of a reading folder in which they are taking home a book each week. The folders help to keep the books in a good condition and also include a book log that parents sign after listening to their children read, an instruction sheet in Swahili for parents with suggestions for questions they can ask to check on their child’s comprehension of the story and a cover that the students had fun colouring and making their own. I've spent a lot of time this past month listening to the students read and making sure the books they are choosing are at the right level for them. We are all very happy with how the project is going. The students are increasing their vocabulary each time they read and we have just heard that My Book Buddy will be funding an individual dictionary for each student which will really help them to get as much learning from the books as possible.
Visitors: we have had a few visitors to the school which the students always love, and my father is currently here for 3 weeks helping out in the classes. It’s been very interesting to see how much they students enjoy having an older person around and that they have really enjoyed his personal, calm and simple way of teaching.
Building work: Due to some amazing donations from the UK we have been able to fund bringing electricity to the nursery school which they need for the well. This means the teachers, students and surrounding community will have easier access to fresh water. We have also been able to approve work to the computer room at Unguja Ukuu primary school. They will tile the floor which should go a long way in making the room dust free, prolonging the lives of the computers there. They'll also replace a blackboard with a whit all for projecting onto.
 

Gasica’s visit to the UK. Many of you will have had the chance to meet Gasica during the four weeks that he’s been in the UK. He is making the most of every minute and has so far spoken at 2 Rotary meetings and addressed about 600 people at the Rotary District Conference in Eastbourne. The meeting was a fantastic platform for the Zanzibar Schools Project and we made some great contacts with Rotary Clubs that are looking for projects to support and we even met a chicken farmer who’s interested in an African project.
Gasica loves visiting schools and the students find his story so inspiring. Gasica and our young volunteer from the Summer holidays (Rob Lindfield) are working with Varndean College to set up a microfinance project with the students at PLCI school in Zanzibar and we hope the project can be replicated by other schools and Rotaract Clubs.
Gasica is enjoying professional development courses at the English Language Centre in Hove. Although he’s never taken an exam before he was placed in the Advanced English Class and he enjoyed experiencing new teaching techniques. He’s currently in the middle of his Teaching English as a Foreign Language course and works hard every evening writing up his notes so that he can share what he’s learnt with teachers when he gets back to Zanzibar.
As if this wasn’t enough, Gasica has learnt to swim (after an hour he could swim 4 lengths of crawl), has met the local MP to thank him for supporting his visa application and has hobnobbed with the mayor of Eastbourne.

September 20, 2017: Safari English Club finds a name (Chloe)

We’ve been going through a lot of changes recently. Rob, our student volunteer left a couple of weeks ago. We were all very sad to see him go and he will be missed by the many people he befriended while he was here. Our fingers are crossed he’ll be back next year – and hopefully for longer! Talking to him in his last few days he told me that his time in Zanzibar had been all he could have hoped for and more. He spent his last weekend in Unguja Ukuu. On Saturday we were shown around the village and taken on a culinary tour of people’s homes by 2 of our students, and on Sunday we travelled by dhow to an off shore island where we spent a peaceful and relaxing day. We also said goodbye to our 2 local volunteers who left to concentrate on furthering their education. Latifa and Salma are now busy organising sponsorship for the diploma they want to take in medicine.
And last, but definitely not least, yesterday was Gasica’s last day in Unguja Ukuu before he flies to England this afternoon. Although the teachers and students will all miss him very much, we wish him a wonderful journey and can’t wait to hear all about it when he returns in mid November. Ann and Caroline have been busy preparing an exciting schedule for him. He'll be studying different ways of teaching English, going into many different education settings where he will observe classes and lead assemblies. He will also attend meetings and be a guest speaker at various Rotary events. He is going to squeeze in some sight-seeing in London, Brighton, and Bristol amongst other places, and will be meeting a whole host of people who are very happy to finally have him on English soil after the tough visa process which failed the first time around.
But with all this change we still remain focussed on providing engaging and inspiring education to the youth of Unguja Ukuu. In a meeting with the teachers they told us how happy they are with the project and they have set up an introduction for us with the ministry of education this week. This is a great opportunity for ZSP and should help with arranging visas for future volunteers and with having support for any activities we plan in the years to come.
In our English classes we have been revising the present, past and future tenses, with the aim being that students feel able to switch between the three tenses easily when they need to. We have also been preparing the students for reading books as this is one of the best ways to increase vocabulary. I wrote a story that focuses on three friends, Gasica, Chloe and Sadiq, getting lost in the forest and we used it to show the students how to read a story and translate it and keep a record of the words they do not understand.
The next day we had a very interactive dictionary class, playing lots of games to help the students familiarise themselves with the new dictionaries and how best to use them.
Fun Thursday cemented their dictionary skills as students split into teams for a big scavenger hunt. Many of the things they had to find were new words they needed to look up in the dictionaries before they could hunt for them.
Before the class on Thursday, I spent the morning in the school library choosing over 50 books that are at the right level of English reading for our students. They are now locked in a separate “Safari English Club” bookshelf so we can access them whenever we need to.
“What is Safari English Club?” I hear you say. It is the new name that the students chose for themselves. It’s wonderful to see them taking ownership over the class and we have developed a great tool for getting the students to stop talking and listen in lessons. (Useful when all 60 children are together!). The teacher shouts “Safari” and the students reply “English Club” and then everyone remains silent while the teacher speaks. The students are using it too and so far it’s been working very well.
In another Fun Thursday students designed a logo for the club. We were very impressed and found it hard to choose an outright winner so we have chosen a few different designs we can combine to make a final logo. Watch this space for the finished product.
Last week there was no school due to Eid celebrations. During the first weekend there was a festival on a nearby beach in Jambiani. Gasica took the PLCI students and they stayed there for the three days. On Sunday I drove three of our students to join them. Everyone had such a great time and it was wonderful to see a truly integrated festival. There were strong man, volleyball, cooking and swimming competitions; live music from throughout Africa; and stalls and information on many charities and organisations working on Zanzibar.
During the week Sadiq and I held interviews for Gasica’s replacement while he is away. We were worrying at first as no one had the experience we were looking for or the ethos that is so important for ZSP. It made me realise how the way we teach is really quite rare in Tanzania. Luckily, in the end, we found an ex ZL4LF teacher who we are excited to be working with. His name is Mohamed and he has a long history of teaching and eventually wants to become a lecturer. During the last weekend of Eid we went on a trip to Nungwi. It was the first trip for the new students and Sadiq, who all joined us at the beginning of August. Nungwi is in the very north of the island (probably the furthest place from Unguja Ukuu you can get to without crossing the water!) and the students have been asking to go there for a long time. We arrived in the village and walked along the sea front backed by big tourist hotels to our first stop - the turtle sanctuary. They do very important work educating Zanzibaris on turtle conservation. The most common job on Zanzibar is fishing, especially in coastal villages like Unguja Ukuu. Although turtle poaching is illegal, in reality nobody follows the law. Most people in Zanzibar are on a very low income and killing and selling a turtle can bring a big profit – the turtle meat is considered a delicacy among locals and can fetch a high price in Stone Town. None of the students knew that the turtles were endangered beforehand, and the visit prompted many interesting conversations afterwards.
We also played football, had a mini disco and ate a delicious lunch cooked by 2 of the students... but the highlight for everyone was swimming in the sea. Even though the students live on a paradise island, most of them had never swum in such turquoise water lapping such white sand. Not only that, but our amazing friends Modestly Active had donated swimming costumes for the girls so they could swim in the sea without feeling ashamed or self conscious. I felt quite emotional watching the girls be as free as the boys for the first time. It was very heart warming and the smiles on everyone’s faces are the widest I’ve seen. Throw into that mix the floats Ann and Caroline sent from England and everyone was in swimming heaven! We spent over 2 hours in the water and nobody wanted to get out of the sea when it was time to go home.
We plan to begin proper swimming lessons soon and Gavin, a visitor from Australia, spent an afternoon teaching the older students safety skills and basic first aid in preparation.
The nursery and internet sessions are going well. The nursery children are becoming more used to my presence each day and although they have very different levels of comprehension, some of them are surprising me with how well they are learning. The internet classes are still very popular although sometimes I feel I could do with some new ideas on making the internet a bit more relevant for them all. It can feel a bit dry when we are checking email and browsing sites. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them.

August 29, 2016: The newspaper tower challenge! (Chloe)

Community: The overriding feeling of the last 2 weeks has been one of community. We've had many guests visiting the school and people in Zanzibar and England have been helping in all sorts of ways. The togetherness that Zanzibaris talk about so often is really shining through for the Zanzibar Schools Project right now. Our community can be seen in many different ways. The students of the English class have requested we have a name for the class, which indicates they are really taking ownership over it. So all last week we collected suggestions from the students and this week we will hold a vote to decide on the winning name. I've increased my attendance at the nursery school, and the internet classes are still happening 2 evenings a week. This added presence in the village means more and more people are aware of what we are doing and the project is becoming a valued part of the community. I'm often told by members of the village that they feel this togetherness and people offer their advice, or help if we ever need it. Or invite me to their homes for tea!
Yesterday we held a parents meeting at the school. The teachers had warned us we should not expect many people to attend as they rarely do. But we were overwhelmed by the number of parents who came. They were all so positive about the project, they told us about the changes they are seeing in their children and how they hope the project will continue for a long time. They also offered their help... in English classes, teaching swimming and just general support when we need it. It was so lovely to meet all the parents and to be able to talk to them about their children. It was also great to see most of the primary teachers there too. It really proved to me that they are behind the project. Tupamoja means we are together in Swahili, and the phrase was repeated often throughout the meeting. In the meeting we:

• Introduced ZSP (Ann and Caroline) and Gasica, Sadiq and I.
• Spoke about our other volunteers and visitors
• Spoke about the time, energy and money we are investing in their children
• And in return asked them for their commitment to the project and to their children's attendance
• Talked about the library and the students taking books home (we will start next week)  Discussed swimming lessons (Parents were joking about who the best swimmer is among them and competing to be our swimming assistants!)

Thank you! But the ZSP community is not just here in Zanzibar, it reaches far. So this update is really just a big thank you to all those that support us. Thank you to Ann and Caroline for always being there when we need advice, for working with so much energy to improve things for the youth and community of Unguja Ukuu. Thanks also to all our guests over the past 2 weeks... Rory, Orla, Karen, Paul, Sarah and Joe. Taking the time to talk and share stories with the students really brings the English learning to life. Sarah, the students loved finding out more about their English pan-pals. Also, a huge thanks to all our volunteers right now. Salma and Latifa bring so much enthusiasm and are a great help in the classes, and Rob our student volunteer from England has been such an amazing person for the children to meet, learn from and have fun with.
And thank you also to our wider community. Thanks to Ismail and Modestly Active for providing us with Islamic appropriate swimwear. We are so grateful, and now we finally have a yes from the parents and teachers, classes can go ahead! Thank you to all those who have offered to write emails to students this week in the internet class... Kylee, Dee, Karen, Crystal, Laura, Bean and Philip. They’ll be so happy to receive them.
And of course thank you to all the individuals and groups who have donated funds which mean we can continue doing what we do. The Rotary Club is amazing, especially Brighton and Hove Soiree and Stone Town Zanzibar clubs. And to Hurstpierpoint Community Charity, who recently donated funds which meant we were able to plaster the nursery school.
The English classes: The intermediate and advanced classes have been concentrating on the past simple. Most students found this relatively easy and have been quick to learn the irregular verbs (of which there are many!). It really was so great to have all the visitors with whom they could practice asking and answering questions about their past. We also used the kiokit for grammar practice, and I was lucky enough to have all three volunteers helping me out which meant we were able to split into small groups. Using the computers in this way worked very well.
The beginner class has been concentrating on English basics. They are now able to introduce themselves, have a good grip on the alphabet, numbers and animals and shall start learning pronouns and simple verbs this week. They also had their first session with the kiokit which they all loved. It is always so fascinating to see how children who have had no contact with this kind of technology pick it up so quickly.

Fun Thursdays: Two weeks ago we had a newspaper tower challenge. Students split into small groups and were given a stack of newspaper and a roll of tape. The challenge was to come up with a design to make the tallest tower using just those 2 items. In the end all the groups used the same design; one neither Rob nor I had seen before when we’ve done the challenge in the UK. And we had never seen such tall towers before either! Once the challenge was over many of the students made hats with the newspaper and we had a huge game of Chinese whispers and taught everyone to do a Mexican wave. Last week we came to the beach for Fun Thursday. In one of our previous classes Rob had explained to the students that his favourite sport is rugby. No one had heard of the sport before so Rob taught the kids rugby on the beach, while other students revised, played games or walked to the very low tide line.
Standard VI Classes: we've been doing extra English sessions on Fridays for the Standard VI students who are missing our classes due to exam revision. After Friday’s lesson I was feeling quite worried as it was clear to see how quickly they are losing their English skills now they are not using them regularly. The problem is that they need good English to pass the exam, but they cannot come to our English classes any more as the exam revision classes are a government requirement. They are so exhausted with all the extra study they are doing that it seems unfair and unrealistic to ask them to commit to even more hours of study each week - Rob and I found it hard work to keep them motivated as they were so tired. Ann, Caroline, Gasica and I are all thinking of the best way to proceed. But seeing how tired they are I am inclined to make the Friday lessons as fun as possible by just playing games in English and offering help with their exam topics if they have questions.
ZL4LF:  It's been great having Rob help with the ZL4LF English classes. He enjoyed it so much he has been spending a lot of his evenings there on his own and has formed strong friendships with many of the ZL4LF teachers and students. Last Thursday we helped the students to write poems/raps on different topics and finished the class with a big rap battle which got everyone very excited. This week we asked the students to create plays in different styles and gave them the challenge of including 10 strange phrases and words in each one

August 13, 2016: Fun and games at the nursery (Chloe)

Monday 1 August: We had the first class meeting since being back after Ramadan. We sat in a circle in the shade of the old tree and opened the meeting with each person grading out of 10 the progress they feel they have made in English since the classes began in November. (not how good they are at English, but how much they feel they have improved). Marks were between 4 and 10, with most people rating their progress 6 and above. What was most remarkable was seeing the self awareness of the students. They mostly gave themselves grades we would have assigned them if asked. It shows they are aware of their learning and not just floating along. In the meeting we told them about the new students and teacher that would be joining us soon. We explained we shall be making a push to use the library and that each student will be taking a book home every week to practice their reading. We spoke about their attendance and what we expect from them.
Tuesday 2 August: We had another meeting, but this time with the teachers. We told them about the new teacher and asked for their help in finding new students for the class. We talked about a parents meeting we would like to organise to make sure we have the support of the parents so they are encouraging their children to attend, instead of creating barriers for them or prioritising other things. We also feel it would be good to have a direct relationship with the parents so that when we propose new activities (like swimming lessons for example) they are more likely to agree to them.
Thursday 4 August: Over the course of the week Ann and I had been in discussions surrounding our purpose at the school. The talks were very useful as we can both have the tendency to want to do everything and to help everywhere which is not always physically or financially possible and it felt good to be clarifying our mission. We decided that speaking English and learning to think independently are the most important skills for the young people in the village. I thought about this a lot, and on Thursday we presented the “egg drop challenge” to the class. Watching the students work in small teams in order to create a structure to protect an egg being dropped from a great height (or thrown from the top of a large mango tree by Gasica to be more precise!) I was able to see how much of a difference our classes have made on independent thinking already. The students are taking pride in coming up with new and varied ideas, whereas before they often copied one another. And the process by which they are making choices is also evolving.
In the evening I taught a class at ZL4LF. I teach the most advanced students, and their level of English is amazing. It means we are able to do activities that are not always possible with my other classes. We spent the lesson practicing public speaking and learning presentation techniques in preparation for a debate they are taking part in over the weekend.
Tuesday 9 August: This week has seen lots of new and exciting changes. Our project is expanding and the work Zanzibar Schools Project is doing is starting to generate interest and therefore more opportunities. Living in Unguja Ukuu has made it much easier to spend time teaching at different times of the day and week. On Tuesday mornings I teach at the nursery school. Today we played duck duck goose, but called it cat cat dog, and concentrated on the words run, sit and stop. The earlier children get used to hearing and playing in a different language, the more it can help with their development and learning later on, so it seems a good idea to get involved in the nursery school too. When I arrived the children were reciting the Koran in Arabic. It’s amazing that they are expected to do this at such a young age and are often hit with a stick if they lose concentration or get it wrong. I had forgotten about physical punishment here, and it being the main reason the teachers have asked us not to teach during school hours in the primary school. It’s so hard to know how to react and what to say when I see it happen.
Later that day we introduced the new students and teacher to the English class. The new teacher, Sadiq, will be primarily teaching the beginners’ class, but is already a big hit with all our students. He has completed his studies up to university level, just having sat his exams for a degree in Swahili and English Education at the Zanzibar Linguistic College. He has a lot of experience teaching and has developed a calm and friendly manner which makes him popular and approachable in the classroom. He has previously taught at Al Haromein International School, at ZL4LF for over three years, and has also taught reproductive health to young men at the Canadian Institute. He believes that sharing his knowledge has the ability to change lives in Zanzibar, and that being a teacher is a two-way exchange, where he learns as much as he teaches.
We were expecting 20 new students, but have ended up with 26 as so many more wanted to join. There have been tears and disappointment from the children that weren't chosen by the teachers. We have being trying to find space for everyone but on Wednesday we had to send a few children home as we just can't keep letting new students in. It is sad, but I am keeping their names on a list and they will be the first to be offered places next time. And it is wonderful that the demand is there.
We've identified 8 of the new students with an already basic knowledge of English. Gasica will be working with them this week, to help them catch up on the topics we have already covered so that they can join the intermediate or advanced classes, rather than starting at the very beginning again. That leaves 18 new students from Standard IV and V who will be in the new beginner class.
Other exciting news is that we have started teaching evening internet classes for 3 teachers and 4 adult students two evenings a week. On Tuesday I helped the teachers to set up their very first email address, and repeated the process again with the adult class on Friday. It has been a challenge to remember what it felt like to know nothing at all about the internet. Setting up an email address became the aim for the whole 2 hour class, rather than just a step. It was lovely to be able to invite them to the hotel where I am staying (and the only place in Unguja Ukuu with an internet connection!) and do the class whilst the sun set over the sea. Both sets of students have asked to have lessons more often, but the manager of the hotel has limited classes to 2 days a week. If any of you reading this are interested in becoming internet penpals with these new learners, please let me know as I think it could bring the internet, and its possibilities, even more alive for them.
Thursday 11 August:  I had a visit from 2 young Zanzibari women, Salma and Latifa, who are keen to volunteer with us in Unguja Ukuu. They live half an hour away, but have family in the village and have heard about our project. Today they started volunteering with us and Latifa assisted Gasica with the catch-up class while Salma helped Sadiq and I with Fun Thursday.
We split the group into six teams and gave them 3 challenges: to spell a verb using their bodies, to create a structure so only 3 of the team’s feet were touching the ground, and to make a piece of jewellery from things found in nature. We finished the afternoon with some big group games. It was the first time we have had nearly all of the new and old students together and it was wonderful to see them gelling so well. Having the older students there, who have gotten used to the way we teach, made it much easier for the new students to feel less self conscious I think.
After school I was teaching at ZL4LF again. This week we played a game that involved getting your team to guess words written on bits of paper as fast as possible. It really tested the students’ language skills and they all got into the competitive spirit. It was great fun watching 20 young adults all shouting at each other as they tried to guess the words!
Friday 12 August: Standard VI students are now missing our English class because of exam revision, but we don’t want them to lose contact with our program completely over the next 2 months. So at 11.30am I collected the Standard VI children from school and we all (10 of us!) squeezed into my car and drove to the beach where we shared a meal of beef soup before having 30 minutes of free time and play. Then we got our books out and had a 2 hour English lesson on the beach! I gave them a choice of how they would like to spend our weekly lessons - Extra revision on any of the exam topics from that week that they have questions about, or a recap of what we have been learning in the English classes. They asked to concentrate on the English as they don’t want to fall behind, and also asked if we could play some games each week too. It was so much fun to spend time with these 9 beautiful children. Most of all I enjoyed our free time – it was good to be able to offer them some time in which to relax and have fun, especially knowing that straight after our class they had to be back in school for another 2 hour exam revision session.
In the evening the 4 adult learners came for their internet class. It was a bit harder having 4 computers on the go this time, and we had to use 3 tiny hand held devises which made it less clear for them, but they all now also have their own email address and are keen to explore the internet more next session.
It's been a very exciting and busy week watching our English programme grow, and next week looks set to be even busier. On Monday the president of the Ipswich Rotary club is coming to visit Unguja Ukuu with his family; our young volunteer, Robert, is arriving on Tuesday; and also a teacher from Harmondsworth primary school, who are our English penpals, is visiting too. It’s great to see our ZSP family extending so far and wide.
The most exciting news however, is that Robert will be bringing a box-load of Islamic appropriate swim wear for the girls to wear in the sea, which is another big step in getting our swimming lessons off the ground. We are so grateful to Ismail and Modestly Active for donating the swimming costumes and helping the girl’s dreams of learning how to swim as well as the boys come true.

August 1, 2016 Thoughts on Ramadan and a lesson on Malaria (Chloe)

It’s been a while since our last report and many exciting things have happened in the past few weeks. Although school was closed, Ramadan was a very special time to be on the island. I thought it would be a very serious and sombre month, and focus very much on not eating. But actually it was all so heart warming, about remembering the truly important things in life and really about eating a lot! During the day Gasica invited me on adventures with other ZL4LF teachers to his friends’ and family's farms to pick oranges, cassava, bananas, coconuts and tangerines. We perused the markets to find the best cuts of meat and freshest looking fish and then we would take our big bundle of food back to the ZL4LF kitchen to cook up a feast which we shared with friends as we broke fast in the evenings.
After the first 2 weeks of Ramadan I travelled to the mainland where I attended a week’s intensive Swahili school. Being able to converse with people in simple Swahili has made such a difference in how I am accepted by and communicate with the locals. Especially in Unguja Ukuu, which sees very little tourism, as many people cannot speak or understand English at all. It has also made a big difference during classes as now I know if the students have understood a sentence or word when I ask them to translate it, and I can use Swahili grammar to explain how it works in English.
Ramadan was also a special time for Doudi (the student who was excluded by teachers from our English class and who now attends ZL4LF on a 6 month work placement) He is originally from the mainland and a Christian, but decided he wanted to stay at ZL4LF during Ramadan and follow the Islamic tradition. I often shared Iftar with him as the sun set and he really enjoyed being a part of the ZL4LF family during this time. It was wonderful to watch him in the evenings playing with the neighbourhood children and sharing jokes with his new room-mates. It makes such a difference compared to his life in Unguja Ukuu where the majority of his interactions consisted of him being teased and excluded. He had been saying that he did not want to return to Unguja Ukuu, but a few days ago he came with us to visit his old village and it was great to see him feeling more positive about Unguja Ukuu again. He even spent time with the head master of the school shaking hands and chatting with him about his life now.
Monday 18th July - Our after school English classes started again 2 weeks ago. It was great to be back at the school and to see the students - both Gasica and I had missed them very much and we received many phone calls and text messages from them during our time apart. Everyone’s English was a bit rusty after not having practiced for 6 weeks so we spent the first week revising everything we had learnt so far. We split the class into small teams of three and gave each team a topic to review and then they devised a short lesson to teach to the rest of the class. The students enjoyed being teachers for a change.
Feedback we often hear from the students is that they would like to practice speaking more often so we created a speed conversation circle where pairs of students had to talk for 2 minutes on a wide range of subjects... their favourite food, their favourite and least favourite body part and why, their daily routine, their home, their biggest fear...etc. Gasica and I were able to walk around and listen to the students talking which was both interesting and hilarious (“I like my mouth because I use it to eat”!) The body question was actually very insightful as it highlighted how differently people see their bodies here compared to the West. No one disliked a part of themselves; there doesn’t seem to be an underlying culture of wishing they looked a different way and needing to be thinner, fatter, taller or shorter to be beautiful.
Wenesday 20 July: We recently purchased a comprehensive collection of fantastic grammar stories and exercises which are now loaded onto the Kiokit. Today we used them to practice the present simple. I was so happy as it felt as if the computers were being used to their full potential for the first time. The students read a short story about a cowboy named Hank, and then answered questions on what they had read. I was also very happy to hear that one of the teachers has been using the kits in her own lessons. In a meeting with the teachers tomorrow I shall offer to go through the kits again with any teachers who are interested, specifically with the intention of using them in their own classes.
Thursday 21 July: Even though we try to make classes as fun as possible, we strongly believe that learning can be just as effective outside the classroom as inside it. With this in mind, we launched the return of Fun Thursdays with a treasure hunt. We split the class into 5 teams and they each had to follow a series of clues (which got them all practicing prepositions!) to a final meeting place. Here they had to fit their different coloured jigsaw pieces together to reveal a secret message. Once they had worked out the mystery code the students had to walk 112 paces, holding hands in a line, to find the treasure. The groups worked well together and I was very impressed that they needed very little help, even though some of the clues were quite cryptic! It was great to watch the students getting excited as they ran around the school and nearby areas, hunting for the next clue.
Sunday 24 August: Our trip to Prison Island has been voted the favourite trip for most of the students so far! Not only did they get to visit Stone Town, they then crossed the wavy sea on boats to the island. Even though Unguja Ukuu is on the coast of Zanzibar, for many students this was the first time they had boarded a boat which was equally exciting and terrifying for most of them. And once on the island a silent, awe-filled wonder struck as everyone saw the giant tortoises up close.
We then explored the buildings. What is now a tiny, beautiful, tropical island off the coast of Zanzibar, was once not a pleasant place to be at all. At first it was the location where slaves were detained and held until they were transported to the Middle East or Europe. After that, the island was transformed into a quarantine centre where people with contagious diseases were left to die, so they wouldn’t spread their illnesses to the healthy. Today, however, the island is a friendly nature reserve, and it was a truly beautiful place to spend the day with the Unguja Ukuu students.
It was a very different experience for most of the students to go to an actual tourist attraction. One student claimed her favourite thing about the day had been the toilets, as they were so clean and beautiful!
Monday 25 July: This week was spent mostly learning the present continuous. Charades is a great game for this and much fun was had with students acting out different verbs and the rest of the class guessing. Killing a chicken and opening a coconut were my two personal favourites!
The Standard VI students have started receiving extra lessons after school in preparation for the upcoming exams, which sadly means they are often missing our English class. Now I am living in Unguja Ukuu there is the possibility of having extra lessons with these students at another time, but it is becoming more and more evident just how little free time the children here have already. Most students are in education 7 days a week. They go to school every morning from 7am until 1pm and then often have tutoring or attend Madrassa (Islamic school) until the evening. Both Saturday and Sunday students attend Madrassa all day long. Knowing this, it’s amazing there is so much enthusiasm for our English class!
Because of this enthusiasm and students often asking us if they can join we have decided to open up the class to another 25 students. This means we will now be teaching around 60 students a day. We want to keep classes small and relevant to the students’ level of English, so we have also decided to employ a 3rd teacher. His name is Sadiq, he is an ex student and teacher from ZL4LF and comes highly recommended. Now when we split the students there will be around 20 in each class and we'll have beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. It really is important to have small classes to ensure all the students are keeping up. But it is such a luxury here in Zanzibar - this morning I helped one of the Standard I teachers with her class and she has 71 pupils! It was quite chaotic! We are working with the teachers to identify the new students and along with Sadiq; they will begin at the start of next week.
Thanks to a kind donation brought to us by Robert, who will be coming to volunteer with us for 3 weeks this month, matched by funds from the Zanzibar Schools Project, the nursery school is now plastered inside and out. The teachers and nursery pupils are very happy with the work and hopefully one of Robert’s roles will be to decorate the walls with a sea-scape mural while he is here.
Thursday 28 July: Today Cait, a volunteer from Makunduchi Cottage Hospital came to deliver a creative class on Malaria. The students learnt important facts on how to prevent the disease from spreading and also had a lot of fun getting crafty with bottles and paper to make their own mosquitoes. Every time we do something creative I am reminded how important it is for the students. Although they are becoming more adventurous, they are still quite apprehensive in trying things out in case they get them wrong, and often ask the teachers or the older students to cut things out and draw things for them. At the end of the session they all used their mosquitoes to act out the story and loved running around, flying their mosquitoes and biting each other!