It is all about water....

First of all, I would like to apologise to all of you. I have been giving you misinformation. In previous blogs I spoke about a boy named Johnny. Recently, this boy pointed out to me that his name is not Johnny. It is John. It is okay to call him Johnny (like a nickname), but when you write it, it's John. Actually, it's John Cosmas John Nicas Bùqay, but that's a little bit long, don't you think? I'm just going to go with Johnny, whether he likes it or not. It's too late to change it now ;)

Saturday – 29.03.2014

Even though, I say I'll keep calling him Johnny, I might start calling him alarm clock. Last Saturday proved again that he earned that nickname. After he woke us up, we started our trip to Karatu. It was mr. Ndetio who brought us to the daladala this time.

When we arrived in Karatu we went through our usual routine: get a room at the guesthouse, have breakfast there and then to Happy Days we went! :) Happy Days makes school work seem like it's not really work.

Like always we had to make sure that we were back at the guesthouse before dark. Consequently, we had dinner there, while watching football. And then football was over. There was a storm in Karatu and when there's a storm it is not rare for the electricity to stop working... So we did what we could do, we went to sleep.

Sunday – 30.03.2014

On Sunday, we had breakfast and then we went back to Happy Days (Duh, where else!). After working some more we had pizza (K-town's finest!). After doing grocery shopping it was already time to go back to Getamock again. The weekend always seems to fly by!

At night Paul wasn't home. I wonder where he keeps disappearing to. No worries though, we've established a new tradition already. We had chips with the boys next door and it's always a lot of fun. I just don't know if they come by for us, the chips or to play with the camera.... What do you think?

Monday – 31.03.2014

Monday was the start of the last week of regular lessons before examinations. This meant topics had to be finished and questions had to be answered. Unfortunately, the students here seem to be afraid to ask questions. They have them though, every student in the world does, but these students barely say them out loud. Honestly, it is not as bad as before, now students dare to ask questions individually, when we're walking through class. Some even ask them outside of class. This is immense progress, but on Monday morning Astrid had just asked form 3 if there were any questions and nobody responded. We tried to coach the students into asking their questions, but it didn't help. Astrid hadn't even started teaching yet for 2 minutes and several students quietly started asking me questions. When the lesson was over Astrid and I explained to the students (again) why it is so important that they ask questions in front of each other. Some of them said that next time they will do so. Let's hope it's true and that they didn't just say it to keep us happy.

We also went to visit Madam Ndetio on Monday. She told us that Mama Leonie had given birth to a baby boy. Why didn't anyone tell us? She already gave birth on Friday and nobody mentioned it until Monday! This is big news! Unfortunately, she had to have a C-section and the baby was born way too early. Having a C-section or a baby being pre-mature are two very dangerous things here. It isn't always possible to give them all the care they need. So all we can do is wait and hope for the best for both mama Leonie and her baby boy.

Tuesday – 1.04.2014

Maji, maji, maji! (or water, water water!) No, it didn't rain all day. But we did have an unexpected visitor... More about that later though. Tuesday started the same way it always does, as preparation day. After break time something different occurred though. Astrid still had to teach a lesson of civics in form 4 and thus finishing everything that needs to be known for the exams. That plan was turned around completely when all the students had disappeared from the class room. We saw them standing at the town's square and suddenly a lot of cars arrived. Seeing one car in Getamock is rare, let alone ten! Something big must be going on. And indeed, something big was going on: the minister of water came to visit Getamock and to give a speech!

Our students were quite excited and honestly, so were we. A minister in Getamock! The other teachers acted very calm and put together but we quickly realised that's what it was, an act. Mr. Mbwala, the head master, asked for our camera and couldn't stop taking pictures. When the speech was over all people ran to the minister in hopes of shaking his hand. As the head master of Getamock Secondary School mr. Mbwala had no choice but to meet him (it's not like he complained ;) ). Mr. Mbwala told us to come with him and then pushed our camera in Astrid's hands and said: “Take pictures.” When Astrid said she took some pictures of him with the minister, he said: “More, more, more! Take more pictures!”

When the minister noticed he shook our hands and asked where we are from and what two mzungus are doing in Getamock. He was very pleased to hear we are teaching at the secondary school. The representative of Karatu District Council even said that there are not enough teachers in Karatu District and therefore he was thankful for our presence at the school. He even invited us to come to the district office in Karatu!

Even though, it was a very extraordinary and exciting day, it ended on a sad note. Mr. Stephen, who teaches English and civics and supervises debate with us, has gotten a position at a new school. We knew he was only a temporary teacher and now he has gotten a permanent position, but we are still sad to see him go. We are really going to miss him. He is an amazing teacher and of great value to the school.

Next week, three new teachers will come to introduce themselves and after break they will start teaching. Yes, three. That's how many teachers it takes to replace mr. Stephen. Although, I think they still might be a couple short ;) Honestly, I think the students are really going to miss mr. Stephen as well... Nevertheless, it is quite exciting to meet the new teachers.

Wednesday – 2.04.2014

The last Wednesday before the holidays was a lot less busy than I'm used to. I went over the last exercises in form 2 and then I went to form 3. This time I didn't teach them though, I was assisting Astrid again. Then Astrid took over form 4, because her lesson fell through the day before and I had finished everything that would be on the exam already.

Furthermore, one of the teachers told me that I would be supervising an exam on Friday. No problem, wait Friday? This Friday? I thought exams weren't supposed to start until Monday. I immediately went to find Astrid, knowing she still had to finish up civics in form 3. When we told the students of form 3, they were very quick to correct us. “No, madam, the exams start on Monday.” It turns out that Monday is an official holiday in Tanzania and the teachers had lost sight of this while making the exam scheme. We explained this to the students and they were suddenly very stressed and worried. We decided to let all forms know what was going on, because when we asked the other teachers when they were going to inform the students they said: “Probably tomorrow.” So a day before the exams start....

In the afternoon, there was no debate this week. Thank God, because the students can use the time to study. Instead, we washed our clothes with Paulina's help. She's a real lifesaver! We would never be able to wash all our clothes without help from the locals. We're too mzungu for that!

During the afternoon several students from form 3 asked us how they should study. Astrid and I decided to organise a little lesson on study methods the next day. As a consequence, we spent our evening preparing this.

Thursday – 3.04.2014

Thursday morning, we started with our lesson on study methods in form 3. Unfortunately, it was cut short when one of the other teachers barged in and asked us to come with. We finished the most important methods and the most useful for them before we went to see what was going on.

We had to take the girls to the dispensary where they would be tested for pregnancy. Well, they just feel along the belly to check for a possible pregnancy. We were all elated when there were no pregnancies. Only a week earlier a form 3 student had dropped out because she turned out to be pregnant. Because of the visit to the dispensary classes were cancelled. For the boys this was good because they could use the time to study, but the girls couldn't. They were just stressing out.

In the afternoon, we went to visit mama Leonie in the hospital in Endamarriek. It was difficult to see such a strong woman so weak. The incision from her delivery was slightly infected and her baby boy was too small. He was pre-mature, born an entire month too early. One look around the hospital showed that even though they would give him the best care they possibly could, they couldn't help him like they do in Belgium. It's a harsh reality to face.

When we left, we made the trip from Endamarriek to Karatu. After all, we were already halfway. While we were there I bought four figures for the school. The students will need them during the examinations next week. Last, but definitely not least, we went to Happy Days. It is just impossible for us to go to Karatu and not eat there ;)

When we were back in Getamock, Paul asked us to check out the new café in town. Actually, it is an old one that re-opened. When we entered, we noticed immediately that it was completely different from our usual place. This one had more colour and the people here were, well, drunk. Mr. EPA was there as well and after we had been there for a while, he started the fight with one of the other costumers. He was escorted home and I immediately questioned who was going to have to take care of him. I feared it was Costa, who lives with him. He shouldn't be taking care of drunk men, he should be studying for his exams the next day! By the end of the night, Astrid and I came to the same conclusion: we prefer the other place.

Friday – 4.04.2014

Friday, the first day of exams! The students were stressed and all over the place. I had to supervise the first session and it was very boring. But I've decided that I like boring supervisions. It means the students aren't doing anything wrong. It means no one's cheating :)

During the second session several form 2 students fell asleep. They had been up late to study and had to wake up early to be at school on time. Some teachers found this funny and said that the students aren't working hard enough. I definitely don't share that opinion! Our students are some of the most hard working people I have ever seen.

Paul disappeared again for the weekend and we ended our week with a night in with chips, soda and the boys next door! Costa almost fell asleep while eating. He was obviously tired from taking care of mr. EPA and studying the day before. So we sent him to bed and went to bed early ourselves!

Lala salama, Belgium!

xoxo