And then there was light

Saturday 8.03.2014

On Saturday, Astrid and I went to Karatu again. Since Paul couldn't bring us to Endamarriek this week Ndetio would.We went to his house but it was his wife who opened the door and told us he was at the shop and would return in a couple of minutes. She invited us inside and promptly we both got a plate of freshly made chips. No matter how tasty they were, it was still a little bit weird so early in the morning. After ten minutes Ndetio was back and we immediately left for Endamarriek.

The state of the road reminded us of the great adventure we had encountered the day before. The damage the rain had done was still obvious and because of the mud the ride was more difficult than usual. No worries though, Ndetio brought us safely to our destination. Upon arrival in Endamarriek we jumped straight into the daladala. No matter how many times I take it, I never really get used to being jammed together like that.

First things first! We made our way to our happy place named Happy Days, where we wrote our school reports and blogs. And let's not forget about the delicious meal we had ;)

Sunday 9.03.2014

The next morning we tried to post our blogs and as usual it all went pole pole (slowly, no rushing) instead of fasta fasta. After posting our reports we made our way to Happy Days again. They're starting to know us pretty well there ;)

When we arrived at Getamock we got a surprise (no, not another plate of chips from Ndetio's wife). Us, the unbelievers were proven wrong. Apparently, it is possible to install solar panels in a span of days. There was light in the administration block! Light! And further on in the evening there was light in our house as well :) I think people who are used to having light don't realise how much fun it is to click a light switch. Btw, it's a lot of fun ;)

Astrid and I started making chips and we invited mr. EPA, the teacher who stayed with us on Friday, and Costa. Costa is a student who lives next door to us and he had taken care of Johnny during the weekend while Paul, Astrid and I had been in Karatu. We wanted to thank him for that and I made sure to explicitly say that I hope he knows how much we appreciate everything he does for Johnny. He responded saying that it was no trouble. Taking care of a little boy? No trouble? Sure....

Monday 10.03.2014

As usual I started my week with two hours of mathematics in form 3. Did I tell you about the girl from form 3 who was bitten by another girl while they were playing handiball? I didn't? I don't know how I forgot about that.... Well, a girl from form 3 was bitten by another girl during a game of handiball. Yes, bitten! I asked the girl if it still hurt and when she said it did, I told her that me or madam Astrid would take a look at it and that if it kept hurting she didn't have to wait to tell us until we asked her but could come to us any time she wanted.

After school Ndetio was working on his motorbike. He wanted to go somewhere but his bike didn't because....there was a rat under the seat and it had chewed through the cables. He showed it to me and indeed, there it was! A little furry animal. Ndetio was trying to get it out with a stick and when it finally came out everyone was chasing the rat with sticks trying to kill it.

Tuesday 11.03.2014

The next morning we had a very good reason to get out of bed. Little Leonie, the neighbour's incredibly cute daughter, was calling for us and wanted to enter our room but we had to unlock the door first. We had our workout of the day by playing with her before leaving for school.

After school Astrid and I were washing our clothes, when Johnny showed up. He was behaving different from usually. He was very quiet, closed off and not a lot got him to smile while he's usually a very happy boy. He tried to tell me what was wrong but since I don't speak Kiswahili and he doesn't speak English, I didn't understand him. I stayed with him while Astrid went to look for Costa or Herielly. Herielly came straight away and played with Johnny a little bit before asking him what was wrong. Then he spilled all. Johnny is from the city and on Tuesday, all the primary school students had to work on the farm for hours on end. It was the first time he had ever done this. Consequently, everything hurt, he felt dirty and was tired. We comforted him for a little and told him it was okay. I mean, I got tired just thinking about it! He went inside to wash himself and change out of his school clothes. Afterwards, it was obvious he felt a lot better and we went to the playing field with him.

In the evening we asked Johnny if he wanted to eat with us or the teachers he lives with. He said he wanted to eat with us and when we noticed Costa was alone we invited him to eat along again. After dinner we went back to school. What are you doing at school in the evening you ask. Tuesday it started: 'after school studying'. From now on, two classrooms are alluminated in the evening and the students can come to study there. When we got to school we were surprised by the amount of students that were there. A lot of students and even more questions. It was a confirmation of what we already knew: these students care :)

Wednesday 12.03.2014

Wednesday, busy day, same difference. I had to teach for 6 hours and by the end of it I was mentally exhausted. Not because of the material or the students but because I can't comprehend how the government uses so many difficult words in their books when it can be explained a lot simpler. The students' is limited. For most of them it is their third language (first their tribe language – Kiraqw for most – secondly Kiswahili and only then comes English). Can you imagine being taught in your third language? In exercises they use words as tyre, die/dice, a pack of cards, etc. They don't know these words in English and some of them don't even know the words for die or a pack of cards in Kiswahili because they have never seen it before. They don't know what it is. I was happy I had a die and a pack of cards to show them. When they saw the pack of cards their eyes widened. 'What is that? What is it used for? Does it have any purpose?'

After the lessons, it was time for debate and afterwards it was time to wash our clothes. What a hellish chore! Thankfully, we had help from Paulina and mama Leonie. Now we know how to wash clothes. Originally, Philly promised to help us, but when it came down to it he was nowhere to be seen.... Tsk, tsk!

Since Tuesday we have a new evening routine, so on Wednesday evening we went to the school to see if we could help the students. This time they were all studying chemistry or biology. That's a no go for me. Sorry! :(

When the students left for home, we went to the café with Paul to go for a drink. Upon arriving there, realisation downed on us that the entire town was dark already and so was the café.... No worries though, Paul called the owner and within 5 minutes the café was open and we had our drinks.

Thursday 13.03.2014

On Thursday, I taught my last lesson in form 3 for a little while. Starting from next week, I will assist Astrid. She will teach accountancy. Here it is a part of mathematics but in Belgium it is part of economics, which is one of Astrid's subjects.

After break-time, Stephen said there would be a rematch against Endallah. A rematch? Bring it on! This time victory will be ours! Stephen agreed: he wanted to win. He wanted to ask us to help the students prepare for the debate again, just like we did last time.

In the evening we went to supervise the students again. What we saw there was amazing. Philly and Stephen were following in our footsteps and checking with the students. They were helping them and answering questions. Hopefully, the other teachers will start doing this as well.

Friday 14.03.2014

The entire night it rained and everything was flooded. Paul told us that we should go back to bed because there wouldn't be any students and it would be impossible to get to school. Nevertheless, I had to teach the first hour. There was no way I was listening. Astrid and Paul both went back to bed while I tried to go to school. It was terrible! I was so sure I was going to fall and when I got there, there were barely any students. I couldn't just continue teaching. Almost all of the students of form 4 were missing. I gave the ones who were there some extra exercises and worked more individually with them: answering questions, going over the exercises etc.

Btw, I'm sorry my blog is delayed, the next one will be as well.... Blame it on the Tanzanian internet! ;)

Tanzanian greetings,

Laura