The route we usually took was to pass through the Makumira farm on the south side of the main road. This track has a few boggy areas but is generally negotiable; passing Mama John's house and the two Diocese houses. Once on the Old Moshi Road, turn right and past Uraki Primary School to a track on the left that heads toward the railway line.
For me, finding places as by dead reckoning because there were no signposts and few schools advertised there presence. This changed when the government passed an edict that all state schools had to have a sign to show the location. Some signs were elaborate while others were barely adequate.
The track down to the school was perhaps five kilometers and once over the railway line, there are rice paddies that keep the track boggy. There are often ruts where tractors have become stuck. So picking a path through there can be a bit tricky!
One day when our son and his wife were visiting, we called at Manyata and were asked to transport a woman with a broken leg to hospital. She lay in the back of the Landrover and with her 'support crew' we numbered twelve. I knew I needed to climb onto the uncultivated edge of the rice paddies or we would become stuck, so using speed I drove up the bank - the vehicle lurched and for a moment tilted steeply. Once on the level, as my passengers again began breathing, Craig quietly said, 'Shit Dad!' and they all clapped!
The black cotton soil has a high silicon content and when wet becomes very stick and is a challenge to drive on. I used to say that even if you spit on it, it is difficult to drive on.
One day we had planned to deliver school text books and some trees and carry out a small seminar/demonstration. Joshia was with us because he was going to read the story 'Ndoto ya Grace' - I occasionally employed his services to help with some seminars.
As we passed through the Makumira farm, there was a short burst of rain and while the track to Manyata was wet, I managed to reach A large part of my brief was to work with schools and we had success with many and failures with very few. There are no favorites and I enjoyed my involvement with the kids, teachers and parents. Many schools were special to me and Manyata was a special one. In this case the teachers were special as were the kids, but I believe that their and character came from those village families.within three kilometers of the school. The soil was wetter and built up on the tyres so I could not steer. Joshia and Loti were afraid that I might slip into the ditches each side of the track that were about a metre deep. Discretion being the better part of valor, I stopped.
Very luckily a tardy student
from the school arrived and we instructed him to bring back ten senior boys to help us - this was Loti's idea, thinking they could push us.
Well the whole school arrived and soon unpacked our load and began carrying it bit by bit back to school. This was not a chore for them - they were please to help a mzungu and carrying things on their head was perfectly normal.
Luckily there was no more rain and the track dried out so we proceeded on to the school where Joshia read/told the story and assisted with the song, 'Tunapenda' which became our anthem. Well Joshia was the choirmaster at Kimondolu for a time, so he was keen that the song was sung well.
I had my eye on the weather and we did not carryout the full programme we had planned but before we could make our move, there was some insistence from Mwl Tito that we 'kunywa soda'. It is seldom that we just drink soda, there is always the food and the female teachers had prepared rice and beans for us and some roast meat. Politeness is two-way and I did not consider refusing - although I was anxious, I just smiled a lot and the rain held off until we reached the safety of the main road.
For me, finding places as by dead reckoning because there were no signposts and few schools advertised there presence. This changed when the government passed an edict that all state schools had to have a sign to show the location. Some signs were elaborate while others were barely adequate.
The track down to the school was perhaps five kilometers and once over the railway line, there are rice paddies that keep the track boggy. There are often ruts where tractors have become stuck. So picking a path through there can be a bit tricky!
One day when our son and his wife were visiting, we called at Manyata and were asked to transport a woman with a broken leg to hospital. She lay in the back of the Landrover and with her 'support crew' we numbered twelve. I knew I needed to climb onto the uncultivated edge of the rice paddies or we would become stuck, so using speed I drove up the bank - the vehicle lurched and for a moment tilted steeply. Once on the level, as my passengers again began breathing, Craig quietly said, 'Shit Dad!' and they all clapped!
The black cotton soil has a high silicon content and when wet becomes very stick and is a challenge to drive on. I used to say that even if you spit on it, it is difficult to drive on.
One day we had planned to deliver school text books and some trees and carry out a small seminar/demonstration. Joshia was with us because he was going to read the story 'Ndoto ya Grace' - I occasionally employed his services to help with some seminars.
As we passed through the Makumira farm, there was a short burst of rain and while the track to Manyata was wet, I managed to reach A large part of my brief was to work with schools and we had success with many and failures with very few. There are no favorites and I enjoyed my involvement with the kids, teachers and parents. Many schools were special to me and Manyata was a special one. In this case the teachers were special as were the kids, but I believe that their and character came from those village families.within three kilometers of the school. The soil was wetter and built up on the tyres so I could not steer. Joshia and Loti were afraid that I might slip into the ditches each side of the track that were about a metre deep. Discretion being the better part of valor, I stopped.
Very luckily a tardy student
from the school arrived and we instructed him to bring back ten senior boys to help us - this was Loti's idea, thinking they could push us.Well the whole school arrived and soon unpacked our load and began carrying it bit by bit back to school. This was not a chore for them - they were please to help a mzungu and carrying things on their head was perfectly normal.
Luckily there was no more rain and the track dried out so we proceeded on to the school where Joshia read/told the story and assisted with the song, 'Tunapenda' which became our anthem. Well Joshia was the choirmaster at Kimondolu for a time, so he was keen that the song was sung well.
I had my eye on the weather and we did not carryout the full programme we had planned but before we could make our move, there was some insistence from Mwl Tito that we 'kunywa soda'. It is seldom that we just drink soda, there is always the food and the female teachers had prepared rice and beans for us and some roast meat. Politeness is two-way and I did not consider refusing - although I was anxious, I just smiled a lot and the rain held off until we reached the safety of the main road.
Part of my brief was to carry out environment programmes in as many schools as possible and we worked with many. I chose no favorites although some were better experiences than others. But some were just very special and Manyata was one of those. The kids, teachers and parents were special and I think most of that came from the home-life within the village .
Our first priority was to carry out the environmental programme and plant trees at the school to teach the students the value of a healthy environment. As with most of the schools, the target was the senior students - that is students from Std IV up - but it is never possible, the whole school attends and participates - even when it comes down to planting trees, providing shelter for them and watering them. If we were at any school, the younger students wanted to see us and listen to what we had to say. It was usual to award prizes for the best work and we provided trees to be taken home and planted. The seminar was a mix of 'formal' instruction from Loti, singing led by Mags, and I carried out some role plays and told a story or two. I hoped it was fun and informative.
The school, through the Headmaster and the school committee requested further assistance. They asked for a tree nursery and they asked for the school to be rehabilitated as termites had eaten most of the wood. The first request was easy, the other took consideration
Our first priority was to carry out the environmental programme and plant trees at the school to teach the students the value of a healthy environment. As with most of the schools, the The school, through the Headmaster and the school committee requested further assistance. They asked for a tree nursery and they asked for the school to be rehabilitated as termites had eaten most of the wood. The first request was easy, the other took consideration
Early plantings
Plantings doing well, mulched as well.
Teachers Urio and Kitomari admire Erythrina
Prizewinners and teachers/Loti/me stand in front of trees.
Special commemorative millennium tree.
We had formed a school committee called 'The Environment Club' and Lily was the chairperson - she is figured in other posts - she became the 'boss' of the tree nursery we established there as a response to the school's request.
We spent a few days there setting things up and providing the basic materials and tools needed. The idea was to grow trees to be supplied to the homes of the school kids. It worked very well and was still going six years later.
We spent a few days there setting things up and providing the basic materials and tools needed. The idea was to grow trees to be supplied to the homes of the school kids. It worked very well and was still going six years later.
From time to time we took trees from our nursery there to keep up motivation and especially we supplied the species that were popular - Grevillea and Mchongoma. I guess some of these were actually sold.
Construction of nursery site
Preparing potting mix
Cutting pots to size
Filling pots ready for pricking out.
A good days work completed! Pots filled and seedlings pricked out.
The Primary Schools Assistance Programme was successful for us and the schools we were involved with but the Head Teacher of Manyata Primary School, Mwl Tito pointed out that the woodwork of the school building were eaten by termites. We had a good look and the door frames, the window frames and the rafters were all eaten and tunneled through so it was easy to stick a finger right through the wood.
I recieved a formal letter from the school committee requesting my help to raise funds to rehabilitate the school buildings.
My reply was that I would try to raise funds, but they should cost out the work to give me a basis to make a funding proposal. From my experience with Big E I had decided if the budget was inflated, I would simply walk away from it.
In fact the budget came back at Tsh3 000 000/- and was within two or three thousand shilling of my estimate. [I was used to making contract estimates in my old forestry days.]
Part of the agreement I made with the school was for them to kill all nearby termite nests - that is the queens. That was complied with before the news came through that NZHC had approved the Tsh3 000 000/-! There were smiles at the school the day I conveyed the news!
The budget included funds for a fundi and the school employed a local man who knew his trade and offered good advice. Now and then he would turn up drunk to the school to demand more money from me, but I held to the school's budget - which the committee agreed with. The guy was fine when he was sober - quiet and respectful.
The roofing iron was 'the old stuff, not like the paper thin new stuff' so it was salvaged and stored to be replaced once the rafters were erected. Not one sheet went missing - that is of note! But it was a dangerous job salvaging the roofing iron because the rafters were very weak!
We ended up treating all the wood with waste engine oil to deter termites - it stank but not as bad as some proprietary treatment that we trialed.
The plates, rafters and perlins were replaced and the door/window frames.
I saved money by bargaining for the timber myself and transporting it myself. This left funds to plaster the classroom floors and plaster the walls and floor of the teacher's office.
We had carried out all the work specified under budget and carried out further work until the funds were exhausted.
You know, Mwl Tito was a humble man - at no time did he request work done to his office, and it did need repair.
Unloading timber at the Head Teacher's office.
The Fundi with repairs to the window frames.
Roof trusses erected and half the roofing iron replaced.
In my experience, the village people are very grateful for any assistance given to them. There are instances where we were asked for the moon but could only deliver some rice, but the gratitude was always there.
The people of Manyata were of course grateful for the assistance we were able to provide and they honored me by asking me to be guest of honor at the Std VII graduation.
This is an important time for the senior students who had completed their last national examination.
At primary school there are two national examinations. The first is Std IV which is really to give the students, the school and government a measure of the progress each student had achieved.The Std VII examination is where the student passes to gain entry into a government secondary school. Those who fail do not get a place in a government secondary school.
Students earlier make a choice of which secondary school they wish to attend - some have a reputation and other kids want the experience of boarding away from home.
Those who fail [and those who want to] can apply for a place in a private school and there is a wide range to choose from. These schools are much more expensive than the government schools so there is more pressure on parents.
Mwl Tito on my right and Kitomari adjusts my collar. The senior teachers.
Construction of nursery site
Preparing potting mix
Cutting pots to size
Filling pots ready for pricking out.
A good days work completed! Pots filled and seedlings pricked out.
The Primary Schools Assistance Programme was successful for us and the schools we were involved with but the Head Teacher of Manyata Primary School, Mwl Tito pointed out that the woodwork of the school building were eaten by termites. We had a good look and the door frames, the window frames and the rafters were all eaten and tunneled through so it was easy to stick a finger right through the wood.
I recieved a formal letter from the school committee requesting my help to raise funds to rehabilitate the school buildings.
My reply was that I would try to raise funds, but they should cost out the work to give me a basis to make a funding proposal. From my experience with Big E I had decided if the budget was inflated, I would simply walk away from it.
In fact the budget came back at Tsh3 000 000/- and was within two or three thousand shilling of my estimate. [I was used to making contract estimates in my old forestry days.]
Part of the agreement I made with the school was for them to kill all nearby termite nests - that is the queens. That was complied with before the news came through that NZHC had approved the Tsh3 000 000/-! There were smiles at the school the day I conveyed the news!
The budget included funds for a fundi and the school employed a local man who knew his trade and offered good advice. Now and then he would turn up drunk to the school to demand more money from me, but I held to the school's budget - which the committee agreed with. The guy was fine when he was sober - quiet and respectful.
The roofing iron was 'the old stuff, not like the paper thin new stuff' so it was salvaged and stored to be replaced once the rafters were erected. Not one sheet went missing - that is of note! But it was a dangerous job salvaging the roofing iron because the rafters were very weak!
We ended up treating all the wood with waste engine oil to deter termites - it stank but not as bad as some proprietary treatment that we trialed.
The plates, rafters and perlins were replaced and the door/window frames.
I saved money by bargaining for the timber myself and transporting it myself. This left funds to plaster the classroom floors and plaster the walls and floor of the teacher's office.
We had carried out all the work specified under budget and carried out further work until the funds were exhausted.
You know, Mwl Tito was a humble man - at no time did he request work done to his office, and it did need repair.
Unloading timber at the Head Teacher's office.
The Fundi with repairs to the window frames.
Roof trusses erected and half the roofing iron replaced.
In my experience, the village people are very grateful for any assistance given to them. There are instances where we were asked for the moon but could only deliver some rice, but the gratitude was always there.
The people of Manyata were of course grateful for the assistance we were able to provide and they honored me by asking me to be guest of honor at the Std VII graduation.
This is an important time for the senior students who had completed their last national examination.
At primary school there are two national examinations. The first is Std IV which is really to give the students, the school and government a measure of the progress each student had achieved.The Std VII examination is where the student passes to gain entry into a government secondary school. Those who fail do not get a place in a government secondary school.
Students earlier make a choice of which secondary school they wish to attend - some have a reputation and other kids want the experience of boarding away from home.
Those who fail [and those who want to] can apply for a place in a private school and there is a wide range to choose from. These schools are much more expensive than the government schools so there is more pressure on parents.
The format of the graduation is similar each time and is a good send off for the students [who finish school as early as September].
We were greeted warmly and were refreshed with a soda. Then there was the formal welcome to which I replied by a greeting and thanks.
There was entertainment from each class, singing and dancing and some acting including reminders of what I had done there and a reminisce of the time I taught them touch rugby when I ripped my trousers! There is the risala which a a song/chant itremising the things I had done and the thanks and including Loti, Mags, the Diocese, the Agency, and NZHC. Lily led the risala and later presented me with a handwritten copy of it to keep.
I made my speech and wished the student well for the future and presented them with a certificate of achievement.
There was food and the roast goat, keki, I had brought five crates of mixed soda with me to add to the contribution.
Later there was a social, where the Std VII students mingled with us and danced among themselves.
It was a full on time and an honor to share in it.
Singing the risala.
Presentation of soccer ball and netball to head boy and girl.
Senior school and teachers with us on graduation day.
We were greeted warmly and were refreshed with a soda. Then there was the formal welcome to which I replied by a greeting and thanks.
There was entertainment from each class, singing and dancing and some acting including reminders of what I had done there and a reminisce of the time I taught them touch rugby when I ripped my trousers! There is the risala which a a song/chant itremising the things I had done and the thanks and including Loti, Mags, the Diocese, the Agency, and NZHC. Lily led the risala and later presented me with a handwritten copy of it to keep.
I made my speech and wished the student well for the future and presented them with a certificate of achievement.
There was food and the roast goat, keki, I had brought five crates of mixed soda with me to add to the contribution.
Later there was a social, where the Std VII students mingled with us and danced among themselves.
It was a full on time and an honor to share in it.
Singing the risala.
Presentation of soccer ball and netball to head boy and girl.
Senior school and teachers with us on graduation day.
Mwl Tito on my right and Kitomari adjusts my collar. The senior teachers.
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