Nasula Primary School

Those of a more ancient vintage may remember a movie called 'Hatari' starring none other than John Wayne, Hardy Kruger, Red Buttons and some others. This movie was filmed in part at Momella and we were told Hardy Kruger opened a safari lodge there.
I travelled over a lot of that country, and the movie makers must have faced challenges racing those Landrovers! The move now also interests because some of the filming was also in Arusha and some of the scenes are familiar.

We called the school 'Momella' because we knew no better and it was not until a signpost was eventually put up that we realised the school was in fact called 'Nasula'!
To my mind it was very appropriate that we worked in this area because the climate was difficult from the rain shadow effect of Mt. Meru. The short rains had started to fail and most times crops that were planted to utilize the short rains failed too.

The National Parks authority often donated funds to school that were on their borders [well also Ngabobo too, which was quite distant] and it was obvious that Nasula had received assistance because the wall and ceilings of the classrooms and teachers' office were lined with hardboard - called there 'ceiling board'.

Sometimes it is difficult to know how well the teachers and students cooperate, but a good litmus is the behavior of the students. These kids were very good to work with.
There were a number whose parent(s) were National Park officials and we used to give a lift to students we encountered along the road. Actually it was quite a hike for them!



I have not covered the use of banana fibre for making planter pots
instead of using polythene, which is expensive for some.
Take two pieces of banana trunk fibre (dry and supple - maybe by soaking) +-10cm long and +- 25cm long. Set them in an even cross and sit a small jar or soda bottle where the fibre crosses. fold the fibre up, around the jar/bottle and fold the top back +- 15cm and tie to secure with a thin piece of fibre. Carefully remove the jar/bottle and bingo, you have your pot - gently fill with soil and sow the seed. The pot is biodegradable some may be planted in situ. A very good system!


Because the soil was very sandy, we advised that large holes should be dug [pits] and filled with dry animal manure. The hole would not be filled, as much as 30cm from the top. This gives the tree some shelter from the winds and acts as a receptacle for water.




An example of the cooperation we received: we turned up on a school holiday/day off, which is why these kids are not in school uniform. We wanted to be sure the school understood the need for proper planting preparation and while the whole school was not there, these other kids passed on the information.





I had seen how trees were dispersed by some other agencies and all my training teaches that poorly handled trees equates to poor survival outcomes. Respect the plant as a living thing. So unloading tree is an opportunity to reinforce the message to the kids.
Hold the tree by the pot and line out in rows of the same species.
Most times the kids took this very seriously.




We struck a bit of a hiccup! The new plantings were browsed at night - by giraffe! They were just able to wanted on to the site and chew the new plantings. So the kids protected their trees with thorny branches.










The lines of protected trees ready for inspection. The kids labelled their trees so I could identify the grower. Some would add a little message, usually a slogan that we used in the seminars, to prove I guess, that they had been listening - thus enhance their chances of gaining a prize.



Generally the teachers like our visits because we looked after the whole school role for at least half the day - sometimes the whole day. At Nasula, we were some distance from a shop and I suspect the teachers supplied their own food to us. Generosity much appreciated.
The man to the right is the environmental teacher and the one in the dark suit is the new Head teachers. The department moved the teachers around the area.


On inspection day, the kids liked to stand beside their tree and I would talk to each one and discuss their tree/trees. There is always the kid whose tree has failed and tries to put a live stick in the ground to make it look like there is a tree.
Actually the system is not really fair because there are so many variables and they don't start off evenly because we never kept culls in the nursery so some kids planted big trees while other planted the smaller ones - but it was the best I could do.


The outcomes at Nasula were very good and while the soils might have been sandy, the work the kids carried out to ensure the survival of their trees was considerable.
They did have the advantage though of nearby race water.

A good result.