I am working on preparing finals for the three classes trying to gauge which questions are too easy and too hard. I have gained a better understanding of the Tanzania educational systems being here, both for secondary school and university. Both have some common differences with education in the US.
They use standard percentages for grading and mastery expectation is low.
Tumaini's Standard for grading is:
A 80 - 100 %
B+ 70 - 79 %
B 60 - 69 %
C 50 - 59 %
D 40 - 49 %
E 0 - 39 %
The catalog says that the instructor can do some adjustment based on the performance distribution for the class but the concept of using a curve is not common.
Students must pass with a C or better in all their courses to count for graduation. If students have a D or E they take a supplemental examination (a retake of a different or even the same final) in the next term where they have a second chance. If they pass the supplemental exam they will be awarded a C for the course, otherwise they will need to retake it. There is a lot of pressure here for both the university and the students because student loans must be repaid for failed courses and both the students and university are dependent on these loans.
Secondary Schools are evaluated with 2 week national examinations that occur after form II, after form IV, and after Form VI (Secondary school is 4 to 6 years after 7 years of primary). Form IV is called O-level for Ordinary level and many students leave at this point with a diploma. These graduates can go to teaching colleges and become primary school teachers. Other students continue with Form V and VI which is called A-level and can go from there to university. Passing grades for each subject in the exams is 30 % or better. All students take the mathematics exams and fewer than half will pass with this grade. They are allowed to have two failed subjects to continue in school, otherwise they have to repeat the last Form.
Passing at 30% seems like a pretty low threshold but this shows the disconnect between an ambitious syllabus and its implementation in Tanzania secondary schools. I have books of sample exam questions from past exams for Math and Chemistry and the mathematics exam is very difficult. I doubt that US HS students would do that much better, especially if we gave it to all students and not just the math and science students. Most Tanzanian secondary schools have a severe shortage of text books and teachers, especially teachers prepared to teach mathematics and science.
With few resources, students are dependent on what they hear from the instructor in the classroom. This continues at the University where they also do not have text books other than photocopied materials or some electronic materials that are subject to availability of computers. I think the shortage of resources limits their ability to learn independently, or at least causes them to not try to seek out ways to learn. They become accustomed to listening to the teacher and writing down what they say in their notebooks which become their text books and then memorizing this information for the examinations. At Tumaini they have about 20 - 22 hours of scheduled class each week which is almost double what we would have in the US so the time for work outside of class is much less. There are individuals who do go to the library and read and learn on their own and the divide between these students and the rest of the class keeps growing.
The University system is dependent on the government loan program that provides 40% - 100% of student tuition fees. Tumaini, as a private university, has relatively high tuition fees of about 2,000,000 tsh or about $1500. Government loans are interest free and will be repaid with a 5% salary deduction after the students graduate. Many students will become teachers in Secondary schools with salaries in the range of 150,000 to 500,000 per month or about $150 - $350 so the loans will be slow to be repaid. The other issue in Tanzania right now is expansion of the Government University in the capital city of Dodoma. It has grown in three years to 17,000 students and is headed to 40,000 - 45,000 students in the next couple years. This growth has consumed most of the government resources and caused severe competition for students and faculty. What impact this growth and the sustainability of the loan program will have on schools like Tumaini remain to be seen.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Hills above Tumaini
I have been meaning to hike up a near by peak since we moved up by Tumaini and finally did so. There was a very faint semblance of where someone had gone before but fortunately the brush was not too thick. The views were great.
Here is looking towards downtown Iringa, see the big white grain elevators in the distance, that is how far from downtown we are out at Tumaini.
Looking at the Tumaini campus, the construction is the new science building which will be multi story and is supposed to be ready a year from now.
Open country to the north of Iringa on the way to Mtera reservoir and hydroelectric dam.
On my way back through campus, I heard this loud buzzing noize and found a couple hundred guys (only saw one woman) watching the opening ceremonies for the World Cup match between South Africa and Mexico. Not exactly a wide screen TV but most will not have it at home. Last night we went to bed early and saw that England had scored against the US. As I was in bed, I heard a big roar from campus and guessed that the US had tied it up. Sure enough we tied England and the US is with the African countries, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, as the favorite teams here. We see not only Obama stuff but a lot of american flags around.
Here is looking towards downtown Iringa, see the big white grain elevators in the distance, that is how far from downtown we are out at Tumaini.
Looking at the Tumaini campus, the construction is the new science building which will be multi story and is supposed to be ready a year from now.
Open country to the north of Iringa on the way to Mtera reservoir and hydroelectric dam.
On my way back through campus, I heard this loud buzzing noize and found a couple hundred guys (only saw one woman) watching the opening ceremonies for the World Cup match between South Africa and Mexico. Not exactly a wide screen TV but most will not have it at home. Last night we went to bed early and saw that England had scored against the US. As I was in bed, I heard a big roar from campus and guessed that the US had tied it up. Sure enough we tied England and the US is with the African countries, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, as the favorite teams here. We see not only Obama stuff but a lot of american flags around.
Mama Miho's
We have been shopping at Mama Miho's grocery the past few months. Her store is away from downtown and has better prices and warmer customer service. Her store is like the others in town, packed to the ceiling with inventory, and we have found that we can get pretty much anything we are looking for. The only food item I would bring in the future would be spices, except for pepper and cinnamon in the market, we do not get penzies quality spices here. Most of the merchandise in the groceries comes from outside Tanzania, although they do have a good dairy here for milk and yogurt and a local cheese. I made spaghetti the other night with fresh tomatoes, green pepper, and onion from the market but the rest was spaghetti from Iran, tomato paste from Oman, dried basil packed in Kenya, olive oil from Spain, and cookies for dessert from South Africa. This is typical because the Tanzanian economy is so agriculture based. Fresh produce they do well and we have been having the best avocados I have ever seen, perfect texture and you can peel them like bananas.
Mama Miho, the helper in back doesn't realize his picture is being taken so he is smiling. The bag behind Mama Miho is ugali flour which we buy sometimes for Sele, our gardener. Notice how nicely the carton of eggs is packaged ready for the bumpy road back to our house.
Oops, he saw the camera. The Ceres cartons behind him are a wide assortment of fruit juices from South Africa which are very good. We like passion fruit best.
Woman selling rice cakes outside of Mama Miho's. She is smiling because when I asked if I could take a picture she said yes for elfu moja (1000 shillings). I said, will you smile for a 1000 shillings? The cakes are 150 shillings each and taste great but cannot be good for you. She is cooking over charcoal like most Tanzanians and said she would get a coke.
Mama Miho, the helper in back doesn't realize his picture is being taken so he is smiling. The bag behind Mama Miho is ugali flour which we buy sometimes for Sele, our gardener. Notice how nicely the carton of eggs is packaged ready for the bumpy road back to our house.
Oops, he saw the camera. The Ceres cartons behind him are a wide assortment of fruit juices from South Africa which are very good. We like passion fruit best.
Woman selling rice cakes outside of Mama Miho's. She is smiling because when I asked if I could take a picture she said yes for elfu moja (1000 shillings). I said, will you smile for a 1000 shillings? The cakes are 150 shillings each and taste great but cannot be good for you. She is cooking over charcoal like most Tanzanians and said she would get a coke.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Madisi Visit
Dan had an extended break from Saturday, May 29 through Tuesday, June 1st. Because the travel time is so long, we decided to postpone our trip to Arusha to another time and go to Madisi instead. Bariki came with us. We left Iringa at about 11 am and arrived in Mafinga at about 12:15 or 12:30. We went over to the Rose Garden for lunch, a little café that Steve Vinton had recommended to us. Ordering was a challenge, because it seemed like everything that we ordered was not available. While we were eating, I looked over at Bariki sitting there in his short sleeved T-shirt and asked, “You did bring something warm to wear up there, right?” knowing that Madisi would be at least as cool at Kising’a is in June, if not cooler. Bariki replied, “No,” and sounded a little surprised. (We probably did not adequately inform him about possible conditions.) So after finishing our lunch, the three of us headed out to the Mafinga market. Bariki found a very nice jacket which is reversible. It was all of 8,000 tsh which is equivalent to a little less than $6. Too bad it is in Green Bay Packer colors.
After purchasing the jacket, we walked over to the bus station and found the Huruma bus to Madisi. To my delight we had the same bus driver that we had on the last leg of our first trip – Abeli who is a former student of the Vintons. He had this very low voice and he nearly scared me to death the first time we met him. (He had stuck his head in the front window of our first bus and said to us, “You need to get on the other bus,” without explaining who he was and where he was taking us.) He is a very good driver and takes very good care of his passengers.
We arrived in Madisi around 5 pm before sundown and the sun was shining and it was a nice cool day. We went for a short walk with Susan shortly after arriving and she took us down by their ram pump and we walked around it and found the spring that feeds it. She took to Bariki but kept calling him Barack or Baraka. Then we came back to the house. We had picked up our vegetable box on Friday and tried to cram as much of that into Dan’s pack along with some Anchor cheese, which is imported from New Zealand and Steve had clued us in that Susan really enjoys. Well, you should have heard the joy in Sarah’s voice when she saw the broccoli and cauliflower and snap peas. Sarah, who is from the US is one of the key people in the Village Schools Organization, is a real joy to be around. (I think that she helps Susan to keep her sanity and is really a great teacher with the kids – tough, but good!)
The following morning (Sunday) we “worshipped” by listening to a sermon on DVD, which was a sermon given by Oscar Muriu at the annual youth rally in Urbana Illinois this past year. He has a very large church in Nairobi, Kenya. His message still gives me goose bumps just thinking about how he started out his talk. It made me think of how Pastor Jan described the approach that was taken on the story of Christ this year at Oberammergau. I want to remember to look up the link to listen to it again! Steve Vinton mentioned the address in one of his most recent email letters.
Then we were off to round on Susan’s “friends.” Dan and Bariki came with us on the first visits.
We visited a young woman who was laying out in the sun on a grass mat and was obviously in a lot of pain. Dan took a couple of pictures of her. She cannot fully extend her right leg because the Kaposi’s lesion on her thigh causes her too much pain. Susan and I cleansed the lesion and redressed it with some dressings that she had and then we prayed with her and her family. Then we were on our way to see more patients. Later in the day, we, (Susan, Rashidi, one of the Vinton’s students and I) visited a couple with their three children. The couple has gotten tested and the husband knows that he is positive, but the wife threw away her first set of results because she did not want to know. Neither one of them has started ARVs yet. Well, Susan does not beat around the bush! Her first words were, “Do you want me to raise your children?” Then she launched into a lecture telling them that the wife has got to get tested again and based upon those results, they need to get started with treatment. Rashidi closed the visit by telling them that the stigma is gone now, because so many people in their area are getting treated. This young man is such a treasure. He comes to the Vinton’s home every night to enter statistics in their log and schedule for people to go in by bus for treatment. I cannot remember the details about his own family history, but I would not be surprised if he is an “orphan” of HIV. Among the other patients we visited included a young girl who may or may not have TB on top of her HIV as well as Jeska (whom I met on our first visit and whom I never expected to see again.) She looked so much better and so much more comfortable. She is able to walk now because her foot is so much better and Susan wants her to go into Dar to get chemo at Ocean Road for the residual Kaposi’s sarcoma on her foot. We also visited a witch doctor. Susan stated that he refuses to accept Christ because that would mean that he would have to give up his profession. He did allow her pray with him, however.
Late in the afternoon we visited a home filled with women who are all on ARVs and you would not know that they are sick unless you were told. They make baskets which Susan buys from them and this money allows them to sustain their households. Susan works with an interior designer who sells these baskets in the Houston area. The baskets are incredibly beautiful and if the quality is down, Susan will not purchase them. She does provide feedback to the ladies regarding her expectations and the next time she comes to purchase baskets, she sees much improvement. What pride they have in their products! At one point a woman stood up to bring her baskets up to Susan to inspect and Susan introduced her to us as “Mama Burton.” Then she explained to Mama Burton that we were going to visit Kising’a the following weekend. She then said something to us in Kiswahili and Susan said that she is asking you to please greet her son for her while we are there. Burton is a teacher at the secondary school in Kising’a. Dan took pictures, which you will be able to see, of the “basket ladies” and showed them to Burton the following weekend. It was so sweet. Burton saw his mother and wistfully said, “There is my mother.” He seemed so homesick to see her. At this point we concluded our visit with the ladies and it was now very dark outside. It also had been raining and we had to climb back up to the car and I was so sure that I would slip and fall. As we hiked up the hill, the women piled the baskets up on their heads and hiked up beside us, many of them in their bare feet. We piled all the baskets into the car and were off heading back to Madisi for a late dinner.
The following day was Tuesday and it was raining so much that Abeli cancelled the bus trip into town to deliver the people with HIV to the clinic, because the roads were so bad. That meant that our ride back to Mafinga was cancelled as well. Later in the morning, Susan said, “I am going to take you part way in with Abeli’s guidance and then we will have you three catch a taxi the remainder of the way.”
We started out with a prayer from Susan and were off heading down steep mud slicked roads which reminds one of icy winter roads in Minnesota. When we reached the point where we were to meet the taxi we pulled over and stopped on a side road/intersection. With some negotiation we arranged for Robert to drive us all of the way to Iringa and on the way he stopped off at Ifunda to visit a teacher whom Dan had met on the trip he took by himself to Tanzania in 2008. We also attempted to look up a few of the Madisi students who had started Form 5. We were able to locate one of the three students. Then it was off to Iringa. Road construction caused one delay, but we made it home that evening despite the rainy weather and muddy roads in Madisi.
Purchasing baskets in the living room. Susan is working on improving designs so they can be marketed to people who do not need baskets. In the village, function is what counts.:
Child who came to see us. Notice the coal heated iron in the lower left:
Women carrying the purchased baskets to the car for us:
At Ifunda Secondary school visiting Peter Mbata who was Juwata's roommate in Dar. Notice Bariki's new jacket, I don't think I have seen him without it since he got it.
After purchasing the jacket, we walked over to the bus station and found the Huruma bus to Madisi. To my delight we had the same bus driver that we had on the last leg of our first trip – Abeli who is a former student of the Vintons. He had this very low voice and he nearly scared me to death the first time we met him. (He had stuck his head in the front window of our first bus and said to us, “You need to get on the other bus,” without explaining who he was and where he was taking us.) He is a very good driver and takes very good care of his passengers.
We arrived in Madisi around 5 pm before sundown and the sun was shining and it was a nice cool day. We went for a short walk with Susan shortly after arriving and she took us down by their ram pump and we walked around it and found the spring that feeds it. She took to Bariki but kept calling him Barack or Baraka. Then we came back to the house. We had picked up our vegetable box on Friday and tried to cram as much of that into Dan’s pack along with some Anchor cheese, which is imported from New Zealand and Steve had clued us in that Susan really enjoys. Well, you should have heard the joy in Sarah’s voice when she saw the broccoli and cauliflower and snap peas. Sarah, who is from the US is one of the key people in the Village Schools Organization, is a real joy to be around. (I think that she helps Susan to keep her sanity and is really a great teacher with the kids – tough, but good!)
The following morning (Sunday) we “worshipped” by listening to a sermon on DVD, which was a sermon given by Oscar Muriu at the annual youth rally in Urbana Illinois this past year. He has a very large church in Nairobi, Kenya. His message still gives me goose bumps just thinking about how he started out his talk. It made me think of how Pastor Jan described the approach that was taken on the story of Christ this year at Oberammergau. I want to remember to look up the link to listen to it again! Steve Vinton mentioned the address in one of his most recent email letters.
Then we were off to round on Susan’s “friends.” Dan and Bariki came with us on the first visits.
We visited a young woman who was laying out in the sun on a grass mat and was obviously in a lot of pain. Dan took a couple of pictures of her. She cannot fully extend her right leg because the Kaposi’s lesion on her thigh causes her too much pain. Susan and I cleansed the lesion and redressed it with some dressings that she had and then we prayed with her and her family. Then we were on our way to see more patients. Later in the day, we, (Susan, Rashidi, one of the Vinton’s students and I) visited a couple with their three children. The couple has gotten tested and the husband knows that he is positive, but the wife threw away her first set of results because she did not want to know. Neither one of them has started ARVs yet. Well, Susan does not beat around the bush! Her first words were, “Do you want me to raise your children?” Then she launched into a lecture telling them that the wife has got to get tested again and based upon those results, they need to get started with treatment. Rashidi closed the visit by telling them that the stigma is gone now, because so many people in their area are getting treated. This young man is such a treasure. He comes to the Vinton’s home every night to enter statistics in their log and schedule for people to go in by bus for treatment. I cannot remember the details about his own family history, but I would not be surprised if he is an “orphan” of HIV. Among the other patients we visited included a young girl who may or may not have TB on top of her HIV as well as Jeska (whom I met on our first visit and whom I never expected to see again.) She looked so much better and so much more comfortable. She is able to walk now because her foot is so much better and Susan wants her to go into Dar to get chemo at Ocean Road for the residual Kaposi’s sarcoma on her foot. We also visited a witch doctor. Susan stated that he refuses to accept Christ because that would mean that he would have to give up his profession. He did allow her pray with him, however.
Late in the afternoon we visited a home filled with women who are all on ARVs and you would not know that they are sick unless you were told. They make baskets which Susan buys from them and this money allows them to sustain their households. Susan works with an interior designer who sells these baskets in the Houston area. The baskets are incredibly beautiful and if the quality is down, Susan will not purchase them. She does provide feedback to the ladies regarding her expectations and the next time she comes to purchase baskets, she sees much improvement. What pride they have in their products! At one point a woman stood up to bring her baskets up to Susan to inspect and Susan introduced her to us as “Mama Burton.” Then she explained to Mama Burton that we were going to visit Kising’a the following weekend. She then said something to us in Kiswahili and Susan said that she is asking you to please greet her son for her while we are there. Burton is a teacher at the secondary school in Kising’a. Dan took pictures, which you will be able to see, of the “basket ladies” and showed them to Burton the following weekend. It was so sweet. Burton saw his mother and wistfully said, “There is my mother.” He seemed so homesick to see her. At this point we concluded our visit with the ladies and it was now very dark outside. It also had been raining and we had to climb back up to the car and I was so sure that I would slip and fall. As we hiked up the hill, the women piled the baskets up on their heads and hiked up beside us, many of them in their bare feet. We piled all the baskets into the car and were off heading back to Madisi for a late dinner.
The following day was Tuesday and it was raining so much that Abeli cancelled the bus trip into town to deliver the people with HIV to the clinic, because the roads were so bad. That meant that our ride back to Mafinga was cancelled as well. Later in the morning, Susan said, “I am going to take you part way in with Abeli’s guidance and then we will have you three catch a taxi the remainder of the way.”
We started out with a prayer from Susan and were off heading down steep mud slicked roads which reminds one of icy winter roads in Minnesota. When we reached the point where we were to meet the taxi we pulled over and stopped on a side road/intersection. With some negotiation we arranged for Robert to drive us all of the way to Iringa and on the way he stopped off at Ifunda to visit a teacher whom Dan had met on the trip he took by himself to Tanzania in 2008. We also attempted to look up a few of the Madisi students who had started Form 5. We were able to locate one of the three students. Then it was off to Iringa. Road construction caused one delay, but we made it home that evening despite the rainy weather and muddy roads in Madisi.
Purchasing baskets in the living room. Susan is working on improving designs so they can be marketed to people who do not need baskets. In the village, function is what counts.:
Child who came to see us. Notice the coal heated iron in the lower left:
Women carrying the purchased baskets to the car for us:
At Ifunda Secondary school visiting Peter Mbata who was Juwata's roommate in Dar. Notice Bariki's new jacket, I don't think I have seen him without it since he got it.
Endgame
We are rapidly approaching the end of our time here. I have been busy with course preparation and working on the science curriculum. The courses have gone well and the students seem to have learned a lot with some of them becoming pretty good programmers. We want to come back. We leave Iringa on June 27th for a week dive vacation at Kervan Saray Beach Resort in Pemba next to Ngezi Forest Preserve. On the 28th we will fly to Zanzibar and on to Pemba where we need to take a taxi to Chake Chake and catch a daladala for a 90 minute ride to Konde on the north end of the island where we next go to the petrol station to find someone that can drive us the last 10 km to the resort. (We are saving the $80 each way they charge to pick you up). The resort looks to be very nice and is on the remote north end of the island. We are really looking forward to the break and will come back to Dar on July 5th and fly out on the 7th arriving in Mpls in the afternoon on the 8th.
Kising'a Visit
We went to Kising'a last Friday for a visit before we leave Iringa on June 27th. Bariki came with us along with a couple students LCP has sponsored through Secondary School. Aid Kasenegala is now studying to be a pastor at Tumaini and Anna is looking to go to Teacher's College. We had a wonderful reception as always and had "our" room with its custom made extra long bed.
We took Bariki's sister and new baby to see the grandparents in Lulanzi for the first time. From left to right, Anna, Bariki's sister, Aid, Bariki's parents, wazungu, and Bariki. The picture nicely demonstrates the cultural differences in photo posing between Tanzania and the US. A second photo was identical.
Greetings on arrival, it is always handy to have your air intake 5 feet off the ground in case you need to drive through 4 feet of water.
Dancing in Church. Fortunately for the members, Aid gave the sermon so Sue or I did not have to. They seem happy about it.
After church, we purchased firewood and parachichi (avocados) at the auction. Sue is showing that she can carry firewood Hehe style. Just after this picture was taken the professional on the left took over and sprinted our wood back to the house.
The Secondary school is building a dam for a ram pump to pump water up to the school using hydrostatic pressure. The earth dam is temporary so they can build a concrete dam below. It has a ways to go for height yet. We saw a ram pump in Madisi.
For the first time we were in Kising'a for Market Day, when trucks full of merchandise come up from Iringa to sell to the village. This is a way to service villages who have no stores other than small duka's selling some food items.
Kising'a Starbucks ready for customers:
The Market with one of the best customers, even bigger than you see here:
All these people in town means it is slaughter day. A pile of cow on banana leaves butchered with an axe and sold by the kilo.
If Obama's current job doesn't work out, he can always fall back on his line of Obama Jeans. The Michael Jackson jeans should be fading.
We took Bariki's sister and new baby to see the grandparents in Lulanzi for the first time. From left to right, Anna, Bariki's sister, Aid, Bariki's parents, wazungu, and Bariki. The picture nicely demonstrates the cultural differences in photo posing between Tanzania and the US. A second photo was identical.
Greetings on arrival, it is always handy to have your air intake 5 feet off the ground in case you need to drive through 4 feet of water.
Dancing in Church. Fortunately for the members, Aid gave the sermon so Sue or I did not have to. They seem happy about it.
After church, we purchased firewood and parachichi (avocados) at the auction. Sue is showing that she can carry firewood Hehe style. Just after this picture was taken the professional on the left took over and sprinted our wood back to the house.
The Secondary school is building a dam for a ram pump to pump water up to the school using hydrostatic pressure. The earth dam is temporary so they can build a concrete dam below. It has a ways to go for height yet. We saw a ram pump in Madisi.
For the first time we were in Kising'a for Market Day, when trucks full of merchandise come up from Iringa to sell to the village. This is a way to service villages who have no stores other than small duka's selling some food items.
Kising'a Starbucks ready for customers:
The Market with one of the best customers, even bigger than you see here:
All these people in town means it is slaughter day. A pile of cow on banana leaves butchered with an axe and sold by the kilo.
If Obama's current job doesn't work out, he can always fall back on his line of Obama Jeans. The Michael Jackson jeans should be fading.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
We are not alone
We are about half way through the term now and enjoying living at our house up by the University. We are more remote here outside of town but are not alone. Besides Maria who comes three days a week and cleans and cooks (she works all month for about what a cleaning person in the US would charge for one hour), Sele who works in the garden for about 4 hours each week day, and Jumani and Black, the guard dog, who come every day at 6 PM and leave at 6 AM, we have other "friends" to keep us company.
This cameleon was an interesting one with a rotating eye and a strange swinging gait, walking in a field near our house:
Our favorite visitors are the couple of Red Bishops that come by every morning and at other times too. They are really more orange than red but are very pretty and make a chattering call. My picture doesn't do him justice. Here are some more. We also have some of these Cordon Bleu birds and too many African Crows clamoring around on our metal roof.
Not all of our friends are so interesting or welcome. This is a nairobi fly in the house which does not bite but is very caustic if swatted against skin causing burns that can take months to heal. Fortunately, we have only seen a few of these in the house and are very careful. They are bigger than flies so are easy to see. We also have other bugs in the house including cockroaches which a classmate from Florida said was so common they were among your friends there. One day Sue was microwaving something and we could see one walking around inside but we haven't had a problem with them getting into food. No wonder they are expected to be the only thing to survive Armageddon. We have had good success controlling the cockroaches with a concoction containing boric acid which we put in bottle caps and spread around the kitchen. Boric acid is harmless to people, you could even ingest it safely, and is used in eye and ear ointments. Insecticide only provides very short term effects and is quite unpleasant so we were glad to find the boric acid solution. Remember this if global warming leads to year round cockroach infestations in Minnesota.
There is a roving herd of goats, two cows, and some donkeys who trim the grass in front of the house and fertilize at the same time. We see them around grazing different areas and they spent a few days at our house. The goats tried to get inside our yard when I opened the gate. We like the donkeys in particular and often see them pulling carts, even on the main paved road.
Not sure where these two thought they were going. I didn't see anyone with them.
This cameleon was an interesting one with a rotating eye and a strange swinging gait, walking in a field near our house:
Our favorite visitors are the couple of Red Bishops that come by every morning and at other times too. They are really more orange than red but are very pretty and make a chattering call. My picture doesn't do him justice. Here are some more. We also have some of these Cordon Bleu birds and too many African Crows clamoring around on our metal roof.
Not all of our friends are so interesting or welcome. This is a nairobi fly in the house which does not bite but is very caustic if swatted against skin causing burns that can take months to heal. Fortunately, we have only seen a few of these in the house and are very careful. They are bigger than flies so are easy to see. We also have other bugs in the house including cockroaches which a classmate from Florida said was so common they were among your friends there. One day Sue was microwaving something and we could see one walking around inside but we haven't had a problem with them getting into food. No wonder they are expected to be the only thing to survive Armageddon. We have had good success controlling the cockroaches with a concoction containing boric acid which we put in bottle caps and spread around the kitchen. Boric acid is harmless to people, you could even ingest it safely, and is used in eye and ear ointments. Insecticide only provides very short term effects and is quite unpleasant so we were glad to find the boric acid solution. Remember this if global warming leads to year round cockroach infestations in Minnesota.
There is a roving herd of goats, two cows, and some donkeys who trim the grass in front of the house and fertilize at the same time. We see them around grazing different areas and they spent a few days at our house. The goats tried to get inside our yard when I opened the gate. We like the donkeys in particular and often see them pulling carts, even on the main paved road.
Not sure where these two thought they were going. I didn't see anyone with them.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Tumaini Class & Campus
We are about one third of the way through the term so it is about time I post some pictures of my students and the campus. The classes are going well and are fun. I am pretty busy preparing for them so I guess retirement will have to wait until we get home in July. My class schedule is:
M 8:30 - 10:00 Data Structures and Algorithms
10:30 - 12:00 Procedural Programming with C
T 9:00 - 10:30 Software Engineering
11:00 - 12:30 Application Projects in Java (I am only assisting)
W 11:00 - 12:30 Application Projects in Java (I am only assisting)
Th 8:00 - 9:30 Procedural Programming in C
F 9:00 - 10:30 Data Structures and Algorithms
11:00 - 12:30 Software Engineering
All of these classes are for the 2nd year students and I am also advising with the third year students on their senior projects.
Wanafunzie na Malimu (Students and Teacher)
This is where I have the Software Engineering and Data Structures classes using a projector:
The local coke stand and photocopy shop out of a used shipping container. These make convenient small buildings.
No campus in the world would be complete without an ATM machine. Tumaini has two and this is where we get our money out of our Wells Fargo account with an excellent exchange rate and no fees:
Couple pictures of students studying in the Library. They do not typically have textbooks for their classes and need to come here for books on reserve. The library is always busy and very quiet:
This is the main computer lab in the library for all students. The IT students have their own lab with dual boot windows/linux pcs and a Mac workstation for media classes.
The round building is where my classes and office are, it is called the Science Park but they are building a big multistory building for the science program on the other side of campus that should be done a year from May and take in students in Fall 2011. I am working on the syllabus for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics for a new Education Degree in Science. Graduates will study two out of the three to become Secondary School Teachers.
More picnic tables which are always full with groups of students. The weather is so nice that they study outside a lot.
M 8:30 - 10:00 Data Structures and Algorithms
10:30 - 12:00 Procedural Programming with C
T 9:00 - 10:30 Software Engineering
11:00 - 12:30 Application Projects in Java (I am only assisting)
W 11:00 - 12:30 Application Projects in Java (I am only assisting)
Th 8:00 - 9:30 Procedural Programming in C
F 9:00 - 10:30 Data Structures and Algorithms
11:00 - 12:30 Software Engineering
All of these classes are for the 2nd year students and I am also advising with the third year students on their senior projects.
Wanafunzie na Malimu (Students and Teacher)
This is where I have the Software Engineering and Data Structures classes using a projector:
The local coke stand and photocopy shop out of a used shipping container. These make convenient small buildings.
No campus in the world would be complete without an ATM machine. Tumaini has two and this is where we get our money out of our Wells Fargo account with an excellent exchange rate and no fees:
Couple pictures of students studying in the Library. They do not typically have textbooks for their classes and need to come here for books on reserve. The library is always busy and very quiet:
This is the main computer lab in the library for all students. The IT students have their own lab with dual boot windows/linux pcs and a Mac workstation for media classes.
The round building is where my classes and office are, it is called the Science Park but they are building a big multistory building for the science program on the other side of campus that should be done a year from May and take in students in Fall 2011. I am working on the syllabus for Chemistry, Biology, and Physics for a new Education Degree in Science. Graduates will study two out of the three to become Secondary School Teachers.
More picnic tables which are always full with groups of students. The weather is so nice that they study outside a lot.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
And You Thought Menopause is Awful in Western Civilization!
I attended a class on Cross Cultural Counseling on March 30, 2010 and will summarize what I learned about the Hehe or Bene tribe in Tanzania.
The class is divided into groups according to the tribes that they represent. I suspect that this group is the best represented because in the Iringa district of Tanzania, the majority of the population is Bena or Hehe.
The group discussed marriage issues first focusing on the necessity of a middleman. A middleman is selected based on his wisdom. He is utilized to introduce the 2 individuals’ families who wish to be married and the middleman is utilized as a boundary or to be a neutral party. This is especially necessary for the negotiation of the “bride price.”
When it becomes known that a young man would like to marry a young woman, her parents ask her if she knows this young man. If the possible marriage is conditionally approved, then negotiations begin for the “bride price”. Originally it could include animals, (cattle, goats, chickens), bed linens, and other items, which I was unable to catch from the presentation. Once a marriage is approved by the parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents are consulted before the couple is married. A marriage contract is then drawn up and the “bride price” is agreed upon.
Once the marriage occurs, the bride’s parents plan and pay for the send-off, which includes all the food and beverages for such an event.
On the wedding night, the couple sleeps on white bed sheets so there is documented evidence that the bride was a virgin. Then, if there is good evidence that the bride was indeed a virgin, the bride and the bride’s mother are given gifts as an award for “having taken care of herself.”
Pregnancy: No sex is to occur between the couple two months before birth and at least 1 month after delivery because the Hehe believe that the sperm will kill the unborn child. Some Hehe believe that there should be no sex until the baby is weaned (because of the risk to the child). Weaning usually occurs at the age of 2 years!
The umbilical cord needs to be buried by the fruit bearing tree, otherwise if the infant is a boy, he will be sexually dysfunctional. At the time that the cord is cut, it must not come into contact with the baby’s genitalia (boy or girl) or the child will be sexually dysfunctional (infertile or unable to perform) when he/she grows up.
Girls are not to tend a fire or cook during their first menstrual cycle. (I did not catch why or what would happen if she did.)
Boys are taught, as they grow up, to be good husbands and fathers. (This was not defined during the presentation.)
Menopause occurs around age 50. No sexual activity is to occur after menopause for a woman. If intercourse does occur, the woman’s stomach will enlarge with the accumulation of sperm. Once this woman dies, the sperm will come out of all of the orifices of her body. The instructor of the class explains that this was a scare tactic, so women wouldn’t have sex after menopause.
Death: Crying after the death of a family member is thought to be a good thing and a healthy thing to occur. In the Bena tribe, the surviving spouse is supposed to be provided with privacy with the dead spouse so he/she can engage in sexual activity with the corpse. This is supposed to be a symbolic way of saying “goodbye” to the spouse and if the surviving spouse neglects this act, the family will face many difficulties in life in the future. (The presenting group or instructor stated that this ritual probably is no longer practiced.
During the period of mourning, the surviving female spouse sleeps on the floor, not in bed. A black cloth is placed around the surviving spouse’s head after the head has been shaved (male or female).
The Bena believe that “what is mine, is yours, (even children).” (So it is not uncommon for one to see other people chastising other people’s children in church, if they are being too noisy.) The belongings of the deceased are distributed among the members of the community. In the Hehe tribe, properties are looked after by a selected “wise man,” until community distribution takes place.
If electrical lines are being built and hung, they are not allowed to pass over cemeteries. It does not matter if bypassing the cemetery means laying miles of extra line, it cannot be done.
Religion: Prior to Christianity, the Bena/Hehe people have always been conscious of God’s presence. They formerly gave sacrifices and worshipped trees, animals, caves, and mountains.
Politics: The selected chief provides protection to the tribe or group. The first-born son will assume his father’s position at the time of the chief’s death.
Greetings:
Women defer to all men and knee down when greeting all superiors. Men simply bend or nod their heads. When women have not seen each other for a long period of time, they take each other’s hand and kiss the back of the friend’s hand. ( I have been greeted this way twice by Pastor Wihale’s wife, Jesima.
Communication Styles:
There is no direct communication between mothers and sons (all communication goes through the husband) and there is no direct communication between fathers and daughters. Likewise, all communication goes through mothers, if fathers want to tell their daughters something or if daughter need to discuss something with their fathers. All communication between spouses occurs away from the children.
All ethnic groups in Tanzania have practiced polygamy. Traditionally polygamy was practiced to preserve a marriage and a husband only practiced it with permission from his wife. In fact, it was common during the breast feeding period that the wife would actually suggest a specific woman for her husband, thinking that a particular woman came from an acceptable family and that they would become good friends. Polygamy and the ritual of no sex after menopause was practiced to preserve the tribe or race as well.
Infertility: After death, an infertile woman’s body was banished from the community in order to take the curse of infertility away from the community.
The class is divided into groups according to the tribes that they represent. I suspect that this group is the best represented because in the Iringa district of Tanzania, the majority of the population is Bena or Hehe.
The group discussed marriage issues first focusing on the necessity of a middleman. A middleman is selected based on his wisdom. He is utilized to introduce the 2 individuals’ families who wish to be married and the middleman is utilized as a boundary or to be a neutral party. This is especially necessary for the negotiation of the “bride price.”
When it becomes known that a young man would like to marry a young woman, her parents ask her if she knows this young man. If the possible marriage is conditionally approved, then negotiations begin for the “bride price”. Originally it could include animals, (cattle, goats, chickens), bed linens, and other items, which I was unable to catch from the presentation. Once a marriage is approved by the parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents are consulted before the couple is married. A marriage contract is then drawn up and the “bride price” is agreed upon.
Once the marriage occurs, the bride’s parents plan and pay for the send-off, which includes all the food and beverages for such an event.
On the wedding night, the couple sleeps on white bed sheets so there is documented evidence that the bride was a virgin. Then, if there is good evidence that the bride was indeed a virgin, the bride and the bride’s mother are given gifts as an award for “having taken care of herself.”
Pregnancy: No sex is to occur between the couple two months before birth and at least 1 month after delivery because the Hehe believe that the sperm will kill the unborn child. Some Hehe believe that there should be no sex until the baby is weaned (because of the risk to the child). Weaning usually occurs at the age of 2 years!
The umbilical cord needs to be buried by the fruit bearing tree, otherwise if the infant is a boy, he will be sexually dysfunctional. At the time that the cord is cut, it must not come into contact with the baby’s genitalia (boy or girl) or the child will be sexually dysfunctional (infertile or unable to perform) when he/she grows up.
Girls are not to tend a fire or cook during their first menstrual cycle. (I did not catch why or what would happen if she did.)
Boys are taught, as they grow up, to be good husbands and fathers. (This was not defined during the presentation.)
Menopause occurs around age 50. No sexual activity is to occur after menopause for a woman. If intercourse does occur, the woman’s stomach will enlarge with the accumulation of sperm. Once this woman dies, the sperm will come out of all of the orifices of her body. The instructor of the class explains that this was a scare tactic, so women wouldn’t have sex after menopause.
Death: Crying after the death of a family member is thought to be a good thing and a healthy thing to occur. In the Bena tribe, the surviving spouse is supposed to be provided with privacy with the dead spouse so he/she can engage in sexual activity with the corpse. This is supposed to be a symbolic way of saying “goodbye” to the spouse and if the surviving spouse neglects this act, the family will face many difficulties in life in the future. (The presenting group or instructor stated that this ritual probably is no longer practiced.
During the period of mourning, the surviving female spouse sleeps on the floor, not in bed. A black cloth is placed around the surviving spouse’s head after the head has been shaved (male or female).
The Bena believe that “what is mine, is yours, (even children).” (So it is not uncommon for one to see other people chastising other people’s children in church, if they are being too noisy.) The belongings of the deceased are distributed among the members of the community. In the Hehe tribe, properties are looked after by a selected “wise man,” until community distribution takes place.
If electrical lines are being built and hung, they are not allowed to pass over cemeteries. It does not matter if bypassing the cemetery means laying miles of extra line, it cannot be done.
Religion: Prior to Christianity, the Bena/Hehe people have always been conscious of God’s presence. They formerly gave sacrifices and worshipped trees, animals, caves, and mountains.
Politics: The selected chief provides protection to the tribe or group. The first-born son will assume his father’s position at the time of the chief’s death.
Greetings:
Women defer to all men and knee down when greeting all superiors. Men simply bend or nod their heads. When women have not seen each other for a long period of time, they take each other’s hand and kiss the back of the friend’s hand. ( I have been greeted this way twice by Pastor Wihale’s wife, Jesima.
Communication Styles:
There is no direct communication between mothers and sons (all communication goes through the husband) and there is no direct communication between fathers and daughters. Likewise, all communication goes through mothers, if fathers want to tell their daughters something or if daughter need to discuss something with their fathers. All communication between spouses occurs away from the children.
All ethnic groups in Tanzania have practiced polygamy. Traditionally polygamy was practiced to preserve a marriage and a husband only practiced it with permission from his wife. In fact, it was common during the breast feeding period that the wife would actually suggest a specific woman for her husband, thinking that a particular woman came from an acceptable family and that they would become good friends. Polygamy and the ritual of no sex after menopause was practiced to preserve the tribe or race as well.
Infertility: After death, an infertile woman’s body was banished from the community in order to take the curse of infertility away from the community.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tanzania Health Care
We had a couple experiences last week with Tanzanians needing health care which made us thankful to be in a country without socialized medicine. In fact Tanzania was once socialist and even then I don't think they had socialized medicine because the government cannot afford it and there was no way to deliver it. Here each person takes responsibility for their own health care and few people have, or can afford, insurance, it is pay as you go.
Sele, our gardener, came to work last week in severe pain from an infected tooth. He could not work and was sitting holding his head, perhaps thinking how nice it is to not have government supported health care. Here dental work is done by extracting the bad tooth and that costs 40,000 tsh or about $30. Sele doesn't have 40,000 because he just gets by on 70,000 tsh/ month. We gave him some ibuprofen, which helped a lot, and he was able to get up and work. We also gave him money to get his tooth taken care of and he came the next day and showed us the gaping hole where his tooth had been and was very happy to be pain free. Sele is in his early 20's and it make you wonder how many teeth he will have left when he is our age.
On the other end of the extreme, a women that owns a successful business with her husband here was in severe need of gall bladder surgery. She rushed into Dar to go to a private facility with 8 patient beds and well trained Doctors from Cuba. There her scans were sent out to Nairobi and India for consultation and she had state of the art laparoscopic surgery to remove the gall bladder and stones. All this cost $8,000 and although they had insurance it does not cover care at this private facility. They got excellent care but at the cost of 16 times the per capita income in Tanzania. It is nice for us to know of this facility in case someone from our Bega Kwa Bega groups ever needs critical care on a trip.
Sue and I fortunately have been extremely healthy on our trip with no distress from food at all and just a good old Minnesota head cold that they have here too.
Sele, our gardener, came to work last week in severe pain from an infected tooth. He could not work and was sitting holding his head, perhaps thinking how nice it is to not have government supported health care. Here dental work is done by extracting the bad tooth and that costs 40,000 tsh or about $30. Sele doesn't have 40,000 because he just gets by on 70,000 tsh/ month. We gave him some ibuprofen, which helped a lot, and he was able to get up and work. We also gave him money to get his tooth taken care of and he came the next day and showed us the gaping hole where his tooth had been and was very happy to be pain free. Sele is in his early 20's and it make you wonder how many teeth he will have left when he is our age.
On the other end of the extreme, a women that owns a successful business with her husband here was in severe need of gall bladder surgery. She rushed into Dar to go to a private facility with 8 patient beds and well trained Doctors from Cuba. There her scans were sent out to Nairobi and India for consultation and she had state of the art laparoscopic surgery to remove the gall bladder and stones. All this cost $8,000 and although they had insurance it does not cover care at this private facility. They got excellent care but at the cost of 16 times the per capita income in Tanzania. It is nice for us to know of this facility in case someone from our Bega Kwa Bega groups ever needs critical care on a trip.
Sue and I fortunately have been extremely healthy on our trip with no distress from food at all and just a good old Minnesota head cold that they have here too.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Kihesa Easter
Sue and I went to Easter service at Kihesa church, a short drive from where we live, where Bariki's brother is the pastor. They have two services and both were packed as they always are.
Today, Pastor Gary Langness, from Bega Kwa Bega, was preaching so the sermon was in English with translation into Swahili. A group from St Mark's, Kihesa's partner congregation, are also visiting so there are more wazungu (white people) in the audience than usual. They have electric guitars and keyboard at Kihesa with big amplifiers so it is a lively service and their choir dances to the music:
They also had a child reenactment of the Easter Story:
At the end of the service, one choir sings inside and another outside as everyone files out of the Church and reassembles outside:
After the final Benediction, the service is over. Sometimes they have an auction here of items that are donated in the offering but not today:
Today, Pastor Gary Langness, from Bega Kwa Bega, was preaching so the sermon was in English with translation into Swahili. A group from St Mark's, Kihesa's partner congregation, are also visiting so there are more wazungu (white people) in the audience than usual. They have electric guitars and keyboard at Kihesa with big amplifiers so it is a lively service and their choir dances to the music:
They also had a child reenactment of the Easter Story:
At the end of the service, one choir sings inside and another outside as everyone files out of the Church and reassembles outside:
After the final Benediction, the service is over. Sometimes they have an auction here of items that are donated in the offering but not today:
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Neema Crafts
We went to a dinner with a concert at Neema crafts last Saturday. Neema is a shop and restaurant that is staffed entirely by handicapped workers. There is not a good support system for the handicapped here and they can be shunned by their families and villages. Neema gives them an opportunity to be productive and many now send money back to their families. You can read about their stories in the People link from their website. Those that have visited Iringa have seen the tour and how the staff make paper crafts, weave fabrics, and make other designs to sell. They also have a nice restaurant for lunch and occasionally have an evening event. We met many of the large Finnish contingent here at the party, including Matti Tedre who started the IT project and another IT professor from Finland. Several of them have worked at Tumaini.
The concert was by a native music group from Kilolo but they were not HeHe and the music was quite different than what we hear in Kising'a and was centered around a stringed instrument with a long neck. The other part of the concert was the Neema dance group who are deaf but able to dance together in rhythm. Some of them have hearing aids which help to pick up some sensations but others are totally deaf and say they feel vibrations in their stomach. You can see them dance in this youtube clip: Deaf Dance Group The lead in the clip on the xylophone was playing drums when we watched them and they had coordinated uniforms and had a lot of fun dancing. The food was great too with Chicken Catchetori and a wonderful pear cobbler with pudding for dessert. All this for 9000 tsh (about $7) as a fundraiser.
The concert was by a native music group from Kilolo but they were not HeHe and the music was quite different than what we hear in Kising'a and was centered around a stringed instrument with a long neck. The other part of the concert was the Neema dance group who are deaf but able to dance together in rhythm. Some of them have hearing aids which help to pick up some sensations but others are totally deaf and say they feel vibrations in their stomach. You can see them dance in this youtube clip: Deaf Dance Group The lead in the clip on the xylophone was playing drums when we watched them and they had coordinated uniforms and had a lot of fun dancing. The food was great too with Chicken Catchetori and a wonderful pear cobbler with pudding for dessert. All this for 9000 tsh (about $7) as a fundraiser.
I'm Back
Wow, it has been a while. We have been busy at school and I think feel so at home here now that it sometimes doesn't feel like anything interesting to blog about. Of course that is only because we have become accustomed to the interesting because this is still a very interesting place. I am now teaching three and a half courses because of the shortage of instructors in the IT department and concern by the students about missing courses required for their graduation. For those computer people, I am teaching Procedural Programming in C, Data Structures and Algorithms, and Software Engineering plus helping with Application Project in Java. There are only two of us qualified to teach the programming courses and the other person is also new to the department. Josephat is from Kampala University in Uganda and has been teaching for 4 years in Dar. He is also teaching three courses and we will work together on the Application Projects.
This means that I have 9 hours of lecture a week to prepare for. Fortunately, I found some good lecture notes for Software Engineering by the author of a book they have in the library but the other two courses I am making new notes for. This should help for future years. We just had Thursday and Friday off for Easter and have Monday off too. Then Wed is off for a national holiday. I didn't find out that there were no classes on Thursday until Wed afternoon. School communication is very loose here, much of it by word of mouth. Classes were also canceled half a day last week because a student died on campus. Students are often older here on average than they would be in the US and the student that died was in his 30's I think. He collapsed suddenly while talking to other students outside and was taken to a hospital but it sounded like he may have died suddenly.
We have really settled in at the house and Sue has found several interesting classes in Counseling that she has been participating in. She is also arranging a group of students to help with English. It has been fun for her to interact with the students who are really nice and interesting and she has been learning quite a bit about cultural issues in these classes. I am sure she will blog about it soon and we are making a resolution to update more frequently with shorter blogs. Bottom line is we are doing fine and still having fun.
This means that I have 9 hours of lecture a week to prepare for. Fortunately, I found some good lecture notes for Software Engineering by the author of a book they have in the library but the other two courses I am making new notes for. This should help for future years. We just had Thursday and Friday off for Easter and have Monday off too. Then Wed is off for a national holiday. I didn't find out that there were no classes on Thursday until Wed afternoon. School communication is very loose here, much of it by word of mouth. Classes were also canceled half a day last week because a student died on campus. Students are often older here on average than they would be in the US and the student that died was in his 30's I think. He collapsed suddenly while talking to other students outside and was taken to a hospital but it sounded like he may have died suddenly.
We have really settled in at the house and Sue has found several interesting classes in Counseling that she has been participating in. She is also arranging a group of students to help with English. It has been fun for her to interact with the students who are really nice and interesting and she has been learning quite a bit about cultural issues in these classes. I am sure she will blog about it soon and we are making a resolution to update more frequently with shorter blogs. Bottom line is we are doing fine and still having fun.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
First Week of Class
Classes kind of started last week. I found out on Monday at 10 AM that the first class was scheduled for 11 AM. In spite of the short notice, 7 out of 30 students showed up and we started an informal lecture and discussion. The first week has students registering and arriving after coming up with the funds for tuition. It is hard to go to far with only part of the class present. The students were very interested in programming and were concerned that a course in Software Engineering that was supposed to be offered was not. They wanted me to teach that class also because they knew I had been doing software development and felt the course was important for them to have.
The next class was scheduled for Thursday morning at 8 AM and I showed up late because I was told that classes were not really starting this week but there were students waiting for me so we started a lecture. I had now seen 14 students out of 30. On Friday, I went to the computer lab to try to update the Moodle site for the course and prepare the computers for compiling C programs. The class is scheduled for the computer lab so that we can spend time working on programming. There are about 10 working computers so we will work in groups of 3. This will give me a good chance to see how the students are doing by watching them write programs. The lab filled up with about 8 students and I looked over and a couple of them were looking up C programming on their own. I had one computer set up with a compiler so we did a little demo to show them how to run a program and the students were very attentive. The computers in the lab are very locked down with student access limited to their flash drives. The virus problem is pretty severe here (both computer and human) and I do not plan to share flash drives on my computer. The students in IT do have computers at home so I prepared a CD with the files they need to program there that I will distribute at class this week.
I have been impressed with the attitude of the students I have met. They seem to really want to learn and are fun to talk to. Some of the students are also planning some kind of science demonstration event and I will work with them on that. I brought some Chemistry and Physics hands on lab experiment books that we can get ideas from.
The Finnish professor, Matti Tedre, who started the IT program came in this week and will be here for 3 weeks. For the next phase he will be here the first term of each school year and will return to Finland or Sweden for the second term at the University. (He is probably moving to University of Stockholm). Matti's research is IT education in developing countries and he is committed to the program here. We are going to dinner tonight and it is nice to have him here for my orientation to the program.
The next class was scheduled for Thursday morning at 8 AM and I showed up late because I was told that classes were not really starting this week but there were students waiting for me so we started a lecture. I had now seen 14 students out of 30. On Friday, I went to the computer lab to try to update the Moodle site for the course and prepare the computers for compiling C programs. The class is scheduled for the computer lab so that we can spend time working on programming. There are about 10 working computers so we will work in groups of 3. This will give me a good chance to see how the students are doing by watching them write programs. The lab filled up with about 8 students and I looked over and a couple of them were looking up C programming on their own. I had one computer set up with a compiler so we did a little demo to show them how to run a program and the students were very attentive. The computers in the lab are very locked down with student access limited to their flash drives. The virus problem is pretty severe here (both computer and human) and I do not plan to share flash drives on my computer. The students in IT do have computers at home so I prepared a CD with the files they need to program there that I will distribute at class this week.
I have been impressed with the attitude of the students I have met. They seem to really want to learn and are fun to talk to. Some of the students are also planning some kind of science demonstration event and I will work with them on that. I brought some Chemistry and Physics hands on lab experiment books that we can get ideas from.
The Finnish professor, Matti Tedre, who started the IT program came in this week and will be here for 3 weeks. For the next phase he will be here the first term of each school year and will return to Finland or Sweden for the second term at the University. (He is probably moving to University of Stockholm). Matti's research is IT education in developing countries and he is committed to the program here. We are going to dinner tonight and it is nice to have him here for my orientation to the program.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Neighborhood
There is a secondary school not far from our house. We have been watching the soccer field activities from afar. Yesterday Dan and I walked over to see the school. Two teachers warmly welcomed us to their teachers’ lounge area. We met the history/ Swahili teacher and the chemistry/biology teacher. The science teacher told us how perplexing it is that all students hate mathematics and consequently do very poorly in it and they are simply not interested in the sciences. We talked about using flash cards for learning multiplication and division in primary school and learning to read music because it uses the same part of the brain. He (Clarence, the science teacher) took Dan’s cell phone number in hopes that the two of them can work on some very simple science experiments using vinegar and sodium bicarb. to hopefully spark some excitement among the students. Dan is also working with somebody in the diocese schools (this particular school was a government school) evaluating textbooks and acquiring some very basic materials for laboratory experiments. At Tumaini University, Richard Lubawa wants him to help look at the possibility of setting up a basic science education department in which students who major in such can become high school biology, chemistry and physics teachers.
My big event this week was getting our second box of fresh vegetables.
Repeaters included fresh potatoes, green beans, baby corn on the cob, tomatoes, baby leaf lettuce, green onions, baby cauliflower. Newbies were fresh strawberries, baby leeks, fresh tabasco chilies, baby eggplant, these baby spinach/spoon shaped leaves for salads, and an assortment of fresh spices. We do a lot of cooking together, chopping and recipe hunting on the internet.
Last evening we, again, had no water so today Lotti (the house owner) has arranged for a plumber to visit. Dan went out to visit with the gardener and our night guard. He found out that Jumani, the night guard, has two children, age 13. No, they are not twins. He has two wives. He is either Muslim and has two wives or is simply a polygamist, which is quite common here! Dan told him that having one wife is enough! (Bless his heart?!) to which the two guys said, “when life is good, you have more than one wife.” I think that means if you can afford it, you have more than one wife. They don’t know how expensive American wives can be!
When our synod of the Lutheran church (the ELC) voted to allow clergy to be Gay/Lesbian earlier this year, many worldwide Lutheran churches wanted to break off relations with the ELCA, because they view homosexuality as sodomy and therefore a sin. The bishop of this diocese (DIRA – diocese of the Iringa region of Tanzania) said to our clergy, “You have the gay issue to deal with, and we have polygamy and polyandry (women with more than one husband) to deal with,“ therefore we should not judge one another. Unfortunately, the multiple partners’ problem is at the heart of the issue of the HIV problem here in Africa, because they may have multiple concurrent partners and because these are more than one night stands or fly by night affairs, they don’t use protection with these partners. But add one individual who is HIV+ to the mix and you can see how it mushrooms into a huge epidemic!
My big event this week was getting our second box of fresh vegetables.
Repeaters included fresh potatoes, green beans, baby corn on the cob, tomatoes, baby leaf lettuce, green onions, baby cauliflower. Newbies were fresh strawberries, baby leeks, fresh tabasco chilies, baby eggplant, these baby spinach/spoon shaped leaves for salads, and an assortment of fresh spices. We do a lot of cooking together, chopping and recipe hunting on the internet.
Last evening we, again, had no water so today Lotti (the house owner) has arranged for a plumber to visit. Dan went out to visit with the gardener and our night guard. He found out that Jumani, the night guard, has two children, age 13. No, they are not twins. He has two wives. He is either Muslim and has two wives or is simply a polygamist, which is quite common here! Dan told him that having one wife is enough! (Bless his heart?!) to which the two guys said, “when life is good, you have more than one wife.” I think that means if you can afford it, you have more than one wife. They don’t know how expensive American wives can be!
When our synod of the Lutheran church (the ELC) voted to allow clergy to be Gay/Lesbian earlier this year, many worldwide Lutheran churches wanted to break off relations with the ELCA, because they view homosexuality as sodomy and therefore a sin. The bishop of this diocese (DIRA – diocese of the Iringa region of Tanzania) said to our clergy, “You have the gay issue to deal with, and we have polygamy and polyandry (women with more than one husband) to deal with,“ therefore we should not judge one another. Unfortunately, the multiple partners’ problem is at the heart of the issue of the HIV problem here in Africa, because they may have multiple concurrent partners and because these are more than one night stands or fly by night affairs, they don’t use protection with these partners. But add one individual who is HIV+ to the mix and you can see how it mushrooms into a huge epidemic!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Power Outage
We had a power outage last night that went from 7pm to midnight. Both of our cells phones kept beeping because they needed to be charged. We had candles lit and sat and talked for awhile, but then I got fed up with the mosquitoes and finally went to bed just to be under the net. When I do that Dan always remembers how Max would go to the tent on canoe trips in an effort to get away from the bugs. "He was no dummy." The Tumaini campus was all lit up and they were the only ones with lights so Dan thinks that they have a generator so the kids can study.
Sele, our gardener, came to us last night and asked for an advance in his pay for his room rent - 5,000tsh - equivalent to less than $4. I think that he told us that that covers him for a month! His father is deceased and his mom lives up in Dodoma. Minna, who is the wife of Tommy, who lived here with their two kids said that Maria sometimes asks for advances as well. We usually invite her to eat lunch with us, when she is here. She has three kids, all girls. The oldest just finished Form 4 and passed her recent exam to advance to Form 5, but Maria cannot afford to send her. Her second daughter is in Form 2 and will take an exam upon completion to go on and her third is two years old. So my guess is that the first two are from the same father. She is very sweet and works very hard. We told her yesterday that she only needs to come in three days a week, because with only two people, there is not enough to do. We will pay her the same wage.
Bariki, who has been our friend since our first group trip back in 2007, had a bad incident on the bus recently. He had just finished up his student teaching assignment and they threw him a going away party. He was really well liked from the sounds of things. They gave him money as gifts, then when he was getting off the bus, from that point to the next, someone took his wallet and his jacket as well. He found his wallet later, money was gone but thankfully his ATM card was still there.
Sele, our gardener, came to us last night and asked for an advance in his pay for his room rent - 5,000tsh - equivalent to less than $4. I think that he told us that that covers him for a month! His father is deceased and his mom lives up in Dodoma. Minna, who is the wife of Tommy, who lived here with their two kids said that Maria sometimes asks for advances as well. We usually invite her to eat lunch with us, when she is here. She has three kids, all girls. The oldest just finished Form 4 and passed her recent exam to advance to Form 5, but Maria cannot afford to send her. Her second daughter is in Form 2 and will take an exam upon completion to go on and her third is two years old. So my guess is that the first two are from the same father. She is very sweet and works very hard. We told her yesterday that she only needs to come in three days a week, because with only two people, there is not enough to do. We will pay her the same wage.
Bariki, who has been our friend since our first group trip back in 2007, had a bad incident on the bus recently. He had just finished up his student teaching assignment and they threw him a going away party. He was really well liked from the sounds of things. They gave him money as gifts, then when he was getting off the bus, from that point to the next, someone took his wallet and his jacket as well. He found his wallet later, money was gone but thankfully his ATM card was still there.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Home on a Saturday Night
It is the weekend which means that Maria and Sele, the gardner, do not come. Jumani and Luk, the guard dog, come every day at 6 PM. Sue and I took it easy today with a relaxing morning watching the many birds and enjoying a sunny morning. We went into town for lunch and to do some shopping. Tomorrow we are having dinner guests, the bega kwa bega group is coming over to see our new house and we are fixing dinner. We had many nice dinners with the group when we were staying in the apartment and it will be nice to have them come here. We bought a couple nice pork tenderloins and will have a vegetable stir fry with the pea pods, baby corn, cauliflower, and green beans from our vegetable box. We will also have mashed potatoes and a salad from Hasty Tasty Too, the fast food restaurant in town. Our vegetable box only had enough lettuce for a couple days (about as long as it would keep) and Hasty Tasty makes a nice clean salad to go that is very reasonable. In fact we were there for lunch where each of us had a avocado salad with lettuce and cucumber (each salad has a whole avocado) and a samosa. For dessert we are going to have custard using Moir's custard powder. Just add the powder and some sugar to milk and cook to make a good tasting custard that we will add some fresh mango to. Moir's custard powder is a South African product and it looks like a keeper.
It is quiet in the new house which gives us time to read and we have satelite TV. I browsed some tonight and there was an interesting segment in english on the impact computer technology is having on a girl's secondary school in Dar by bringing in digital content to schools that don't have enough books. The rest of the channels are usually one of African rap video, Religious programming, soaps, or news. Occasionally, one channel has english news from the US, BBC, or algazeera. We don't watch much TV and most of our news from the internet.
Sue and I skyped my sister Ruth and her husband Fred tonight. Nice to be able to talk and send back video from here for just the price of the internet. We were on for about 45 minutes. Ruth also gets our mail for us from a PO box and the catalogs have not caught up with us yet but I suspect there are a couple container ships in the mid Atlantic with quite a load. Hope for a storm.
We go to bed early here, partly because we get up to let Jumani and Luk out of the gate at 6 when it is still quite dark. Also because a 12 hour shift is a little long for young Luk and he starts crying between 4:30 and 5 AM. Some mornings he more or less cries continually until it is time to go. Then he is rarin to go and pulls Jumani like a sled dog. I suspect he must get fed in the morning but part of it is he is young and active.
It is quiet in the new house which gives us time to read and we have satelite TV. I browsed some tonight and there was an interesting segment in english on the impact computer technology is having on a girl's secondary school in Dar by bringing in digital content to schools that don't have enough books. The rest of the channels are usually one of African rap video, Religious programming, soaps, or news. Occasionally, one channel has english news from the US, BBC, or algazeera. We don't watch much TV and most of our news from the internet.
Sue and I skyped my sister Ruth and her husband Fred tonight. Nice to be able to talk and send back video from here for just the price of the internet. We were on for about 45 minutes. Ruth also gets our mail for us from a PO box and the catalogs have not caught up with us yet but I suspect there are a couple container ships in the mid Atlantic with quite a load. Hope for a storm.
We go to bed early here, partly because we get up to let Jumani and Luk out of the gate at 6 when it is still quite dark. Also because a 12 hour shift is a little long for young Luk and he starts crying between 4:30 and 5 AM. Some mornings he more or less cries continually until it is time to go. Then he is rarin to go and pulls Jumani like a sled dog. I suspect he must get fed in the morning but part of it is he is young and active.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Home
We finally have accommodations of our own. We are in the house of a graduate student who has been the procurement officer for Tumaini University. It has already been fun to be able to cook on our own. Lotti (the owner of the house) is a good young man. He is working on his masters degree at the University of Dar es Salaam and and when he completes his studies he will be able to teach as well at Tumaini. He has worked hard to make these accommodations pleasant and economical for his renters. He has covered the cook top of the electric stove with a set of 4 gas burners. We boil our drinking water and the water with which we wash dishes. For the water we drink we filter it through these ceramic cylinders then cool it in the frig. The house has three bedrooms and all of the beds have mosquito nets which fit to different degrees. Dan and were fighting with ours last night to get a good seal and the mosquitoes were fierce. Then we had a power outage at about 7:30pm and lit some candles, but eventually just went to bed because there wasn’t anything else we could really do. We could see the stars and they were quite spectacular. Then in the middle of the night, the power went back on. To utilize electricity, we have to go downtown and pay a voucher which we then enter into the electric meter at the house. We paid a little less than $40 for what will be a bit more than a month of electricity. We have a gardener, named Sele, who comes on duty every day from 2pm-6pm, and a night watchman with a very young dog, named Luck, who must be part German Shepherd and part lab. He is really sweet. The guard is Jumani and he speaks very little English, but he does a good job and is good to his dog. Jumani and Luck are on duty from 6pm-6am. The gardener and guard are paid by Lotti. Then we have a house lady, named Maria, who cleans and does our laundry by hand and will occasionally cook for us as well. She will make banana bread and regular bread. After the laundry dries on the line, she irons almost everything, including Dan’s boxers!
Jumani and Sele and the not very ferocious guard dog, luk: The reason for guarding the property is to protect outside stuff. There isn't much concern about breaking in to the house but even clothes left on a line overnight can be a target:
The highlight of our day was finding out what was in our vegetable box that we ordered from a produce company here. You may order it once a week and then pick it up the following day at a place called Neema (which means “grace” in Swahili) Café and Crafts. (Will have to do a blog on Neema crafts and café at a later time.) This is this first box of veggies that we have received. You go to the bank and deposit 100,000TSH in their account (which is a little more than $75) and then for $15, Masifio Estates provides you with a box of fresh veggies. Today we were so excited about it, we even took a picture of it. It included 4 small ears of sweet corn, a bag of baby corn, 3 kilos of potatoes, a small bunch of green onions, a baby cauliflower, French beans, peapods, a small bag of baby lettuce, cherry tomatoes, several rutabagas and baby zucchini. We had the sweet corn and a lettuce salad and then a fruit salad of fresh mango and bananas for dinner this evening. We are going to try to start a composting pile with all of the peelings etc., from the produce.
The Vegetable box:
Jumani and Sele and the not very ferocious guard dog, luk: The reason for guarding the property is to protect outside stuff. There isn't much concern about breaking in to the house but even clothes left on a line overnight can be a target:
The highlight of our day was finding out what was in our vegetable box that we ordered from a produce company here. You may order it once a week and then pick it up the following day at a place called Neema (which means “grace” in Swahili) Café and Crafts. (Will have to do a blog on Neema crafts and café at a later time.) This is this first box of veggies that we have received. You go to the bank and deposit 100,000TSH in their account (which is a little more than $75) and then for $15, Masifio Estates provides you with a box of fresh veggies. Today we were so excited about it, we even took a picture of it. It included 4 small ears of sweet corn, a bag of baby corn, 3 kilos of potatoes, a small bunch of green onions, a baby cauliflower, French beans, peapods, a small bag of baby lettuce, cherry tomatoes, several rutabagas and baby zucchini. We had the sweet corn and a lettuce salad and then a fruit salad of fresh mango and bananas for dinner this evening. We are going to try to start a composting pile with all of the peelings etc., from the produce.
The Vegetable box:
A House Worth Waiting For
The house that the Finnish professor had been staying in with his family opened up the beginning of March and we were able to move in on Sue’s birthday as a present from the owner ( The final paperwork was still going through approvals). We were very fortunate to be able to stay in the Bega Kwa Bega apartment our first two months. Everyone was very gracious to us and helped us learn our way around Iringa as a resident instead of the tourists we have been in the past. There is a shortage of available housing in Iringa because there are a large number of people here for a Danish road construction project as well as rapid growth in Iringa.
The house is new and Tomi’s family was the first to live in it. There is an interesting foot path to campus that crosses boulders on a small river. The road to it is very bad but fortunately Tumaini has provided us with a Toyota Land Cruiser that I fit in easily and can negotiate the road. It is great to be close to campus now with the term starting up and with our own kitchen we will not eat out as much, especially since we are about 5 miles from town where most of the restaurants are.
The House, on a hillside with rocky hills all around:
The living Room, actually has satelite TV that carries some US and BBC news broadcasts. Most of the african programming is religious or soaps:
The Dining Room:
The kitchen, small but adequate with a nice gas stove. The steel cylinder is a filter that we pass boiled water through for drinking and cooking:
The bedroom, bed is not as long as I am but most aren't. Fortunately there is no footboard but we still have to get the mosquito net down:
The car, has 200,000 miles on it but is rugged:
The house is new and Tomi’s family was the first to live in it. There is an interesting foot path to campus that crosses boulders on a small river. The road to it is very bad but fortunately Tumaini has provided us with a Toyota Land Cruiser that I fit in easily and can negotiate the road. It is great to be close to campus now with the term starting up and with our own kitchen we will not eat out as much, especially since we are about 5 miles from town where most of the restaurants are.
The House, on a hillside with rocky hills all around:
The living Room, actually has satelite TV that carries some US and BBC news broadcasts. Most of the african programming is religious or soaps:
The Dining Room:
The kitchen, small but adequate with a nice gas stove. The steel cylinder is a filter that we pass boiled water through for drinking and cooking:
The bedroom, bed is not as long as I am but most aren't. Fortunately there is no footboard but we still have to get the mosquito net down:
The car, has 200,000 miles on it but is rugged:
Waiting in Iringa
I didn’t realize how long it has been since we updated the blog. We had been waiting for a house to become available and I guess everyday life in Iringa seems pretty normal now and not blog worthy. In the mean time I have met with a couple other well drillers working in this part of Tanzania and learning about science curriculum for secondary schools. The diocese has textbooks for their 7 secondary schools and I have been checking those books to make sure they follow the approved Tanzanian curriculum that the students will be tested on. I also broke my string of 4 months total time in Africa without ever being sick. I am getting over a good old fashioned Minnesota chest cold so I still have never had a problem with food in Africa.
Sue and I have also been helping sort out the applications for students enrolled at Tumaini. They enroll about 1,000 students a year and accept many more than that because so many either go to other schools or cannot come up with school fees to attend. We were going through them pulling the ones that actually are enrolled. It is interesting to see all the names, I wish we saved a list but here are some common ones Happy, Happiness, Godlove, Godbless, Goodluck, Innocent, Job, Nimrod, SweetBertha, and many more interesting ones. The other surprising thing in the applications is how low the secondary school grades are, even for these students who are in University. The passing standards for Secondary School allow exam scores as low as 30% and students are allowed to fail at least two subjects. The majority of the students we saw had failed basic mathematics. I did not see the IT applications so I hope their results were much better in math.
The problem is the educational system starting right from primary school. There are so few teachers who are really proficient in math that the cycle perpetuates itself because students end up not liking math or science and do not see a good reason to study those subjects when the best opportunities they see are in Government or Business. I’ll learn a lot more when I start working with the students.
Sue and I have also been helping sort out the applications for students enrolled at Tumaini. They enroll about 1,000 students a year and accept many more than that because so many either go to other schools or cannot come up with school fees to attend. We were going through them pulling the ones that actually are enrolled. It is interesting to see all the names, I wish we saved a list but here are some common ones Happy, Happiness, Godlove, Godbless, Goodluck, Innocent, Job, Nimrod, SweetBertha, and many more interesting ones. The other surprising thing in the applications is how low the secondary school grades are, even for these students who are in University. The passing standards for Secondary School allow exam scores as low as 30% and students are allowed to fail at least two subjects. The majority of the students we saw had failed basic mathematics. I did not see the IT applications so I hope their results were much better in math.
The problem is the educational system starting right from primary school. There are so few teachers who are really proficient in math that the cycle perpetuates itself because students end up not liking math or science and do not see a good reason to study those subjects when the best opportunities they see are in Government or Business. I’ll learn a lot more when I start working with the students.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Kising'a Well Drilling
I went to Isele with the well drilling crew to drill a well. There were 5 of us and I met the truck loaded with gear at 7 AM on schedule. Two guys had to sit on the gear in the bed of the truck and we were soon stopped at a police checkpoint. Having people in back of a truck is illegal even though it happens all the time and the fee was 20,000 tsh if we wanted a receipt or just 2,000 if we did not want a receipt. There were two police and that is what sets the fee. We paid 2,000 and continued with the two guys up top and picked up another rider shortly later.
We got to Isele and tramped around looking for good sites to drill where there is some evidence of water nearby. Isele is on a ridge and we went up and down both sides for almost two hours. The well drilling equipment is portable but you need about 1,000 gallons of water to drill a well with this equipment and water is a hard thing to get to the site. They had two 1,000 liter tanks that could be filled on the truck from a river but in the wet season you cannot drive the truck off road because the soil is soft and the slope is steep. We found a likely site where someone was drying grass seeds that they ferment to make a beverage and went to ask the village leaders for help getting water to the site by carrying in 5 gal buckets. The leaders said that people were in the fields and could not help (there were women gathering who I suspect would be happy to help but we could not proceed without authorization) so we headed on to Kising'a.
In Kising'a we had a lot of help and set up to drill above the Kisitu well which is a spring with good water. Everything looked good as we drilled 15 feet and hit sand which is evidence of a water layer. We all stayed at the pastor's house (I am feeling quite at home there now because I have spent more than two weeks there) and the next morning started drilling again with a coarser sand layer until we hit rock at 30 feet. The guys installed casing in the bore hole and tested the water delivery but it was too slow. They then tried drilling lower down and hit rock at ten feet and broke the clutch on the drill engine. This area appears to be a rock slab with a sand layer delivering water to the spring and that Kising'a is built on a lot of rock at 5400 feet.
We went to one of the hand dug wells we had done in 2007 that had a broken pump and installed the pump we had brought. This well was only 15 feet deep but the water was 4 feet from the surface so there was more than ten feet of water. The diameter of the hand dug wells is more than a meter so there is quite a bit of water there and this well always performed through the dry season. The water came out crystal clear but water from a well this shallow would have to be boiled or treated with water guard tablets. In a place where most of the surface springs are yellow, turbid water, water like this is great to have. I learned a lot about the problems of drilling in a place like Kising'a and it was fun to get to know the crew who spoke reasonable english.
Picture of a picture of the simba (lion) they had in the village about a year ago that was killing livestock and keeping people out of their fields. Very rare for a lion to stray this far out of the parks and it had to be killed:
We had lots of help and even more onlookers in Kising'a:
LS-100 mud drill rig. Mud is pushed down the drill pipe to push cuttings to the surface and preventing the bore hole from collapsing. The mud is recirculated from two pits and 5 foot lengths of pipe are added as we drill.
Cuttings right to left at 5 foot pipe intervals showing red dirt changing to coarser sand:
Standard 1 and 2 (first and second grade) primary students gathered for a puppet talk on sanitation given by Asha who is in our crew. We think our classrooms are crowded.
Pastor Wihale and parish member happy to have the well near the primary school and church working again:
We got to Isele and tramped around looking for good sites to drill where there is some evidence of water nearby. Isele is on a ridge and we went up and down both sides for almost two hours. The well drilling equipment is portable but you need about 1,000 gallons of water to drill a well with this equipment and water is a hard thing to get to the site. They had two 1,000 liter tanks that could be filled on the truck from a river but in the wet season you cannot drive the truck off road because the soil is soft and the slope is steep. We found a likely site where someone was drying grass seeds that they ferment to make a beverage and went to ask the village leaders for help getting water to the site by carrying in 5 gal buckets. The leaders said that people were in the fields and could not help (there were women gathering who I suspect would be happy to help but we could not proceed without authorization) so we headed on to Kising'a.
In Kising'a we had a lot of help and set up to drill above the Kisitu well which is a spring with good water. Everything looked good as we drilled 15 feet and hit sand which is evidence of a water layer. We all stayed at the pastor's house (I am feeling quite at home there now because I have spent more than two weeks there) and the next morning started drilling again with a coarser sand layer until we hit rock at 30 feet. The guys installed casing in the bore hole and tested the water delivery but it was too slow. They then tried drilling lower down and hit rock at ten feet and broke the clutch on the drill engine. This area appears to be a rock slab with a sand layer delivering water to the spring and that Kising'a is built on a lot of rock at 5400 feet.
We went to one of the hand dug wells we had done in 2007 that had a broken pump and installed the pump we had brought. This well was only 15 feet deep but the water was 4 feet from the surface so there was more than ten feet of water. The diameter of the hand dug wells is more than a meter so there is quite a bit of water there and this well always performed through the dry season. The water came out crystal clear but water from a well this shallow would have to be boiled or treated with water guard tablets. In a place where most of the surface springs are yellow, turbid water, water like this is great to have. I learned a lot about the problems of drilling in a place like Kising'a and it was fun to get to know the crew who spoke reasonable english.
Picture of a picture of the simba (lion) they had in the village about a year ago that was killing livestock and keeping people out of their fields. Very rare for a lion to stray this far out of the parks and it had to be killed:
We had lots of help and even more onlookers in Kising'a:
LS-100 mud drill rig. Mud is pushed down the drill pipe to push cuttings to the surface and preventing the bore hole from collapsing. The mud is recirculated from two pits and 5 foot lengths of pipe are added as we drill.
Cuttings right to left at 5 foot pipe intervals showing red dirt changing to coarser sand:
Standard 1 and 2 (first and second grade) primary students gathered for a puppet talk on sanitation given by Asha who is in our crew. We think our classrooms are crowded.
Pastor Wihale and parish member happy to have the well near the primary school and church working again:
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