Buhangija Nursery School: An Update

It’s been nearly a year since we first visited Buhangija, experienced the unmistakable odour of suncream mixed with dirt, met Claire and thought that maybe there might be something we could do. We still get emails and comments about our first ‘Buhangija NurserySchool’ posting and thought, after all these months an update might be in order because there have been some changes…

The initial objective of simply keeping the younger children occupied and out of the sun for a few hours each day has developed into a full nursery school with 2 classrooms, teaching nearly 100 children every day. The students receive a snack, wash their hands with soap, sing songs, learn the alphabet, create art, learn science, play with lego and practise reading and writing. Now, from Monday to Friday the compound is typically filled with children singing renditions of ‘Elephant, Elephant’ or ‘Shaky Shaky the Mango Tree’ – two of the students, and we suspect teachers, favourite songs.

Last week, Alice was standing peering into the 2 classrooms watching the teachers telling stories to 50 tiny white heads. The students were sitting with their legs crossed, arms wrapped around their chests, listening intently. The love Janeth and Deborah show to the children is inspiring. They have been hit, spat on, shouted at and more and yet they continue to patiently correct, lovingly discipline with a cheerfulness that can’t always be easy to find!

The teachers bring in extra food for their classes. They clean up every mess that is made. A few weeks ago, they even organised for a group of the older children to go to a local church on a Sunday morning. They sang a song, talked about the school, and most importantly of all were made to feel a little bit like a ‘normal’ child. Deborah and Janeth really are two very special and committed women.

In very exciting news, we have our first class of 31 students graduating from our small school in January. These students will now be proudly walking the short distance to the local Primary School where they will enter Standard 1 – an accomplishment that seemed near impossible during some of the early days of chaos. It’s remarkable progress within a year and something that we are just delighted to be part of.

Swahili word of the day: Tunakwende shuleni (We are going to school)

Water Work

Paul has continued to be busy in work over the past few months. As well as specifying and overseeing a bit of survey work; the project budget has been re-worked, Monitoring and Evaluation documents compiled as well as meeting with local stakeholders. Getting the survey sorted was an interesting experience. In a country where you haggle and bargain over the price of a handful of tomatoes, it was no real surprise to spend many hours talking, arguing and pleading over costs. After finally coming to an agreement, we also decided one of the ‘Water Team’ should be with the surveyors at all times to keep an eye of them. Thankfully we had a work experience student with us who was an ideal candidate for that!

The villages of Maganzo and Masagala are located about half an hour drive north of Shinyanga, beside the main Shinyanga-Mwanza road. The communities are very close to Mwadui diamond mine and they do a lot of ‘local’ mining so you have to watch out for large holes when you walk and drive around the area. The target population of approximately 12,000 currently have no access to a reliable, clean water source. People can buy unclean water from small dams or shallow wells nearby but for drinking water, they go to a dam 6km away. There is no other water infrastructure of any sort in the area despite the houses, guesthouses, shops etc. – all water is collected in buckets and walked or cycled to where they are.

ICS is working closely with KASHWASA (Kahama Shinyanga Water Supply and Sewage Authority) who are responsible for taking water from Lake Victoria before treating and pumping to Shinyanga. The project will be taking water from their pipeline and supplying it to 25 public water points. KASHWASA are keen to see the project succeed and have provided technical assistance at various stages, sent Engineers to help with the design and given us over 3km of pipe to use wherever we need. This local participation is useful for ICS now but will also help the project’s sustainability due to the support of those who provide the water and maintain the system.

The project is currently in the detailed design phase so there has been lots of studying of the Tanzania Water Supply Design Manual and discussions about pipe materials, population figures, how many people will actually use our new taps and the like. For the past few months, we have been concentrating on office work because of the Election. Not as a result of any safety concerns, but because very few people believe that we are serious about providing them with a water supply system – they have been convinced we are politicians making empty promises. So the general plan has been to wait until the elections are over and then go back and tell the community we are still here - quite a simple plan really!

Swahili word of the day: Maji safi na salama (Safe and clean water)

Hapa Kazi Tu!

After weeks and even months of political conversation and debate throughout the country, the Tanzanian General Election took place on Sunday 25th October. 

CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) or Party of the Revolution has, using various names, ruled Tanzania since it's independence in 1961. The party was started by Julius Nyerere, the 'father of the nation', who is revered throughout Tanzania and looks down on you from the wall of every office, shop and public building. CCM were the only legal political party until 1995 - although the addition of more parties has not changed the result of any election, with many claiming that the country knows who the new President will be before any votes are cast. 

This time, the major opposition parties joined together behind one candidate to try and wrestle power from the all-powerful CCM. It was felt that many people were ready for and wanted change, with the majority of younger voters vocal in their desire for change. 

On Thursday, four days later, the new President was declared as CCM's John Pombe Magufuli (Pombe being the Swahili for 'alcohol' and Magufuli meaning 'padlocks' which is the source of much amusement!). No real surprise but the announcement was accompanied by much grumbling and unhappiness among ordinary Tanzanians. However, police now swarm the streets with orders to break up any group of people greater than three members and with promises that any protest or demonstration will be dealt with harshly. The opposition has sent an open letter to the international community and The Hague but with the Tanzanian constitution stating that once a President is announced, the result cannot be overturned, the overriding feeling is that everyone will just have to wait five years and try again.

Looking forward, here is the BBC's take on what the new President of Tanzania needs to concentrate on over his term. Let's hope he can do a good job!

Swahili word of the day: Hapa Kazi Tu (Only Work Here - CCMs election slogan)

The Baby Room

The Tanzanian Presidential elections are drawing near. Flags have been flying from cars, travelling around town takes twice as long due to the frequent political rallies, megaphones are everyone’s new favourite method of communication and over 100 new children with albinism have been dropped off in Buhangija.

An interesting development in the election build up this year has been the passing of new legislation restricting criticism of the current government. A desire not have a run in with the Tanzanian authorities has made us cautious to point out what the perceived link between these elections and the increase in abandoned children in Buhangija might be. International press have not had to be so cautious. The Washington Post wrote this article about the current crisis.

The recent surge in numbers in Buhangija has created quite a few challenges. Children arrived quickly over the space of a few weeks with some days bringing 7 or 8 new faces. Stretched bed supply became even more stretched, thin porridge even thinner and in the middle of this chaos were 25 new children under the age of three toddling around completely bewildered. Too small to fend for themselves they went unwashed and sometimes unfed – missing out on food behind the experienced elbows of more savvy children. Abandoned and ignored in a place for the already vulnerable.

Thanks to donations and generous support, a new room has been renovated to make a safe and happy space for these 25 children during the day. Here they have their own toys to play with. They get morning porridge, a snack and lunch. Hands are washed, medicine given, stories read, the most beautiful scribbles drawn. A huge thank you must be given at this stage to Sarah, a friend of ours who lives in our town who works tirelessly in this room training two of the older girls in Buhangija to care for these small ones. Genni and Anna are understandably reluctant at times to sit on the floor and make endless block towers, but we’re getting there. Every day is a challenge as we try to encourage and equip these (sometimes stroppy!) teenagers to care for the smallest ones in their care. For some more photos, click here.

Swahili word of the day: Mtoto Vizuri (good child)

Happy Anniversary

We’ve been in Tanzania for a year. It’s hard to believe and yet it seems like a very long time since we said goodbye to our families at Dublin airport 12 months ago. While we never can claim being ‘from’ Tanzania, it has certainly begun to feel like home. Complaints and annoyances are frequent, but we’re still loving every minute.

Just like at home, every week has its ups and downs, frustrations and delights. Tanzania is one of the most materially poor countries in the world and we can’t escape that. At the moment, driving from Shinyanga to Mwanza, all of the rivers and most of the roadside dams are dry as we all wait expectantly for the impending rainy season. It’s also a country plagued by corruption at every level. That poses its own problems and has been the source of some of our most aggravating moments but you get used to that too.

The home of Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Lake Victoria, Tanzania is one of the most beautiful countries in East Africa. Combine this with Tanzania’s famous hospitality and friendly culture and it’s not hard to love living here. People are always willing to help, the language barrier regularly proving to be no barrier at all. We are fortunate to have met some great people in Shinyanga and it has become our new ‘home town’

Every day brings more lessons and we are constantly learning new things. The importance of boiling eggs on a Friday night to eat during the Saturday ‘black-out’, how to sweet talk a policeman and call their bluff now and again, that you can sweat from places you never thought possible, to make the most out of a beer when it’s cold and that no matter how much you plead Villareal v Viktoria Plzen watched by one old man takes precedence over the rugby world cup.

A lot of the time, life here feels very normal. We have a house, go to work, pay bills, go shopping. Then there are the times when you have to pinch yourself and realise that we’re still far from home!

Swahili word of the day: Mwaka Moja (one year)

Anna's Here!

Last Friday we collected a post-Indonesia, very bronzed, jet lagged but happy Anna from the airport in Mwanza. She is here to experience Africa, help out in Buhangija, do some travelling and judging by this week so far, sit and drink tea with Alice.

As we've said before, we're very lucky to have had so many visitors. Anna will be here for 3 months which is great. We tried to ease her into life here slowly with swimming pools, nice food and a boat trip in Mwanza but since coming to Shinyanga she has visited Buhangija, decided Ugali isn't nice, sat in the dark waiting for electricity to come back and had days with no water!

Despite being on a break from work, we think we've managed to convince her to make use of her OT skills with the kids in the centre. In return we've promised the standard Serengeti trip and maybe a visit to the Gombe chimps - an experience potentially less intense than being jumped on by 50 albino children!

Thrive-ing in Geita

After a busy few weeks full of moving house, visitors and holidays, life is slowly returning to normal for us in Shinyanga. Paul has been busy in work and Alice has been back in Buhangija – and caught a bit of the ‘Buhangija cold’ that strikes when your immune system is hijacked by 400 sick children who want to be as close to you as possible! Alice also managed to fit in a trip to Geita with Whitney, who also happens to be the real reason Ian extended his stay in Tanzania!

Whitney works for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and is a programme officer based in Mwanza. Part of her work has involved monitoring and evaluating CRS’s ‘Thrive’ – A Positive Parenting Project. Last week Ian, Whitney and Alice set off to a village between Mwanza and Geita (the place we moved to for a week and a half in May!) to visit a community that has been participating in Thrive. The project is centred on teaching parents how to care for their children’s safety, nutrition and developmental needs by CRS trained volunteers.

This particular village has had some struggles mobilising themselves in the past. Lack of community leader support meant they were behind in construction of a centre to meet together. Undeterred, the women in the village met under a tree. Further inspired by the project’s nutritional teaching, they contribute a small amount of food each and cook communally so their children can eat while they gather to learn. Since then, a simple centre has been built for the local community to meet together.

We arrived to help with one of the final aspects of the project – the murals. In a country with low literacy rates, a picture is often the best way to convey a message. So an enjoyable day was spent in the sun promoting healthy childhood development, early stimulation, proper nutrition and health monitoring...pretty heavy topics considering the giant giraffe and caterpillar we ended up with! Click here for more photos.

Swahili word of the Day: Afya ya Mtoto ni Pamojana… (A healthy child needs…)