Alex in his own words.

One of our longest-lasting volunteers, Alex Beck: read his story here

Alex bids a fond farewell to Buguruni. Come back, Alex.

Graduation Day 2011

With many thanks to Alison SB for representing Tanzanear and taking these lovely photos, here are some moments from Graduation Day at Buguruni School for the Deaf this week. These are pupils leaving Standard 7, which is the last year of primary school. We have our fingers crossed for their exam results, and congratulate them for all their hard work. And we are LOVING the Tanzanian equivalent of mortar-boards.

Class photo

Winnie (if memory serves) very excited. UPDATE. Memory didn't serve. This is in fact Neema.

I don't think these boys are old enough to graduate, but they are cute anyway.

The delightful, clever, hardworking Laurence Kigala - not old enough to graduate, but a very clever boy who loves maths. Which is the coolest subject of all.

UPDATE: the efficient Judith Roberts has told me the name of this very industrious boy.
And finally - Saidi making things in the vocational class. We hope that these skills will help make pupils self-sufficient when they leave school.

We also have a couple of videos, if I've managed to upload them properly. You can click here and here to see some dancing!

Photos of Anna Gugu

Anna Gugu is a deaf teacher who works in a different part of Dar es Salaam - in the Twiga unit. (Twiga means giraffe). Her salary is paid by a very kind individual donor. We have recently received some photos of Anna, which we are very pleased about. Here she is.

Thanks also to Umivita, who liaise with Anna for us. 

Lucy

Some long overdue new photos

Astute observers may have noticed a distinct lack of updates recently. For shame! Well, it's feast today rather than famine, because I remembered that I had a lovely load of photos from Judith Roberts' trip to Tanzania earlier this year. Trip isn't really the right word, as she was a superstar and went for five months. 

Here goes:

Umivita's spanky new office, which Judith project managed - many thanks to Tanzania Breweries Limited for this: you are marvellous. Click here to find out more about TBL. 

And this shows some gorgeous artwork from our wonderful friends at the International School of Tanganyika (IST)  - thank you so much!  

The new welcome sign on our super new wall at the school  - if you look closely, you can see the sign language for each letter of the welcome message. 

Charlie Hadley, one of our most dedicated volunteers ever, working with Gloria. Gloria is a lovely little girl in the nursery class. Charlie used to work at Mary Hare School and we are so happy - and grateful! -  to have this partnership with Mary Hare. Click here to see more about Mary Hare. 

This is English Club, started by Guy and Judi - two more uber-volunteers. English Club is making a real difference to the quality of teaching and learning in the school, and is offered to pupils AND teachers. 

Teachers at English Club - with Judi just squeaking in on the right there. 

I know I end all these posts promising to do it more frequently, but I am actually going to put an alert in my diary now to do something every week. You can email us at tanzanear@gmail.com to complain if I don't!

As always - thank you to our marvellous donors and volunteers. Although it goes without saying that we couldn't do anything without you, I never see that as a reason not to actually say it. 

Lucy (Chair)

Judith takes a well-earned break - and Guy and Judi come home for a bit

Hello all - you already know that Judith has been working extremely hard, living in Dar for a few months to really get things done on the ground. She's taking a well-earned break in Dubai for a few days, to see her husband Nigel - they haven't seen each other for two months!

Recently Judith went travelling in Tanzania to see how other deaf organisations do things.

Here's Alison (one of our on-the-ground representatives) and Matilda in Njombe - it's so nice to see Matilda looking relaxed.

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Dar Blah Blah 9

The gang (including Guy and Judi) also went to see the cafe run by deaf people at Neema crafts

http://www.neemacrafts.com

- it's pretty impressive, as you can tell from this photo:

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Dar Blah Blah 9

Guy and Judi are coming home for a while soon, but, amazingly, are going to go back to the school - lucky us.

Tori, Super-Volunteer! - Sounds of Hope evening in Washington DC

Hurray for Tori, one of our best volunteers ever. Tori used to live in Dar es Salaam, and has now moved back to Washington DC with her husband Robert and very tall baby Bella.

A few weeks ago she organised a musical evening in Washington for Tanzania, and sent these gorgeous photos. It raised £216, which is wonderful and goes a long, long way in Africa. We're especially grateful to Tori for going to a huge amount of trouble to wire the money to our UK account, involving many trips to the bank and emails with our Treasurer.

You can see the photos here (I hope):

https://picasaweb.google.com/JodiandAlex/SoundsOfHopeForTanzanear?feat=directlink#

and here's a couple to whet your appetite:

The band

L to R: Mary (one of the organisers), Tori and Jodi, Tori's friend

Tanzanear Exec committee meeting, March 3rd 2011

The Exec Committee met this Thursday. We had a fine turnout: even our Dar-es-Salaam members joined us by Skype (which you can just about see in this photo). Georgia, a possible new member, was there, and Susan Pym, our newest addition. We were sad that Toshi couldn't partake of the excellent pork pies that were on offer.

It was a great meeting: we had invaluable feedback from Judith Roberts and Alison Sweeney-Bissett in Dar, and made significant progress to improving how we work (eg finance systems, membership database, planning the year, making sure we have all the right things in place to meet the rightly high standards set by the Charity Commission).

As always, many thanks to the Robertses for letting us use their house, even though Nigel had to do all the work this time, with Judith being in Tanzania.

You can just about see Judith on the computer screen (as Dar is three hours ahead, and the meeting was long, Alison had had to retire for the night by the time I took this) and then left to right are Stuart Middleton, John Middleton, Nigel, the back of Georgia's head, the remnants of some pork pies, and Susan Pym.

New Committee members in a few years' time?

Lovely news  - previous Committee members Sharon and Fred Thomas have had beautiful, healthy twin baby boys. They were born on February 15th and weighed nearly 7lb each. I can't really remember details like this, so I don't know the exact weights. They are super!

Here's Sharon (who used to be Hon Sec) and Lucy (Tanzanear Chair) showing one of them off. The other one was asleep, apparently.

We send Sharon and Fred - and Arthur and Finbarr - lots of love and our very warmest congratulations. 

Volunteers still working hard...

Here's a picture of our volunteers having a well-earned tea break, and of Guy and Judi fighting their way through torrential tropical rain!

This picture is of the library looking beautifully clean after many hours of hard work from our gap-year volunteers.

As always, we're sending BIG THANKS to our lovely helpers for all they do.

December and January updates from Umivita

Umivita have been battling through the power cuts in Dar and are still very busy....here's what they've been up to:

PROGRESS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2010

Sig Language & International guests

UMIVITA had two guests from Pennsylvania in the US and Ghana who happed to know it through US based Tanzanian Pastor Frank as well as through Tanzanear website. The aim of visit of these hearing teachers of deaf schools in their respective countries was to learn Tanzania Sign Language and its culture.

Benefit: Though training them was for their benefit but UMIVITA benefited with some skills and experience shared during their three weeks stay including how to help deaf children and young people in their challenging life. Interacting with them also improved relationship with outside world for future use.

Sign Language and awareness rising

UMIVITA also taught sign language to a young deaf person and his family which in first hand believed only on oral and lip leading methods and denied him right to sign language thinking that using signs marks a deaf person as being poor or from the lower classes.

Though the young man knew the oral and aural method, it was very frustrating and confusing. He wasn't getting enough information."

Benefit: this training through peer education is giving deaf young man interaction with his fellow deaf through clubs and provided him chance to communicate freely as well as raise awareness to his family.

Working with Tanzanear chairman

Having been with Lucy from October to December of last year has gained us a lot on managerial skills including on various proposals writing skills.

Benefit: Improving our daily activities and managerial skills.

Employment:

UMIVITA recruited job opportunity for Mr. Hijja Tulien at Azam Marine Company as a cleaner whose station will be at company headquarters in Zanzibar.

Benefit: This employment will help Mr. Hijja have an independent life.

And other activities as may be done from time to time

EDUCATION REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2010

Pre-secondary programs

The evening classes were run on the first three weeks of the month aiming at keeping mind of standard seven students leavers open and prepare them for further education especially secondary education.

Benefit: This preparatory scheme will enable deaf young people to cope with secondary education or vocational training programmes.

Visiting historical sites

During the third week of month at closing of the evening classes for a holiday, education staffs and their standard five pupils visited National Museum and Museum Village as part of their education programmes.

Benefit: Pupil’s educational opportunities were expanded by taking learning beyond the classroom

Giving advices to deaf parents

Umivita secretariat met with more than 25 parents with deaf children seeking education opportunities for their beloved children.

It provided advisory assistance including a variety of opportunities ranging from secondary education to vocational trainings. They were also explained about where to get school fees assistance as well as a place for their children beyond the borders either in Kenya or Uganda where UMIVITA has partnership with some schools.

Benefit: At the end of day, these advices had cleared ways for deaf children next step after their completion of standard seven, form four and vocational training.

Visiting Kisarawe Vocational Education Centre.

The secretariat was at Kisarawe Vocational Education Centre in Coast Region to lobby for more deaf young people enrolled at the centre. Our meetings with Director of the Centre, Mr. Jackson Msanya was very ensuring.

Benefit: Our proposal for young deaf young people completed primary education was accepted.

Location, attendance and hours spent

Evening classes was conducted at Temeke and Twiga units. The average attendance was 45 pupils and average hour spent was 15 per week.

EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT FOR JANUARY, 2011

Evening classes

After a holiday, the evening classes started again during last two weeks of the month to improve young deaf people’s education.

Benefit: Long term is expected to improve the education of deaf children and short term was that attendance was very encouraging with new students attending the programs.

Lobbying for deaf young people into college/school

UMIVITA successfully helped five deaf young people into Kisarawe Vocational Training College and had appointment with Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development, Gender and Children; Mr. Hassan Katanga to lobby for the same be allowed into the college without fees. Mr. Katanga, whose ministry is supervising the college, congratulated our dedication to help the deaf young people and promised a good response after the ministerial meeting later next month.

Benefit: Our previous visit at the colleges forced way for five deaf young people into the institution and hopefully ministry responses would be positive so that these deaf children who their parents are unable to meet boarding fees can be smoothly enrolled for their future benefit.

Lobbying for fee reduction

Our appointment with Head Master of Kongowe Polytechnic Secondary School, Mr. Mkilinda Mweri was to lobby for reducing of fee expenses for deaf students enrolled there.

Benefit: The response was ensuring, we expect the fees (more than tsh. 800,000) would be reduced to tsh 600,000 or 400,000. It will also enable deaf children to study smoothly and increase number of children enrolled there.

Benjamini  Mkapa  High School

After two year efforts to lobbying for Public Secondary School in Dar Es Salaam specially for deaf young people who complete their education in Dar es Salaam and neighbour regions, the government had heard our cry for officially naming Benjamin Mkapa High School situated in Ilala just 500 m/ from UMIVITA Headquarter for the purpose.

Benefit: students from the region and its neighborhood would recover the cost of sending students at upcountry regions.

Advising and transferring child

UMIVITA continued to provide advice to parents with deaf children who seeking for further education as well as helped Mr. Paschal Rambau, a businessman to transfer his deaf young person from Kilimanjaro’s school to Dar es Salaam ones.

Benefit: 12 parents with deaf children were benefited with advice and are in process of sending their children at several schools in Coast and Iringa regions as well as in Kenya while other for vocational training programs are waiting for the opportunities on April.

Helping transfer pupil from one school to another has helped deaf young person to be close to his parents and easy access for treatment due to his ill health.

Encouraging news

Temeke Unit saw her four students among five passed to secondary education. Those students all were part of our evening classes. For Twiga Unit has only one passed due to severe problem of lack of teachers out there.

Location, attendance and hours spent

Evening classes was conducted at Temeke and Twiga units. The average attendance was 60 pupils and average hour spent was 15 per week.

PROGRESS REPORT FOR JANUARY 2011

Visitors from Holland

UMIVITA had visitors from Holland who had already established link with UMIVITA’s partner in Zanzibar, Zanzibar Association of the Deaf. The visitors aimed to tour Zanzibar were able to visit some place of attraction in Tanzania Mainland.

The long time aim of the trio is to establish a link with UMIVITA and hence tourist agency for deaf people around the world.

The company with it’s headquarter in Holland has branches in Egypt, Senegal and Botswana.

Benefit:  UMIVITA will become a agent in Mainland Tanzania and expect to receive a group of 12 students from Holland to visit Ngorongoro and Mikumi national parks. Under this scheme deaf young people will escort the group and hence create employments and income.

Advisory and training support for young deaf people completed secondary education

Because deaf young people after their schools completion can face a variety of challenges to living independently, learning and gaining suitable employment. These include skills gaps and low self-confidence due to the fact that deaf children don’t always get as much out of mainstream schooling as hearing children, difficulties accessing advice and training services due to communication barriers, and a lack of awareness of their needs amongst employers and training providers.

Due to that reason UMIVITA provided one-to-one advisory support to around 15 deaf young people in order to develop the confidence and life skills required to be independent and participate fully in community and learn the skills they need to get into employments, training ort volunteering.

Benefit: 10 deaf young people developed the combination of life skills and confidence in their related fields they need to achieve their personal goals.

Enabling deaf women into training

More than 10 umivita deaf young women participated enpranaurship training conducted by Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO).

Benefit: The group was able to make soap and bread which will crucial to create self employments.

And other activities may be done from time to time

Grown-up Gap Year Volunteers

Very excitingly, we have quite a few more people ready to go out to Dar, or already there.

Judith Roberts, Tanzanear's Honorary Secretary, has given up nearly everything about her normal London life (house, husband, two sons, the shops....) to go to Dar for a substantial period of time. She plans to put some solid work into embedding the new culture of wearing hearing-aids at the school, and helping Umivita move to Buguruni. She is very bravely staying at the convent for all her time there - a far cry from her elegant house in Wandsworth.  Although she has taken a few gadgets with her (can't be separated from her Mac and her coffee-maker), this is a huge sacrifice she's making, and we know she'll do a wonderful job.  More on this to follow.

We also have two more "grown up Gap Year" volunteers going out. We are unbelievably lucky to benefit from the experience of Guy Cowley and Judi Stewart, who have impressive CVs of working in senior management positions in the charity world. They are looking forward to getting on with a range of tasks - some "strategic" and financial things, some low-level getting their hands dirty, and of course, spending time with the wonderful children at Buguruni. We know we will learn a lot from them.

I took this photo after a dinner in London held to brief Guy and Judi. From left to right, this shows:

Judi Stewart  (about to volunteer)
Nigel Roberts (Deputy Chair of Tanzanear)
Judith Roberts (Hon Sec and currently out in Dar)
John Middleton (Treasurer)
Guy Cowley (about to volunteer)

It's so kind of all these people to give up their time and the comforts of home  - we hope they have lots of fun too, and we'll keep postings updates about their exploits.

Volunteers playing with the children at Buguruni

With thanks to Alison for taking these lovely photos, here are our current gap-year volunteers (Alex, Isla, Izzie and Lucy) playing with Buguruni children. It's so good for the pupils to have this kind of attention and fun. Here in cold grey London, we are simultaneously impressed with the volunteers' abiility to run around in the intense heat of Dar, and jealous of the blue skies.

Update from BSD via Matilda (for December 2010)

Hello,

Matilda sent us this update for December last week. We always love hearing from her. Lovely news about the sporting achievements! I've put a few explanations in brackets and italics where that might be useful.

Dear Tanzanear Chairperson and Comittee Members,

In December there was some issues which happened at the school. The pupils were on Holidays and the school was quiet, but still there were issues as follows.

1. The Ministry of Education organised a National atheletics games which involved  all Primary schools in the country to select

     nice players to go to Kibaha  Coast Region  to compete. Twenty deaf pupils from our school were chosen. Those who live in Dar es salaam.

     Our pupils from Dar es salaam did the best. They were awarded nine silver medals and a cup. This achivement was the result of

     Tanzanear who gives us a lot of different plays (African term for sports or play equipment)  and it makes the pupils fit. Thank you Tanzanear.

2.  In December there is lady known as Shekha (A Tanzanian friend of the school, who is an estate agent in Dar es Salaam, and who has helped the school for three years now) gave to the pupils some clothes, an old printer which still needs her help and

     75,000  Tzs.  which will buy milk and eggs for the Boarding pupils. We thank her.

3.  On the 10th December  The HARK Board met under the Chairman Mr. Hamza Kasongo and nice programes were discused (see http://www.sound-seekers.org.uk/our-work/hark-projects/ for more details)

      to make our pupils happy when they get ear diseases not to stay in long lines at Muhimbili ENT but to be attended at once.

      And also they talked about deaf adults  how to attend them. The meeting was done  at Buguruni School for the deaf.

I expect that we'll get an update from Umivita soon,  and I'll post that too. Here's a random photo, just for interest:

It is Matilda in the school farm, with a massive breadfruit. It's not a very good picture of Matilda, actually, but it is a great picture of the breadfruit. 

Lucy

Two new volunteers - Alexandra and Isla

Alexandra Stewart and Isla Findlay are the latest gap-year volunteers to go out to Buguruni. Here are pictures of them looking very glamorous; we expect that at the moment, they are probably a bit more dusty, dishevelled and hot than this!

Isla (planning to be a primary school teacher)

Alexandra (planning to study archaeology)

They have joined Izzie and Lucy, who were there already. Matilda told us that the girls are doing really well and having lots of ideas. She sounded very upbeat, so I think they are helping her a lot. In Tanzania, visitors are seen as a treat and a gift, so having four lovely cheery young people will be a great uplift for Matilda. 

One day I might even have a picture of the volunteers doing some actual work. Until then, we hear that Alison Bissett and Michelle Hawkins are looking after them and ensuring that it's not all work and nuns. 

The lockers are finally here!

Thanks to the great generosity of the Caledonian Society, and expert help from Alison Bissett and her nine-year-old assistant Eddie, the lockers have arrived at Buguruni School, for the boarding pupils. It's so important for the children to feel that their few possessions and clothes are safe. It means that they can have a little area in the dormitory that's theirs, and it helps them know that they are valued.

The Caledonian Society really wanted to donate something that the pupils themselves wanted, and the lockers were a clear winner.

Alison is also helping to make sure that there's a sensible system for locker keys - we are lucky to have so many super-brains on the case. 

More photos of the Starkey Hearing Aid day and the Scottish band

Morning all

I've just been sent more gorgeous photos of the Starkey Hearing Aid day and also of the wonderful Scottish band that the Caledonian Society brought to the school. The children love music, especially percussion (because it's easier for them to feel the vibrations) and they were loving having a bit of a dance - as were the teachers! You can see the teachers throwing some shapes in the last picture.

Many thanks to Michelle Hawkins, as always, for the beautiful snaps.