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.

Volunteers being looked after by Alison Bissett

We currently have four young people kindly volunteering at the moment - Izzie, Lucy, Alex and Isla. Luckily for them, Alison Bisset, our lovely Committee member in Dar, is looking after them - showing them where to have fun and most importantly, upgrading them to relative luxury after the convent.

Here are two of them, texting (naturally)....

and here, finally, is a picture of Alison !

Exciting database reconciliation

Work goes in between Committee meetings, of course. This is John, our new Treasurer, and Lucy, spending a rainy January morning combining the newly computerised accounting records with the membership database. We expect the winter evenings to fly by as we finish this off.

Stuart, another Committee member, is John’s son. He brought us coffees occasionally, albeit with a rather grudging attitude. And he forgot the sugar in Lucy’s.

John has just commented that he always likes to match his shirt to the wallpaper, but this does require changing his outfit  quite often.

Next up, I might try to post some videos of school.

New members of the Tanzanear Exec Committee

We're doing more and more in Tanzania, and the work is growing! So we're delighted to have some new Exec Committee members. After saying a sad goodbye to a few people in 2010 (Maggie retired after many years' excellent work, and Sharon and Fred left to prepare for having twins, after doing a huge amount to move the charity onto the next stage) we really needed some more hands.

Alison Bissett - see previous entry about the lockers - has kindly agreed to be our liaison person in Dar-es-Salaam itself. It makes a huge difference to have someone on the ground, and she's already being a huge help.

Susan Pym went to Tanzania last year as part of the St Colomba's work party, which renovated the girls' dormitory and made it a lovely place to stay. She fell in love with the school, even with having to clean loos, and we are looking forward to using her non-housework talents!

The finished work

Susan and her husband Hugh, in the dormitory that they helped to renovate.

I can put up a picture of the loo-cleaning if I get any special requests for this....

We also have two new "Appointed Members", who will represent Mary Hare School. More on this in the next article.

Thanks very much to our new Committee members for all that they've already done, and will do.

Latest volunteers - Izzie and Lucy

Izzie and Lucy (not Lucy Carter, Lucy Rew!) are on their gap years after finishing their A-levels at James Allen's Girls' School. They've just arrived in Dar and as well as coping with the intense heat and a few other ways in which things are different to London, they are going to help Mr Shibanda with audiology record-keeping, organise after-school fun and games for the boarders, and help with writing and counting in the very youngest classes.

It will be a learning process for all of us - we'll put up more updates about Lucy and Izzie's progress, and use their feedback to improve future volunteer experiences. In the meantime, we hope they bring a lot to the school and also that they make it to the beach occasionally...

A promise from us

OK, so this is me, Lucy, promising to be better about updating this website. Email us at tanzanear@gmail.com if you think we don't do it enough from now on!

Next things to come up should be the Christmas newsletter, news about our extremely exciting sponsorship scheme, articles on a stream of lovely volunteers going out in 2011, and a fundraising jazz evening in Washington DC on February 4th, organised by Tori Ongodia (who used to live in Dar and can't forget the school or Umivita).

To make amends for lack of updates over the Autumn, here's a gorgeous picture of little Neema, who is not deaf, but is the little daughter of one of our best ayahs, who very sadly died last year. Neema is being brought up in the school now, as her father can't look after her, and is totally adorable.

Bug children get hearing aids

November 18th and 19th 2010 were momentous days for Buguruni School for the Deaf. An international charity, the Starkey Foundation, provided hearing aids for all pupils and many other local children. The effect was stunning; many children could hear and speak (and shout!) instantly. Most of the adults spent a large proportion of the day blinking back tears.

We are very grateful to the Starkey Foundation and all the other donors: particularly Rotary Dar es Salaam, Pepsi, and Azam, who made this possible. Our lovely volunteer Michelle Hawkins, a marketing expert, wrote the article below. It was published in the December issue of the Dar Guide, which is given out in all the posh shops in Dar es Salaam.

Maintaining this gift is another project entirely. We are hugely lucky to have dedicated audiologists in the school, under the leadership of Mr Shibanda, and the support and guidance from Mary Hare School here in England. We feel very positive that together, Buguruni and Mary Hare can create an environment in which hearing is built into teaching, and the aids are properly cared for.

The article in Dar Guide

Lovely Michelle

Boarding pupils get lockers to keep their possessions safe

The Buguruni school term starts again on January 10^th, and the boarders will get a special treat when they reach the dormitories, after what is often a long, dusty journey. The local Caledonian Society raised a huge amount of money in 2010 to buy lockers for all boarding children. The Society was especially keen that their donation be used in a “pupil-focused” way, and so lots of work was done to help the children articulate what they wanted. It turned out that the boarders really felt the absence of somewhere to keep their things safe. It's hard enough to be a long way from home at a young age, so making dormitories a nicer place, where the boarders could make their own personal spaces, seemed a great suggestion.

It was hard work for CalSoc and our local liaison person, the indefatigable Alison Sweeney-Bissett, to do the bargaining and arrange delivery. But the lockers turned up last week and we know the boarders will be over the moon about it.

Lockers being delivered

Winifrida and a brand-new locker

Alison Sweeney-Bissett (actually working very hard on something else here). We don't have photos of Kate Methley, Deborah Crowe or Paul Soppitt from the Caledonian Society, but if we did, they would look GREAT.

New school wall at Buguruni School for the Deaf

Some really exciting things have happened recently. One of the best is that the school now has a new wall. This was an extremely kind donation from a large local business. Before this, the wall was very broken-down, with big gaps. This meant that the school was not as safe as it should be. But it is now a beautiful, high wall and the local business also gave a new gate. As an extra bonus, they knocked down the old headmaster's house, which was a derelict eyesore. This has given the school an extra space, with lovely shade from a huge mango tree.

Another local company did the construction work and did a great job - we say a big thank you to Mbesso, and their supervisor, Arnold. They were especially kind, and did some free plastering and painting at the end.

The finished wall and new gate.

Halfway there...

Early stages

Mbesso cracking on - working very hard in boiling heat

Before it started. We didn't actually make the children do the work.

Autumn / winter update from Buguruni School for the Deaf

Mama Matilda (on the left in this photo, with the marvellously energetic Mr Madai, Chair of TSD, on the right) sent us this update to cover recent months at Buguruni School for the Deaf. As you can see, things are really moving.

We are excitedly awaiting the Standard 7 exam results, hoping that they are as good as last year's.

October report:

The first of October Tanzania Society for the deaf sat for the Board meeting. During the meeting we had a new member who joined the Board that was Mr.Bill Bali. We belive he is going to steer the Board ides and plans to reach the required goals. The meeting was good members discussed about new changes at the shool.To get a new Headteacher was a pleasure to the Board and the pupils.Also we discussed about ways to make TSD self sustainable.

The school had chance to meet Neville and his wife.Mrs Alison. We met these new friends through the influence of Judith and Nigel. They agreed to finish the school wall which was unfinished and sometimes pupils could go out without permission. To day we happy to tell our friends Tanzanear that the wall is finished now they are now in the last touches.

The same month Lucy Carter the Chairperson of Tanzanear arrived and she had a lot of ides to share with us. The most important was to come and prepare the two days Starkey Foundation .

hearing Aid Fittings. We again thank Judith who made alot of plans and agreements to make Starkey Foundation U.S.A agree to come and fit 250 Buguruni deaf pupils and 350 other deaf pupils around Dar es salaam.This was really a big job and tiresome one. We thank them in person as well as Tanzanear as a strong NGO

November:

In November everybody at the school was very busy.Judith Roberts joined us to prepare the Starkey Days, !8th and 19th November were very busy days at the school. 600 deaf pupils got hearing Aids. The pupils from that day were exposed to the hearing World. Some of them could pronounce words which had meaning. What a mirracle! We sincerely thank Starkey Fondation USA , Judith and Lucy in person and Tanzanear who made all these happen.

We thank Rotary Club Dar es salaam who gave money to prepare the two days Starkey .The money enabled 1200 people to get food and water. To prepare the gounds with beautiful tents, chairs and other things which were required that day. The left money has made ten speech mirrors, two Audiology shelves, a big Curboard to keep Ear Mould materials and other Audiolocal things.Also they have bought containers to keep individual hearing aids.

We thank Pepsi Company they gave 1200 bottles of sotf drinks.

We thank Azam who gave juice to the pupils free.

The two day will always be remembered by the deaf pupils in Dar es salaam.

Please receive

this report. Matilda

November 2010 update from Umivita

We're really pleased that Umivita is doing so well. Here's their November update. December will follow soon.

UMIVITA provided advice for four (4) young deaf people live in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma Region to solve their employment and personal problems in their families wrote letters to 15 young deaf people seeking employments, business license and certificate of births.

Benefit: Advisory support helped three deaf people who wanted to neglect their employments due to what they said low salaries. Advice was that they should continue with their current employers until they get other good jobs. Writing letters had helped Mr. Bakari Ally to get a temporary business license to sell goods between Dar and Dodoma regions. Also has helped two deaf people to get a certificate of births from Government Agency.

Forum:

After last month interaction with other Disabled People Organization (DPOs) to formulate key agendas for Disabled Women Forum in order to ensure all the important issues related to deaf women were included, UMIVITA was among seven DPOs attended the five day forum organized by Action for Disabled Development (ADD) to discuss disabled women position in the country. At the end of the forum, the participants established a network for disabled women involved various women from various DPOs including UMIVITA.

Benefit: Participation on the forum has been able to make the voice of deaf women be heard on the matters of national importance; increased UMIVITA professional image and collaboration with other stakeholders with one of its staffs, Miss Tungi Mwanjala being elected into newly established disabled women network’s executive board.

Scientific Conference:

Chairperson attended the 28^th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting. The conference which held at the Corridor Spring Hotel in Arusha from Novembers 29^th through December 1^st was organised by the Tanzania Public Health Association (TPHA) which most of UMIVITA executives board members are its members.

Benefit:

The conference was very enriching and the knowledge acquired during the event is now being shared with other UMIVITA members. UMIVITA was also able to present a note on Impact of Global Climate Change on Disabled which promoted it among scientific stakeholders.

Evening classes

During five days stay in Arusha, UMIVITA Chairperson met with group of UMIVITA members based in Arusha town and Karatu district where he had evening discussions with them on how to become self reliant citizens who can contribute to social, economic and cultural life of the nation and about establishing a UMIVITA branch in the future.

Benefit: After questionnaires, 13 among 20 deaf young people attended four day evening event showed to full understand how they can be self reliant people and has got strategy on lobbying ana procedure for a loan from microfinance organizations based in the Arusha Region.

And other activities as may be done from time to time

EDUCATION PROGRESS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2010

Classroom activities:

As it was an end of the year where schools are expected to be closed for a long holiday, tests were focused on all standard five and six pupils prior to their annual examination in their respective special units.

Benefit: most of the pupils were well prepared to face annual examination at their respective schools due to the tough tests they were given by their evening classes’ teachers.

VETA enrollment

Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA) Head Office accepted UMIVITA requests to secure dozen of deaf young people who completed standard seven this year a place at some of its training centers in Der es salaam, Iringa, Kagera and Zanzibar where UMIVITA is working on partnership with Zanzibar Association of the Deaf (ZAD).

UMIVITA submitted 62 numbers of deaf young deaf people from the regions.

Benefit: Due to a careful selection process, UMIVITA is expecting most of the recommended deaf young people would be selected to join for the VETA courses in various fields.

Meeting with deaf parents

During provision of hearing Aid to young deaf people at Buguruni School for the deaf, a project by Starkey Hearing Foundation of the USA, UMIVITA got an opportunity to describe its activities and had met with many parents with deaf children who later visited UMIVITA office.

Most of these deaf parents were seeking assistance for their children to further education including secondary schools.

Benefit: Advice provided by UMIVITA gave a light to the parents for future of their children. Some parents opted for private secondary schools including Kongowe Secondary School at the same time access evening classes. The meeting was also made our above selection exercise for young deaf people to join VETA be simple as one third of the submitted names were listed from these meetings.

Location, attendance and hour spent:

The evening classes’ was held at Temeke and Twiga units; average attendance was 54 pupils and hour spent was 15 per week.