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A Week in the Seychelles

Kelly here with an observation, Ven and I are poor bloggers.  I think that I have mentioned this previously but I can’t recall which is just another indication that my view is true. It has been months since we last had an entry.  In that time, we have moved from Kilimanjaro to Dar es Salaam, traveled to South Africa, visited the United States and started working as Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders.  We should really write about these adventures.  Until then Ven will get you caught up with something from just a week ago--our fantastic trip to the Seychelles.

Kelly and I left Dar es Salaam on Ethiopian Airlines with a layover in Addis Adaba, arriving on Mahe Island and at our bungalow Alha Villa late afternoon.  We found out later that the name Alha is made up of the first two letters of Alex and Hannah, the children of owner Pascalina.  The scenery was beautiful, with beaches seemingly everywhere.  I was surprised at how hilly and steep the terrain was.  If you drove through the cross-section of the island, you will experience persistent switchbacks.  

We stayed in Anse la Mouche on the southwestern end of Mahe Island, the biggest and most populated island of the Seychelles.  Our beach, a mini-market and a restaurant was 5-10 minutes away from our lodging.  We checked out The Anchor Restaurant for an early dinner.  After doing the mental currency conversion on the menu, we realized how expensive the entrees were.  Shrimp entrees were 400 rupees, or 28 USD; fish and chips close to 20 USD.  Their local beer, Seybrew, was 5 USD for what seems like less than 12 ounces.  We live in Tanzania, where a good 16 oz beer costs about a dollar and an “expensive” entrée is 10-15 USD.  We ended up ordering their seafood plate, with the understanding that we’ll be doing some cooking for the week.   Our bungalow, like most rentals on the island, comes with a fully-equipped kitchen.

Our hosts had some bikes that they graciously lent out to us.  We braved the narrow 2-lane winding roads to visit beaches at Anse Takamaka and Anse Intendance.  Imagine white, sandy beaches and clear blue water stretching out on the horizon.  We decided to do a loop around the southern end of the island, which sometimes involved getting off and pushing our bikes up steep hills.  (The experience brought flashbacks of our biking adventure with Craig and Lucy in Ecuador, when we biked in the highlands there.)  On other days, we biked to Anse Boileau and Anse Soleil to hang out at the beach and swim.  Mostly, we relaxed and floated in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.  

Lucky for us, there was a diving center right by our beach.  Kelly signed us up for the next day.  Unfortunately, it rained and I backed out while Kelly went ahead.  We both made the right decision for each of us. We signed up to go snorkeling on Friday again, but there was a swell causing the ocean floor to churn up sand. With poor visibility, the guides at the diving center discouraged us from going (you know it must be bad if they are cancelling the trip.)  They suggested that we go to the other side of the island to Anse Royale and snorkeled to the nearby island.  We went forward with this plan, which involved taking a bus.  I read in an old Lonely Planet guidebook to the Seychelles that you could stick your head in the water anywhere in the Seychelles and see fish. It’s more or less true.  

On Tuesday, we visited Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles.  We saw their Hindu temple, markets and botanical gardens.  The Coco de Mer palm tree is a special of the island, with male and female parts.  The city was fine, but it reaffirmed that we made the right decision for ourselves by choosing the quieter part of the island.

Midway through our week, we walked about 10 miles on scenic and winding roads to Espoir, where there was a path to a viewpoint.  I loved it! We were the only two people on this huge expanse of rock, overlooking the sea coast and the vertical mountain face.

Some of the meals we ate in restaurants were prawns in garlic sauce, crab in garlic sauce, grilled fish and rice, meatballs and chips, none of which was amazing.  We kept searching for local Creole food, but never seemed to order the right dish.  Our last night, we asked the server at the Anchor Restaurant to recommend two local dishes for us.  So, we tried blackened fish and fish curry.  Who would have ordered blackened fish on their own?  It turned out to be our favorite, seasoned with a variety of spices.  We also tried their pina colada, with fresh coconut.  Mmmm… Tasty, the best that Kelly has had, and he would know…

Primarily, we cooked at our bungalow.  There was a tiny store packed with a little of everything near us.  We tried chicken luncheon meat (spam-like) for the first time and re-acquainted ourselves with pork luncheon meat.  I grew up with canned pork spam, so it tasted really good to me.  Also within minutes near the beach, we found a vegetable stand with organic fruits and vegetables.  I was thrilled to see water spinach, also known as pak bung in Thai or rau muon in Vietnamese.  We also found red-fleshed papaya, which is firm and crunchy, unlike the soft, yellow-fleshed papaya readily available in Tanzania.  My curiosity was aroused when I spotted some marinated chicken, beef and pork, sold without any refrigeration.  Can marinated meats be out all day like this?  They told me that it is salted meat.  When I touched the chicken, it was hard.  I bought some to try.  Boy, it was a mess!  I fried it and tried cutting it up to make sure that it cooked thoroughly.  I took a bite and it tasted saltier than salt! They weren’t kidding about the salt part!  I felt, it was inedible!  Poor Kelly actually ate some of it. I double downed on it and decided to cook it with some rice, reasoning that the salt will leach out of the chicken and season the rice.  It turned out all right, with the chicken and rice salty, but edible.  Bottom line: I wouldn’t buy salted chicken again.

Would we recommend the Seychelles?  Definitely, for those who enjoy the lazy beach life.

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Farewell to Boloti!

Speech by Ven at morning assembly on our last day at site, 30 September 2016.

 We have been at Boloti Secondary School for two years, and now, it is time to say “Good-bye.”

First, we started by teaching this year’s Form Three students for two months.

Then, we have taught this year’s Form Two student for one full year.

And, this year, we have taught Form One for nine months.

Madam Sonia will finish the school year for us by teaching Form One Maths and English.  

She will do a great job!

Every day, every week, every month and every year, we have learned new ways to teach in the Tanzanian classroom.  

We have tried our best to do our jobs as teachers.

That is all we can do as human beings.

We encourage you to do the same, just try your best!

The students and teacher who we admire are the ones who try their best.

Yes, your skills in Maths or English may be high, or low, but you cannot improve unless you try your best.

I want to thank PermaGarden members from last year and this year for their participation.  The project is a success due to their efforts.

Last year, we harvested 430 bundles of vegetables.

And this year, we will harvest over 800 bundles by the end of the school year.  It is about double what we did last year.

I want to thank Mr. Kileo for his hard work on the PermaGarden Project.  His assistance and cooperation has made it possible.

Mr. Munuo has supported many of our activities atBoloti, including PermaGarden;  study tours to Kilimanjaro International Airport, the World Vegetable Center, Kilimanjaro National Park; First Aid Training and more. We thank him for his assistance and cooperation.

We have many good memories from our time here, from the villagers that we have met, to the students that we have worked with.

I want to leave you with the message to always, “Try Your Best!”

Thank you!

Kelly tries to inspire the students with with a farewell address.

As the eldest member of the staff, Mr. Kileo addressed the students  and thanked us for our service.

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Fruits and Vegetables for Students

Ven’s story about her PermaGarden Project

 First Year 2015

The PermaGarden Project was started in my first year at Boloti Secondary Schol.  The project aimed to improve the nutrition for students by 1) planting vegetables, 2) growing fruit trees like papaya, bananas, mangoes and avocados; and 3) installing a water catchment system to make water readily available and more sustainable throughout the year.  Last year, my counterpart and I worked with 30 plus students to build 28 vegetable beds and to grow leafy greens like amaranth (mchicha), sukuma wiki (collard), and Chinese (like napa cabbage).  At the end of the school year 2015, we were able to harvest 460 bundles of greens, providing vegetables for 46 meals last year.  We purchased and planted 44 fruit tree seedlings of mangoes, avocadoes and oranges.  Unfortunately, only 13 fruit trees survived into this year.  We had planted in late May and there wasn’t much rain later in the year.  Also built into the project proposal was a study tour to learn more about agriculture.

 Last September, Mr Kileo and I took PermaGarden members to the World Vegetable Center east of Arusha. Students saw nurseries for vegetables, experimental plots of crops, seed collection and drying methods (above).

Gutters were installed on both sides of the building, enabling rainwater to be collected in 5000 liter tanks.  Underground pipes send the water directly into the field, where the garden is located. A third tank collects water from the dining hall building and makes it possible to grow more vegetables at a second site.  It was a multi-month endeavor, finally ready for collecting water in January this year.

 Second Year 2016

Vegetable Garden

School started up again in mid-January.  The rains started early this year in January and the school went out to plant corn. (We learned later that it was a false start, and we didn’t get consistent rain until April).  I used this opportunity to select six girls in Form One to work on planting vegetables. We took cuttings of matembele (sweet potato leaves) and planted it around this huge tree.  Matembele is an easy vine to grow that spreads on the ground and requires minimal water; it is nutritious and can be available throughout the year.   We also prepared vegetable beds and planted zucchini, mchicha (amaranth) and kale.  We grew butternut squash in piles around the field (I had wanted pumpkin, but only found butternut seeds).  I found a villager growing bell peppers, and asked to purchase seedlings from him.   The bell peppers took up two beds. Unfortunately, as soon as the kale seedlings came up, they would disappear in matter of days.  It was still the dry season, and I noticed a lot more insects like grasshoppers.  The zucchini was a bigger plant, so most of it survived the insects.  

 By mid-April, after about two months, we were able to harvest matembele leaves (pictured above).   Our cooks chop them up and cook them in the beans to be served with ugali, which is kind of like firm and bland mashed potatoes made from ground corn.

PermaGarden members rinse matembele, using the tap from the water tanks.

 Our first harvest of zucchini came in mid-April as well.  The pests attacked the zucchini squash, boring into the fruit.  Our yield was severely reduced due to these insect borers, but we did manage to get about four harvests.  The zucchini was chopped up and cooked with kande, a stew-like dish with hominy/corn and beans. Then, the next challenge was dealing with complaints from students who didn’t like zucchini.  So then, we had to cook the zucchini on the side, but that left many students without any vegetables.  

 I started harvesting zucchini while it was still fairly young to get some yield before the insects got to them.  

Our transplanted bell peppers did not fair well.  Some pest was stunting them, and most plants did not  produce many leaves or fruits.  Butternut squash was also getting infested with some insect borers. I kept my fingers crossed that some squash will make it through the challenges and I avoided checking on them too much.  Incessant worrying wasn’t going to prevent insects from attacking my plants.  I learned that young squash leaves may be eaten, just like pumpkin leaves, so we harvested some squash greens a couple of times for school meals.  In case we don’t get any butternut, I felt better that we were able to eat the leaves at least.  We planted a large area in green beans too, but most seeds did not germinate.  I had purchased them from a villager because I couldn’t find them anywhere; the seeds must have been too old or something.   I feel very much like a farmer this year, dealing with insects and plant disease, not enough rain or too much rain, and sourcing seeds.  

In March, the insect infestation had subsided and we were able to start some beds of sukuma wiki (collard), followed by Chinese (leafy cabbage) in April.  We also have cilantro and scallions in the garden.  After about two months, we were able to supply the school with at least one type of vegetable per day.

I initially started with a group of six girls in January.  Now, I have four groups of boys and girls working with me (someone must have complained about my girls not attending assembly daily, so I had to make more groups. This actually worked out great, more members!)  Three groups worked two mornings a week and one group of Muslim students help out on Sunday morning since they don’t go to church.  Unfortunately, working 30 minutes in the morning during assembly time isn’t enough.  We only have time to harvest vegetables and water the beds, and not really enough time to maintain or do any new plantings.    As a result, I am now trying to get them to help out after school on Wednesdays or on a weekend day.  Kelly and I will be moving to a new house near the school after Term One, so this will make it easier for me to work with students after school or on a weekend afternoon.

 Fruit Trees

My counterpart Mr Kileo and I had plans to plant 100 banana and 100 papaya seedlings this year(technically, bananas are a plant and not a tree because they don’t have a woody stem).   We worked with students to dig many holes in preparation for the fruit trees.  The holes need to be about 40 cm wide and 60 cm deep because the soil is infertile.   Before this endeavor, I thought planting trees was easy, just dig a hole, pop in the seedling, cover the hole around the seedling, and then water the tree.  The reality is that the soil is hard and rocky; I’ve learned that using a pick-ax to break up the soil helps.  Mr Kileo would get students out digging holes after school.  I would try to do the same on Saturday mornings with Form One students.   In March, we purchased and planted 100 papaya trees and an additional 20 avocado and 15 mango trees.   We have been told that the papaya trees are a fast growing variety that will produce fruits before the year is out.  The avocado and mango trees are a longer term investment that will hopefully bear fruit in about five years or so.  Last year, I lovingly tended to my avocado and mango trees, watering, weeding and mulching them with students, and still, many perished. This year, I took a more pragmatic approach and did not grow too attached to them, recognizing that we will have some loss.  And indeed we did! We lost some papaya trees to some grasshoppers that would just bite off the top of the seedling.    

So during this time, I was busy attending to and supervising the school garden and fruit trees. Meanwhile, Mr. Kileo was responsible for helping me with the PermaGarden Project, as well as supervising the much larger school farm.  The rain season had a false start this year, coming strong for about two weeks in January, then tapering off in February and March.  Our school planted corn in January, but most of the corn did not germinate.  In March, we postponed two days of mid-term exams to go out and sowed corn seeds again prior to the two week break.  We were gambling that the rains would come during our mid-term break.  It did not, and we returned to school in April only to see stunted corn plants or sparse fields.  The rains finally arrived in April, so students went to shamba (farm) again. We had failed to plant corn twice, due to the unusual rain patterns this year.  The third time, the school decided to plant beans instead, because it has a shorter growing season.  Every time the students go out to shamba, we lose 2-3 days of school.  In May, students went to shamba to weed and to apply fertilizer.  I mention this as context for our challenge in establishing and maintaining a fruit orchard.  Let’s not forget that the main reason for students being at school is to get an education.  

Kelly wonders when Mr Kileo will turn and walk the other way when he sees me approaching him.  Honestly, he is a gem, one of the few teachers at Boloti with high integrity. He juggles teaching Geography, supervising school farming and PermaGarden.  

As of August 17th, we have Chinese napa cabbage, collard, Swiss chard, amaranth, sweet potato leaves, cilantro and scallions in the ground. The efforts of PermaGarden members have succeeded in providing 450 students at Boloti with vegetables in 102 meals so far this year, compared with 46 meals last year.  Our students get at least one meal with vegetables per day since April.  We sell the vegetables to the school and have earned Tsh230,000 (about 115USD) this year towards purchases of PermaGarden-related items.  There are about 200 banana, papaya, mango and avocado trees, which will hopefully provide students with fruits starting next year.  Kelly and I will be departing from our site on the first of October.  

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CODE Org produces the Children's Book Project of Tanzania series. My students love these books. Here are some of them showing off what they are reading.

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Life in the Village

An update from Ven:

We recently moved to a new house near our school, but this is a snapshot of what it was like for almost two years in the village of Nkwansira.            

I see Mama Oscar everyday for my half liter of fresh milk.  She keeps two cows and constantly cuts grass or banana leaves for them. Mama Oscar and I also swap foods. She’ll share avocadoes and bananas from her own farm with me while I bring her banana pancakes, naan, chilli or bell peppers.  To earn extra income, she also operates a “bar” from her house.  Neighbors might stop by for a beer.  Mama Oscar’s brother is Ulomi, who owns a small duka (shop) up the very steep hill near our house.  Ulomi supplies me with local eggs from free-range chickens J, as opposed to white-yolk factory eggs available in town.

For leafy greens and bell peppers, I visit Babu (Grandfather) and Bibi (Grandmother) nearby. They grow vegetables using manure compost. ( I am not sure why they wanted to be pictured holding newspapers).

Mama Binti has a mechanical sewing machine – no electricity needed!  She just moves her feet up and down gently.  Mama Binti is my source for simple alterations.  Shirt too big?  Let’s take the sides in a little bit.  Skirt too long? Let’s shorten it and hem it in.

I have also enjoyed some peaches from her backyard.  Before you think of the apple-sized peaches you can get at Target or Rainbow, her peaches are much smaller, crunchy and tart.  But hey, at least it’s fruit from the village.  

This sweet and cheerful boy gives us a 3-step greeting whenever we walk past his house.  It’s a fist-bump, high-5 and fist-bump greeting. And, yes, I have asked for his name twice, but have not been able to nail it yet.

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Iffy Food #2

An update from Kelly

Ven is a very good cook.  She is also curious.  Sometimes the combination becomes Ven’s Iffy Foods.

Ven’s comments from the kitchen:

“The bread has mold, Just take that chunk out and toast it, or you could try eating it.  Maybe it will make you stronger.”

“The milk went bad between the first cups of coffee and now.  It was borderline to begin with, but then it coagulated.  I think I can make yogurt or cheese with it.”

“Sometimes when the milk goes bad, I use it to make pancakes.  We haven’t got sick, but I haven’t told you either.”

Dinner: Twice grilled breakfast rice with eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, onion and cumin curry.

Dinner appetizer: Southern Fried Lady Fingers [okra].

Snack: Banana and mung bean pudding.  Kelly’s comment: “Is this iffy?” Ven’s reply: “The only iffy part might be the weevils.”

Lunch: Pasta salad with macaroni, arugula, tomato, mango, Cucumber, carrot, onion and egg.

Lunch: Salad with bean sprouts, carrots, tomatoes, cukes, onions, garlic, peanuts with vinaigrette along with egg and herb cheese bread.

Snack: Chapati mozzarella quesadillas

Lunch: Cheesy rice risotto with tomato, arugula, onion, garlic, peas and cashew gin.

Dinner: Salad with cucumber, onion, carrot, beans and vinaigrette along with chapati mozzarella quesadillas

Dinner: Salad with cucumber, onion, carrot, beans and vinaigrette along with chapati mozzarella quesadillas

Breakfast: Fried brown rice with egg, bean sprouts, carrots, onions, ginger and bell peppers.

Lunch: Grilled mozzarella cheese bread vs. chapati mozzarella quesadillas

Salad: Cukes, beans, carrots, onions and v vinaigrette.

Dinner: Aged pea, carrot and onion soup with garlic toast.

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High Hopes and Horror: A Secondary School in Tanzania:  This is an authentic view of what are students experience on a daily basis at our school.  This is not our school, but it is completely accurate.

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Blogging made easy:  Here is a story by Chris Biles about some of students and there quest to be leaders.

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When the Boloti Secondary LEAD team was at a leadership conference in Morogoro back in April, they learned to build community through some different exercises including a Trust Fall.  We brought that back to our school, and, although it required very little in the way of English use, we did try it out during English Club.  In these photos, we see Dorcus being caught, Beatrice saying a little prayer and the always stoic Hussein about to fall.  It was great fun.  Would I be able to do this in an American school or would the liabilities to great?  Oh well, no one was injured.

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Update from Kelly:

This video highlights the coolest part of my service here in Tanzania.  Four of my students–Mikeprosper, Sade, Beatrice and Joseph Paul–wrote essays about leadership and a screenplay for a movie we filmed in order to win scholarships to this event.  I am so proud of them.  They worked hard to get there and worked even harder once they were there.  The event took to planning and effort of a number of volunteers to pull off and it was completely inspiring to behold.  Selling everything we had in America and coming here to Tanzania as volunteers….it was all worth it.

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On social media, life usually seems fantastic.  I know most of my Peace Corps related posts and those of my peers often make it look like just a series of triumphs.  The reality is quite different.  Things fall apart all the time.  Often it is because of issues completely out of my control.  Many times it is because I really failed to plan accordingly.  The lessons learned from degrees of failure are numerous.  There are often bad days, bad weeks and bad months. Then again, there are days when it is glorious, and that it is what we prefer to post.  The other day, I brought some new books to school for the library we started.  One of my students just about went into a seizure to have the opportunity to read “Artemis Fowl.”  Later, My LEAD team delivered a presentation on a malaria program they want to facilitate at the school.  The headmaster and the health teacher were floored by their professionalism, knowledge, English skills and poise.  Then, I gave some pictures I had developed to some students.  One girl was crying because she was so happy. To top it off, I got this note from my student Reinhard requesting to join English Club.....AND no one got beaten with sticks.  A perfect day in the Peace Corps.

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Service Learning: Students Helping Students

An update from Ven

On Wednesday s, one of my Form One classes has two free double periods.  I have been taking them over to the Bondeni, the primary school next door, when it is possible.  We usually work with Class Seven students on math activities.  I try to make it fun, doing greetings and games with students in addition to the interactive math activities.  Two weeks ago, I had students use rulers to measure the length and width of various items in the classroom.  They practiced using the units millimeter and centimeter. Students normally don’t get much hands-on practice in Tanzania, so even my stronger math students got to understand what a millimeter is.        

 4 May 2016  My Form One students working with Class Six students to help them build math fluency.  Students practiced math facts using a deck of cards.  

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Recently, Ven and I traveled to Uganda to visit and explore one of our East African neighbors.  These two photos show the difference between Tanzania and Uganda.  In early March, I celebrated my birthday with a burger and fries at the Union Cafe in Moshi [top picture].  This about the best burger I have had in TZ and I was thrilled to have an ideal lunch with real ketchup and my trusty Kindle as company.  Then we went to Uganda and I found a burger in Entebbe at Cafe Javas and was reminded what a burger is supposed to be like.  Not only were the burgers better in Uganda, but everything was slightly to immensely better in Uganda. The cultures are very similar, but Uganda is more advanced in many aspects despite a more troubled independence.  Why? 

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Writing Blogs

When my wife Ven and I first moved to Tanzania, it seemed like a great idea to have a blog to report on our adventure.  Almost two years later I still have many ideas for blog posts. In fact, I have a long list of them written down.  I have even started to write a few.  One is hilarious.  However, I have found that I am bad at writing blog posts in any sort of timely or complete matter.  Maybe, I should just write very short posts.  

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Mafia Island Good. Chasing Whale Sharks Bad.

South of Dar es Salaam, Mafia Island is located in the clear and warm waters of the Indian Ocean. When we had first heard about swimming with whale sharks on Mafia Island, we were enthralled by the idea and roughly pegged it for December 2015.  The idea of taking a ferry across from mainland Tanzania seemed romantic at first; imagine staring mysteriously into the vast horizon of the sea. However, every Peace Corps Volunteer who went before us discouraged it.  There was the embarking on the ferry before dawn, where locals elbow each other to get on in the dark.  We have heard about the ferry catching on fire or running into other boats.  Another Volunteer told us that the ferry was delayed for a few days and that the cost he saved by taking the ferry was consumed by lodging expenses.  So, based on all the advice that we heard, Kelly and I decided that our lives were worth paying the extra money for the flight over to the island.  

When we arrived at Kilindoni, we quickly got on to a bajaji (like a tuk-tuk or a motorcycle car) to take us to our guesthouse: Ibizza Inn.  Fellow volunteers Carol and Elyssa had been on the island for a few days, and they had scouted a nice place to stay, with a fan, air-conditioning and our very own private bathroom.  Using volume discount and Volunteer status, they had managed to negotiate the price down from USD20 to USD 15.  Have I mentioned that their Kiswahili is fluent?  They had also arranged for a snorkeling outing the very afternoon that we arrived.  So we got into our swimming attire, ate a quick lunch of chipsi mayai (basically an omelette of fries and eggs, readily available everywhere in Tanzania), and hopped on another bajaji for the ride across to Mafia Island Marine Park. Elyssa and Carol performed another small miracle.  They had spent two hours at the park entrance the day before, simultaneously arguing and charming the official, saying that we are Volunteers and that we have resident permits, so we should be paying 2000 shillings (USD 1) instead of the tourist entrance fee of USD20 per day.  Finally, a call to our Peace Corps Safety and Security guy finally convinced the official to just let it go.  We ended up getting in for free, just like the locals.   Way to go Carol and Elyssa!

There was a total of five of us.  Carrie, Kelly and I were in Morogoro for Peace Corps Safe Schools and Food Security In-Service Training.  Carrie arrived on Mafia a day earlier than we did, as she decided to bus straight from Morogoro to Dar, and then boarded her afternoon flight to Mafia Island.  She is a brave woman, our Carrie, risking bus break downs, traffic congestion and other unknowns.  Kelly and I like to keep our lives low stress when we can, so we over-nighted in Dar and boarded our flight to Mafia Island the next morning.  

The boat, with our guide and presumably the boat owner, headed out of the dock towards the corrals.   About half an hour later, we reached a small rocky island.  The current was relatively strong.  Kelly was the first one in the water.  Everyone but me jumped in.  Normally, there is a life jacket available for me to snorkel in, so I was hesitant and held back a bit.  I wanted to snorkel near the boat first to feel comfortable.  Finally, I jumped in and realized how easy it was.  The saline concentration in the sea keeps you buoyant more than freshwater.  Plus, when you’re snorkeling, you’re breathing through a mouthpiece and you’re looking down into the water, so your body weight is distributed and you automatically stay afloat, even without a life jacket.  Hurray! A moment of triumph!

Just when I was starting to get comfortable, we were called back into the boat.  Our guide wanted to go to another area with calmer waters. Sounds good to me!  We jumped in again when the boat stopped.  The water was warm and pleasant.  We turned our faces down into the water and watched sea life. There were so many varieties of fish, zebra-looking fish, round purple fish with yellow fins, fish with different shapes and sizes.   I had recently purchased a bird book.  Now I itched to get my hands on a fish identification book so we could look up some of the fish we saw.  There were also beautiful corrals.  I remembered a giant mushroom corral.

After about an hour or so, our guide called us back up.  We had agreed to some fish for dinner tonight.  For USD 4 extra per person, he would bring his net and we would catch some fish and grill it on the beach.  Well, we did get fish, but he ended up buying from a fisherman we encountered on the water. There was a long fish, maybe called a needle fish, and two smaller black fish.  Immediately upon returning to the beach, our guide proceeded to gather whatever he can get his hands on to make a fire.  This consisted mainly of coconut husks.  We sat around and watched as our guide found some limes and salt to season the fish with.  We ate our fish with some cold, greasy fries. Interestingly, the needle fish had blue bones.   Sometimes, freshly grilled fish on the beach sounds like more of a romantic experience than it actually is.    

The big attraction on Mafia Island are the whale sharks.  From December to February, they migrate to Mafia Island and feed on krill and zooplankton.  They just swim with their wide mouths open, filtering through the water for food.  We heard that you could just swim with them. Again, sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Kelly and I are big fans of observing wildlife.  Our boat arrived at a sighting.  There was another boat already there.  Our guide told us to follow him and quickly jump in after the whale shark.  So we all jumped in, and minutes later, the whale shark swam off.  I was starting to feel that this was a bad idea.   Since when is it a good idea to chase wildlife for fun?  In addition, by jumping in, we had startled the whale shark and chased it away for the other boat that was already there before us. If we were in the other boat, we would have felt annoyed by our own behavior.  But unfortunately, I was the minority voice.  No one else seemed alarm at this point.  We continued on, keeping a lookout for the whale sharks.  After about 15 minutes, we found another one. It was a small one, probably a juvenile. We jumped in and tried to follow it for a close look.  Our guide kept saying, “Look down, look down!”  So we did, but all we can see was murky water.  I felt my hand brush against something and panicked.  But it was probably a jelly fish, of which there were many.  Luckily, they were not the stinging kind.  This whale shark was just swimming around, filtering for food.  We tried to get a closer look, but it was impossible unless you were within touching distance of it.  While we were in the water, we heard much commotion.  Elyssa and Carrie were in the boat, motioning to us and excitedly telling us that there was a huge whale shark coming our way. It brushed Kelly as it moved by.  That was the highlight of our experience. After that, we did not see anymore, partly because we started out so late (at about 11AM instead of the usually 8AM).

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[gingeroranj-blog]

After One Year

An update from Ven:

About a year ago, Kelly and I arrived at our new site full of enthusiasm and excitement and hope. We were so happy that we made the decision to join Peace Corps.  The Kilimanjaro region that was to be our home for the next two years was beautiful and temperate.  There was much talk of extending to a third year.  We thought our school to be progressive, ready to take advantage of the experiences, skills and opportunities that come with having two mid-career Peace Corps Volunteers at their site.  We had a staff development where we crafted a mission and vision statement, and a set of professional expectations for teachers.  In hindsight, that was our high point and things started to unravel after that.  Fast forward one year later…

The following incidents will demonstrate the current state of affairs at our school right now.

Belting Students

In late September, I was teaching when I heard my homeroom students in the classroom next door getting hit as part of the regular corporal punishment that is systemic and had been ramping up as of late.  I continued to teach and to try to ignore it.  I say ignore it painfully since this was not the first time this had occurred at school, and interfering in the past had not created any change. However, the beatings continued for 10, 20 and maybe 30 minutes. All of a sudden, I find myself walking over to the next classroom.  There, I found one of our teachers hitting my students with a belt. “What are you doing?  Why are you hitting students with a belt?”  He ignored me and continued to hit Calvina, who was sitting in the front.  Then, he walked away from me and proceeded to hit Neema.  I was furious.  I tried blocking him and throwing myself against him to get him to stop.  He moved away from me, and I followed with my arms out. I was standing in between a desk and its seat when I lost my balance and went down backwards.

Into this scene, my white knight walked in.  “What did you do?  Did you push my wife down?”  Kelly grabbed him and planned how he was going to pulverize this guy.  In the background, he heard me say that I fell. Both Kelly and I could smell the alcohol emanating from him.  At this point, I was infuriated.  “You’re drunk! You’re drunk, and you’re hitting kids! Get out of school!”

Somehow, I went back to teaching my class, albeit shook up.  I guess it is ingrained in me to do my job.  Kelly packed up and returned home before he hit the guy.  I finished teaching my class and also went home afterwards.  We were very troubled by this incident, because we both got physical and enraged. How dare this teacher be allowed to come to school drunk, and to beat kids?  Yes, corporal punishment is condoned here, and it is a part of their culture.  Teachers are allowed to cane students four times with a stick.  We were told that hitting students is the “last resort.” Our observation is that hitting students is the first option for teachers.  For some teachers, carrying a stick to class is more important to them than carrying chalk and a blackboard eraser.  This teacher disregarded the policy on corporal punishment, and wanted to hurt students for not doing the assignment that he gave them.

We have observed this same teacher abusing his authority multiple times.  He is supposed to use a stick, not a belt.  There was an incident where he borrowed a belt from one of my students to whack some day scholars because they were late.  I observed and counted the number of times from afar, 10, 8 and 7 times.  Ironically, he was also late… See the hypocrisy?  This same teacher would sign in, leave the school if the headmaster is absent, and return later with alcohol on his breath.  When he disciplines students, it is to punish them and to inflict pain with as much strength as he can muster, and it is significant because he is sizable.  We have observed him skipping his class because he has to correct exams.  He frequently goes to class late and leaves early. And he is not the only teacher not doing his job.  But he antagonizes us because he intentionally abuses students.

Speak English

Our academic master came up with a plan to use English blocks.  These would be wooden blocks painted with the words “Speak English” which, in theory, are designed to encourage students to speak English in class. If a student was caught speaking Kiswahili in class, he would get the block.  The next student that he heard Kiswahili from, he would pass the English block to.  At the end of the day, you would have a chain of students who received the English block. Kelly was asked to create the English blocks.  Having seen plenty of abusive corporal punishment by this point, he wanted to know what the punishment would be.  He was assured that caning would not be used. Kelly made the English blocks very slowly in order to give the academic master time to work with other teachers and to come up with ways to encourage students to speak English.  The only option that they came up with was to cane students.  When the blocks were completed, without informing us, it was “decided” that the Teacher-on-Duty would cane the students with the English block at the end of each day.  

In reaction, we put forth a proposal to work with Form I students to practice their English if they had received the English block.  Our reasoning was that students don’t know English, so how is caning them going to improve their English?  The assumption here is that students are lazy and are not trying, rather than how can we support students in learning English?  Our proposal was accepted.  Kelly and I worked together to make sure that one of us is available afterschool to help this group with their English and to “save” them from caning.  Our plan worked for about a week.  When I proceeded to take my Form I students to a classroom to work with them on their English skills the following week, I was told to “Leave us!”  All students will get caned, it was “decided.”  Either other students complained about the Form I getting different treatment, or some Form I students got arrogant because they felt exempted from caning.  When they “decided” not to allow us to teach Form I students English in lieu of caning, they did not inform us.  In addition, Kelly made those English blocks and was promised that caning would not be part of the English block.  So, we brought this matter to the headmaster.

Our headmaster asked us to sit down with the academic committee to iron out our differences.  There was my counterpart, a calm and seasoned teacher, and other members of the academic committee.  It was at this meeting that one of the members pointed his finger at me as he spoke and told us that we should not interfere, and that hitting students is part of Tanzanian culture.  We are reminded that culture can be a beast!  Just because something is part of your culture doesn’t mean that it is necessary good, and that it should continue forever.  Our wise Tanzanian friend/shopkeeper at school nailed it when he said, “culture is dynamic.”  End result of the meeting - all students will be caned for speaking Kiswahili.  If we wanted to help them with English, we could do so after the caning.  

 The Inspection

The day before we were to start mid-term exams for Form I and III students in September, a teacher made the announcement that the security guard suspected some students of having cell phones.  That precipitated a body search of these forbidden goods.  We separated the students by gender.  I was charged with frisking the girls, looking through their book bags and their desks for any electronic goods or weapons.  I found none.  I’m not sure how good my frisking was since I never received this training while I was getting my Masters in Education. After that, we moved to the dormitory and proceeded to look under student mattresses, suitcases and storage boxes.  Imagine a room stuffed with mattresses and belongings.  It took four female staff members over an hour to go through one dorm room, and there were 10 more rooms.  I got very frustrated.  How were we supposed to finish checking all the rooms when it was 1:00 pm already?  The students were not even being allowed to eat lunch. Our search up to that point yielded nothing.  I tried sharing my point of view with the head female “inspector” but she ignored me.  Then, I walked over to the male dormitories to see if I could persuade any other teachers. No luck.  My efforts resulted in me walking away from the situation, annoyed and frustrated.  Then, I saw my headmaster and shared my viewpoints again.  He listened and explained that the school cannot allow any electronics because students will try to charge those items by rigging the lights.  So yes, I can understand why they feel the need to do this, but I wonder if there are other ways of handling this situation. I went home after that incident, feeling very guilty that I couldn’t do my job of inspection but not guilty enough to want to be there.    

Negative Mobility

Students in Form II and IV (about 10 and 12th grade, respectively) experience tremendous pressure due to the national examinations that occur at the end of the year. Because of these high stakes exams, our school gave them one exam after another.  It seems that they are scheduled for the next exam, as their teachers finish grading the previous exam.  Each set of exams takes one week, and no teaching occurs during that time.  They can’t go home during school breaks, like the other grades, or their break period is significantly truncated.  As a way to “push” students, the academic master uses negative mobility.  When a student performs better from set of exams to the next, she is said to have “positive mobility,” or moving up. Conversely, when a student performs worse on the average, he has “negative mobility.”  The first three students with the biggest gains get a notebook. The students with negative mobility get caning during afternoon assembly.  A change of even -1% could warrant caning. In addition, the academic master divides the Form Two students into two groups, the top group and the bottom group. Students may move back and forth, depending on their performance after each exam.  Have we mentioned the grading scale here?  To get an A, you could earn anywhere from 75-100%; B+ 60-74; B 50-59; C 40-49; D 30-39; E 20-29; F 19 and below.  Despite this generous grading scale, I still have about 50% of my students failing my math mid-term, at 19% or below.

Invigilation

Whenever there are exams at Boloti, teachers are assigned to “invigilate.”  That is, they are supposed to monitor the testing environment to prevent cheating.  In our naïve first three months here, the entire staff agreed that it was important for the teachers to do their jobs with integrity.  That is, be present in the classroom rather than leave the classroom, and watch students instead of other things.  During the last mid-term exam in September, I had to check the validity of my math exams for about 15 students.  Many of them had answers, but no work to support it.  One student’s exam was almost identical to another for the first few pages.  When I had students re-do some problems, one student said that she “imagined” the answer. Another student thought that was a brilliant answer, so she also said that she “imagined” the answer as well. Kelly also had about 20 students re-take his English mid-term.  On the re-takes, students moved from an A to an F because they cheated when the teacher left the room he was invigilating.

These incidents that I have described fill us with frustration, anger and helplessness.  It is a clash of cultures, a clash of educational pedagogy, and a clash of professional work ethic.  It is our failure to integrate and to accept these practices that is causing us much suffering.  However, to accept these actions with equanimity seems like a compromise on our values.

A year ago, Kelly and I thought that we would extend for a third year.  Our house is nice and peaceful.  Our school and co-workers seem very cool.  Month by month, our honeymoon period gradually wore away.  Believe it or not, we have considered quitting at least a few times now.  It is now a test of our endurance and perseverance to continue to stay here and do our job.  Time will tell if we will make it to our two year commitment.  Both of us are dedicated and responsible people, but is that enough?  We are saving a nice bottle of wine to celebrate the end of this school year. If we can finish this school year, we will be closer to completing our commitment.        

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[gingeroranj-blog]

More pictures from our Grand Safari.