Day 19 and 20

 Day 19

Today there was no buffet set out for breakfast, instead we were brought a plate each of cassava, chapati and mandazi along with some watermelon and avocado. I wonder if we are the only guests.

Robert picked us up about 9.15 and we drove out to Chato B Primary School where we met up with Hamisi, Msale and the Education Officer from yesterday. 

We were all then taken to the office of the Deputy Head Teacher who we had not met before. The Academic Teacher (who is also on the School Board) and Joachim, the IT teacher who we knew from our previous visit were also there. We then all moved to the computer room for our meeting.

We started supporting this school last year and this year we are giving them 2 computers and a printer to add to the 3 computers they received last year. They also have one computer that was donated to them by the Prime Minister when he visited and one laptop that they purchased themselves.

The school now has 1640 pupils and 22 teachers and 16 classrooms. Joachim runs computer classes before school from 6 - 8am and after school between 3.20 and 4.30pm (as in other schools the teachers are not paid for these extra lessons). Children from Standard 6 and Standard 7 are taught in groups of 25 (5 per computer) and get approx 1.5 hours tuition every 3 weeks. The class teachers assist Joachim with the teaching. The children are all very keen to learn to use the computers and if Joachim is late in the morning they go to his house to get him!! Very few children have access to a computer at home so they gain all their knowledge of ICT from school.

About half the teachers are competent to use computers and Joachim is teaching the other half. He gives them lessons and sets them assignments.

While we were having our meeting there were 2 other teachers in the room using the computers. They were from 2 neighbouring schools, each about 2km away. They told us they visit Chato B most days to use the computers as their schools don’t have any and there are a lot of reports required by the Government that must now be submitted online. This seems ridiculous to us when so few schools have computers. Robert talked to them about the ICT teacher training offered by ACTT and explained that if they did this, their own schools could apply to us for some computers. 

Joachim also told us that people in the local community use the computers and even Government employees like the Ward Education Officer.

After our discussion we renewed their Computer Loan Contract and handed over the new computer equipment.

We then visited the Standard 6 and 7 classes who are the ones who are learning to use the computers. There are 240 children in Standard 6, split into 2 classes.

There are 163 children in Standards 7 all taught in one class. I have to say they were crammed in, there really was no space. They all seemed really pleased when we told them about the extra computer equipment we had given the school today, there were lots of smiling faces and clapping.

We left the school around half 11 and went to have a look at an alternative hotel for when we visit next year. It looked really nice and costs the same as we are paying at Chato Beach so I think we may well stay there next year.

It was now lunchtime so we headed back to the same place as yesterday.

This afternoon we spent some time at the hotel, sat down by the lake doing my blog, emails, reading etc.

Later in the afternoon we spent some time watching the fishermen.

This evening we had dinner at local restaurant with Robert and Msale. Shabani had arrived from Mwanza so he joined us as well. 

Tomorrow we are doing a trip to Kayanga, a village in the Kagera Region which is further north in Tanzania. The original plan had been to spend tomorrow night back in Chato before returning to Mwanza the next day. However during the evening Robert asked if we would be ok to actually drive back as far as Geita tomorrow evening as it would then only be a short trip back to Mwanza the next day, and he needed to get back to the office there as soon as possible for some business.

So after dinner we returned to Chato Beach Hotel and checked out as we would be leaving early tomorrow morning. This did involve getting the security guard to find a receptionist and a duty manager who were both obviously off duty by now. Anyway we managed to settle our bill and finish our packing and get to bed by soon after 11!!

Day 20

Our alarm woke us at 5.10 this morning and Robert and Shabani picked us up at 5.50 It was still dark for the first hour of our journey but by 6 we could see the silhouettes of children walking to school along the edge of the main road. 

By about 7.30 it had started to rain and by 8 o’clock, when we stopped in Bukoba for breakfast it had got pretty heavy. We got breakfast in a small cafe. The cost of a mug of tea and 2 freshly cooked chapatis (which were lovely) was TSH 1,500 which is less than 50p.

These were the scenes looking out from the cafe doorway

As we left Bukoba the rain got heavier and by the time we reached Kuake, which is about 30km from the Ugandan border it was torrential. Here we turned off the road to Uganda and continued on up into the hills......and into the mist!! Poor Shabani, it was not an easy drive, but we had managed to make the 300km journey to Kayange in about 4.5 hours.

When we arrived we were met by the smiling face of Mbusiro, the ACTT agent who has an office in Kayange. He and his wife welcomed us and showed us into the small office/ICT training room/shop. We also met the young lady who is an ICT trainer employed by Mbusiro and a couple of his students.

We then drove the short distance to Kayange Primary School where Mbusiro had run an ICT training course for 9 teachers. By this stage the mist was so thick you really couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you.

At the school we were met by the Head Teacher, the ICT teacher, the Kagera District Education Officer, the Ward Education Officer, the Chair of the School Committee and several other teachers.

Mbusiro had taken us to the school as he wanted us to explain to the teachers and education officers about our Computer Loan Project and how they could apply. We had an interesting discussion with everyone present and explained how the loans work and all the conditions of the loans and the school seemed keen to apply next year. It was great to have the District Education Officer present as he covers over 120 schools  in Kagera and so was a really good person to engage with.

Now as this point I should mention that we have 4 spare desktop computers that we removed from a school in Moshi earlier this year when they failed to comply with the Loan conditions. After some discussion with Robert, we have decided to give one computer to each of the ACTT agents that we are visiting over the next week, for them to donate to a school of their choice. They can choose to donate it to a school where they have already trained the teachers or they can use it as an incentive to encourage a new school to do some training.

So Mbusiro decided to give his computer to Kayanga School and after we had had our meeting we told them about the gift of a computer and handed it over. Needless to say they were very pleased as the only other computer in the school is the Head Teacher’s personal laptop that other people are constantly asking to use.

The school then provided us with a lunch of goat stew and bananas which was a surprise and very tasty.

After lunch the rain had stopped and the mist had cleared and we were able to look around the school.

On leaving the school we were now able to see what Kayanga village looked like.

MMbusiro then showed us a couple of local hotels in the hopes that next year we will spend a night or 2 in Kayanga.

By now it was around 2pm and we started our 400km drive back to Geita. This return journey was much more enjoyable as the weather was dry and pretty sunny and we got some lovely views.

When we got to Kyake we passed the remains of a small church on a hill that had been bombed by the Ugandan army when they were trying to annexe what they claimed were disputed regions of Tanzania in October 1978.

Here we also stopped to buy some sweet roast bananas that are a local specialty. Robert was insistent that we buy them straight from the mama who was barbequing them rather than from one of the street vendors. They needed to be eaten hot and were very good.

We carried on through Bukoba which looked a lot better in the dry weather. 

On the far side of  the town Robert pointed out some metal funnel shaped constructions that are used to catch grasshopper type insects that the locals then fry and eat as snacks. Apparently they are very popular.

The road then follows the edge of Lake Victoria and we stopped at one place where we got some really good views.

We then drove on through Chato and on to Katoro where we stopped at Hamisi’s office to drop off a couple of computers. From here it was now only about another 40 minute drive to Geita. We arrived at the Lenny Hotel at around 7.45, just as it got dark. We checked in, had a meal in the bar with Robert and headed to bed. We had covered over 700km today.