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Published: November 9th 2007
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We have a name! I have not written for a while mainly as I am slipping into the pace of life here and also because our project had been moving very slowly.
It has taken far longer than originally anticipated to complete the school visits. As we only have a few vehicles it is not always possible to use them for our project due to other demands. Many of the schools we have visited are in rural areas which are difficult to get to otherwise. Most recently we have been using local transport to reach the ones we can.
A few days ago we travelled mainly by local transport: dala-dala, a minibus in which the operators try and squeeze every last person in regardless of the suspension of the vehicle. It is truly a wonder these contraptions don’t brake down or tip over on their side they are so overloaded. Anyone who complains about the Tube at rush hour should travel here for a few days. I have also experienced my first bikey-bikey ride which probably qualifies as the most ridiculous - and greenest - form of paid transportation I have ever taken. A cushion is placed at the
School children questionnaire
The children at this school have to bring water every day. The younger children in standards 1 to 3 bring one litre, while the older ones bring five. back of the bike where the saddlebag usually goes, while two welded-on bars provide a foot rest. It is one thing trusting the rider to keep his balance on the bumpy and hostile roads; compared to the tuc-tucs, dala-dalas, taxis and lorries these guys are the bottom of the food chain and treated with as much contempt on the roads. Exhilarating stuff though and it’s a lot cooler than anything else.
We have finally finished our school visits and are writing up some of our preliminary data. Having visited nineteen schools (one of which is being built) I have gained quite a perspective of how the schools work and am fascinated how government policy is set to prioritise education when virtually all the schools visited had no water for most of the year and the children and teachers alike are often sick from the unsanitary conditions. Our project is now gathering some steam as we have been contacted by the charity Water Aid who are very interested in our efforts thus far. We have also been to a meeting with TEN/MET (Tanzanian Education Network) to discuss how we can proceed and as part of our ideal to have as
School visits
The environment around the school is an important priority for water, although often the children will drink this dirty dam or well water. many organisations co-operating here as possible.
Water Aid are formulating a proposal to work at a government policy level to change the sanitation priorities in the Dar es Salaam region, while we are working at grass roots level to endeavour to provide a year-long sustainable water supply and enough toilets for the number of students in the school. This seems to dovetail and we hope this will develop into a successful partnership.
In the interview phase of CSHEP we met with both teachers and students in each of the schools. We devised a questionnaire to cover information which would help us reach our goals like finding about any other organisations affiliated with the schools, their access to water and some more carefully worded questions on sanitation. We interviewed the students and as we suspected we would hear some answers from the teachers which may not necessarily be what actually happens in the school. This proved correct and often the children provided us with good quality information and also ways in which the schools could be helped in the future - unfortunately out of the scope of our project but we took the ideas down in case future Art
Dala dala
A not so typical example, this is the first one I've seen with advertising boards. in Tanzania or Watoto Salama volunteers fancy a new challenge. Carl came up with the idea ‘the secret question’ for the students as we asked some questions which we didn’t want to be biased by peer pressure. We asked the children to put one hand over their eyes and raise their hand according to the question asked. This was quite funny as some groups were quicker than others to grasp what we had in mind (thankfully we had Raphael to speak Swahili otherwise we wouldn’t have got very far). The students themselves seemed to enjoy the unorthodox ‘lesson’ especially when we asking for their ideas and stressing no one would get in trouble and there certainly wouldn’t be any sticks.
We found out a huge amount of information, I can’t imagine any students back home having to carry 5 litres of water to school every day; having to clean the toilets themselves with no equipment other than a stick brush in their uniforms which they have to wear for the rest of the day. The students also clean classrooms, fetch water from any local water source if there is any available, often in lesson times, and water the plants
Onboard a dala dala
Spacious. No really! where they can sustain them.
It is just about dinner time now so I will have end here I will try to update more regularly - hopefully we’re done now with the day long power cuts and will have more reliable internet access!
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Adam Wright
non-member comment
Hello
Hi Jonathan, thanks for the blog - just thought I would let you know that there are people out there reading it. Nice to read what you are doing in Tanzania and the experiences that you are encountering out there! Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing the data following the questionnaire and the strategies that your group will implement based on the data. Are there any comparative villages/towns that do have access to appropriate sanitary/water facilities that you can use as a model? I have just spoken to a PhD student here (Kondwani from Malawi) that says Tanzania is very beautiful. What is the countryside like ? and what do you do in the evenings/spare time?? Look forward to hearing for you soon, Adam