11th Day--Ilkurot School

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We woke up to the sound of lots of chickens wanting breakfast. We couldn't get out of this house fast enough. It was a HUGE step up from the homes of most rural Tanzanians, but it just wasn't what we had in mind after spending the previous night on the ground. We are sooooo spoiled! There were lots of kids in school uniforms walking past the house on their way to school. When our host was ready, we went to the school where we unloaded a large bag of school supplies that we were donating. We were sent to a room full of over 100 kids who are at about the 6th grade level. They were packed together, but very well behaved. The teacher was teaching English, but she wasn't proficient in English OR teaching methods. They only had about 10 books to share. We tried doing a question and answer session, but they didn't know any English other than, "What's your name?" and "How old are you?" We sang a song, and then finally gave up and said "Goodbye". Francis said the public schools are all bad and private school is the only way to get a decent education. Most people can't afford that. Primary school ends at 6th grade and only the students who can pass an exam are allowed to go to secondary school. Many of the private schools are boarding schools since the kids come from far away and have no transportation. Heading back to civilization, we had lunch at an American type place in Arusha. We'd had enough African food and boxed lunches for a long time! All the ATM's in town were offline for some reason (Francis often reminds us, "This is Africa."), so our shopping was put off until tomorrow. We were ready to return to Karama Lodge, a little piece of paradise on the edge of Arusha. After a nice dinner and shower, we were serenaded to sleep by monkeys outside our chalet-on-stilts. We had survived---and without travelers' diarrhea!!!

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Photos

Karama Lodge
Back to Karama to end our trip.

Len at Ilkurot School
He left some of his art on their blackboard.