This morning it was a little cooler so we walked down to ACTT without any problems. Around 10ish we set off for Mabogini Primary School with Robert and Bakari. This is a new school for us so they are receiving 3 desktop computers and a printer. There has been no power in the ACTT office for the last 24 hours so Bakari, one of the ACTT technicians has been unable to do a final check on the equipment, so is coming with us in the hope that the school will have power.
It is about a 30 minute drive to the school as it is a little out of Moshi town in really quite a poor area even by Tanzanian standards.
When we arrived we were met by lots of excited children and the head teacher, and the Vice Chair of the school board. As usual the first thing to do was to go through the loan agreement and get it signed.
We then passed over the equipment, only to find the school actually spanned both sides of the road and the computer lab would be on the other side so the children had to carry the computers quite a distance!!
The school actually has a special needs class with 20 children in it which is next to the new computer lab so we popped in to say Hi as we were passing.
Bakari, Robert and Pete set up the computers and then some of the children came in and were allowed to have their first computer lesson. At this school it seemed hardly any of the children had ever used a computer. It was fun helping them to use a mouse and keyboard for the first time.
We then had a quick look round the school, calling in on a couple of classes, before heading off to the second school.
The children smiled and clapped when they were told we had brought some computers to the school.
This was the Vice Chair of the school board with his youngest daughter Grace.
On leaving we had a quick chat with some guys who were drilling a bore hole to provide water for the school and local community. I believe this was being funded by a US charity. The guys were powering the drill by hand, very hard work in these temperatures. You can see the drill behind them.
Because we had spent quite a bit of time at Mabogini School we were a little late arriving at Kaloleni Primary School and the teachers and Chair of the school board were waiting for us. This school has previously had 3 desktops and a printer and this year we are adding a further 2 desktops. After introductions and completing the paperwork we then took the new computers to the library where the others are kept.
After installing them some more teachers and children came in to have a look and show us their computer skills. Some of the children were really very proficient and we wondered if they had access to a computer at home but when asked, the answer was No, it was all learnt at school using the donated computers, so this was very encouraging.
Again we stayed longer than planned as the children were keen to carry on demonstrating their skills to us but eventually we left but not before being taken back to the Head Teachers office for refreshments.
By now it was almost mid afternoon and so we got Robert to drop us at Mimosa restaurant where I had arranged to meet Jess. We were there a little early so managed to order some lunch before she arrived. We had a lovely afternoon with her and the girls and it was nice to hear her news from Sandra and Tony.
This evening we had dinner at Robert’s house with his family. This was quite a big gathering because as well as the immediate family, Robert’s sister, niece and cousins were visiting. As always Mama Diana prepared a feast. It was a fun evening, Dimitra is really growing up and completely stole the show. Adasa, Robert’s young niece who is very shy also joined in and was much more relaxed than on our last visit.
The evening was lots of fun but by about 10.30pm we needed to leave so Dimitra and Adasa would go to bed and so did we.
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