The first week of our trip to Tanzania has been extremely positive. We’re starting to see our investment in the refurbishment of the teachers houses take shape, we’ve done lots of work with some very excited and enthusiastic children, as well as supporting the teachers with their lessons.
After a gruelling 20-hour journey from Birmingham to Buyuni, via Dubai, the team we’re welcomed with open arms on Monday morning by the staff, children and parents of Buyuni One Primary School. Split into small groups, we have delivered many sessions to the children in a variety of sports and activities. With confidence growing, we were welcomed into the classrooms to work alongside the teaching staff and support the delivery of subjects such as maths, English, geography and science. The next part of the programme see’s our team members delivering their own lessons and challenging the teachers to look at alternative teaching methods.
A big part of this two-week trip was to view the impact of our investment into the school infrastructure. Phase two, sees several teachers houses having the first phase of electric installation done along with ceiling construction. The renovation of the teacher’s houses is a crucial stage in improving and sustaining teaching and learning standards at Buyuni One Primary School.
With teaching staff living in accommodation that didn’t provide the basics to live a healthy life with their family, it meant the retention of staff was a huge problem. This results in no consistency for the children, which leads to poor teaching standards, which of course has a negative impact on the children’s learning.
It’s very exciting and heart-warming to see the impact this is having on the teaching staff and their families. The builders are working very hard to get phase two complete before the end of next week and we’re planning a big celebration with the school and local community to officially open the refurbished houses. We might have to help with some painting though first!
We have one more day working at the school before our weekend break at Selous Game Reserve. For the majority of the team, this will be their first experience of a game drive. What an experience it promises to be!
