Now, her dream bolstered further by funds and global support raised during TweetsGiving 2009, Mama Lucy is expanding even further. Construction has begun on the school’s first library and an additional classroom at Shepherds Junior School! The classroom will allow the school to expand to the seventh grade next year when the oldest students will take national examinations to qualify for secondary school.

In the midst of a busy beginning to the new school year, Mama Lucy sent us a quick note with a few photos to keep us updated on her amazing progress. She wrote:

Habari zenu?

I’m SO happy to write to you and send few photos, hoping this might make you feel as if you are at Shepherds compound:) I’m so excited to see the work is moving so fast.

The photos show students at our Nursery and other pics taken at our Primary school – Moivaro. The new babies are so cute! They are very active and they are happy to be at school. You can tell from the pics:) The pics showing construction were taken 3 – 4 days ago.

The construction is going well especially for classroom 7. At least you can see we are moving. The Library is moving but not as fast as the other one. They’ve been dealing with metal work for some days, after getting the blue print for the metal work. The work of roofing the ground floor will start within these 3 days, and they said we’ll have to wait for 21 days to dry. I’m sure they’ll be doing some other work while waiting for those days. I don’t know:( As this is our first time to do this kind of work, we have to be patient:)

I’ve attached few photos showing classroom 7 and Tech/Library to show how far we’ve moved.

It would be great to see you again after few months!!!!! Say hi to all.

Love you all!!!

Mama

The slideshow pictures below show the exciting construction progress and as well as the incoming preschool students that Mama Lucy mentioned. You can also view the Flickr photo set directly here.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

And, just as a reminder of how this classroom & library will impact your world and mine, check out this tweet from Glory, one of the students who will move up to seventh grade next year:

Hallo my friends!

I’m SO excited to inform you that today I received an email from my daughter about the results of our class 4 national exams.  Out of more than 100 schools in Arusha district, our school  scored 2nd position, only 2 points behind the top school.  When I heard this, I feel it’s good to write to you and share the good news!!

On 22^nd May 2009 I had the chance to experience the two tastes – sweet & bitter – which I’ll never forget. You may ask me why it took so long before I’ve shared the taste with you, but the tough job hindered me to do that! We were busy voting with the Ideablob competition, waiting for the results, you were getting prepared for the 140 conference Stacey, and thereafter so many other things. Though it’s just a story now to share with less impact, but you deserve to hear the story. Just relax as now we’ve only one taste. The sweet one! The bitter has gone.

The night before we started voting, on 22^nd May we were attacked by robbers at our home, at 2:30am. We were all in deep sleep before we heard a huge stone breaking the front door of our house. Within a minute, they were inside, and broke the door of our bedroom. My husband and I were not in a position to respond to the attack as they were already inside, without knowing how prepared they were. We ran and hid in the washroom before they broke our room’s door. They entered in the bedroom and started picking what they wanted. Fortunately, I was able to take one mobile phone of mine. I sent text messages to 5 friends of mine, alerting the situation. Good enough, one was able to inform the police. Before the police arriving, they broke the washroom’s door and pulled my husband to the bedroom, asking him to give them money. They didn’t touch me at all. They cut him with a panga (machete) on his arm and shoulder. But it was not very deep. My husband gave them the little we had in the room. They insisted for more, but my daughter Brenda told them we don’t keep money at home as the students’ parents are paying at the bank. They pushed my daughter and husband to the washroom. They continued with taking things from our room and Brenda’s room. The police came after half an hour, while they were still in the house but the gate was locked. After they heard the horn of the police car, they ran. After getting out, we came to realize that the watchman was tied with a rope both hands and legs. He was left helpless in the garden. We went and opened the gate, and our neighbours and policemen came inside.

The robbers took all the valuable things which they found in our house. Among many were: Money, Radio, Laptop – 1 pc, camera – 1 pc, mobile phones – 5 pcs, just to mention a few. That was the bitter taste of the day.

For the sweet taste, we were left alive and the next day which was the 23^rd of May, we were able to join others in the voting process. After the results of Ideablob that Epic Change won, the sweet taste increased.

The police are still on investigation, hope one day to hear good news about the stolen things. Two weeks ago, we were called at the police station to check laptops found, but unfortunately ours was not there. We’ve settled and things are okay now, though it was a great shock! We are trying to take all the measures to make sure this can’t happen again. Steps taken: 1). Hired KK Security and they installed alarm in and outside the house. 2). Two security guards instead of one.

Hope this will not shock you as it would have a month ago…

Much love,

Mama Lucy

All this while she was mobilizing a village to win $10,000 for a technology lab.

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington

As you probably know if you’re following the blog, Epic Change is now an Ideablob finalist – if you haven’t already voted at http://bit.ly/ideablob, I’ve no doubt you will after reading this post.  If you’re a blogger & would be generous enough to post about our Ideablob efforts on your blog, I hope you’ll do so with Zemanta’s “Blogging for a Cause” language, so Epic Change can win additional funds through your support.

Just wanted to give you an update on voting from Tanzania. I think this photo says it all:

More photos can be found here.

Just imagine how difficult it is to vote online in Arusha – to secure transport to an internet cafe, pay for web access, hope the spotty power grid is working, and use connections that are effectively at dial-up speeds to access heavy websites created primarily for Western audiences. Many haven’t used the internet before; most didn’t have email accounts; English is a second language. In this case, classrooms of children have to wait patiently in line outside for their opportunity to use the computer.  But hope is something they do have, and hard work is par for the course.

I share this as a reminder that this isn’t an effort in which “we” are giving to “them”. Hardly. We are collaborating together to build a better world for all of us…one in which children have the best possible opportunity to grow up & make invaluable contributions to our shared future. To be fair, the lion’s share of the work is being led in Tanzania, where Mama Lucy, the students and the teachers are, creating an educational environment that’s second to none in their area, based on national exam scores.

I also share this in hopes that you’ll realize just how simple it is for us to take just a minute, click a few buttons, and make a real difference in a community that is working so hard to create a better future for itself.  Despite geography, we’re all really part of the same community.  To vote now, just go to http://bit.ly/ideablob.  Remember, since the winnings will be used to build a tech lab at Shepherds Junior (solar power has already been installed and nearly 20 nearly-new laptops have been donated!), you’ll be helping create an entirely new level of access for this community and offering the world the opportunity to engage in conversation and learn from them too.

Here’s a few more updates from my inbox & text messages from Tanzania that make it clear just how much hope they have, and just how hard they’re working…in case you had any doubt:

AN EMAIL FROM MAMA LUCY

Received today (5/26):

Stacey,

I hope everything is well with you. The parents, teachers, students, friends and the community around the school are so excited with voting for Epic Change as they know what you are trying to do is for the benefit of their community.

Everyone wants to vote, but here the network is mostly very slow, so they are spending much time waiting on the queue / line to vote. But many are voting.

I’ve attached few photos of children and others while voting. The pupils are saying this is only their chance to have Technology Lab, so they don’t want to lose ;) Hope their dream will come to be true!

Wish you good luck!
Mama Lucy

EMAILS FROM PARENTS

Received 5/23:

Dear Sir/Madam:

Am Joel from Tanzania and I have a son at Shepherds Junior Academy and I need to give you a vot, but when I open the www.epicchange.org I can not find the steps to follow that I can do proper voting.

Help me
Joel mrkivuyo

__________________________________________________

Also received 5/23:

Stacey,

I have been trying to follow the simplest information and I dont know why am not getting into this thing. Am trembling right now because I have never failed a simple exam like this and I feel ashamed. I have been trying this with my son Gideon yesterday but the same thing is repeating. I have been with mama Lucy this morning and she has a bunch of student with her for the vote. I will go and see her again if she has succeded. I know it is just a small thing which is tricking me, I will find a way out and hopefully I will be a help for hundreds of people who will like to vote for our school!

Wish you all the best – Together we excel!
gidori

[Of course, Mr. Gidori figured it out. Before we responded, he wrote...]

Wooow!!!
Succeeded at last!

Just before I left the Internet cafe I noticed the problem. I had some emails which were in the spam box which am not used to read and that is where my confirmation for the vote was being hiden….I will lead many to vote for the school as well.

Am so happy now leaving this room.

Love you!
Gidori

A FEW DAYS TEXTS FROM TANZANIA (excerpts…)

[I know this post is a little long, so if you're interested in my thoughts on how limited web access may create a cultural bias in the outcome of social change competitions, by all means, read on. If not, however, just vote now at http://bit.ly/ideablob and then ask all your friends to do the same!!!]

NOW, ALL OF THIS GOT ME TO THINKING…
What if we hadn’t been involved? Would this incredible social innovator who’s now built one of the best primary schools in Arusha have any shot at winning a competition in which the winner is selected by online votes?

The truth is, she’s definitely scrappy and determined, so maybe – but the odds are undoubtedly stacked against her.  It is undeniable that entrants to contests like these from the US and other places with widespread high-speed internet and computer access have a vast leg up.  Given that American & European social entrepreneurs likely have far fewer barriers in other respects as well, it seems folly to give them yet another significant advantage in the selection process…especially when solutions developed in other parts of the world may, in fact, be the most effective and least expensive because of their creators’ deep experience in potential communities of impact.

To be clear, for this current competition (Ideablob), only US entrants are permitted, which probably makes sense given their business objectives & creates a somewhat level playing field.  But what about Ashoka’s Changemakers (not to single them out – they’re just one example) and other social change competitions that accept entrants from across the globe and seek to unearth the most innovative, effective solutions to the world’s most pressing social problems?  Should competitions like those be using online votes to select winners?  My guess is it’s just one more advantage for the rich white kids.  (To be fair, people like me, though in my own country, “rich” isn’t quite the appropriate adjective.)  While I’m absolutely certain that the intent of competitions like Changemakers (which has a beautiful and vastly improved new site, by the way) and others is absolutely to discover the best solutions, regardless of geography, I’m just not certain online voting is the best way to go about it…at least not yet.

Skoll’s Social Edge blog recently asked: Are the Only Innovations in Social Entrepreneurship Anglo-Saxon? Though you might think so sitting at social change conferences like SoCap09, the Skoll World Forum and others,  the answer is: Absolutely not.  Clearly, there are brilliant indigenous solutions that are simply not being seen or resourced – and we simply cannot afford to foster or tolerate systems that overlook innovators from parts of the world with limited web access – who may, because of their life experience or out of necessity, be able to imagine more effective, less expensive possibilities.

I know, people will say, “no voting mechanism is perfect.”  And they’re right.  But if we’re going to get it wrong, let’s at least not foster a system that’s so clearly culturally-biased in a field that so clearly shouldn’t be.  For now, let’s use a cross-cultural panel of judges if we must.  Or maybe there’s a smart mobile phone voting solution that just might work.

Folks also suggest crowds are great decision-makers.  Let’s not fool ourselves.  Large, representative, informed, unbiased crowds, maybe.  But that’s a long way off for most of the social change platforms I’ve seen – these tools are nascent, have relatively small communities, and few users that are consistent, invested, long-term participants.  Perhaps Change.org will emerge as a community large enough to truly be representative and unbiased, I don’t know.  Right now, however, the vast majority of voters in online social change competitions are those driven there by contest entrants.   Until that changes, I believe online voting is a seriously flawed, culturally-biased way to select social innovators in which to invest. I know the tools are sexy and the marketing benefits alluring, but it’s the social change not the social media we should be focusing on, IMHO – let’s hope one doesn’t get in the way of the other.

Of course, this conversation doesn’t really even touch on the broader criticisms of what some some call social change “popularity contests.” Even though I’ve worked hard to cultivate an online community of supporters that will support me in such efforts (thank goodness!), I’ve heard many bright colleagues suggest that social change competitions, in their current incarnation, waste valuable resources, sabotage potential collaboration and fail to surface the best solutions.  I’ll leave you with comments from three savvy social change tweeters who got involved in the conversation when I posed this question on twitter:

“If some entrants come from places with limited web access, is it fair to use online votes to select winners of social change contests?”

Suffice it to say, there’s got to be a better way. Until we find it, though, Epic Change will continue to participate in social change competitions that raise visibility and funds for our efforts to resource social innovators like Mama Lucy.

Oh, and improved access starts right here, with you.  If you haven’t already, VOTE now on Ideablob so that Epic Change can earn $10k toward funding a school technology lab in Tanzania.

I preface with that because I am completely consumed with hope and hard work, but got a couple of fabulous emails from Tanzania that I couldn’t wait to share, so I’m taking a welcome break from the grindstone to post a quick update.

The first was from Leah, a fourth grader who’s one of the brightest in her class. She wrote me this short note:

I want to tell you that yesterday I did the national examination. I promise you that we will win the exam. I love you.

Each year, students across Tanzania in grades 4 and higher take annual national exams. Since our partner school in Tanzania just expanded this year to include Class 4, this was the school’s first opportunity to participate. The day after I received Leah’s note, I got this one from Teacher Nancy Nashilu, the fourth grade instructor. I was brought to tears when I read what she had to say in an email with the subject heading “STORM IS OVER”. She wrote:

Is it real that class 4’s have done their national examination? Is it true that we’ve lifted the heavy luggage we had carried? Unbelievable.

Shepherds Junior, with the help of Epic Change, has managed to make a big step in life by having their first Class 4 doing their National Examination. Great. I personally interviewed my students one day before that very day, and they thanked their teachers for the good preparation we had done for them. They promised me to do wonders. I saw the determination and the courage they had when I was interrogating them, and I felt something in them. Being a class teacher and having the first class at our school to sit for the national examination, made me struggle and surrender all my energies together with my colleagues to see our students succeed. I was chosen as the assistant exam proctor. On that very morning, 12.11.08, I was given the mathematics tests to take into the examination room. Behind me was the lead proctor and the headmaster. I walked as a bride holding the papers on my hand. When I reached in the room I looked on my beloved students and I felt tears rolling from my eyes. Not that I was sad, but because I had faith and trust that they will make it.

The room was so quiet in such a way you could have heard intestines colliding in the stomach. And as I was opening the sealed envelope containing the exams, I knew to expect nineteen 100s in math from my class. After the examination, the students told me the paper was as easy as ABC! I felt like flying because this first exam got such a positive response from my lovely students, but I had no wings. The first day ended with this saying of “YES WE CAN” which reminded me of the current U.S.A. President and how he made it with the same words and I got even higher hopes for my students. The second day everything went on accordingly still with the same saying. Now we are eagerly waiting for their results to see whether they will win the battle…like Obama.

Whatever your politics, you can’t help but feel this fabulous teacher’s love, pride and hope for her students. I wish I could explain to Leah, Nancy, and to you, just how much these notes mean to me.

I’ve heard a lot of talk at recent conferences about metrics for social innovators and socially responsible businesses. So many seem to measure quantity. How many people were served? How much was donated? How many donors participated? How many people visited the website? These are obviously critical metrics, but I believe we need to expand the discussion to focus not only on the scope of our impact, but on its quality and depth. Test scores are one way to do that, as are surveys of targeted populations (provided you can obtain frank feedback, which is sometimes difficult).

For us, it’s more than how many students are we impacting, it’s the quality of the education they receive. For our partners who are passionately committed to delivering the best possible education to the children in their care, that’s the pudding. You know, where the proof is.

I can’t wait to share the school’s test scores with you when they arrive.

What is Poverty?

• Lack of something which otherwise could be of great importance for you. For example: basic human needs, good sources of income, or ability to think well.
• Not having enough to meet basic needs.
• Having something but not in a good quality which is supposed to be.

According to my first and last definition, I don’t consider myself as a poor person. I’ve no good sources of income but I’ve the ability to think and utilise the little I’m having so as to bring change to my community.

When talking about poor people, others’ minds go straight to not having money, shelter, food or clothes. For me, it’s more than that. Anyone who has money but their thinking capacity is poor/low, is poorer than the one with no basic human needs. This is because, what you are having can easily perish if you’ll not know how to use it.

What I think some wazungu (foreigners) misunderstand about poverty (which is good for them to know) is:

• Lacking basic needs does not mean your thinking capacity must be low.
• They sometimes think that because Africans are living in poor countries, therefore they cannot think about themselves. They think that since they don’t have money, so they can’t be able to plan, implement, monitor and supervise anything even if given chance or supported.
• They should know that, even if a person/community is poor, the best way to help is to listen and give chance to the beneficiaries to know what really is their problem, and what they think is their priority. You may think they need good road first but their priority is school, hospital or water. If you’ll not give them chance, you’ll end up doing their last thing at first.
• Poverty cannot be eradicated by just the ideas of one side. Sharing ideas of both sides can help and bring changes easily.
• Not the ways which has eliminated poverty in another country or community can be applied to every part and bring success.

For me to be rich is good thing if, you’ll be rich and happy. I’ve seen some people who are very rich but not happy at all. That is nonsense to me.

Education is the key to life. If good Education could be offered to all children, from their early years up to colleges, with time, poverty could not be an issue anymore. EDUCATION HAS POWER! This is why I’m among the people who are trying to bring even a slight change to this sector.

I hate the effects of poverty. Some of them being:

• Diseases which mostly are caused by low standard of living, which has connection to Edudation too.
• Death at early ages
• No say to your properties. Those being just few I’ve mentioned.

Let’s join hands to fight POVERTY.

Regards,
Mama Lucy.

Unity Is Power – believe me or not!

Before Sanjay and Stacey left to return back to the US in early August this year, we had several meetings with Rachel, Kira and Mindy of Sun Strides, a nonprofit organization based in the US. They came to join hands with us so as to support and push us forward in what we’re trying to achieve. The major issue of our joint meetings was about the solar power installation for our school.

Our aim is to start computer classes by January 2009 for our primary classes. That could only be possible if we have electricity. As we’ve said before, we received 5 computers already from Epic Change this summer.

It was on Friday 12th September 2008, when Sun Strides re-visited our school and started the work. On Sunday 14th September, I couldn’t believe my own eyes when for the first time I saw electricity at our school!

Just click on the mosaic below to see larger images in Flickr.

Special thanks to Sun Strides for their fabulous job; for working and paying for the costs of solar installation. Otherwise, pupils couldn’t enjoy the computers and we would still be having dark nights.

We have been able to achieve what we have because you’ve joined our efforts. Your donations, your ideas, and entire support have brought great change to our school and community.

Thank you Epic Change! Thank you Sun Strides! Thank you all who have supported us and made us be where we are. Your support means a lot to us!

With Much Love,
Mama Lucy – Shepherds Junior School
Arusha, Tanzania.

It’s great to have partners in creating Epic Change, and we’re so glad Sun Strides decided to implement solar power at Shepherds Junior as their first project. Thanks so much to Rachel, Kira, Mindy and all of the donors and supporters at Sun Strides!

“Our next goal is to have reliable transport for children and teachers. The school van we have is for 18 passengers, but carries more than 30 pupils and five teachers. In order to fit, they have to carry one another. More than 140 of our pupils depend on one school van and one hired van for transport each day.

If it was possible for our school to move from a rented building to our very own new beautiful buildings, and if we started carrying pupils with one “Toyota Corolla” as transport (carrying up to 10 pupils instead of 5) in 2004 and now we have a school van, definitely, we can move from that to our school bus. How? I don’t know, but I know there’s a way!

This came in my mind several times one evening before I went to bed, on 19th June 2008. I closed my eyes, then started to see the trend of pictures of how we started. It was like a movie. A very interesting one!

By then, I was trying to think of how pupils are squeezing in our school van and a hired vehicle. There’s no more space for even a single child. The teachers too, are squeezing in the same vehicles. Not enough air inside, but they are still happy! That’s how we are moving!

What will be next if more students will join our school, and need to use the school transport? That is a major question clicking in my head.

We do remember of how you good people struggled to make sure we have land and buildings. As you did for that, your donations still count a lot! Many new children have come to our school since you’ve helped us to build such a great facility; now we need to find a way to get all of the children who want to attend our school safely to and from school each morning and evening.

Thank you so much for your help. We do really appreciate it!

Tomorrow, I’ll depart Frankfurt for Tanzania. On this trip, I’d hoped (and still hope!) to make our next loan, for a school bus for Shepherds Junior. While we’ve raised over $6,000 toward the effort to date, the total cost of the bus is estimated to be $25,000 – so we’re definitely not there yet. I really hope you’ll help by donating now, and spreading the word to others who might be able to help out. Remember, this school was built primarily from donations of about $20; if we all do a little, together we can make an epic difference.

One of the parents at the school, Gidori, once told us that his son, Gideon, wouldn’t be able to attend Shepherds Junior if transportation weren’t offered. He simply can’t afford any other form of transportation that’s safe for his son.

What impact has the availability or lack of school transportation options meant to your child’s education?

Mama Lucy’s first language is Swahili, but she speaks remarkable English. I’ve no doubt that you’ll be able to understand the meaning of her note. Additionally, since we hope to build an online community where people from both of our cultures can meaningfully connect, I believe it’s imperative for us to begin to share these communications without mediation.

When I asked her to share with you her perspectives on aid, and our approach in particular, Mama Lucy wrote:

Dear Epic Changers,

What is aid?
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it has the following meaning:

• Money, food, etc. that is sent to help in difficult situations.
• Help that you need to perform a particular task.
• Help that is given to a person.

Now let’s come to the point.

Those definitions give us a picture of how beautiful it is. For me, an aid seems to be a very good thing too, but it has two sides. One, it depends on how an aid giver decides to give (the approach). To the right people/community/country at the right time through those who have direct connection to the targeted group.

The other side, it depends on how an aid receiver is prepared to use/utilize such aid. Positively or otherwise. Someone can decide to send an aid with very good intention to help a community to cater a certain need, but can end up with no good impact. The receiver must be related to that need. There must be connection between the two.

Giving aid through “participatory approach” can bring great change to a community. Such community can value what they have participated in, rather than what they’ve just received ready made.

Epic Change has this unique approach of giving aid to our community. (participatory approach). They support us by giving us loans and strengthening our muscles by giving us chances to do planning and decision making. We do these practically.

Epic Change does not leave us to be passive recipients but active participants. It helps and encourages entrepreneurship and initiative in our community; which brings economic empowerment.

This is the only way a community can be taught how to fish, and not only be given a fish.

I wish other organizations could come up with this approach, there would be great change in our community!

Lucy

When we originally conceptualized Epic Change, we knew two things:

• We knew nothing about building a school in Africa.
• Mama Lucy did.

Therefore, you’ll see from the earliest documentation of our organization that our first, and most important, core value is local leadership. Epic Change does not design, develop or implement community improvements. We do not build schools. We’ve simply created an experimental business model that we hope will enable us to create a renewable source of capital to invest in the crucial efforts of grassroots change agents across the globe like Mama Lucy. While she calls our approach “participatory,” Mama Lucy does far more than participate. She independently founded and is leading this effort. As she mentions, she does the “planning and decision making.” After all, she created the school, and made it successful, long before we ever arrived. The vision is hers to realize, along with the parents’ committee, the amazing staff of teachers she’s hired and, of course, her students.

I recently ran across a link to the film They Come in the Name of Helping by Peter Brock on Peter Dietz’s Social Actions blog. The film takes a critical look at the effectiveness of foreign development programs through the eyes of young adults living in Sierra Leone. They offer thought-provoking perspectives on the value of local involvement in identifying the needs of a particular community and the solutions that are most appropriate in a given cultural context. It’s definitely worth spending some time to take a look, and provides some compelling reasons why locally-led initiatives likely have the greatest potential for success.

In it, 24-year-old journalist Zainab Kamara says:

“They [i.e., foreign aid workers] come in the name of…solving the problem, in which they don’t even have an iota of an idea…When they come, they just say, ‘we have the solution to your problem; don’t worry, we’re here.’ So their assurance is there; we’re just waiting on them to solve the problem. Instead of telling us that you [i.e., local people] have the solution to your problems, all they’ll do is say, ‘we have the solutions to your problem, so just wait on us and we’ll solve the problem.’”

Mama Lucy knows the problem, has the solution and waits for no one. As it should be.

How do you feel about our approach as Mama Lucy has shared it? Given what you know about our partnership with her, do you have suggestions for how we could improve our approach? Do you have any questions for Mama Lucy – or for us? Any other insights from watching Brock’s film?

On Saturday 29th March 2008, the pupils of Shepherds Junior School proved that they can fundraise for their school too!!! The function started around 10:15am. Earlier in the day, the children brought different things from their parents/guardians like: sets of glasses, flower vessels, a Bible, a thermos, a cake with the name of school, khangas, vitenges, batiks, hens, etc.

We invited all of the parents, local leaders of the Moivaro village, the Ward Educational Officer, villagers and friends.

The children know that before anyone can put his/her hand in their pocket to give you money, you must show that you deserve to be given. So, the children prepared different things for the pre-auction performance to show their ability in various subjects.

The children performed:

1. Three songs from the lower classes (Baby, Intermediate and Pre-unit classes).
2. Academic activities from the primary classes (standards 1 – 4). Below is what they presented to amuse the guests:
• Math (Class 4) – Glory Abraham and Gideon Gidori solved different types of mathematical problems and showed how they got the answer.
• History (Class 4) – “Evolution in Mankind,” with an explanation from the first stage to the last stage, as presented by Leah Albert.
• Science (Class 3) – “Germination in Plants,” with an explanation given by Linner George and a practical demonstration by Amani Herman.
• Arts (Class 2) – Lourine Paul and Luta performed an experiment mixing two different primary colours to get secondary colours.

After each of their presentations, they invited questions from the audience. You can’t believe how confidently and correctly they answered those questions! This shows that the subject was well understood by the students. Everyone was so impressed! Then followed the auction.

Wow! As everyone was so excited with the performance, the auction was so successful. We were able to raise cash Tshs. 487,000 and other things were bought on credit, worth Tshs. 1,180,000 (a total of nearly $1,500 USD). Those who bought on credit promised to pay no later than early May; when we’ll begin the next term. We’ll reopen the school on the 5th of May 2008.

Since the children brought so many items, time was inadequate. So some of the leftover items, like 36 pairs of khangas and vitenges, were left to be auctioned in the next term.

We do hope that those parents who bought on credit will pay within a timely manner so that we can complete the work of fencing the school.

The function ended around 5.00 pm and the school was closed happily until the next term!

More good news is about the photocopy machine we’ve wanted! At our last Parents Meeting, I informed the parents about the necessity of having a photocopy machine, and they agreed to contribute money to purchase one. They contributed, and on March 8th, we finally got our own photocopy machine and we started using it immediately. We even used it to copy the March exams!

I’m sure you’re as happy as we are!!! Cheka kubwa (Big smile)!!!!

Yes Mama Lucy, we are ecstatic about your successful fundraising event! I can truly say that this is an fantastic accomplishment, and congratulations to all of the students for doing a wonderful job. It’s so good too for the children to learn that, even though they’re little, they have the power to make a real difference. It’s an incredibly powerful lesson for them to learn at such a young age.

Have a nice end-of-term break, you deserve it!