Day 192 - Addition to the Family

My family has been supporting one of the girls at the school this past year. Her name is Naomi Ngotiria, she is 13 years old and in Form I. Naomi is the last born child of seven, 4 girls and 3 boys. Her father has 5 wives, so she has additional half siblings. Naomi grew up outside of Arusha (not too far from the school). Two of her sisters are still in secondary school, one brother is a pastor, and another brother is in university studying to be an accountant. Naomi's father is deceased and her mother herds cattle and grows maize and beans now. Her favorite school subjects are math and physics, and she wants to be a doctor when she gets older. She loves to sing, dance, jump rope, and write. Her favorite food is rice and beans.

Liz and I had an enjoyable time visiting with Naomi and getting to know her better. She speaks English VERY well for a Form I student and her teachers said she is bright in class. Naomi took us to her dorm to see where she lives and to meet her friends.

Each girl here is sponsored by a family or church in the states through Operation Bootstrap Africa. It costs about $800/year to help one girl receive an education and once you donate you receive all the information about you new "daughter" or "sister". Sponsors are urged to correspond with their student throughout the duration of her schooling. This offers the girls encouragement and helps them with their English skills. Let me tell you, the girls really look forward to the letters they receive from their sponsors. Last week I had given Naomi a picture of our family and she was just beaming. It means a lot to them to know that someone in the U.S. cares about their future. It was great to be able to meet Naomi! She is a special addition to our family! If anyone is interested in supporting one of the Maa Sae girls, I can give you the information!

Day 190 - Liz Arrives in Tanzania

Today my sister, Liz, arrived from the states to the Girls school. She flew into Arusha (a day later than expected with some flight trouble) and will be staying here for the next two weeks to travel with me. I am so excited to have her around and it is a great chance for her to see the school and meet some of the girls.

I took her around Monduli today to show her the market and gave her a little taste of the culture. Even walking down the road a few blocks was interesting as we watched people and took in the sights. We ate dinner with the girls tonight and then Liz settled in, trying to get into the new time schedule.

Liz also brought over some supplies - pens, pencils, paper, printer ink, staplers, scotch and masking tape that our church in Underwood donated for the girls. She had also carried over some quilts from Operation Bootstrap Africa in Minneapolis. The school was thrilled to receive all these things. THANK YOU to the Sverdrup Church members!

(Giving the school supplies to the MaaSae Girls School Headmaster, Mrs. Mary Kipuyo)

Day 188 - Helping Out

The project that they gave me at the school was to clean and organize the library. I recruited some of the girls to help me in their spare time so "poli, poli" (slowly slowly in Swahili) we got all the books and shelves done. The girls were super to work with and get to know better. I also spent some nights helping the girls with homework while they studied. One night the electricity was out so I sat around a flashlight with about 15 girls and they taught me Swahili (much more fun than me helping them!).

Something else I enjoyed doing with the girls the past couple weeks was playing piano. There is an old piano in one of the classrooms and every afternoon there is a group of girls playing in their free time. They really only know one song, so I taught them a couple other short songs.

Day 193 - Leaving MGLSS and Meeting with the Simonson Family

This morning Liz and I left the girls school. As always it was sad to say good-bye, but I hope that maybe one day I can come back to teach Pre Form for their three month session. One of the teachers who I spent a lot of time with was Selina. Selina graduated from the school in 2001 and through the support of her sponsor back in Minnesota she was able to attend university in Kenya. Selina got her teaching degree and decided she wanted to give back to the school that gave her so much. She is a great role model for these girls.


Liz and I got back into Arusha, had lunch, did a little shopping and then were guests at David and Eunice Simonson's house. The Simonson's were Lutheran missionaries in Tanzania for over 40 years and are true legends in the country (started MGLSS) - especially among the Maasai people. In fact, their home lies in the foothills of Mount Meru on land that was given to them by the tribe. They have a lovely home designed in 5 circular, connecting, modern huts with beautiful gardens on the property . There is so much to say about these wonderful people, but I would recommend you read a book about their life called Under the Acacia Tree, by Jim Kloubucher. The Simonson's helped to bring the church, education, and hospitals to the country and have recently been recognized by the U.S. Congress for all their goods deeds. I have met them a couple times back in the states at OBA walks and functions, and at the wedding of their grandson, Seth, and my high school friend, Amber. It was an honor, to say the least, to get to go to their home today!

Day 183 - 187 Teaching

The education system in Tanzania is slightly different than in the U.S. because after Form II and Form IV the girls are required to take a national test that is pass or fail. It covers all their subjects including, Science, Math, English, Swahili, Civics, History and Geography. If the girls pass, they may continue in school; if not, they move home to their village (some do try to get into another school and study again for the test, but not many). Form I classes usually have about 65 girls and by the start of Form III that number is reduced to half and after Form IV it is reduced to even less. Unfortunately, the tests are designed to eliminate students. I don't believe this system encourages education in this country. The Girls school works very hard to prepare the girls for these tests. The Form IV girls have been preparing this week for the test to start next week and they are just stressed out. I really feel for them, that their whole future depends on a test. It has been like this for decades. I can't imagine.

For those that do make it to Form VI and do well on their placement exams for college, they have the opportunity to move on. Girls from the school have gone on - one to medical school, a lawyer, a pastor, and numerous teachers including several who have come back to the MaaSae school to teach. Several girls have had the opportunity to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, through the help of their sponsors.

This week I had the opportunity to teach 12 periods of basic Accounting to the Form III girls (there are two sections of girls for each Form). It was a great teaching experience, because they were so attentive and participated during class with great questions. I had become used to my Thai 4 and 5 year old children whose attention span is a bit shorter and I loved that my subject was Accounting rather than the Grade 1 reading books (not that I didn't enjoy those)!

Day 182 - Chapel Time

The girls attend chapel twice a day everyday and on Sunday have church in the morning and chapel before dinner. Mama Jean leads the church services 3 Sundays a month in English and then the local Lutheran Pastor comes over the 4th Sunday to lead the service in Maa. Tuesday chapel is always in English and either in Maa or Swahili the other days. The girls really lead the services on their own by selecting songs and reading the bible passages, which I am very impressed by.

There is one large choir and each form has a small choir that sings on Sundays and once in a while during the week. They also rock the house when they sing. Again it is amazing how their voices harmonize with no instruments (sometimes a drum). They also out dance anyone I know. It is fun to see some of their moves! I wish I could post video for everyone to hear, but the African internet is way too slow!

Day 180 - Kind of Feels like Summer Camp around here!

Honestly, I feel like I am back at summer camp in MN right now, because most of the days are structured for the girls like camp (minus beach time and campfires). Each day the girls wake up at 5:30 to jog, eat breakfast, collect water from the faucet (for a while now the water has not been flowing through the pipes to the dorms, so the girls need to fill up buckets between 7 and 8 when the water is turned on at one faucet on campus.) Then they go to chapel, and then start their classes for the day which end about 2:30. They have lunch, freetime and chores (slashing the grass, doing laundry, and helping prepare the food), before evening chapel at 5:00 and then dinner and studying until lights out at 10:30. Weekends are little more flexible in the afternoons with activities and movie nights on Saturday. The girls work very hard to maintain the school and keep up with their studies. They have two long breaks during the year where they go home to spend time with their families and they have a couple weekends where their families can visit them at school.

(L: Form 2 eating beans and maize for dinner, M: Girls studying outside, R: Girls collecting water in the morning)

Each of the girls has a school uniform to wear during the week, but they can wear everyday clothing during freetime. The school uniform is a MaaSae Girl's t-shirt, a skirt, white socks, black shoes and a red sweater. Each Form has a different colored shirt.



The girls are really not allowed to go outside the school premises without permission, but on this afternoon two girls were allowed to escort me to the market and show me around Monduli. They enjoyed getting out of the school, have a snack at a local cafe and I enjoyed getting to know them better!
(Neema balancing the goods from the market on her head and me attempting to do the same. I don't get how they balance while they walk!)