Matipwilli, Tanzania: Books and school supplies for all!

I wish all of the students and parents in the Juniper Ridge Community could have been here when we shared the books and resources that were purchased with the money ($1000) you raised. The books are beautiful! There are many titles set in Africa, stories of African children with African names globes, maps, games and much more. The book the young children were most excited about was the book that Ms. Alonzo put together with pictures of all of the classes. The children here were clamoring to take a look at the pictures of you. I am sure it will be taken out of the library until it is tattered and torn. They liked looking at the classrooms and at the playground and at our library. Your actions made a huge difference to children half way around the world!

I visited the primary school and it was really different from our school. There were 8 classes from Kindergarten to grade 7, but there were only 5 teachers! The students worked quietly until the teacher came to their class. I think this may be something we could try at home. What do you think? The classes were large with about 50 students per class. Six students would share a bench and a desk that was a little larger than our desks. I was dismayed to see that the walls were bare. There were no pictures, no maps, no posters, no games..just bare walls. I think perhaps the humid weather means that materials do not last as long, but I was sad to see that the students had so little. It means that our donation is that much more important.

The students all wear uniforms and most stand up when they are answering or asking a question. They were quite surprised to hear that it is -30 degrees at home or colder. They also enjoyed hearing about wearing lots of layers of clothing during the winter and having to shovel snow. I really enjoyed my visit to their school.

Today we finished the building of the kitchen at the secondary school. It was much harder work than I anticipated, but I am thankful for all the help we received from the students at the secondary and primary schools.

Deep Pannu
DWC Participant
Tanzania, January 2012