Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Today I had the good fortune to go on a field trip with Anderson’s class. He is in what we might call a mixed class of Kindergarten and First grade. The children from ISM had work sheets and were to find the similarities and differences between the primary school in the Olasiti village and their school.
One of the first differences was in the obviously sub-par structure of the buildings which housed the classrooms. They were made of mud with tin roofs and not very inviting.
Can you guess the next difference?
Yes, in this class of first graders there are 103 students and one teacher! The desks have benches behind them and look like they may have been intended for two students to share, but three to four children were at every desk. Most of the learning is by rote as a group. Don’t think there’s much individualized instruction possible here. Our children sang a song in Swahili and the village students also sang to us.
We left the classroom and walked around outside to see other similarities or differences.
Here is the library (not much bigger than a closet):
There is no medical treatment available at the school, but the village clinic is a short walk.
The children from ISM (International School at Moshi, but the Arusha branch) seemed to have an understanding of how fortunate they are, especially compared to most of the local population of Tanzania and indeed most of Africa.
The children were fascinated by my necklace, the names and number of grandkids I have 
Thank you Lisa and Anderson for letting me go with you today!
Some pictures of the village
And always the cattle or goats to contend with on the roads.
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