This past weekend was busy!
We had a health celebration in Sakina where we taught people how to wash their hands, passed out hand sanitizer and toothbrushes, shared ideas, did trash pick up, and passed out oranges. It was really fun and I think people in the community got really engaged. We are going to start doing this every Saturday morning.
We also have a group of volunteers who are going to start helping more regularly with the Saturday morning volunteering.
We also had a scholar celebration for the scholar families. We unveiled the "resource room" which is located in an extra room at the Maturo household. The scholars now have a quiet place to study and be immersed in a positive environment. Since most of them live in one room with their family which is used as a kitchen, bedroom, and sitting room, and most schools don't have a library, giving our scholars a place to study is one of the best gifts we can give them. I have been taking them to the bookstore to pick out a couple of books so they can start a library.
They are very excited and I think the room is a tangible way to emphasize the importance of education, both for the students and their parents.
I am leaving Sakina on Friday and will really miss everyone here.
vocab word of the day:
vitabu - book
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Health Assessment Wrap Up
We have finished out the health assessment strong!
Last week we had a focus group with an NGO called UEDA (Urban Environmental Development Association) which works with solid waste management in Sakina. It was extremely informative!
We also had a focus group with potential community health workers. This was an amazing group of people and I think they are the key to building a strong foundation for Sustain Foundation in Sakina. This was the first focus group in which we even had some people interrupting each other because everyone wanted to talk! It was very dynamic and inspiring to see Sakina residents getting fired up about health.
We met with all of the scholar parents and did non-random surveys.
Up next: hopefully a small health celebration to kick off Sustain Foundation's health program!
Last week we had a focus group with an NGO called UEDA (Urban Environmental Development Association) which works with solid waste management in Sakina. It was extremely informative!
We also had a focus group with potential community health workers. This was an amazing group of people and I think they are the key to building a strong foundation for Sustain Foundation in Sakina. This was the first focus group in which we even had some people interrupting each other because everyone wanted to talk! It was very dynamic and inspiring to see Sakina residents getting fired up about health.
We met with all of the scholar parents and did non-random surveys.
Up next: hopefully a small health celebration to kick off Sustain Foundation's health program!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Scholar Home Visits
This weekend all of the scholars went on a little field trip to everyone's home. It was fun for them to see where each other lives. We also took video of each scholar's home with the FLIP camera so that I can bring back a taste of life here in Tanzania.
Health Assessment update: We are wrapping up our focus groups with NGO's, potential community health workers, and teachers in the community. We will be surveying the parents of the scholars this weekend as well so we are able to get a better sense of scholars and their families needs.
word of the day:
ndizi - banana
Health Assessment update: We are wrapping up our focus groups with NGO's, potential community health workers, and teachers in the community. We will be surveying the parents of the scholars this weekend as well so we are able to get a better sense of scholars and their families needs.
word of the day:
ndizi - banana
Friday, July 24, 2009
Congratulations to our new Sakina Scholars!
Congratulations to our new Sakina Scholars!
The first is Suzana. She has two older brothers and 1 younger brother. Suzana lives with her older brother and his wife, who supports the family as a shoe maker. Her father passed away when she was very young and her mother passed away in 2007. She lives in a 3 room mud hut. Suzana wants to be a doctor because she will be able to assist people and educate them. Her favorite part about Tanzania is peace. Her favorite animal is a giraffe, favorite food - bananas, favorite music - hip hop, and favorite color - black. Three words that describe her are obedient, punctual, and enjoys studying. She enjoys playing netball and volleyball. She is also one of the top students in her class!
The second scholar is Gerald. He has 1 older sister and 1 younger sister. His father died in 2008 and his mother supports the family selling vegetables at a small hut and sometimes pounding stones that are sold for construction. He would like to be an accountant because he likes math. He enjoys playing football, basketball, and running. His favorite food is ugali, favorite animal - elephant, favorite color - green, and favorite music - hip hop. Three words that describe himself are he likes others, wants to learn more about god, and likes collaboration. He wants to go to America to see Mt. Rushmore. He is very studious and loves learning about new places and cultures.
Congratulations to our two new Sakina Scholars!
The first is Suzana. She has two older brothers and 1 younger brother. Suzana lives with her older brother and his wife, who supports the family as a shoe maker. Her father passed away when she was very young and her mother passed away in 2007. She lives in a 3 room mud hut. Suzana wants to be a doctor because she will be able to assist people and educate them. Her favorite part about Tanzania is peace. Her favorite animal is a giraffe, favorite food - bananas, favorite music - hip hop, and favorite color - black. Three words that describe her are obedient, punctual, and enjoys studying. She enjoys playing netball and volleyball. She is also one of the top students in her class!
The second scholar is Gerald. He has 1 older sister and 1 younger sister. His father died in 2008 and his mother supports the family selling vegetables at a small hut and sometimes pounding stones that are sold for construction. He would like to be an accountant because he likes math. He enjoys playing football, basketball, and running. His favorite food is ugali, favorite animal - elephant, favorite color - green, and favorite music - hip hop. Three words that describe himself are he likes others, wants to learn more about god, and likes collaboration. He wants to go to America to see Mt. Rushmore. He is very studious and loves learning about new places and cultures.
Congratulations to our two new Sakina Scholars!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sakina Health Evaluation
Sorry I haven't written in a while - we've been busy!!!
We have started and almost finished the Sakina Health Evaluation (SHE). We have had focus groups with the village leaders as well as other stakeholder groups in the community (men, women, church leaders, etc.). We have also done over 70 household surveys, which we identify via random sampling. It has been so fun to visit different households in Sakina. I have learned so much and I know that Emanueli and Irene have really enjoyed meeting different people in the community. They have become great ambassadors for Sustain Foundation and have spread their enthusiasm for what Sustain Foundation is doing in Sakina to the Sakina residents. It's really neat when I see people we surveyed in the street and we stop to talk and say hello.
Also, THANK YOU TEAM SAKINA and everyone who said hi on the FLIP camera. We received it on Friday and the scholars watched all the videos on Saturday. The loved it and will be videoing their own homes so that you can learn about them as well. They were so excited to learn that women are running the distance from North Carolina to Sakina and that they are named Team Sakina!
word of the day:
tathmini - interview
We have started and almost finished the Sakina Health Evaluation (SHE). We have had focus groups with the village leaders as well as other stakeholder groups in the community (men, women, church leaders, etc.). We have also done over 70 household surveys, which we identify via random sampling. It has been so fun to visit different households in Sakina. I have learned so much and I know that Emanueli and Irene have really enjoyed meeting different people in the community. They have become great ambassadors for Sustain Foundation and have spread their enthusiasm for what Sustain Foundation is doing in Sakina to the Sakina residents. It's really neat when I see people we surveyed in the street and we stop to talk and say hello.
Also, THANK YOU TEAM SAKINA and everyone who said hi on the FLIP camera. We received it on Friday and the scholars watched all the videos on Saturday. The loved it and will be videoing their own homes so that you can learn about them as well. They were so excited to learn that women are running the distance from North Carolina to Sakina and that they are named Team Sakina!
word of the day:
tathmini - interview
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Women's Focus Group
We had a women's focus group yesterday which went really well. It’s really cool because Irene is in this group of women that meets once a month. They meet every month to talk about their lives and how to improve them. They each contribute a little money and they give it to one of the ladies to do with it whatever she wants. For example, use it to buy flour to make mandazi (bread) and sell it. Or buy a goat. It’s almost like a little microfinance group. A lot of the women are already small business owners. It was really rewarding to see Irene explain to them what we could talk about because she was telling them about everything we’d learned about business already.
vocab word of the day:
nina njaa - I'm hungry
vocab word of the day:
nina njaa - I'm hungry
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Village Leaders
Picture of all the scholars and their parents!!!
We got to meet with village leaders this week. They were very supportive of our upcoming health assessment and plan to walk around with us so that people in the community feel comfortable talking to us.
We also had a focus group with our scholar parents and learned a lot about health in Sakina as well as how the Sakina Scholars scholarship has impacted their family. We are currently in the process of transcribing and translating!!
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