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
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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!!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Scholars Retreat Day 2
Today we changed our plan a bit. We were planning to do a Literacy through Photography exercise, but the supplies hadn't arrived from the US yet (definitely due to the mail system here) so we did some arts and crafts using some supplies I had brought.
We finished up scholar interviews (details to come soon!) and had a little group discussion about life in Sakina. Some highlights: Their daily routine includes waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 am to prepare tea. Then they brush their teeth, wash their face, clean their room, drink tea, put on uniform, comb hair, and go to school around 7:00-7:30. Some of them can walk and others have 45 minute rides on the daladala (little vans that serve as public transport and cost about 10 cents for students).
After they come home from school around 2, they eat lunch, clean clothes, wash dishes, fetch water from the stream, bathe, help parents cook, do homework, and play soccer. They go to bed between 9 and 11.
Only one scholar has a TV and electricity. None of them own a calculator. Very few people own pets like we think of pets, but some have animals such as pigeons, a hen, cow, sheep, dog, duck, dog, and rabbit. 5 of them have a flashlight, 2 have a radio, everyone has a bed, but one sleeps on a couch. Only two of them have a family bicycle.
More details to come soon!
vocab word of the day: chiupe - rabbit
We finished up scholar interviews (details to come soon!) and had a little group discussion about life in Sakina. Some highlights: Their daily routine includes waking up at 5:30 or 6:00 am to prepare tea. Then they brush their teeth, wash their face, clean their room, drink tea, put on uniform, comb hair, and go to school around 7:00-7:30. Some of them can walk and others have 45 minute rides on the daladala (little vans that serve as public transport and cost about 10 cents for students).
After they come home from school around 2, they eat lunch, clean clothes, wash dishes, fetch water from the stream, bathe, help parents cook, do homework, and play soccer. They go to bed between 9 and 11.
Only one scholar has a TV and electricity. None of them own a calculator. Very few people own pets like we think of pets, but some have animals such as pigeons, a hen, cow, sheep, dog, duck, dog, and rabbit. 5 of them have a flashlight, 2 have a radio, everyone has a bed, but one sleeps on a couch. Only two of them have a family bicycle.
More details to come soon!
vocab word of the day: chiupe - rabbit
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Scholars Retreat Day 1
Happy 4th of July!
Today we started our scholars retreat!!! I sincerely apologize for not posting pictures, but I will try to get some ready for another blog posting! We went to Mesarani Snake Park, where they had HUGE snakes and other reptiles. We saw crocodiles and lots of snakes. The scholars all thought it was really cool. We also went through a Masai cultural tour, where we learned about Masai culture. At least 3 of our scholars are part Masai, so they enjoyed explaining it to me as well. Then we went on camel rides, which they LOVED.
When we returned to the Maturos, we did 6 scholar interviews. I will post information about each of them soon. Stay tuned!
vocab word of the day:
ngamia - camel
Today we started our scholars retreat!!! I sincerely apologize for not posting pictures, but I will try to get some ready for another blog posting! We went to Mesarani Snake Park, where they had HUGE snakes and other reptiles. We saw crocodiles and lots of snakes. The scholars all thought it was really cool. We also went through a Masai cultural tour, where we learned about Masai culture. At least 3 of our scholars are part Masai, so they enjoyed explaining it to me as well. Then we went on camel rides, which they LOVED.
When we returned to the Maturos, we did 6 scholar interviews. I will post information about each of them soon. Stay tuned!
vocab word of the day:
ngamia - camel
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Business Modules
Today we got a lot accomplished. In the morning, we talked a lot about strategic planning. We created a budget for the rest of the summer, trying to anticipate all costs we might have. Then we prioritized them. I also taught them a little bit more about excel. We practiced doing some math to calculate the budget. It really put costs into perspective. They learned how to add, add different boxes, and use the sum formula. While we were creating our budget, which I gave to Irene to write down since Emanueli had some practice already with the finances. We also talked about different business models (donation based, service providers, and those that sell goods) and brainstormed ways SF in Sakina could raise money. Finally, we did a SWOT analysis of Sustain Foundation in Sakina to really demonstrate what resources we have that we should utilize and what things we still need to figure out. Overall it was a very successful morning!
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