Uhuru School- Grand Opening!

We officially opened the doors of Uhuru Primary School (Day Tuition Program) on January 3rd! Not all has gone as expected but that was expected!

We started with just 4 students on the first day, two of them being my own children: Nailah and Nasmah. Within a few days, word got out and we had several parents taking registration forms home with them. As of today, January 28, 2011, we have 9 students at the school.




K-Grade One Classroom

  Because we are operating on a small budget with just a few students, we decided to run only one class: a Kindergarden/Grade 1 split (taught by myself-Michelle). There was little interest from parents with students in Grades 2-4 primarily because they did not want to switch schools. So, although Martha is currently not teaching with us, she is still an ongoing support for the school!

Sir Godfrey teaching Kiswahili

True to my testiment about local public schools, one of our students was actually in a grade three level at a local primary school. Within weeks, I realized that her mathematics and science were at a grade one level while her reading was at a beginning grade two level. This particular student did not know how to count backwards from 20, did not know how to count by 5s nor knew how to finish shape patterns! 

But after one month, we are getting into the swing of things. We have developed some great routines like the morning calendar, our 'Bonjour' song and assigning a special helper each day! We are making due with little resources- we received a shipment of used books donated by the International School of Tanganika in Dar es Salaam which we cherish! We have developed a small 'reading corner' and do both group reading and individual reading. This is particularly important because, in Tanzania, youth are not exposed to books and as a result, don't have a love for reading like we do in Western culture. 




Reading Time!





Interactive learning is challenging with few resources but we are making due. We did some experiments last week in our first unit: Weather. We used a fan to push a small boat on water, observed properties of air as we filled a ballon and even created our own mini windmills using leaves and sticks from coconut trees. We have also created some amazing arts projects using materials donated by Martha's family.

The students are learning English at a phenomenal rate! It amazes me and confirms my opinion that English  is best taught by fully emersing the students (something I learned personally from my years of French Emersion). Students are learning french through songs and play and literacy in Kiswahili.



Swimming at the beach

 We have started weekly swimming lessons on Friday mornings. When we get the nod from the Manager, we walk down to a local hotel to teach lessons in their pools. We have been very fortunate in that Millenium Hotel has given us a discount on the lessons to make it more affordable for our program. The students love the lessons-not only because they love to swim but because it is a treat to be able to swim in such a nice pool! On the days that we cannot go to Millenium, we go to the beach. There we take the students one by one into the deep water to practice their strokes...definatley a life skill they need to know here!

On Wednesdays, we do sports and arts and crafts. The students spend the morning playing organized soccer and the rest of the day doing arts/crafts and learning games. When the weather does not permit outdoor soccer, we spend time dancing and drumming inside the main hall. As we move into the rainy season, we are going to have to get creative about how to fill our Friday (swim) mornings and our Wednesday (soccer) days.



Sir Godfrey with the class

 I have an amazing assistant: Godfrey. Godfrey is actually a graduate of Form IV and a student/receipient of sponsorship from the Uhuru Youth Center. After completing Form IV, he had few options for work and was unable to go on to the pre-University years. As a way to give Godfrey a chance to develop teaching skills and gain experience, we decided to hire him as a teaching assistant. So far, he has been a huge asset to the school. He teaches Kiswahili, soccer and swimming as well as assisting me in preparing for lessons, feeding the children and play supervision. Godfrey has amazing patience and is great with the kids. We are truly lucky to have him!

I have posted some pics of the students along with my classroom. I hope to post more updates for friends, supporters and parents within the upcoming months...

Feel free to email me or write posts if you have questions about the curriculum, the program or anything else!

Bye bye for now!


Students show off our 'Uhuru' T-Shirts