4 February. Aussie boys meet SEGA girls.

Thursday we caught the bus to SEGA. Assembly concluded with the the girls welcoming the boys with a warm rendition of their ‘Welcome Visitors’ song and dance.

Again our International visitors shared a short Nature walk. This time our aim was to increase our descriptive vocab of the animals we found.....and again, our visitors were befriended by the Form 1’s.

As we returned to school along the track, the girls sang happily for the boys.

Form 2 were intrigued with the 2 Aussie boys and their families! They spent time sharing information about their lives in Australia, answering questions (“Do they have girlfriends?”....was one of the questions from the girls!)  as well as questioning the girls about their lives here in Tz.

Songs and dances were followed by Alex and Lachy being escorted to Chai, seated easily amongst the girls and being treated to Mama Cook’s mandazis.

Perfect!! Win/Win for everyone.

Our Lucy was so excited to know that Alex’s younger sister’s name is Lucy and has sought her friendship as a pen pal. It must go with the name as both Lucy’s are darling girls. I’m sure a lovely friendship will develop.

The boys headed off to explore the town. Later we sat by traditional Moro candlelight and devoured 2 loaves of freshly baked homemade bread and huge bowls of freshly made tomato soup followed by fresh sweet rounds of pineapple.

Oh it was so nice having African sons to share my life. 

It was just like having my own boys here!

3 February. A Bitter / Sweet Aussie Day

My house was quiet, clean and orderly...not something that has been familiar!

However, my peace was short lived.

Wed arrived and so did Cyclone Yasi and two young Aussies: Alex and Lachy. It was to become a bitter/sweet Aussie Day for me!

Cyclone Yasi was category 5 and heading straight for Tropical North Queensland. The eye was predicted to pass almost directly over Cairns, my Queensland home territory. Knowing I didn’t have internet access, GT fed me regular updates and so did many of my dear TNQ friends who were securely battened down, anxiously awaiting its potential devastation.

This was the first time I had been away from home during a disaster of this magnitude. It was horrible knowing their predicament. I realised just how much I really missed my dear friends and families. Fortunately Trinity Beach was spared as the eye passed further south. Sadly Cardwell and Mission Beach took the brunt: 2 of my favorite places! Wendy messaged me the following day and her relief was evident as she rightly expressed:

“We certainly dodged a bullet!”

Our second swimming lesson with NFE and I was all alone but the girls were ready and waiting! Today was all about putting our mouths and faces in the water, keeping eyes open and just above the water line the blowing bubbles! Sounds easy! One hour of practise, mixed with games and simple kicking drills, the girls were finally able to cross the width of the pool pretending they were ‘bubble fish’. There was so much pride reflected in their beaming faces.

During this lesson I learned that Alex and Lachy had arrived in Morogoro. Alex is the second son of my dear friend Prue. Prue and I met o the first day of Uni (just a year or two ago!) and have been through thick and thin together. Alex and Lachy, his mate from Melbourne, had been travelling South East Africa since November. It was so exciting to see the two boys strolling across the school grounds. The NFE girls greeted them with typical SEGA friendship – hugs and greetings for all.

Wednesday evening we organised with Mustafa to take the boys hiking up into Choma and sleep out at Morning Side on Fri/Sat.

Kwa Heri Elena and Camilla.

Many of you know that I am not good at saying farewell....neither are the girls @ SEGA! Our four months with Elena and Camilla have been filled with laughter, fun, non-stop action, friendship, love and giving. To experience a time like this was priceless and created beautiful memories but to let go of the two who generated the momentum has hurt.

 Stephen the MC

 Everyone was hurting as the departure became reality.

 A lighter moment:Form 2 acting our their very funny, very long (actually it was 5 minutes long!) play.

 Nina Kupenda.

Monday afternoon became a bit more formal than planned as each class sang and danced the then cried their way through the farewells.
Having learned my own coping skills, I have had to work gently with the Form 1 & 2’s to help them focus on the good times, not the hole they felt they were in and the sadness they were experiencing.

Thank you Elena and Camilla for being you and for bringing such joy to all of us. You have been inspiring role models and sincere friends. You are already missed but we know your 6 weeks in India, followed by 2 months in China, will bring more wonderful life experiences. Stay safe and happy.

 Farewell Elena, Helena (sadly she is leaving us too) and Camilla.

 Signing my Aussie flag and the girls Tz maps.....by headlight and candlelight!

Early Tues morning Polly collected the girls and headed to Dar.

29 January. Form 2: An adventure to Choma.

It was agreed upon by all the staff in our initial planning meeting, that the boarders needed to have an outing from SEGA atleast once a month. One suggestion was to arrange a home visit, however, due to some challenges, the staff decided to roster monthly excursions: Form 2 one weekend Form 1 another. The aim being twofold:
1. An adventure
2. Either pure pleasure OR it could be linked to a subject teacher’s curriculum

Ideally the students would be part of the decision making process.

Having chosen to take the first excursion, I put the choice to the Form 2’s: Swimming?.....A University visit?.....

Their response was unanimous: CHOMA – A hike to the water falls into the beautiful Uluguru Mountains.

CHECK: bus booked/ bread rolls/ drink bottles/ peanut butter and pocket knife/ Mustafa, our guide/ fruit/ 24 excited girls/ Elena & Camilla/ Polly & Martha (didn’t want to miss the excitement) and Shalin!!

Excitedly we walked our dirt track to meet the bus in the early, crisp Saturday morning.....

We heard them before we saw them......

The entire busload of girls was singing at the top of their voices. They finally appeared, waving madly out the windows. They welcomed us onto the bus with no less than a heroine’s welcome!! We were overwhelmed.

Not having seen Mustafa since before Christmas, they gave him a second emotional welcoming as he boarded. Many heads turned at the singing belting out the windows as we passed them on our journey into town and onto rock Gardens where the hike began.

Walking, singing, onwards, upwards, eating any fruit that hung across the path, laughing, splashing in any refreshing pool of flowing water, greetings, meetings, friends, family passing travelling down to the town with produce or up to the gardens to collect produce to sell..... Passing life in the tiny villages....weariness, heat, rest ...encouragement....

Eventually our oasis appeared!!

With little time to waste, swimwear quickly covered sweat soaked bodies, then cool refreshing water wrapped around hot bodies.....

Pleasure....

And more Pleasure....

Photos....laughter...food....fresh fruit appeared: baskets full or bananas, mangoes and a variety of grape.

Could this last forever?

Over an hour later, unfortunately we had to drag ourselves away from this heavenly freedom and descend!

Magical memories for all of us!

28 January. A Treat....Hakuna Matata.....Thanks Morogoro International School

EXCITEMENT:

 “Attention Form 1, Today I am taking you on an adventure. At saa sita mchana (1pm) a coach will come to SEGA and take us to the International School swimming pool. We will swim then play in the playground, eat some food, drink juice then at saa tisa mchana (3pm) we will watch the production of The Lion King! The coach will bring you back to SEGA at saa kumi nanusu (4.30pm)”

Pandemonium broke out which got louder as the more fluent English speaking girls translated the info into Kiswahili and ALL the girls understood ALL the details!!

Mid morning I received a call from Paul (Int. School coordinator of transport) saying: Coach will arrive 1.30pm. This was good as it would give us time to eat lunch.

1.30pm: 27 excited girls sat expectantly waiting to see the dust along the track which would signify the coach approaching.....(A text message....We are 5 minutes away....”Oh No...I KNOW how long 5 minutes CAN be”!)

2pm: Dust is sighted....excitement gains momentum.

2.10pm: Coach pulls up.

Paul takes me aside. Pole sana but they filled the pool with chlorine this morning and swimming is not possible!

Oh dear....AND I HAD to tell the girls!

However, in true SEGA spirit they accepted their situation, still very excited to be climbing aboard the HOOD coach and continuing their adventure!!

2:45pm: Arriving we were met by Elena and Camilla. We sat on the grass under the shade of the huge tree, the girls happily eating hot dogs and drinking juice. Many of our girls had never eaten them before so we explained that they were very American (We didn’t try to explain what they might have been made from!!)

The Int. School’s production of The Lion King was in English so not the entire story was understood but the spectacle and the singing was pure entertainment and the fascination and delight on the girls’ faces was as much my entertainment as the show was!

Thank you Morogoro International School, for your generosity and for including us in your audience. We really loved sharing your hospitality and skills!

Home, exhausted....no food in the fridge or pantry as no one had had time to get into town.....

Polly to the rescue:

“Would you girls like to go to Dragonaires for dinner?”

“YES... X 3!!!”

And so we completed another big week celebrating with good food and great company......AND Elena and Camilla got to go to Dragonaires one last time!

27 January. SWISS Visitors to SEGA.

We all travelled to SEGA on the school bus to the delight of both students and our visitors! Arriving at school our girls greeted us with their welcome song....immediately their warmth and spontaneous acceptance of all visitors was evident and continued throughout the day. First up, I had planned that my Form 1 English class would take a Nature Walk along the track. Its purpose was threefold

1. To explore the current topic of Study = Animals: naming/Grouping/describing. We planned to find and picture as many as possible.  
2. To photograph SEGA girls at the SEGA School sign donated by USAID
3. To share and show our environment to our visitors and hav an opportunity to get to know them as we walked.

All 3 goals were achieved beyond my expectation and above all, we got some good exercise and had lots of fun and laughter....All essential ingredients for good learning: Fran style!!

As the Non Formals are new to the school and their vocabulary is limited, we did an exploratory tour around the school. They had to locate as many things as possible and write both the Kiswahili and English words for it. We did lot of writing English in the red dirt to ensure correct spelling. All of us learned many new words!

Explorative learning!

 Non Formals gathered around the new school bell.

The sun was hot so we moved to the shade of the new canteen to continue our vocabulary lesson which ended in several rounds of the acting/song...”We put our right hand in, right hand out....” Of course the final verse was rort with laughter as we put our ‘whole selves in , then out....shaking all about’!!!Africans are so good at that!!

We felt that we had earned our Chai break and Mama Cook’s freshly made mandazis. YUM!

My form 2 English class were the 3^rd class to be introduced to, and shown where, Switzerland is on the globe of the world. Florien and Alexandra shared this knowledge. We also shared greetings in: English, Kiswahili, French, German, Dutch, and or course Aussie.

 I love having International visitors as it is a chance to bring our girls a little closer to understanding other cultures and creates a link for greater learning when the visitors leave.

The form 2’s had been working on writing their own School song so we decided to share some of their culture through song and dance. Self directed the girls shared their National Song and SEGA School song. They are not shy at all when it comes to song and dance so Alex and Florien were passionately entertained with many of the girls’ favourite songs. I have found that they are always impressive and today’s performance was just so.... right through until they performed their final farewell song. I was so proud of them!

Camilla and Elena took Alex and Florien into town for a look around and lunch at Ricky’s cafe (real expresso!) whilst I kept teaching. Thursdays are busy for me!

Friday was farewell to our Swiss visitors who said that their few days felt like a few weeks as their experiences had been many and divers! It was fun having you stay and getting to know you. You were very easy visitors to have....no complaints when the electricity went out, the fridge was empty or the water jug was dry! Pole sana but asante for sharing our lives!

 Florien, Alexandra, Me, Elena, Camilla.

26 January.....AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!......And so SWIMMING 2011 BEGINS!

Alex and Florien left early at 7am with the aim to beat the heat of the day. They were going to be treated to Chapati for breakfast and a traditional Tanzanian lunch of Ugali and Maharage as well as a local’s detailed tour of a truly spectacular countryside.

I had unexpectedly been asked to start this year’s swimming program a week earlier than planned. Hamna shida! No problem.....!

We met Sablano (our bus driver) and the busload of Non-Formal girls as we descended the far side of Dodo Rd. We heard them coming. They were shouting out the windows and as we climbed aboard the bus they were all hugging us with excitement. This was their very first visit but there were no signs of apprehension at all!

Most of them entered the water easily and amongst the laughter and noise we managed to get some order and assess whether we had anyone with fears or concerns. What a fun way to get to know the new girls. As this was Elena and Camilla’s last Wednesday, we were so happy to have them share our first experience together!

Thanks Nic, my friend from Ballarat, for sending your swim suit and boardies. You gave two girls the opportunity to swim. Without your thoughtfulness they would not have been able to join in. When I gave them your gifts, their grave faces were lit with blinding smiles. Asante sana!

 Nic...Victoria says Thanks!

I am the last one out of the pool then I wash off quickly under the poolside shower, quickly towel off, pull my dress on then jump straight on the bus back to school and into the classroom (thankfully there are no mirrors!) However, our return to school needed to be delayed so we climbed back off the bus and spent a bonus hour playing in the International School’s playground. This was a treat for the girls and a chance for us to get to know the new girls better.

As the day ended, we returned to Red Gatie, all 5 of us had stories but very little food to share, so we headed across Dodo Rd to Mambo Club which has recently introduced a menu of Tanzanian food. We dined out under the stars eating Chipsie myai (chips cooked in an egg omelette!!) covered in chilli sauce washed down with a Kili baridi....(It was close to being equivalent to an Aussie pie and chips smothered in tomato sauce, washed down with a VB.....MY ‘HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY’ TREAT??!).... We really needed some salad but they forgot to bring that part of our order...Oh well...T.I.T.!

 Our African Family!

SWISS VISITORS. Tuesday 25 January.

Monday night I had a phone call from 2 friends of Mya, Renee’s friend I had met during my weekend in Dodoma. They were coming to Morogoro and wondered if I could suggest somewhere to stay. “Stay here, we would love to meet you and we have room”, I said

...And so began three wonderful days sharing our lives with two friendly, easy going, Swiss visitors, Florien and Alexandra. They arrived at 2pm in the heat of Tuesday. The bus trip from Dar had been marred with their busload having to assist the victims of a serious bus accident about one hour out of Morogoro. Not a nice start to their holiday!

Their taxi went to the wrong ‘White Housie’ resulting in me standing on Dodoma Road in the hot sun waving down their taxi (I hoped it was their taxi... having not met them yet!) and directing them to our house! That evening, we all to the little bar at the end of our dirt track for sundowners and to meet Mchuwa’s friend, Maringo. He was to be Florien and Alex’s guide on their hike up into the Uluguru Mountains, to the waterfalls in the Choma region.

Week 3. 24 January.

Having caught the bus to school, I arrived in time for Assembly. Monday and Friday mornings the girls sing the National Song and the SEGA School Song so it is a nice start to the week.

 Morning assembly

On Saturday we had transported the big bookcase from our house to the school with the anticipation of setting up the Library and Counselling office. Elena and Camilla guided Naomi through the Excel program we had devised to create an inventory of our Library books. Together they collated and created a useable, functional Library of books alongside a friendly setting for Pauline to use as the Counselling room and office.

 Librarians?

 Pauline and Naomi

Form 2 English girls continued to produce their versions of a SEGA school brochure nurturing their Word processing skills, editing pictures and learning a variety of functions on Kelly, my computer, to assist their production.

 Subira Word Processing.

Unfortunately, the 5 computers we have at the school are not functioning atm so Kelly is working overtime! It is a slow process but the girls are very quick at learning these IT skills!