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| Lulu posing with the waterfall behind. |
It is hard to believe that my time at KEMPS is now at an
end. Just before Christmas I packed my
Tanzanian life into my backpack and carry-on suitcase and returned to New York
City. However, even though I am now half
way around the world from my pupils and fellow Tanzanian teachers, I do have
several events and pictures that I think you will enjoy.
In one of our final weeks in class, Standard 6 Science
took a field trip to visit Bugonzi Waterfall at Ndolage Hospital. As part of the Science curriculum pupils
learn about hydroelectric power plants.
Bugonzi Waterfall is one such power plant. Using our still new bus, all of Standard 6
sang their way through the banana fields and small villages on the way to the
waterfall. Tanzanians on the road would
stop bicycling or walking and heads would turn to follow the rhythmically
clapping, stomping and singing bus.
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| The guide explains how the machinery works. |
On arrival, our guide started the tour by showing us the
reservoir at the top of the waterfall and then leading us down the steep slope
to the base where we could see the building that housed the equipment. Although
I was not able to understand the guide (the tour was in Kiswahili), I
was extremely impressed by my pupils, who asked questions of the guide, and who
then were able to explain everything they had learned to me, showing me the
different pieces of equipment and how they worked together to harness the power
of the water tumbling below.
Since to purpose of the trip was to learn more about how
water can be used to generate energy, it was only fitting that there was some
time to explore the water itself. Pupils
took off their shoes and socks and took to the water, enjoying its coolness,
explore the different pools and even discovering a turtle!
