Construction at KEMPS

For more than two years, the boys at KEMPS have made do with very limited toilet facilities. Previously there were outdoor pit latrines on the hill near the boys' dormitory.  Several years ago they collapsed during a school holiday and have been unusable.  This is soon to change.

 Thanks to gifts from St. Luke's Lutheran Church and many other donors, the building of the boys' latrine has begun again.  The rubble was removed from the old pit, the foundations rebuilt, and a new building was constructed in a new design that promises to be much more stable.  Last week the roof was added, an important step during the rainy season of April and May.  We are waiting for doors and the finishing touches before the new latrines are ready for use.

The front of the latrines. 

The back of the latrines.

Looking up the hill at the new building.
 It will include eight toilets and 2 bathing rooms.

Insects Galore

Herbert, a Standard 5 pupil arrived at my door one afternoon and announced he had something to show me.  Poised to take his shoes off and enter my house so that I could see, I caught a glimpse of what he was holding in his hand - something that looked like an enormous cockroach.  Jumping up, I yelped "Don't bring that inside, I'll come out!".  He had found the enormous specimen on his observation site, and so we proceeded to examine it carefully together so that he could write his journal entry.  We noted its size, coloring, how the claws at the ends of the legs didn't always touch the ground, the way it moved its antennae and the sheer wings under the wing casings.  Then we put it on its back so we could look at the underside, and we witnessed an astonished feat.  The insect jerked its head back so that it hit the floor and with a loud popping noise it flipped itself right side up again. 

Sugar Cane

The 1st of May - May day, or Worker's Day - is a public holiday in Tanzania.  There are no classes, no teaching and lots of relaxing.  Students at KEMPS were particularly excited for this holiday because they received a special treat in the afternoon - sugar cane. While American kids get popsicles, Tanzanian kids go crazy for sugar cane.  They bang their sugar cane against a rock to split it into pieces, chewing the fibers until all the juice is released.  Then they spit the fibers out and gnaw on the next piece.  For 45 minutes the quad was full of the satisfying sound of banging, tearing and chewing sugar cane.  If you have no idea what sugar cane looks like, my pupils below are eager to show you.

Closer to the camera is always better...
I would back up, and they would step forward...

Easter eggs

In preparation for Easter Sunday, Jenny (a friend from Australia) and I decided to try to dye Easter eggs.  Having always used the dying kits that are available in the USA, it was a bit of an experiment.  I found green, red and orange food coloring in the cupboard, but to make the blue, I used my cheese draining kanga.  With some squeezing and some warm water, I was able to create a blue dye.  After testing several eggs, we invited 2 of the kids on campus to come over and dye their first Easter eggs.  Goodhope and Oprah lowered their eggs carefully in their chosen dye, checking to see when they reached the perfect color.  They were thrilled to see the final collection of brightly colored Easter eggs. 

Helping Oprah to lower her egg into the dye.

Goodhope, with her little sister on her back, puts her egg in the dye.

Finished and ready for Easter.

Look at those beautiful colors!

Cheese-making

For 2 months now, there has been no cheese in Bukoba.  The woman at the dairy has come to recognize me and as I enter the door, she shakes her head and says "wiki ijayo" or "next week".  This ritual is repeated almost every week, and there has yet to be any cheese.  With a craving for cheese, I decided in the past 2 weeks to try to make my own soft cheese.  Attempt number 1 yielded a frightfully smelly mess, a soupy mixture with a bitter flavor that no amount of herbs could hide.  However, before giving up for good, I decided to give it one last try. 

I placed the milk in a plastic pitcher for 2 days to separate and get lumpy.  This mixture was drained through a piece of blue and white floral kanga in a sieve.  I watched as the clear yellow whey drained slowly through the cloth into the container below.  Just for good measure, I left the curds to drain in the fridge overnight, and the following morning I had a cloth full of goat cheese like curds in my cloth.  Flipping them out into a bowl, I realized that this was a very unique cheese, for, I had unknowingly imprinted blue flowers on the bottom of my curds.  It is slightly ironic that I picked the white and blue kanga because I thought a blue dye less likely to run that a red or pink fabric.  Despite the fact that my cheese was blue, and after adding some margarine, garlic, chives, and dill, I had a fairly tasty cheese spread that is perfect for toast.  Hopefully it will tide me over until Bukoba's only cheese - gouda - returns again.

The cheese curds after draining - notice the tasteful and
artistically placed flowers...

Pinwheels and Airplanes

I continue to have students visit me frequently on the weekends and after class.  Just this past week, Freddie, a Standard 1 boarder greeted me outside and showed me his pinwheel.  I examined it closely.  A piece of twig pierced the center of a guava leaf which had had a square torn out of two opposite corners.  I was impressed by the craftsmanship and asked for a demonstration.  A grin appeared and Freddie took off across the quad, little legs flying.  In one hand he held the pinwheel, the other pumping back and forth as he ran.  Slowly the pinwheel started to turn until it was whirring merrily as Freddie ran circles around me.

Standard 1 boarders, including Freddie,  have also recently discovered the fascinating world of paper airplanes.  Seeing me make one, there were choruses of "Teacher, will you teach me to make one like yours?".  The next day they appeared, scrap paper in hand, folding as best they could to copy my airplane.   The airplanes were able to perform various stunts - loop-de-loops were actually quite common (I don't know how they managed it), and planes that flew straight were not.  Much laughing and "Teacher, look at me"  ensued, as, with a puff of their cheeks, they blew air on the back of their planes for good luck and let them fly.

Showing off their homemade pinwheels.

I spy...

This past week we used the microscope again in Standard 5 to look at cells.  And this year the lab did not take place in my living room.  I tested the outlets in our classroom ahead of time and was able to switch into the Standard 7 classroom.  I arranged the microscope at the back of the classroom on the teachers desk, and pushed and pulled all the single desks into groups of 4 to make "tables" so that pupils could work with their group on problems and on creating cell posters to put up in their classroom.  With bags of pencils, colored pencils, sharpeners and paper at the front for each group ready for the posters, and the tables and microscope arranged just so, I felt like I was teaching in a real lab where students could interact and work together to understand the material.  Although I was a bit nervous to have 44 students working in 11 groups of 4 with little supervision, the only teacher (me!) was busy with the microscope, students were engaged and enthusiastic - filling in their worksheets at their tables and gazing into the microscope with grins on their faces.  Take a look at the classroom set up and everyone busy at their tables!

At the end of the day, Standard 7 returned to their classroom and were so curious to see that I put the onion skin slide back under the microscope and they all took a look too.  Here they are below - a Standard 7 pupil at the microscope with Standard 5 students (Herbert peeking out from below and Renatha with her bag on her head) posing for the picture.