I have always written this blog first and foremost for my mum.  I am hoping there are other readers out there who will continue to enjoy what I have to say about my work in Tanzania.  Please leave comments and ask questions – I like to know who I am talking to!

 The “Teachers teaching Teachers” experiment began with what I thought was a very successful trial just over a week ago.  It was a great learning experience for everyone!

Josiah, Sr Flavia, Kamera, William & Levina

I learned, following flat tyres on consecutive days, that you can put a spare on a 14” rim on the back axle of a car designed for 15” rims but not on the front axle as it jams the front disc brake.  


I also learned that I have to ‘let go’ of my teaching aids and ideas and let the people who know the Tanzanian government school context best show teachers how to use the aids in the ways they think will work best.

We began on Monday at Bujugo PS near the Kyanyabasa ferry.  It is inaccessible by daladala so the BRDC 4WD transported Josiah and the mentor teachers while Steve and I took all the equipment in our car. 

Steve and I arrived first and were soon surrounded by children wanting a close-up look at the Wazungu.  They stood 10 deep around me and waited to be entertained.  We looked at my counting book together reading the numbers first in kiSwahili and then in English.  Then we counted in kiSwahili by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s using a 1-100 number chart as a prompt.  (It is possible to maintain attention of several hundred children with a couple of calendar pages used creatively – probably my colour helped!)  We had just started on counting by 3’s when the BRDC car arrived and the Head Teacher of Bujugo PS who had been watching, amused, from a distance sent the children back to their classrooms.  He then decided that the pre-school classroom would be nicest for our training days and sent the pre-schoolers home!

Each of my Mentor Teachers had brought prepared teaching aids to show their peers and gave a short participatory ‘lesson’ to show use in the classroom.  The lessons covered the problem areas of geometry, the metric system and integers.  On the first day we concentrated on Standard I-IV and on the second day Standard V-VII.  We repeated the program at Ntoma PS on the Wednesday and Thursday.

We also gave away many copies of the book Teaching Aids and Resources and I feel confident the teachers understand what is in it and how to use it in their schools.  Now I have to write a report for the BRDC and when I return from Australia later in May we can start looking at taking Teacher Mentor Teams into the other wards of Bukoba District.