August

05 October 2007

In April this year Paul Killen, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure, completed a sponsored bike ride from Edinburgh to Liverpool to raise money for the school in Tanzania where went to teach school children with his wife, Sue Killen.

Almost £3000 was raised for the school - £2000 was sent in advance and put towards a building programme. The rest Paul and Sue decided to spend on the school while teaching there.

Paul and Sue spent 3 weeks teaching in the school for children aged 3-6, located in a very poor village on the edge of Arusha. Although Arusha itself is the principal centre for Safaris and Treks to Kilimanjaro, the majority of local people feel little benefit from tourism. Many people are very poor, there are many problems with the inadequate health system (average life expectancy is 46) and Aids is an increasing problem.

Paul said: "The school basically consisted of just one large room with over 100 children. There are three teachers who are all unqualified and are paid the equivalent of £12 per month. The room was very bare with no pictures on the wall and just a single blackboard. The children sat on benches very much like the Victorian classroom. About 20 of the children were orphans who now lived with either extended family or neighbours."

"The children had nothing, but were all very happy. Education is seen by all Tanzanians as the key to their future and we were welcomed by everyone we met. The children were so enthusiastic about coming to school and very keen to learn."

"The children mainly learn their numbers and their alphabet, but they also do a lot of wonderful singing. We tried to demonstrate to the teachers how to make learning interactive and fun. However, the lack of resources was a real problem."

"In our first week we bought several hundred pounds worth of resources including two whiteboards, counting bricks, posters, a tambourine and a drum. In our second week we took one of the teachers to the shops and bought a range of Swahili resources including story books, maps, paper and enough pencils and rulers for every child - none of the children had anything to write with."

"In order to brighten up the classroom, Sue painted a mural on the wall. Although the children live less than two hours from parks containing wild elephants and lions, none had ever seen any. Sue then painted a tree and we used the children's handprints to make the leaves. We wrote upon it, 'From small seeds great things grow', and had this translated into Swahili."

"While we were at Patmos the transfer of money came through to their bank and work began on the extension. It was great to see the building we had helped to fund. When it is finished there will be extra classroom space, an office, a library and a toilet block."

"The whole experience was wonderful but humbling. We left feeling that we had made a difference to the school and we hope to continue to raise funds and resources for the school in the future."