Tanzania Literacy Project Report
Place and Date of Travel: Kongwa, Tanzania June 10 to June 24, 2012.
Four San Diego State University students enrolled in an interdisciplinary 3-unit General Studies course in the summer of 2012. They together with 2 students from the School of Theatre, Television, and Film, who were completing an “international experience” requirement, and three faculty from SDSU travelled to Tanzania between June 10 and June 24, 2012 to assist with:
1. Supplementing the existing Library (built and filled by SDSU contributions in 2010). Over 500 Swahili textbooks for the primary school were purchased on Dar es Salaam and transported by the group to the school in Kongwa. The teachers were delighted with the textbooks, which meet with Ministry of Education and Training guidelines, enabling each child to work along with their own book in class instead of relying entirely on oral communication or writing on the blackboard. The books are of high quality and should last … they were also expensive!
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2. Strengthening the Goats For Kids program which was initiated at the school last year by the visiting SDSU faculty and students – and funded by faculty, staff and students from SDSU, and by the San Diego community. More goats were purchased and we were delighted to see offspring from last year’s purchase.
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Schoolboys milking a goat for the Goats For Kids program:
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The SDSU students dug a vegetable patch and planted seeds as part of the Goats For Kids program. It is hoped that the Goats For Kids program will be fully sustainable in the next few years.
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The students fully engaged with the pupils, teachers and the community:
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A contract was drawn up with a local builder for the installation of a rainwater collection system: the construction of a 72,000 litre tank, together with the installation of a gutter system from the school buildings. The tank is to be built near the vegetable garden. I was informed that rainwater is far better drinking water than the existing well-water. If the collection system is a success then further tanks will be purchased and the system extended to incorporate all the school buildings. Below is a water tank similar to the one to be built at the school:
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Peter Larlham – The Tanzania Literacy Project 2012.
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One of the students, Erin Castillo, has written a short report so if you would like to hear about the tour from an SDSU student’s perspective please click this link: