Thursday 2.5.2009

I think it’s best to start my day with the assumption that I know nothing, and should not attempt to make any sort of plans here. With that said, today was awesome.
I am feeling much better after yesterdays bug and managed to make it out of the room today. We were to meet with Living after his CCS placement to head to Majengo. I was really nervous for this meeting with Ramadani (the headmaster at Jiendeleze) as I never got much of a “warm-fuzzy” feeling from him last year. Living came to our hotel and we grabbed a taxi. Along the ride things became more familiar to me and brought back a lot of memories. By chance, because everything works out well here, we passed by Furaha (sp?) the teacher at Jiendeleze on her way home from school. She hopped in the cab and we pulled into the school.

Ramadani came around from the back and, though Living beat me to it, I stood up quickly to greet him with a “shikamoo” (a term of great respect here). It’s amazing how one word can soften a person. He invited us into the classroom and we all sat down to talk. I asked if there were any children attending Jiendeleze this year that should have been enrolled in primary school, and if there were any children from last year that are no longer at Jiendeleze but that are not going to primary school.
With a little back and forth we were given a list of students. Two students are currently attending Jiendeleze that should be in primary school, Abedi and Saumu. I remember them both from last year and have no doubt in my mind that they are in need of help. They are brother and sister, orphaned by their parents, living with their grandmother right near Jiendeleze. My assumption that they would go to either Majengo Primary or Shori Moyo Primary was wrong. There is another school, Ngoro Primary that they should attend. I asked Ramadani if they came to school often so that I may catch them soon, but he said that mostly they are embarrassed to be the oldest kids in class and are not always there.

There is another orphaned boy Mussa who was a student last year, and unfortunately I cannot put name to face, but he is staying at home and not attending school this year because his family cannot afford it. If he were to go to school, he would be placed at Ngoro Primary as well.

Ramadani offered to walk to the children’s homes this afternoon to tell the children to meet us at Jiendeleze around noon tomorrow. (How awesome is that, right?) There we will conduct interviews with Living and the children to get a good feel of their life story, living conditions, etc. After our interviews with these three children we are going to make home visits to be certain that the families are not wasting money on unnecessary things instead of sending their children to school.

Hopefully Monday we will be able to meet with the children and parents, or just the parents to walk to Ngoro Primary to enroll the students and to get a list of books and supplies they will need. We’ll have them fitted for uniforms and hopefully get to see them off to school before we leave Moshi.

We were also given a list of two more orphans, living with “foster families” who might currently be in school, but we are not sure if their school fees have been paid yet. This school year has just started, and the students are given a couple of weeks to come up with the money. We are told that these two children only have a few more days of class before they will be kicked out if the fees have not been paid. Unfortunately these children are attending a different primary school, so we have decided to delay meeting with them and their families until we are a little more accustomed with the process.

I had been so nervous about today's meeting, but it went really well. I am beyond excited to see these children tomorrow and meet with their families. Though we have a lot of seriously hard questions to ask I have no doubt I will be walking away with a smile on my face.

Maybe it's the wine I had at dinner, but I finally feel like this is the work I was put on this earth to do. My days are exhausting, and nerve-wracking and put me so out of my element, but by the end of the day I am so happy to be doing everything I do, and to have everything I have. I hope it feels like this forever.