Katumbi's Teachers house

It was great to see the progress that has been made on the teachers house at Katumbi.  The house has 4 main rooms, a little central courtyard and then three rooms at the back for a loo, shower and kitchen.

  The village has nominated people to over see the building and it was brilliant to see that all three of them where there keeping a close eye on the project.  The main rooms are all almost completed and are being plastered at the moment.

When the house is finished 2 teachers will share it.  Having 2 extra teachers will make a huge difference to the school which currently has 750 kids and 5 teachers! 
The frame for the roof is up, and the doors and iron for the roof are all in the village store ready to go up.

The hole for the septic tank is dug, but the loo and piping has not been installed yet. 

Like most building projects, the house has unfortunately run slightly over budget, so Nomad Trust is currently fundraising for the remaining $850 short fall so that the house can be finished.

The Connect Group-SAGE charity group-500 GBP donation

The Nomad Trust, on behalf of Katumbi school in Mahale, made a bid for a 500 GBP donation towards books.  It was very exciting to hear that we were successful for our bid.  I was able to take the money to the school this past week when I went to visit Katumbi.  I look forward to seeing the books they buy, for a school with so little this donation will make a huge difference to the lives of the students.
Thank you to the SAGE group.

This was my last visit to Katumbi with the Nomad Trust, and I hope to be back soon as a visitor.  I will the school and the spirit of the amazing children that are there.

Unicorn School sponsored walk

A huge thank you to the Unicorn School in Abingdon, Oxford and to Mike Pickett for doing a sponsored walk to raise funds for the school in Piaya.  They raised a huge GBP 1950!  Congratulations to everyone who took part and did such a fantastic job.

Thank you!

A little update

Gosh time seems to fly by, it has been an age since I wrote.  Raleigh have arrived in Usevya and they are up and running building rocket stoves.  Michael, our Nomad Trust rep went and spent two days with them helping them out.  It is fantastic that Raleigh are able to help us on this worthwhile project, so a BIG thank you to all of them!
On another note, I will be leaving the Nomad Trust at the end of July to start up my own business, an exciting and daunting time!  I have LOVED my three years with the Nomad Trust, and as D day approaches I find myself getting sadder and sadder to be leaving all the amazing friends I have made, not only within the communities I work with but within the Trust's donor family.  Thank you for every one's support.
Lali

A new season

The Nomad Tanzania camps are all reopen after the rainy season, and it is time for the Nomad Trust to gear up again.  I cant wait to get out to all our project sites.  I am especially keen to visit Katumbi, Mahale and see how the new teachers house is coming along.  Raleigh will be headed out to Katavi soon with their new group of volunteers to build more rocket stoves, I am dying to hear if there have been any more built in households since they were last there.
It is always exciting to start a new season, and find new partner organizations and projects to support.  To of our donors, THANK you for your continual support and encouragement for the work that we do in these remote areas.  We would not be able to do anything with you all.   

Piaya-first aid kits and re-usable water bottles.

Another Piaya post!  When I was visiting I was able to give the school some basic first aid kits that they had been asking for.  The headmaster was thrilled to finally receive them and they will be kept in the boarding houses for the children who are boarders.

I was also able to give the older students their own re-usable water bottles for them to take to class or keep in the dormitory. 

I hope that it will help to decrease plastic water bottle waste in the community but it will also allow the kids to have access to water during the day.  Dehydration is a common problem in remote communities where access to clean drinking water, and water full stop is difficult.  I hope that in some small way this will help the kids.

Piaya School Desks.

It was brilliant to see the desks that Nomad Trust donated to Piaya Primary school in use!  Thank you Anne for your amazing contribution to this cause.

Nomad Trust and our liters of light in Piaya

The enthusiasm our simple solar water bottle lights was incredible and at one point even rather alarming as the boma we picked for our pilot project were making holes in their houses faster than we could make the lights.  I had visions of us leaving everyone with holes in their roofs! 

The difference inside with a solar water bottle was like day and night!  The solar water bottles give off the same amount of light as a 60 Watt bulb.

We hope that, partnered with Raleigh Tanzania, we will be able to continue the project to bring light to as many households in the Piaya area as possible.

Installation of solar water bottle lights

After making 6 litres of lights for a local boma (home stead) we went to install them.  LeKutiti Loshoro-the chairman of the local subvillage very kindly allowed us to use his homestead for our project.  If anyone has ever been into a Maasai manyatta-house-they will know just how dark they are inside.  It is absolutely pitch black!  We took Kapalu -our Nomad Trust representative from the community- with us to help with explaining the concept in the local dialect.

 A hole first had to be made in the top of the roof, and then the bottle carefully inserted with the iron resting as flat and low down in the roof as possible.

Palmer Sponsorship of Katumbi Student

I have just received the latest school report for Zuberi, who was a pupil at Katumbi Primary School, Mahale.  He was picked for a scholarship to go to a private school in Kigoma and I was so thrilled to see his report.  Zuberi got seven A's, three B's and one C this past term.  He has worked so hard to catch up and do this well.   

Making solar bottle lights

Based on a project called a Litre of light-we decided to try it out in Piaya with the Maasai community that I work with there.  Making the "lights" looked easy from a video but it proved to be a bit tougher!  Using corrugated iron, which we cut into 10" by 10" squares we then had to make a circular hole in the middle to fit the bottles through.

  After a bit of trial and error, and  lots of leaking bottles we settled on using old rubber Tyre inners to wrap around the bottle before inserting it into the hole in the iron and sealing it with a roofing sealant.  We then filled the bottles with purified water and about 10ml of bleach, and used a silicon sealant around the bottle top.
These were then ready to be inserted into a roof of a local manyatta (maasai mud house).  

Piaya: Solar Bottle Lights

Next week I am travelling to Piaya, in Loliondo, with Jim Clements, the country director of Raleigh International, to install some solar bottle lights into some local Maasai homes.  As anyone who have ever been inside a Maasai Manyata (home) knows, they are incredibly dark.  We are going to take a concept started in the Philippines, and see how it works in the Serengeti!  

The concept is amazingly simple – take an empty plastic bottle, fill it with mineral water and a few drops of bleach, and cement it halfway through a small metal roof sheet (the kind used as roofs in wealthier area of Tanzania). Then cut out a small piece of the actual roof, place the sheet with the bottle on top of the hole, cement/seal any cracks, and during the day there is light in homes.  I love this concept for a number of reasons, firstly reusing and reducing waste generated by the tourism industry (water plastic water bottles), and secondly it is incredibly effective and cheap to make. 

I will keep you all posted on how it goes! 

   

Ololosokwan Computer Lab

I love seeing the pictures teacher Gabriel frequently sends of the computer lab that was sponsored through the Nomad Trust.
Here are a few more photos that he has sent, it is incredible how this community have taken to using computers and the internet.  Long may it continue!

Rocket Stoves: Katavi

Check out this blog post from Raleigh International about our partnership on the rocket stove project in Katavi.

Katumbi: Teachers House

I got to go and see the site of the new teachers house whilst I was in Mahale, it is at the top of the hill above the school.  A beautiful site, I am willing to move there!  The village had collected all the bricks, as well as sand and taken it up to the site so that as soon as the other material arrive from Kigoma they can start building the house.  As a direct result of this generous donation from Nigel Palmer two more teachers have been allocated to the school.  They now have 6 teachers for 720 students!
Whilst Greystoke is closed for the rains, Hassani my Nomad Trust rep from Greystoke will be overseeing the building of the house.  Hassani is currently in Kigoma buying all the supplies, and fingers crossed the house will be ready by June.
Thank you Nigel!

I always love visiting Katumbi School and spending time with the kids there, it is truly a very special place.  To finish off here are some pictures of the kids from the school.

Chimps-Mahale

On my recent trip to Greystoke, Mahale, a group of Chimps came into camp so I got to spend some time watching them.  Mahale is my most favorite place on earth, I hope these will inspire those who have not yet visited to come and visit!

Katumbi School Visit-Mahale

I recently went to visit Katumbi School to check on how the new teachers house is getting along-that is for another post-but I took along 700 Nomad re-usable water bottles for the kids.  It is part of an initiative to reduce the amount of disposable plastic water bottle waste that is accumulating in Tanzania.  The kids were thrilled to have them, and Hassani gave them a little chat about the importance of reducing waste.  It was a great day! 

Two new scholarship students-Ololosokwan, Loliondo

I am thrilled to announce that we have two Masai girls from Loliondo, being sponsored to go to Emanyata Secondary School in Ololosokwan.  A huge thank you to the Unicorn School in the UK for finding sponsors for these two amazing Masai girls. 
  Five female students in total were nominated for the scholarship through a collaboration with Mwalimu's school, Ololosokwan Primary School and the Nomad Trust.  The final decision rested with the donors and the Unicorn School in the UK, who chose to sponsor Simalo Rotiken and Nashipai Sepere.  Simalo is 14 years old, enjoys playing netball, reading the news and she would like to be a nurse when she is older.
 

  Nashipai is 13 years old, likes watching movies, reading novels and would like to be a pilot when she grows up.

I look forward to sharing updates with you all on how they get on at Secondary school.  Thank you to their sponsors.

Serengeti Watch Partnership

Nomad Trust is currently looking at partnering with Serengeti Watch on their STEP (Serengeti Teachers' Environmental Program) project.  The aim of the project is to provide Tanzanian science teachers with an intensive three day training session focused on deepening understanding of environmental issues and environmental protection efforts in Tanzania.  In addition, participating teachers engage a student leader in the training, and are provided with a six-week instructional curriculum and material for follow-up classroom implementation.
We aim to work with 5 schools around Ololosokwan, with 10 teachers participating in the program which will include:
A one day Serengeti national park field experience, with a Nomad guide, to learn more about how Tanzanian National Parks provide exclusive protection for endangered species.
Participation in a two-day follow-up training to receive curriculum and materials, experience modeled strategies and lessons, and prepare for classroom implementation.

Nomad Trust is currently fund raising for this worth while project, we are looking to raise $2000 for teacher accommodation, transport and meals for the three day project, as well as printed material to stay in the school we partner with.  To contribute please email me: Nomadtrust@nomad.co.tz

Rocket Stoves, Katavi

The 2 Raleigh International groups based in Katavi at the moment have been able to build more than 50 rocket stoves so far!  Brilliant news. 

Canadian International Learning Foundation Scholarship

Two students from Katumbi Village in Mahale have been picked to go to a Private secondary School in Kigoma on a Canadian International Learning Foundation Scholarship.

Bill Moshi (male) aged 15.  Bill came second in his class of 67 students.  He wants to be a teacher, loves football and the environment and has good leadership potential. 

 

Sango H Ramadhani (female), lives with her grandmother and doesn’t have the means to go to secondary school.  She was the best female student in her class, and would like to do even better if she gets a chance to go to secondary school. Sango thinks that she will go really far in life if she is given this opportunity to go to secondary school.  She loves learning.

We now have 4 scholarship students at School in Kigoma and I am excited to watch how Bill and Sango do at their new school.
A Big thank you to the Aldred family.

Raleigh International

I am so excited, the first two groups of students from Raleigh International have started their 2 week experience in Katavi, partnered with the Nomad Trust they are building rocket stoves in households, both in Usevya and Kibaoni.  I hope that we will start to see a real decrease in the amount of firewood used as the rocket stoves become more common place.

solar installed at Mwalimu's school

A huge thank you to the Unicorn School and Mike Pickett for donating a solar system for Mwlaimu's school.  It was finally installed over the weekend and the teachers are thrilled!

A very exciting moment for this small, remote and amazing school.