How do you summarize a 12-week-long, game-changing experience? Words fail me, and yet I want to share with you at least a little of what you caught a glimpse of when you visited the Tloma Primary School.
These kids are great. Yes, they are typical children in most aspects, but there are depths to them that surface in their happiness despite deprivation; their hope despite hardships; their optimism despite challenge. And, most of all, their kindness and love. One visitor said to me: “I have never felt so much love at one time as I have here, today.”
I was fortunate enough to feel that love every day!!! Now I would like to return it by helping these children continue their education.
While 450,000 students complete primary school each year, only about 42,000, less than 10%, complete secondary school. I am astounded by the built-in challenges they face. Here are a few:
The Language
Most Tloma families speak Iraqw at home. When children start kindergarten, they are introduced to Swahili, the official Tanzanian language. Classes are taught in Swahili through Class 7. In third grade (Class 3), English is added. When students begin their secondary education (Class 8, or Form 1), all subjects are then taught only in English.
During my stay at Tloma and visits with other schools, it was my observation that not many teachers speak English well, and the children get very little opportunity to practice the language, so starting an all-English curriculum is challenging to say the least, formidable as a norm, and, too often, insurmountable.
Long distances to school
Some of the Tloma students travel as much as 6 km (over 3 miles) to attend school.
One path I am personally aware of goes down and up a large and steep valley, sometimes impassable during adverse weather. The nearest secondary school to Tloma is over an hour’s walk away, but that may not be where a student is assigned to attend. I have often seen secondary students walking home after 6:30 at night.
I don’t know what time they left in the morning. In the winter, there are torrential rains to contend with; in the summer, hot, dry, dusty winds.
Lack of funds
We were fortunate enough during my stay at Tloma to receive gifts and funding to give over 90 students new sweaters, pants, skirts, or shirts. And still, there are many students who are dressed in ragged clothes or tattered uniforms. Parents just don’t have the means to purchase uniforms. The requirement for proper uniforms increases at secondary school.
Uniforms are just part of the cost. Parents must provide funds for lunch if their child is going to eat. And there are also school books and supplies that must be purchased.
Home pressures
Almost all of the children in Tloma Primary School live in homes that struggle to provide basic necessities. About half live with a single or abandoned parent, or a grandparent, or someone other than their own mother or father. If there are multiple children at home, girls, especially, are called upon to tend, to cook, to clean, or to perform other chores. When a girl is in secondary school, those tasks cut into the already scarce time for homework and studying.
Safety issues
Again, this applies more to the girls. During a school committee meeting, I learned of present and former Tloma girls who have been targeted for sexual services, either through coercion or force. Their long walks to and from school expose them to risks, and, when school becomes a difficult challenge, they become easier prey for those with ill intent. Many of the children in Tloma who do not live with their parents are the children of girls who fell into this trap and then left their child with grandparents or others.
Pass or Fail
Primary schools have mandatory tests each month and an annual test for both
Class 4 and Class 7. Children must achieve a certain score to pass. If they fail in Class 4, they repeat that class until they succeed. If they fail in Class 7, their education has reached its end. The only way to continue is to go to a private school or a trade school, both of which are typically out of reach financially.
Many of the better paying jobs in Tanzanian are government jobs, and the government requires certain certificates in order to qualify for those positions. Those certificates can be achieved by attending specialized training following completion of secondary school. If one doesn’t complete secondary school, the certificates are unattainable unless one can pay to attend a private institution. There are few jobs that pay a sustainable wage other than those requiring certificates.
But there is hope!!!!
Fortunately, the teachers at Tloma work hard to help these children succeed. Perhaps you heard that there are several holidays throughout the year, including a one-month break in June. I arrived in June and found both students and teachers in classrooms.
These were Class 4, Class 6, and Class 7 students and the teachers were there to help them prepare for those annual tests. It is important to note that the teachers do not get paid for this effort. They do it for their students.
Teachers also encourage the children to dream of a future with a professional career and encourage them to aim for a university degree. Teachers believe the way to change the economy and the future of Tanzania is through educating its youth.
I have also learned that teachers often stretch their already-meager income to help students in need. They really care for their students.
But they need help from people who have a little more to share. People like me and you. There are some ideas of ways to help elsewhere on this site. Please take a minute and consider giving a small gift that will make a huge difference in the lives of these children. It will make your heart happy!
Winona