Reflection on the Semester by Aine Staunton

I sit here on a Sunday afternoon in Suji and I think to myself, what has changed in Malindi Secondary School since we arrived here on that glorious Sunday afternoon the 1st of November 2010?  A change is a process of becoming different, seeing something within somebody or within the environment around you.   Change is not something that is brought about very easily, it must be carefully manipulated and encouraged.  I have learnt that change is not something that happens very quickly in Suji!

Underneath are a few of the things that have popped into my head when writing this short piece and the positive changes which have occurred in this school.  Although these changes may be small or slight, any change here is a positive one in my opinion.

Surface changes within the school

To begin with there are now more teachers in the school with qualifications.   The teachers that were here prior to our coming and who are currently teaching alongside us, had and have just finished their form six schooling which is equivalent to our leaving certificate.  Before we arrived the students were lucky to see a teacher for a single class on any given day.  Now we have a great timetable and the students have a teacher for the majority of the day even if this is very tiring and exhausting for us teachers.

We have successfully set up soccer, volleyball and netball teams.  It was obvious that these children had never really competed against other schools or enjoyed school sports before.  It is difficult to fit in training sessions and to get all of a team together as they have chores to do at home.  We train every week and have a great set of new jerseys which were sponsored by Aaron’s father and his co-workers.   We have not done fantastically in the school competition this semester but the children have thoroughly enjoyed it and one of our players even had the chance to do some trials for a regional team.  The change here that is most apparent is that someone got a chance and these children are getting a greater chance to succeed in life.  If we had not selected that student to go for the trials he would never have known any different and would never have got such an opportunity.

Corporal punishment …. Disappearing slowly

This is a slow process; we have had countless conversations with the school head master and other teachers explaining to them that this is not the way to deal with students who misbehave.   At the moment we do not see any of the teachers using the cane to administer punishment but this does not mean that it is not still happening.   At our last meeting we discussed punishment of students and decided to have Sunday detention class for any misbehaving students.  The students here are not what you would class as out of control or anything like it.  One of the male African teachers said to me one day when we were “discussing corporal punishment”  that the students to not respect him if he does not use the cane….my argument was why do my students, the same students you teach respect me and I am able to control them without using a long wooden stick.   The teachers have now agreed to only use the cane as a last resort in future.  They believe that this is the African way of life and is needed within this culture.   I am certain that this “way of life” will disappear completely within the next few years especially if this issue is under constant review and education given to the people here on a continuous basis.  

For the first few months teaching in these classrooms was very quiet.

The students in the class would not make a sound; they would not answer questions and would not participate what so ever in a class.  At first I put it down to them not understanding my lovely Mayo accent, but of course this was not the case.  It all connected back to corporal punishment and them getting hit if they answered a question incorrectly.   How can anyone learn if they do not make mistakes?   Six months in and we have now some kind of class participation, not anywhere near what I would like it to be but it’s a start.

Use of the English language in the Village

All pupils in Tanzania are taught through the medium of English.  The level of English within the village has improved greatly.  Students are teaching their parents, we are teaching the younger children and hope to set up some evening classes again in June.  We had evening classes running for a few months but it got way to much with school and sports and everything so we hope to set them up again in June for everyone when school finishes for the summer.

Changes we have seen and hope for the future

We see the changes that have taken place as positive and we hope the people in the village view them in that light.   We hope to give the pupils a sense of self worth and that they will view the education they receive from us as a positive experience and that it will inspire them to further that education.  We are aware of the value that the people of Tanzania place on education and we are glad to be here to help in the process.