Blog
Tales from Tanzania: Being a Kid for a Day at Ilulangulu
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of acting like a kid-- specifically, of sitting in on four classes at Ilulangulu Secondary School. I was delighted to find that many of the topics that teachers covered were highly interesting to me and seemed relevant to the local context. In Geography class, students discussed why forests are destroyed... and the importance of conserving them. Deforestation is a problem in Ilulangulu and surrounding villages, as trees are cut down for firewood and for smoking tobacco. Many trees are being torn down, too, for the purpose of paving the road between Ilulangulu and Tabora. As many of the students are farmers themselves, they had an especially nuanced understanding of what types of agriculture promote deforestation, and which types promote conservation.
Civics class involved a discussion of human rights: what they are, where they come from, and what it means when they're violated. Like in classrooms all over the world, some students listened patiently while others were distracted and talkative. The teachers spoke primarily in English, translating in Swahili when introducing complex topics like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I was impressed by the teachers' skills and creativity when they only have one guide book, a blackboard, and chalk as their teaching materials. Having computers with Internet access and educational software could make a revolutionary difference here.
Hannah Ayers is a graduate student in the SIPA program at Columbia University and is volunteering for her second term Internship with Connect To Learn to provide on-the-ground support for our programs in the Millennium Village of Mbola in western Tanzania.
Tales from Tanzania: Youth Health Meetings are Underway at Ilulangulu Secondary School
On July 14th, we held our first youth health meeting, bringing together nine Connect to Learn (CTL) students from Ilulangulu Secondary School and seven youth health volunteers. The volunteers are motivated young people aged 19 - 26 who spend time in the clinics throughout the Mbola cluster, providing an extra pair of hands wherever they are needed. They will likely serve as excellent mentors for our CTL students, who are a bit younger (14-16) and have not had as many opportunities for hands-on experience.
Everyone introduced themselves, and we were delighted to find that many of the participants would like to become doctors or nurses-- they were in the right place! We did a series of activities which gave participants an opportunity to express what the primary health concerns of young people are in the community. Most of them were related to sexual education and pregnancy... the fear of having to drop out of school due to pregnancy, STIs, and complications during pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is one of the most common reasons that girls drop out in this region. We hope that this group will be able raise awareness of this fact and do something to help change it!
We then held our second youth health meeting on July 21st, and the enthusiasm and promise from the first meeting only grew... To my surprise, the number of participants increased, from 16 to 22! I was proud that 13 CTL students came and, despite being younger than the volunteers, actively participated in the day's activities. Groups of young people drew maps of their communities, identifying places where youth congregate and where they do and do not like to spend time. We discovered that there are few places for young people to go outside of school and (for older youth) the disco and bar. A youth center would certainly be a popular place here-- and would importantly give young people somewhere to go that is safe and where they could get health information. The computer labs at both secondary schools will serve as an important first step in giving students a place to access information and explore what they are curious in.
The participants also expressed frustration that young people are not respected very much in the community. Through this group, I'm hopeful that CTL students-- especially girls -- will gain critical leadership skills and show the community that they have the knowledge, insight and potential to help themselves, their families, their villages and their nations succeed.
Hannah Ayers is a graduate student in the SIPA program at Columbia University and is volunteering for her second term Internship with Connect To Learn to provide on-the-ground support for our programs in the Millennium Village of Mbola in western Tanzania.
Tales from Ghana: Promising Progress and Exciting Opportunities
Tales from Tanzania: Meeting the Teachers
I've had the great opportunity to meet a few of the teachers at Ibiri and Ililongulu Secondary Schools last week, and was inspired by how hard-working and dedicated they are. Coming from a family of teachers, I know that working in the education field is never easy-- even in the highest performing schools, under the best conditions. It is remarkable, then, to consider how hard teachers must work here considering the huge class sizes, limited classroom space, and lack of materials. Schools here have over 300 students and only five to seven full-time teachers. The students and teachers are in charge of school upkeep and maintenance. Talented teachers are faced with enormous classes and a lot of pressure to help their students pass national exams so they can continue their education. It's enormously challenging, though somehow the teachers I met seem unfazed by these obstacles!
The good news is that teachers are excited about the potential of computers Connect To Learn is providing and are eager to use them, they've told me, to plan lessons, find resources, and keep track of their students' progress. I'm very hopeful that the computers and Internet connectivity that will arrive next month will do something very important here: make teachers' lives easier! We are in the process of identifying the best tools and resources to enrich their teaching in the classroom. They certainly deserve the help, and the quality of education the students receive can only benefit from the support Connect To Learn is providing.
Hannah Ayers is a graduate student in the SIPA program at Columbia University and is volunteering for her second term Internship with Connect To Learn to provide on-the-ground support for our programs in the Millennium Village of Mbola in western Tanzania.
Tales from Ghana: Monsoman Senior High School Gets Ready for Take-off
It is Monday morning and I am about to begin my second week at the Millennium Village cluster. Last week I spent three days at the Monsoman Senior High School, one of only two senior high schools in the entire Bonsaaso cluster of thirty communities. I had the opportunity to meet with the Headmaster, the Assistant Headmaster, the school’s ICT coordinator, seven teachers of various subjects, and seven of our nine scholarship recipients at the school.
The most humbling moment was hearing the stories of the students and learning how, until they heard about the scholarship, most of them had been at home, done with junior high school, assuming their dreams of finishing school would remain unfulfilled. I was inspired by the gumption these students had to take it upon themselves and apply for the scholarships, and I felt more honored than ever to be a part of the program providing these motivated students with this opportunity.
The teachers all showed gratitude for the computers and Internet services provided by Connect To Learn and its partner Ericson, but challenges still exist to enabling the teachers to fully utilize these resources, including the fact that the computers are currently restricted to the computer laboratory and only used by the ICT classes. During the week we worked together to identify some ways that we might expand access of the computers to all the teachers of various subjects by establishing a protocol to ensure computer security and teacher accountability and by introducing the teachers to the wealth of educational resources that exist on-line through a training.
I also learned that one of the female ICT teachers and the ICT coordinator had begun an after-school program for the scholarship recipients, primarily the girls, to teach them basic ICT skills since most are still lacking in basic computer skills. We discussed ideas for expanding this program and lending more curricular guidance through CTL’s School-to-School Connections program. The students are excited to begin connecting to other schools in their community and across the Atlantic on a more regular basis through School-to-School Connections. Over the coming weeks we will build on the ideas generated in the past week so that Monsoman can take optimal advantage of the resources provided by Connect To Learn.
Tales from Ghana: New challenges and adventures
After being in Accra for three weeks I am finally preparing to head to the Millennium Village to begin work. Since my arrival, I have been working out of the UNESCO Accra Cluster Office and familiarizing myself with the policies and challenges to increasing education access and quality here in Ghana. In my first week I attended the National Education Sector Annual Review Meeting, and have since met with the coordinators both for the Girls' Education Unit (GEU) and for Education ICT. What has been clear is that while Ghana has made great strides in achieving universal enrollment and gender parity, enrollment increases have posed big challenges to maintaining education quality. As enrollment rates have grown, the percentages of trained teachers and adequate learning resources have decreased.
It is encouraging to know however that Connect To Learn is working to improve education quality by providing new ICT resources to schools, and I am particularly excited about the contributions we hope to make this summer by identifying interventions that will enable teachers to more effectively use ICT resources to improve their teaching. Now that we have met with the National ICT Coordinator, we will be able to align our work with what the Ministry has already begun in regards to training secondary teachers in ICT integration.
I learned while speaking with the coordinator of the Girls' Education Unit that, while the GEU has made great efforts to implement girls' clubs at the primary level, no work has been done yet at the secondary level. They were excited to learn about the work Connect To Learn will be doing to identify student and teacher interests for the implementation of some kind of girls' empowerment clubs at the secondary level in the Millennium Village Projects, and they hope to use our findings to inform their own nationwide efforts.
Tales from Tanzania: First Week Impressions
Though the school grounds are quiet, not a student to be seen, I can imagine the hustle and bustle of girls and boys as they arrive and enter their classrooms. It's my first week in Tanzania, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to see Ibiri Secondary School, where Connect To Learn helps girls and boys pursue their education. Ibiri is located a half hour's bumpy, roller-coaster drive from the Millennium Village Project office in Tabora. It feels very remote, and I'm reminded of the many-miles-long walks or bike rides that students must take every day to attend school.
Students are on vacation for the month of June, but there are signs of continued activity. A dorm is being constructed that will house 48 girls-- many of them Connect To Learn scholarship recipients. The dorm will relieve these girls of the burden and danger of traveling from their homes to school every day, and will hopefully foster a sense of support and community. Ibiri also has a beautiful new computer lab, with a carpet and desks ready for the laptops' arrival later this summer.
The facilities look great... now I'm eager to meet the teachers and students who use them!
Celebrating World Read Aloud Day 2011, students & teachers in Connecticut read aloud with Connect To Learn scholars in rural Tanzania!
Yesterday, March 9th, marked the second anniversary of "World Read Aloud Day," a worldwide effort to raise awareness on the need for global education, and to celebrate the power of literacy.
To recognize the day, two classrooms at the New Canaan Country School in Connecticut, and two classrooms at Ilolangulu Secondary School in Tanzania, read and sang songs to each other over a Skype connection – take a look!
Connect To Learn Awards Full Scholarships to Students in Ghana & Tanzania
It is with great excitement that Connect To Learn introduces our first scholarship recipients, who live in Ghana and Tanzania. Each of the students – 18 in Ghana and 19 in Tanzania – will attend a local senior secondary school and have the opportunity to work with their teachers to access a 21st century education provided by broadband connectivity that will connect them to a window on the world and its vast informational resources.
Rose Affum Gyimah: An Exemplary Scholar
I first met Rose a couple months ago on one of my trips to the Millennium Villages in Africa. Immediately she struck me – Rose was an engaging and thoughtful girl, and I enjoyed speaking with her, learning about her experiences at school and her excitement about starting secondary school and dreams of becoming a food nutritionist. Rose shares the same dreams as many other girls around the world for an education and to contribute to her community.
