Day 17

Today we were going to Arusha with Robert to visit the Rotary East African Project Fair. Robert is the president of the Mwika Rotary Club and they had a stand at the fair so he wanted to be there. We had a school that we wanted to visit that was near Arusha so he suggested we went too.

When we woke up this morning there were clear views of Mount Kilimanjaro, probably the best we have had in recent visits.

Robert picked us up at 8am and we set out for Arusha. On the way we also got some clear views of Mount Meru.

This was taken from the petrol station near KIA where we stopped for coffee.

We arrived at Nkoanekoli School about 10am. This school has been supported by a lady from the USA who kindly donated them 5 computers and a printer back in August. We were just calling in to check how things were going.

We met the head teacher and the IT teacher and were shown round some of the classes.

This was the Standard 7 class having an English lesson

This was Standard 4

In Standard 5 we asked how many children had used the computers.

We then visited the computer room. Unfortunately there was no electricity this morning so the children couldn’t demonstrate their computer skills.

This is actually quite a small school with only 240 children. At present those in Standard 5 and 6 are learning to use the computers. Teachers from quite a few local schools also come and use the computers which is great. There is actually a Secondary School (see below) only about 1 minute walk away so we have challenged the school to try and organise for these students to come and use the computers as well.

About an hour later we needed to leave as Robert wanted to get to Arusha, another 30 minutes drive away. The Rotary Show was being held on the 9th floor of the Impala Hotel. There was a good view from there.

When we arrived at the Rotary Show, coffee and samosas were being served and there were some speeches going on.

It was quite interesting to listen to the speakers. At one point a slide was put up listing “ The considerations for the sustainability of projects” and we said it pretty much listed exactly what we do!!

After the speeches and some discussion there was then lunch and afterwards all the members of the different clubs were encouraged to mingle and exchange ideas. Each club had their own stand where they displayed information on the projects that they had supported. The event was attended by Rotary members from across the world including the USA and Germany, as well as those from East Africa.

The Mwika Club stand was manned by Mama Kimaro and Annence (and Robert). Having been to several  Rotary club meetings over the years with Robert we know them both quite well and it was nice to see them again and catch up.

During the afternoon there was also a group photo. If you look closely you can see the members of the Mwika club.

About 5.30pm we left and drove back to Usa River where we stopped at a bar and met up with Robert’s friend Abdullah who we also know well. Abdaullah wanted a lift to Moshi so after a quick drink we were on our way again getting back to Moshi about 8.30pm.

Tomorrow is the start of the ACTT Retreat weekend so we had some sorting out to do for that before heading to bed.