What We Do
Bukumbi Diary - June 2009
4th June 2009
My visits to Bukumbi this week have proved a real challenge for me. On Monday a visit to the school disheartened me; this was because the school had just completed the exams and the teachers were marking and therefore the children were just sat in their classrooms not doing anything- and no one seemed to think this was a problem! I did have a supporter from the UK visiting with me so we did do a little maths and a rendition of heads, shoulders knees and toes! The expectations of teaching standards here and in the UK are so extreme that sometimes it is difficult to see how the children ever learn. Teachers here do not necessarily teach for the love of teaching and therefore are very apathetic. However I will continue to be optimistic and my next step is to work with a couple of teachers who really want to develop and hopefully their enthusiasm may rub off on the others!
The children however are great! Selina is now waiting for her appointment on the 12th at Bugando hospital. She will need her tonsils removed and is just taking pain killers at the moment. The children are looking forward to Friday when school closes for the long holiday!
On Wednesday Andie and Kibibi were working with the income generation group and they have been very busy making necklaces, bags, embroidery and many now have been able to pay off their loans. The ladies were very proud of themselves and their work! (FM)
22nd June
The students that we are supporting in further education have been back to Bukumbi for their long holiday and Lamecki and William have bought back their reports with them. Both are doing well and Lamecki even came 2nd out of 80 students. William came 30th and both boys have been having extra tuition for maths and English over the holiday. I am very proud and happy with how hard these boys have been working and can show that they are able to achieve great things!
For the last couple of weeks Bukumbi has had visitors from the Netherlands who have been renovating the last of the dormitory blocks. This has been organised and funds raised by Sister Anna. The group have been working very hard and we have been happy to support with the use of equipment. This means that soon all the blocks will have been renovated and the residents will be living in a safe and clean environment.
On Thursday Dr Safiya our locum came out to Bukumbi to work with Dr Julius on a tooth camp. Dr Julius has now been trained on one of our DVPs and therefore it was great to see him working alongside Dr Safiya pulling out many teeth and relieving people of pain. (FM)