Tanzania 2024 - Mtwara, at school

(More pictures will follow when the internet is good)

The next morning (Monday) we visit the “Call and Vision Secondary School” (CVSS), but first we have to go into town to register. Fortunately, we are supported by the school administrator, who has already brought copies of our passports and knows people there. We are allowed to walk past crowds of people waiting (I hope there are more offices to process all these people) and are then called by name and allowed to leave. When we arrive at the school, our luggage and handbags are taken from us as a gesture of politeness, but to my discomfort, and as a result I don’t have my cell phone with me to take photos. But that is resolved immediately after we are introduced to the headmaster, our first stop. We sit in a ceremonial circle with him, his deputy, and the school pastor also comes along. Then we introduce ourselves to each other and hear about the school and its background. For example, the deputy headmaster, who returned as a former student after completing his studies, but then decided to become a civil servant, which is more financially lucrative, also due to pressure from his extended family, as it is easier to get loans as a civil servant. But after a few years he came back to CVS because he is keen to give the children a Christian education and to be part of a constructive team.

Afterwards we meet some students who are supported by us or by groups from our communities, talk to them a bit, take photos and some of them even bring something back. Marko gave our souvenirs from Rüsselsheim to the headmaster, who will put them to good use at the right time.

We are then led into the various buildings. The boys' dormitories are separated by brick partitions, each room has 4 bunk beds, so up to 8 boys can sleep there. The girls (we'll visit them later) have a little more space and they have their own rooms, a smart new building. The shower doesn't have a water connection, so you bring your own bucket of water.

The kitchen is in the same building as the dining room, a large kitchen with huge pots that run on fire and wood and are soon to be replaced by gas. There is no central serving of food, but fixed table communities, mixed ages, who are given a pot of food together. This saves a lot of time queuing and promotes the social aspect. There are also physics and chemistry rooms, administration buildings and a library - and of course the classrooms, which are built in such a way that there is a small office for teachers between each two rooms. You go to secondary school here after completing the 7th grade, i.e. 8th to 11th grade, and then there is a high school class, only a few students who continue after completing secondary school so that they can go to university later. The school was founded to offer children, especially from the relatively poor communities here in the south, a secondary school. It is supported by the community association and has to be self-sustaining. Therefore, school fees for around 1/3 of the students are paid by school sponsorships from Germany. Because the (Christian) school has a good reputation, Muslim families also send their children to CVSS.

We look into two classes, talk a little about the material and their career aspirations. Finally, we have lunch with the teachers, not without a detailed round of introductions.

So we return to our rooms full of information and impressions, we can rest a little, go swimming again and in the evening the headmaster and the school pastor come for dinner and interesting conversations.

A day with lots of impressions and networking comes to an end. Tomorrow we will travel further inland, some by bus!