The Pirates of Fate (I guess)

Today we met with the headmaster of Jiendeleze, the nursery school that Meghan worked in last year. It is a one room school full of 60-70 kids ages 2-6. Ramadani, the headmaster, has a shop in the back of the school and lets the kids come for free, paying for the teacher himself. The Majengo area is a very poor part of Moshi and many kids can't afford school at any level.

We asked him for a list of kids who were old enough to go to primary school but who still attended Jiendeleze because they could not afford to go. There were two kids in this situation. Our local friend, Living, was there to help us translate. I had a total Pirates of Penzance moment (anyone?) when I used the word 'often' (meaning frequently) in a sentence to be translated and all Living heard was 'orphan' (meaning one who doesn't have any parents). He then asked the headmaster if there were any orphans at the school. We got a list of names, including three that had already 'graduated' and were at home, unable to pay for primary school.

We have been very cautious in talking about numbers and if/when we will sponsor the kids. Money is a very tricky thing around here. Many people will take full advantage of you if they know that you are willing to pay for them. This comes from many years of being sustained on one time donations from mzungus. They will take as much as they can, as soon as they can. We are aware that we are bound to be burned at some point but are taking as many precautions as we can.

Tomorrow we will meet with the five kids that we have identified as having a need. We will interview them to find out a bit more and then go on home visits to meet their parents. It is necessary to do surprise home visits, as sometimes parents will instruct their kids to take mzungus to a 'poorer' house so that they are more likely to be sponsored.

At this time, we are hoping to sponsor five to seven kids. We want to make the commitment to them for all seven years of primary school. School has already started for this year but they will always take more students. The Tanzanian government has just made a new law making it illegal to not go to school. Many mamas will drop their kids of at school now so that they can not be fined but will not pay the school fees.

Tomorrow we are in for another big day! And thanks to some Gilbert and Sullivan orphan/often we have found five kids to help.