Adam the angel????!
Hi all
Thought we'd give you all an update on Sarah's School.
As we mentioned in a previous entry there's a teacher called Sarah who runs a school for free every afternoon from her front room. It is her dream to set up a proper Nursery school (for 2 to 9 year olds) but without proper desks, benches and a blackboard she doesn't stand a chance. Sarah and her husband, Malchiory, both work extremely hard holding down two jobs and hardly seeing each other but still they struggle to survive on their incomes - let alone save to start a business.
After working in her school for a few weeks we decided that we would like to help this family to start a proper school. Adam helped Sarah and Malchiory to work out the costings and feasibility of the project one afternoon while I entertained 25 children in the baking sun! Armed with his business proposal Malchiory went to see their landlord. He was planning to rent another room in the derelict building they already lived in which would house Sarah's school. However, before he had a chance to voice his proposal his landlord (who is apparently an evil man who you don't argue with) told him that he was being evicted and had 10 days to get out. They had been living their for 5 years.
We arrived at the school a week last Monday ready to teach the children to find everything locked up and Malchiory sitting outside. He explained what had happened and told us that after alot of searching over the weekend they had eventually found an empty building with a room big enough to house their small school. However, they hadn't been able to find anywhere to live. He took us over to the new building which is much nicer than the one they used to occupy. Only problem is that there are no doors or shutters over the windows.
As the days went by Malchiory was having no luck finding a home that he could afford to pay rent for every month. He was getting quite desperate (understandably!). After the weeks events we wanted to help Malchiory and Sarah more than ever and so spoke to some of the volunteers here who had also been working at the school. We all decided to give some money to try and turn this building into a school. After clubbing all of our available cash together though we were still short. As a final attempt to help them we e-mailed you guys who have been amazing and donated loads of cash which is very, very much appreciated. Last Thursday we realised that we had enough money to not only secure the schoolroom but to also transform the rest of the building into a home for Sarah and her family.
On Friday morning we went to tell Sarah and Melchiory the good news. They were completely overwhelmed and described the situation they had been in as the 'darkest period in their lives'. They said that they felt that God (if you remember from our earlier church entry they are very religious!) had sent us to Tanzania - like angels into the darkness - to help them. It is definately the only time that Adam has ever been referred to as an angel!
We spent the rest of the morning with Malchiory pricing up doors and shutters for the house and deciding how much paint we needed to buy. Then on Friday afternoon 7 volunteers decended on the house to begin work. The walls were filthy and the plastering wasn't the smoothest so before any painting could be started everything needed to be sanded down. Malchiory had asked one of his friends- who also happens to be a Masia watchman - to come and help us. He decided that the sandpaper wasn't doing a good enough job so got out his Masai knife (approx 50cm long!) and started to attack the walls!
Unfortunately there have been a few days without electricity (not unusual for Tanzania) so the shutters and doors are now behind schedule as the wood needed to be machined before anything could be made. We have also had some heavy rain over the past few days which has highlighted the fact that the roof is leaking and 9 of the internal roof boards need replacing as they look as though they are going to collapse! On a more positive note though the schoolroom and one other room has now been undercoated and are ready for a final top coat.
The secondary school that we work at has exams this week so we are going to spend our time decorating Sarah's house and school. Luckily for us quite a few of the other volunteers out here are also going to give up their spare time (after they have spent a day on their own projects) to help.
Thanks again to everyine who has contributed to making this a reality for Sarah and her family. You will never know just how much this means to them. We promise to send pictures soon!
Thought we'd give you all an update on Sarah's School.
As we mentioned in a previous entry there's a teacher called Sarah who runs a school for free every afternoon from her front room. It is her dream to set up a proper Nursery school (for 2 to 9 year olds) but without proper desks, benches and a blackboard she doesn't stand a chance. Sarah and her husband, Malchiory, both work extremely hard holding down two jobs and hardly seeing each other but still they struggle to survive on their incomes - let alone save to start a business.
After working in her school for a few weeks we decided that we would like to help this family to start a proper school. Adam helped Sarah and Malchiory to work out the costings and feasibility of the project one afternoon while I entertained 25 children in the baking sun! Armed with his business proposal Malchiory went to see their landlord. He was planning to rent another room in the derelict building they already lived in which would house Sarah's school. However, before he had a chance to voice his proposal his landlord (who is apparently an evil man who you don't argue with) told him that he was being evicted and had 10 days to get out. They had been living their for 5 years.
We arrived at the school a week last Monday ready to teach the children to find everything locked up and Malchiory sitting outside. He explained what had happened and told us that after alot of searching over the weekend they had eventually found an empty building with a room big enough to house their small school. However, they hadn't been able to find anywhere to live. He took us over to the new building which is much nicer than the one they used to occupy. Only problem is that there are no doors or shutters over the windows.
As the days went by Malchiory was having no luck finding a home that he could afford to pay rent for every month. He was getting quite desperate (understandably!). After the weeks events we wanted to help Malchiory and Sarah more than ever and so spoke to some of the volunteers here who had also been working at the school. We all decided to give some money to try and turn this building into a school. After clubbing all of our available cash together though we were still short. As a final attempt to help them we e-mailed you guys who have been amazing and donated loads of cash which is very, very much appreciated. Last Thursday we realised that we had enough money to not only secure the schoolroom but to also transform the rest of the building into a home for Sarah and her family.
On Friday morning we went to tell Sarah and Melchiory the good news. They were completely overwhelmed and described the situation they had been in as the 'darkest period in their lives'. They said that they felt that God (if you remember from our earlier church entry they are very religious!) had sent us to Tanzania - like angels into the darkness - to help them. It is definately the only time that Adam has ever been referred to as an angel!
We spent the rest of the morning with Malchiory pricing up doors and shutters for the house and deciding how much paint we needed to buy. Then on Friday afternoon 7 volunteers decended on the house to begin work. The walls were filthy and the plastering wasn't the smoothest so before any painting could be started everything needed to be sanded down. Malchiory had asked one of his friends- who also happens to be a Masia watchman - to come and help us. He decided that the sandpaper wasn't doing a good enough job so got out his Masai knife (approx 50cm long!) and started to attack the walls!
Unfortunately there have been a few days without electricity (not unusual for Tanzania) so the shutters and doors are now behind schedule as the wood needed to be machined before anything could be made. We have also had some heavy rain over the past few days which has highlighted the fact that the roof is leaking and 9 of the internal roof boards need replacing as they look as though they are going to collapse! On a more positive note though the schoolroom and one other room has now been undercoated and are ready for a final top coat.
The secondary school that we work at has exams this week so we are going to spend our time decorating Sarah's house and school. Luckily for us quite a few of the other volunteers out here are also going to give up their spare time (after they have spent a day on their own projects) to help.
Thanks again to everyine who has contributed to making this a reality for Sarah and her family. You will never know just how much this means to them. We promise to send pictures soon!
posted by Ellie and Adam at
1:05 AM
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