Issue 34November2018

This was a special year for the NMSE school, marked by the first cohort of students completing their Primary School Education. There was a great deal of creative planning put in ahead of the Graduation Ceremony, which benefitted from enthusiastic teamwork by the management, teachers and workers.

Covered seating areas were constructed from bamboo poles stretched with blue tarpaulin – to shield guests from the sun. The route to these seated areas was through archways decorated with banana leaves and Bougainvillea.

The families of standard 7 students were all invited to attend along with representatives from Ruvuma Development Aid, HOJA and COCO and previous members of teaching staff. The event itself was colourful and exciting, with fabulous student participation and mercifully short speeches.

There were amazing young acrobats from HOJA, comics with painted faces and big cushion-filled bellies, actors, traditional dancers and drummers and a slightly scary masked man teetering along on very tall stilts – all creating a carnival atmosphere. Children from every class in the school from nursery upwards took part; they were singing, dancing or giving science talks to demonstrate the function of a microscope or the structure of a flower.  The teachers and workers joined in the celebration participating in a traditional dance routine with the students.

All the staff, both teachers and workers, were dressed in outfits of the same bright yellow material but each made up in very individual styles. The graduating students were presented with smart enamel badges of the school logo and printed certificates to mark their completion of Primary School.

After the performances were over the teachers and workers had prepared a delicious feast of chicken, goat, rice and water melon for all the visitors to round off a very joyful day which will be remembered for a long time.

There are many more photos and videos posted on our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/Rudatanzania

We are holding a charity Art Fair and Pop up shop at the University of Dundee Botanic Gardens opening on Tuesday 22nd May- 27th May. Please come and support the building and equipping of the first Secondary School classroom at the Ntimbanjayo Memorial School of Excellence. We hope to have the classroom ready for the present standard 7 students to progress to at the start of the new school year in January. Please support in person or online using the flickr link below to view the work and then contacting Louise at rudatanzania@hotmail.co.uk to place a bid. Bidding will stop on Sunday 27th when successful bidders will be notified.

The Vegetable Garden

NewsletterApril 2017 Edited

Issue 31 Jan 2018

The children of standard 4 have achieved excellent results in the recent National exams and as a result the NMSE school has come out top of league in the Songea region. This shows us that standards are being improved and maintained at the school over the past three years. While exam results are only one measure of success, they are a clear reflection of the hard work of teachers and students. These strong results will encourage parents to send their children to the Ntimbanjayo Memorial School where all the children this year had either an average A or B grade over all their subjects.

The children have completed their end of year exams and will return to their villages at the end of the week. We have written to sponsors to explain why it is unfortunately necessary to raise their donations for January 2018 and the new school year.

We are facing two challenges, firstly the poor exchange rate on the pound since the Brexit vote over a year ago and the school fees which have been raised to 1,150,000 Tanzanian shillings per year. This means that sponsors will now pay £32.50 per month and RUDA will use gift aid claimed on these donations to buy new school uniforms each year. Last year we had to divert £2,650 from construction fees to buy uniforms and this year we asked for help from sponsors. The new sponsor rate will cover the cost of the fees and RUDA will use income from gift aid to buy uniforms in future.

Meanwhile we are looking for a sponsor for a boy in standard seven whose sponsor after seven years of supporting him, has dropped out. Please contact Louise on rudatanzania@hotmail.co.uk if you would like to sponsor him for his final year at Primary School and on to four years at secondary in 2019. Louise will be able to send you photos and information about the boy who is doing very well and is so happy at the school he has attended since nursery with his friends.

During the first week at Namanditi Louise walked around the school with Ntimba looking for the best place to make a garden for Anne. They chose a quiet area beyond the vegetable garden with three mature shade-giving trees. Ntimba said he often sat under the trees when he needed time to think and it has lovely views of the hills. It is quite a large area but the plan is to develop it gradually and to begin the planting nearer to the rainy season which starts in November.

The first stage was to establish the hard landscaping; laying the paths and building the round house as well as creating circular seating patio areas around two of the mature trees. A hedge of Moringa will be planted around the perimeter but kept low so visitors can still enjoy the view of the hills. Although it is near the school it is a remarkably quiet and peaceful spot. The attached photos give some idea of the layout but the round house had still to get its grass roof trimmed.

A large, strong metal arch has been built and positioned at the entrance to the garden.  Once the fence is in place, the garden will be reached by walking first through the vegetable garden and then through the archway into Anne’s Garden. The existing garden areas around the school have never looked better and we are confident that the gardener, Ibrahimu, will make a good job of the planting out of flowers, medicinal plants, shrubs and trees. The planting will be undertaken by the children, later this year, supervised by the school gardener, Ibrahim.  Some of the standard six boys enjoying the new benches. The funds for the garden were donated by Scottish Potters for Anne who was a keen gardener as well as a sponsor and supporter of Ntimbanjayo School.

Earlier this year Valerie returned to the school project with plans to develop an underground water storage facility. The water project is being constructed by builders from Mbinga and they have created the brick built tank. The funds for this were raised by Valerie in Ibiza, a part of the world that also has to deal with water shortages and uses underground containers to conserve water. The hole was dug in preparation for her visit and the tank itself is now complete.

The newest buildings are all fitted with gutters and downpipes which will feed the tank during the rainy season, the water can then be used for washing and watering the gardens. The finished buried tank below taken in July with the dormitory building in the background.

This newsletter give information about the three study trips the top three classes were taken on this year. They were so successful the school is now considering having a study trip for each of the classes next year. The funds for this year’s trips were raised by a race night held at Broughty Golf Club.

NewsletterSeptember2017