By Rai Farrelly | Executive Director, Girls Education International
Dear Girls Ed Supporters,
Greetings and Gratitude! We at Girls Ed hope that you had a fabulous summer and are ready for the transition into Fall. For many of us, this means 'back to school' -- but in Tanzania, this means the end of the school year is approaching. It also means that national exams are on the horizon for many of our students.
We'd like to share a few updates from this past summer! First - let me make a big shout out to Lucas and Madaga, our dedicated in-country program managers for all of their hard work throughout the year! We could do nothing without them! Asanta sana, ndugu zangu!
Study Camp - June 2017
Our study camp was excellent this year! We had a record number of students - girls from Form 1, 2, 3, and 4. We joined fellow students from Project Wezesha - boys and girls in Forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Our Form 6 students - Dibeit, Tumsifu and Saidi - were helping us out as teachers. They taught Biology, Chemistry, and Math respectively. It's so wonderful to have them in the classroom in this capacity - paying it forward.
We had many teachers from Kichangachui Secondary School - teaching their core subjects to our girls. We also had a teacher from Amahoro Secondary School, Monica who came in from Mwandiga every day to teach Biology. The girls really enjoyed having two women teachers this year - Monica and Fedha, who taught Kiswahili. We're very grateful to the teachers who gave their time and really motivated our students to give their all during this 4-week intensive camp. We were able to offer them salaries for their work thanks to your support!
My colleague from St. Michael's College, Katie and I taught English classes to Form 1, 2, and 3 students. We had the opportunity to get creative with class time. We introduced the students to many communicative activities that are quite unlike the traditional, teacher-centered approaches they are used to. They enjoyed the variety and impressed us with how much they had to say in English on a range of topics. Here is a snapshot of two activities we did with them. Make sure to click the links and check out the videos of them in action.
Activity - Running Dictation
In our last report, we shared about the fun time our students had on our field trip to Gombe. This video shows them back in the classroom doing a running dictation activity based on a text about Gombe National Park. In teams of four, students choose a person to be the 'runner', a person to be the 'scribe', a person to be the 'reader', and a person to assist with reporting and editing. The runner runs across the classroom where a reader reads from a short text. The runner remembers as much as she can and then reports to her team. The scribe writes what she hears and the assistant helps correct spelling and check for missing words. When teams are finished, we read the text aloud and they check their work. Activities following this one build on the text -- we worked with new vocabulary, comprehension, and did some additional communicative tasks to let students talk about their trip to Gombe. As you can see in the video, they loved it!
Activity - Concentric Cirlces Interview
Another activity the girls really enjoyed was a mix and mingle activity to let them practice speaking in Engish without a focus on accuracy (rather fluency). Students form two circles with the inner circle facing the outer circle. They shake hands to make sure each has a partner, then we give them questions to discuss. They each take a turn responding, then the inner circle moves over one space to face a new partner. They continue in this way - discussing questions with new partners until they have talked to everyone in the cirlce. You can see in this video that they were using a lot of English, giggling, and enjoying class time! What more can you ask for?
Supporting the Educational Aims of our Form Four Students
Our Form 4 students received special attention during camp as they are facing very important examinations in October -- the results of which determine whether or not they proceed to Form 5 (High School) or alternatively pursue vocational education.
At the request of parents and Form 4 students, we continued our support of these girls after study camp. A team of teachers meets with the girls on the weekends to run through mock exams of various subjects (see photos). The mock exam days are intense, including hours of testing that emulate the actual test days. The day after testing, the students return for a day of review - going over the corrections the teachers make on their exams. They recieve mini-lessons on difficult concepts and they also work on writing for subjects such as History and Geography. The girls are feeling more confident about the exams thanks to these additional study sessions. We are proud of our local team for being so responsive to the students' needs - recognizing that 'class as usual' isn't enough to help them over this hurdle.
We let go of the reins when they enter the testing centers in October. Keep them in your thoughts and let's all wish them success on these exams!
Fall is for Fundraising!
As we move into Fall, we have to set our sights on fundraising for the next study camp and the Form 5 fees due in January 2018 when our girls pass their exams. Here are a few ways you can be involved:
Month of October: If Girls Ran the World - This campaign gets us all out on the trails and roads, running for girls education around the world. You can sign up to run as many miles as you wish through October while raising money for Girls Education International. The website isn't ready for 2017 yet, but here's a view of my fundraising page from last year - to give you a sense of what you can create. You'll register, select Girls Education International as your charity partner, and then just run your heart out! You ask friends to chip in as a show of moral support while you strive toward your goal - whatever amount (of money and miles) you set! Keep an eye on our Facebook page later this month for updates on launching your own campaign!
October 7th and 8th: Girls Ed will be tabling at The Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, CO. Make sure to buy your tickets for this spectacular adventure film event and show us some love when you come!
Launch your own Fall Fundraiser: GlobalGiving has a great tool that allows anyone to start an online fundraiser to benefit an organization of their choice. Simply visit our project page. To the right, you'll see the donation options, followed by payment options, and below that - a blue button that says "Start a Fundraiser". You can raise money in honor of someone or for an event (wedding, birthday, sporting event, etc.). Launch it and encourage friends and family to donate -- then watch your impact grow with each contribution.
Thanks again to everyone for your ongoing support of our work in Tanzania! The impact of the girls is best experienced firsthand - through their smiles, hugs, words of gratitude, hard work, and big dreams. But we hope that this report does give you a glimpse into the value of the work we do and the ways in which we are making change - one girl at a time!
Asante Sana!
Sincerely,
Rai Farrelly
ED, Girls Education Int'l
www.girlsed.org
Links:
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