February 11-13 & 19, 2015

During our stay in Arusha we were given the unique opportunity to visit several schools. I thought it would be good for Maeve and Liam to experience an educational setting in Africa.

The schools we visited were private and run by the Archdiocese. Father Ephrem escorted us on our first day. Michael stayed back at the hostel to do some work. Maeve and Liam felt a bit nervous and they were not really happy about visiting schools. I'm fairly sure they were experiencing more of a fear of the unknown.

We started in the school office of Assumption School where we met the principal. She assigned Liam to a grade 5 class and Maeve to a grade 7 class. Liam was more unsettled, so I went with him. Maeve went boldly on her own. Liam started with a math lesson on Roman numerals while Maeve had a civics lesson. Then there was a morning recess break before the next class on social studies and computers.

Maeve hanging out with some of the younger students

The kids definitely took an interest in Maeve and Liam

The students were well-behaved and respectful, which is great considering there were at least 35 students in the class. They enthusiastically welcomed Maeve and Liam, each one encouraging Maeve and Liam to sit by them. Students stood when called upon and spoke. Not everyone answered confidently, and there was never any snickering when the wrong answer was given. The classrooms were very basic, only equipped with a chalkboard and chalk. The students had their own notebooks, but no math text books. Everything was copied from the chalkboard. Maeve was able to share a book for civics.

I enjoyed observing the teaching styles. The teachers would often ask questions requiring a choral response from the students. Done regularly, this ensured that everyone was involved in the lesson. There was certainly no difference in the students here. I noticed that one teacher was newer (I found out later he was taking a maternity leave for the regular teacher) and the students took more advantage of his lacking authority. During our visit the next day, the pregnant teacher showed up and reviewed the previous day's lesson. She was not happy with their performance. She had the students work in groups to answer questions. When they were done, she reviewed the answers and revealed how each group performed. The winning group had only two out of five answers correct. She kindly pointed out that they shouldn't be celebrating as winners with only two correct answer. The activities and topics were common to our experiences in the U.S.

The younger children flocked to Maeve and Liam during recess. They seemed to enjoy touching their skin and hair. This bothered Liam despite my attempt at reassurance that they were just curious. It's not everyday a kid from the States walks into their school. Liam responded much better the second day when he was better prepared.

The second school we visited was Notre Dame. This was a newer and larger school with three levels and served a larger number of students. I don't have pictures of this school. I left my bag in the lounge area when Maeve and Liam were wisked to their classrooms. Michael and I were then given a tour of the school and the adjacent buildings where young nuns were trained.

The class sizes here were much smaller. The students were dressed in track suits since it was Friday. Classes were divided into areas and were assigned colors, represented by the color of their track suits. They could earn points for good behavior and would participate in a big celebration at the end of the term.

The following week we visited an entirely different school. Bishop Prosper suggested we visit the seminary where he and Father Ephrem were educated and trained. Father Ephrem was excited to take us there and visit some old friends. The seminary was about 40 km outside of Arusha. Once we turned off the main road, we drove another maybe 2 km up a very bumpy hill. This trek isn't done regularly as the students and faculty live here.

The first thing Maeve and Liam noticed were the puppies on the property. It took us several minutes just to get into the main building because they just wanted to play with them. Of all the dogs we have run across, these were by far the most adorable.

Not sure who is happier, the pups or Maeve and Liam

Father Ephrem gave us a tour of the seminary grounds. It was lovely to experience his enthusiasm and nostalgia for this place that obviously carried such fond memories for him. He showed us his former dorm room and where he used to play darts outside. We saw the gardens and the livestock. The seminary relies on these for much of their food. They even use the manure as an energy source.

Father Ephrem and Michael tour the seminary main house

Father Ephrem reminiscing about where he used to play darts

An old elephant bone that has been there for years

The other side of the seminary's main house

The road to the seminary was pretty rough just before this part. — The road to the seminary was pretty rough just before this part.

Walking the property and checking out the gardens

After our tour of the grounds, we visited several classrooms. Father Ephrem greeted each class and introduced our family. Michael and I spoke briefly and explained our travels. Father Ephrem always ended our classroom visit with a motivational chat to the young men. He was very encouraging and reminded them that this is where Bishop Prosper started. His message was simple, work hard and good things will happen.

Seminary classes....Maeve had to enter with the pup