7th Grade Graduation 2017

On Friday, October 13th, 2017, Mainsprings and the Joseph and Mary Schools celebrated the graduation of our 7th class of primary school students. This year, 16 girls and 14 boys sat for their national exams and graduated from the 7th Grade at the Joseph and Mary Primary School. This class included four residential girls- Zai, Salome, Vene, and Rachel- from Bibi Mimi's Girls Home.

The ceremony, which was planned by our Dean of Students, Mr. Samo, and the Joseph and Mary School Committee, took place in the school dining hall from 10:00AM until 1:00PM. The event was attended by various government officials and community leaders, including our village chairperson, Ward Education Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, and the District Sports Officer, among others.

As with any good Tanzanian ceremony, the event featured nearly two full hours of entertainment. Students from preschool through 6th grade performed various skits, poems, and songs to wish the graduates well. Bibi Mimi's residential girls Neema, Happy, Leticia, and Zai performed an incredible rendition of Alicia Keys' "Girl On Fire." Zai, sitting at the graduates' table, made a dramatic stage-left entrance while singing, taking the whole dining hall by surprise.

The grand finale of entertainment was a first-ever fashion show put on by Joseph and Mary Secondary School students. The fashion show featured students wearing different types of dress depicting various aspects of Tanzanian culture. The last two students, wearing a suit and a wedding dress and having a mock wedding ceremony, received roaring applause from the other students, parents, invited guests, Mainsprings staff, and the Guest of Honor. Following the fashion show, the Guest of Honor, Magu District Director, Lutengano Mwalwiba, requested an encore performance of "Girl On Fire" with the students in their fashion show outfits.

After the entertainment, various members of our school's leadership team spoke about the history of the school, challenges facing our community, and giving advice to the soon-to-be secondary students. The Honorable Mr. Mwalwiba spoke directly to the students, advising them to listen to their parents and role models, value the education they are receiving at Joseph and Mary, to work hard, and avoid bad groups of friends. Mr. Mwalwiba also praised the holistic approach and services that Mainsprings is doing and promised to lend his full support to our efforts. Lastly, Mr. Mwalwiba spoke to the importance of educating girls in our community and giving girls equal support to boys.

Following the speeches, members of Mainsprings leadership team, government officials and community leaders handed out "superlative" awards to various graduates for achievements in academics, leadership, sports, activism, etc. The highlight of the day, of course, was the giving of the diplomas. Mainsprings Administrative Director Melinda Wulf, Campus Director-Kahunda Mr. Lyimo, and C.O.O. Seth Diemond, joined Magu's District Director Mr. Mwalwiba to hand out the diplomas certifying the graduates' achievements. Congratulations to all of them!

What would a graduation be without food? Following the ceremony, nearly 700 students, staff, and visitors enjoyed a meal of rice, beans, pilau, meat, vegetables, and soda before heading to Papa's Cafe and Bungalows for pictures! It was a great day for all!

Guest Blogger, Seth Diemond, is Mainsprings' COO in Tanzania. 

Expanding Literacy In Our Community

Over the last two months, it’s been a common sight to see six students from Joseph & Mary’s Form 2 class walking into Kitongo with an armful of books each Sunday afternoon. This is a result of JBFC’s expansion to the Family Literacy Program, which started in January 2016. The Form 2 students participate in the program, which serves as their mandatory community service project, for an entire year before handing the program off to the upcoming Form 2 class.

The original program –in partnership with Sarah Lawrence College – strives to encourage reading in the classroom and at home. While starting as a way to encourage parents to become more actively involved in their children’s educations and encourage literacy in the community, it has developed into a four-week seminar that parents take one grade at a time. Over these four weeks, parents discuss the challenges that their children face academically, creative ways to support their children at home, and solutions such as buying more books for their homes, encouraging student to attend school daily, and reading with their children themselves.

It is led by Joseph and Mary’s Dean of Students, Mr. Samo and our Literacy Coordinator, Mr. Simon. The Form 2 students participate in many ways including translating, surveying, providing childcare, and cooking. This program has seen great success and each Wednesday many parents arrive to learn more about their child’s education, while becoming part of the solution to some of the challenges they may face.

This past June, students from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey worked with Joseph & Mary’s Form 2 students to expand this program into the community. Over three days, students from both schools discussed the challenges that the community faces, which range from community members’ lack of access to books to parents not being able to read themselves. What they came up with was partnering with the local Baptist church to create a book nook in their community centre where parents, students, community members, and children, who are not yet in school, can go to read and access books in English and Swahili. The students then scheduled time with the Kitongo Baptist Church and presented the idea to the pastor and some of the church members, officially launching the addition to the program on June 28, 2017.

Under the supervision of two Form 2 students – Emmaculate Immanuel and Peter Nicholas – the program has taken the initial book nook and expanded it. Six students at a time from the Form 2 class rotate going to the church after the Sunday service with an armload of bilingual Swahili-English story books.

Each student finds one or two partners and together they sit and read, often taking turns sounding out words. Participants can ask how to pronounce different words and what they mean in a safe, non-judgmental environment at no cost. If they are struggling with reading in general they can focus on the Swahili text of the book or if they’re striving to learn English, they can focus on that. Typically there are 10 to 12 participants from the congregation and surrounding community that range from toddlers to elders.

This program is looking like it will continue to grow and change to address obstacles, but these first two steps have demonstrated how partnerships and some students creativity can make a huge difference in a community.

This blog was written by two guest bloggers, Jeff DeViller and Emma. Jeff is Mainsprings' Volunteer Coordinator in Tanzania, and Emma is is one of Mainsprings' residential girls. She is currently in Form 2 at Joseph and Mary Secondary School. 

Trek Tanzania 2017

Last year, Mainsprings launched its inaugural walk-a-thon, "Trek Tanzania: A Virtual Climb of Kilimanjaro". While climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is on many people's bucket lists, few get the opportunity to actually travel to Tanzania and take on Africa's highest peak. As many climbers (including our own Administrative Director, Melinda Wulf) would tell you, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of determination over several grueling days to make it to the summit.

That being said, we found out very quickly last year that we have some incredibly active and fit

supporters, who are more than capable of walking the entire route and then some! We had groups of friends and families taking morning walks to get coffee or out for an evening stroll, all while counting their steps to see if they could reach the 89,480 steps it takes to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and back down. Not only were these supporters making themselves healthier during our week-long walk-a-thon, but they were simultaneously making our community in Tanzania healthier by raising money for our healthcare clinic.

We also found out that our teams of supporters were not only competitive with how many steps they were each achieving, but with raising money. Together, they helped us raise over $30,000 for our clinic which provides preventative health services to a community of more than children and families.

This year, we are launching our second Trek Tanzania, but the rules will be slightly different than last year. Instead of running for one-week only like last year, Trek Tanzania 2017 will run for the entire month of October - and yes, even though it is now October 4th and the competition technically started three days ago, it is not too late to register and start tracking your steps and fundraising!

How can you participate? There are multiple ways!

Grab your friends and family and create a team, or tackle the trek solo. Be sure to register yourself or your team (you can do so by clicking here), and use the entire month of October to track your steps and see if you can reach 89.480 by the end of the month. You can also get friends and family to sponsor your virtual climb, which will help raise money for our clinic.

Prizes will be awarded to the team that raises the most money by the end of the month, as well as the team that reaches the summit first. You and your teammates are responsible for tracking your steps via whatever method you prefer (MapMyRun, iPhone Health app, Fitbit, pedometer, etc.). To complete the trek, your team must walk 89,480 steps per team member. For example, if you are a team of five, your team needs to complete 447,400 steps (that's 89,480 x 5 participants) AS A TEAM. This means that some people can walk more than others, you just need to complete the required amount of steps cumulatively. Be sure to let us know when you and your teammates have completed your steps!

Happy trekking!