JBFC & Right To Play

JBFC launched a partnership in 2012 with Right to Play, a global organization that uses the transformative power of play - playing sports, playing games - to educate and empower children facing adversity.

Right To Play staff members came to JBFC’s Kitongo campus to train our teachers and work with student volunteers on the curriculum which uses games to teach students about subjects like health and conflict resolution. Several of JBFC's Ambassadors attended training in Toronto to work with Right to Play on creating a brand-new tennis curriculum.

 

 

 Almost two years later, JBFC's Joseph  & Mary School teachers are still using what they learned from Right to Play facilitators.

 

Second grade teacher Mrs. Zaina recently led her class in on the Right to Play games - Spiders. The class started with a stretch and a warm up activity. Mrs. Zaina then led a short discussion about what spiders eat and how that affects the environment around us. The game then started with two spiders in the middle and children on either side having to run by them without being tagged. Those who are tagged then become spiders.

Spider madness ensued....

 

 

 

And a whole of smiles...

After 20 minutes of this massive game of tag,  Mrs. Zaina led another discussion. She asked questions like: "Did you feel safer running from the spiders or being home in the safe zone? Why?"
She then followed up by asking what the children do to be safe at home- the answers included:
- washing our bodies to prevent disease
- washing our clothes
- sleeping with a mosquito net
- playing to be happy
- eating healthy food
- drinking clean water

After the discussion the children participated in a cool down activity by pretending to pick mangos from a tree, out them in a basket, and eat them.

As you can see from the smiles on the kids' faces, this activity was a lot of fun. But it also got the kids thinking about some important life lessons.

We're glad to have partners like Right to Play in our mission to end poverty.








Blogger Seth Diemond is JBFC's Campus Director.

Back to School

January is a special month all across Tanzania- schools open for the year, students, some for the first time, dress in red, blue, green,  yellow, orange, or white uniforms with polished black shoes and head off to their first day. Textbooks are assigned, though paper-back, are covered by students in newspaper or paper-bags and doodled on just  as they are in the states. Parents, at least those who can afford it, send their children off to school with new clothes, new supplies, and a bit of pride (and maybe a tear!) just as mothers and fathers across America do.

On Monday we opened school for the year at JBFC's Joseph and Mary Schools. As JBFC administrators, Chris, Melinda, and I all got to spend a moment as proud parents as we sent the JBFC girls, gleaming in their uniforms and sporting new back-packs, off to their first day of school. This is a special moment for students and parents alike- my mother still (jokingly) sends me messages saying "I hope you get the teacher you wanted!" (she did this on Monday).






This year it hit hard. It is one of those moments that JBFC's impact on our girls is most noticeable. If
it wasn't for JBFC, these girls would never get to experience this day- the excitement of a new teacher, their own notebook, and the hope for the future that comes with education. I hope, and am confident, that the JBFC girls will remember this day in the future as something a bit special.




We ended last year on an exciting note. In Tanzania, 4th graders, 7th graders, and Form 2 students (9th grade), all take national standardized tests to determine if they are eligible to move on to the next grade.  Passing is not a guarantee- in fact, in most of Tanzania, the majority of students fail. At Joseph and Mary, 100% of our students (many of them JBFC residential girls) passed in 4th grade, 7th grade, and Form 2, an amazing feat. Proud we are.

 This year brings plenty of excitement of its own. Those amazing Form 2 students have now moved on and become our first ever form three class and are well on their way to graduating. Last year's 7th graders have now moved on to form one, becoming our newest batch of high-schoolers.

Eight adorable children have come to school for the very first time as pre-schoolers (pictured napping, all except for Esther). After two weeks of intensive professional development, our teachers (some new, some old), are more prepared and eager than ever to train the next generation of leaders.




 We are confident that come December, as we close another year at Joseph and Mary, we will have many more exciting announcements in our fight to provide and improve education in the places where education is needed the most.










Blogger Seth Diemond is JBFC's Campus Director.

School's Out for Summer

Ok, so we don’t actually have summer in Tanzania, but the school year has come to a close at our Joseph and Mary Schools. This past Friday, the last day of school for 2013, we held the end of school year ceremony. During the ceremony we honored the top three performers in each grade.

I was able to hand out awards to the kids with the very top marks in each class. A majority of the award winners were our JBFC girls, so I felt very proud standing up in front of the school giving out their awards. 



Leticia, 1st Place

Rachel, 1st Place

 

Neema M, 1st Place



Gertruda, 2nd Place

 
 



Zai, 1st Place

 

Kulwa, 2nd Place 



Laurencia, 1st Place

What a great accomplishment for the foundation. It was enlightening to see the top performers in each grade get excited about their awards and prizes. The prizes included pens, pencils and notebooks.

Immediately following the awards assembly, we had a meeting with the scholarship students at Joseph and Mary. These are children that don’t live here with us at JBFC, but need financial support to receive a quality education. 

We set up a work program for these guys to give a little something back to JBFC over the school

break. There was not one complaint, in fact they even seemed excited about putting in the time and doing a little manual labor over the break. But, mostly, they seemed to understand that what they are receiving in the form of education is far greater than putting in an hour a day over break.



I am just so thankful to be a part of an organization like JBFC, one that gives so many children opportunities that they otherwise would never be able to access. While I haven’t been here for all the achievements that JBFC and Joseph and Mary Schools attained this year, I am so proud of the organization. Here are some highlights:

· 100% of all of our primary students passed the national exam, continuing our winning streak. Our 4th graders passed for the fourth year in a row. And our 7th graders passed with flying colors for the third year straight.

· Our seventh graders are ranked 1st in the district, scoring the highest in our area on the national exams.

· We are able to maintain a student to teacher ratio of 14 to 1.
· Experts from high schools and colleges across the United States came in to teach globally recognized teaching methods
otherwise not available to our teachers.
· We opened the library making books available for check-out to our students and teachers.

· The new school dining hall was built and put to use by the nearly 300 students.

· We were able to provide three all-terrain wheelchairs, and build wheelchair ramps and handicapped restrooms.


· We launched the Kobos e-reader program, giving teachers and students, first ever access to e-readers.

· Agriculture classes were incorporated into school curriculum

· Fourteen scholarships provided to students outside of the JBFC girls living on campus.


These are just a few of the many accomplishments at Joseph and Mary Primary and Secondary schools for 2013. I look forward to being a part of an even more successful 2014.









Blogger Melinda Wulf is JBFC's Administrative Director.