The contrast could hardly be greater. Visiting Lhanbryde Primary School in Moray is such a joy. A modern, well equipped school with committed teachers and bright and eager pupils. A visit to Mayega Primary School is so different. The teachers are there, trying to be positive despite their herculean challenge and with bright eyed children eager to learn. So what are the challenges? Essentially, it is down to money and resources. Tanzania has built many schools in response to the Millennium Goals but funding them is an entirely different issue. For example, it is only in 2016 that President Magafuli warned local district commissioners that if every child in primary school didn’t have a desk by the end of the year then heads would roll!
The position at Mayega Primary School is typical and Lhandyde has stepped in to provide support. Fundraising has allowed chalk to be delivered and Mayega has been able to take part in inter-school sports because two footballs and a volleyball have been provided. Can you believe it?But well done to the staff and children at Lhandryde Primary, who are continuing to support their sister school.
Busega Scotland has a particular interest in Mayega Primary, as so many of the Mayega Children’s Centre children go there and improving educational attainment is a clear priority. Maybe small steps are all we can take but they do make a difference.
The balls being handed over to the P.E. teacher, Mr Gervas Yohana, in the Mayega Primary School staff room by Rev Gadlord Deuli.
‘Kalwande boys’ are in second year of their mechanics courses and are now out on field placements.
Newsletter 33 is now available and features the Mayega Children’s Centre. Please email busegascotland@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the distribution list. It can also be viewed here 
We have written before about Sebahane, our education adviser and now Mayega Saturday teacher. He was appointed in April and has a remit to improve the standard of English at the children’s centre. For the youngest new arrivals this extends to reading and writing in Kiswahili. This is no easy task but as Seba said, ‘he is willing to help the children learn’.
It has recently been evaluate dand the review has been completed by a discussion with our ‘hen consultant’.
Swahili.
The Tanzanian members of our leadership team are Project Leader Gadlord Deuli and his Assistant Julieth Godwin. To help review and plan work on a weekly basis there is a management team meeting. Once the practical business has been agreed there is an ‘issues’ slot, when a variety of different problems and situations are discussed. One recurring theme of these discussions is ‘Pastor’s House’. Pastor Deuli has great skills in bringing people together and says quite unequivocally that to succeed in our work we all have to be working to the same goals or be ‘building the same house’. This led to a short session recently when a ‘helicopter view’ was taken of how staff should interact together, and the disciplines that must be developed , to build our house successfully. One of the most fascinating parts of the discussion was how cultural norms impact on the nature of communication. It is a generally accepted part of European communication that women have the same ‘permission’ to challenge male colleagues as their male counterparts do. In Tanzanian culture this is not the same and so building our house through open communication and being critical friends is a challenge.
