MONDAY 26^TH MAY

My dream finally came true, by being enabled to visit DCT Mvumi School once again. I travelled with my mother on the SGR train from Dar Es Salaam Station at 6am and arrived at Dodoma Station at 10am. This was a long and scenic train ride.

We were warmly welcomed by Joy, the trustee representative and Mr Suday, the deputy headmaster of DCT Mvumi school. We then drove for roughly an hour to DCT Mvumi School. The drive was scenic, filled with nature (mountains, baobab trees, blue skies with occasional clouds and large expanses of land). The road was quite uneven, so it was a very bumpy ride. We arrived at DCT Mvumi School at roughly 11am. The welcoming and hospitality we received was consistent with our previous visit. Notably, the school environment had changed. It appeared well maintained as there was a lot of greenery and some of the roofs had been repainted.

After freshening up, we went to the administration block where we were facilitated to meet and greet the school staff members. We then went into Joy’s office; there I taught the six girls how to make the bookmarks and began the activity with them. Thankfully because I was able to make bookmarks here at FHS with the help of six students, it was easy to show and  explain how to create the bookmarks. Despite having the challenge of the jump rings being thick and small, the girls rose to the challenge and showed determination. Due to their resilience, we finished the bookmarks within an hour. Afterwards, we celebrated with a treat of biscuits and water. And I expressed my gratitude for their contributions.

Following which, Joy took us to meet headmaster, Hamu Kutoka. He conveyed his gratitude and greetings to Francis Holland School, and he appreciates everything that has been done by FHS through Mvumi School Trust, he hopes that this partnership will continue. He also offered us an opportunity to be toured around the school to see what has changed and what projects have helped and projects that they need help with. To which I took the opportunity to request to specifically visit the Physics Department.

During our tour around the school, we visited the Blind Unit. We met Mr Mbilu the head of the Blind Unit. He kindly showed us the embosser machine that they use for the blind and visually impaired students to learn and print braille. While there, we also met a visually impaired student called John. He had just come from sitting his end of term exams. Mr Mbilu took the opportunity to explain to us how the students read and do the exam paper. The information was put on an SD card which Mr Mbilu could use to print out in braille using the embosser machine for John to read or to transfer from braille to written using the alphabet so that a teacher can mark the paper. What wonderful skills Mr Mbilu has!

Following visiting the Blind Unit, we then toured the sanctuary house where the dormitories for the girls who board are. When initially interacting with the girls, they appeared to be quite timid. However, after we spoke to the girls who had made the bookmarks with us, they saw that we were nothing to be afraid of and all said ‘Hi’ enthusiastically while waving even until we left the sanctuary. While we were visiting the sanctuary, we saw that because of how and where the ablution blocks were built, the water that had been used for bathing trickled down and accumulated in a large black/green pool. It was clear to me that the place was dilapidated compared to when we first visited Mvumi School three years ago. This water was very murky and was even dribbling into some of the dormitories. I was saddened to see this as the girls spend a lot of time in this area. However, because of this, it is not as clean and beautiful as the area can be.

During the tour, we also visited the kitchen, and we were told by Joy that as from July, the government is now banning schools from using firewood to cook meals Hence, Mvumi needs to find an alternative method of cooking. We observed that the kitchen area was very run down. There were rusty pots as well as some of the cooking equipment being broken. Joy said that they were looking to renovate the kitchen previously but, because of costs, the school has not been able to do so.

We handed over the student and teacher stationery and a couple of wall clocks to Joy, although I would have wanted to give out these things and see the wall clocks being mounted, due to limited time and other competing things that I wanted to accomplish I was unable to. However, I trust that Joy will be able to hand these out as required.

In the evening, we went to the students’ evening church service where they all happily praised God. It was a wonderful atmosphere and everyone was joyful. My mother and I felt uplifted and a sense of belonging, particularly with the way that Ms. Pendo, the school’s Chaplain, led the prayer session and the service. The day ended and we retired to bed knowing that I had been invited to give a speech the following day. We slept soundly and comfortably.

TUESDAY 27^TH MAY

On the morning of the 27^th, I woke up early knowing that I was going to join the students and staff to give a speech. In my speech, I spoke about being aware of the time and season and the importance of acquiring an education. I was pleased in the manner of which the students paid attention, eagerly listening to the information that I was telling them. It was clear to me that my message was well received. My mother was also invited to say a few words and a prayer last minute as we walked into the chapel which she gracefully offered quoting Luke 2:52.

It was delightful to receive compliments from staff particularly Mr Mbilu who said that my message had ‘poured’ something into the students, igniting the fire within them to be hungry to learn and how much the speech had benefited them.

As soon as the church service was finished, we visited the Physics department and went into the chemistry lab. There, Mr Milawi kindly conducted an experiment with me to determine the gravitational field strength on earth. Through this experiment, I learnt that the further you travel from the equator the lower acceleration due to gravity as there is a smaller force.

Thanks to Ms. Wilkes’ wisdom to gift the postcards, I was able to express my gratitude and actually see the recipient’s reaction. This was quite touching and a mark of solidifying the partnership of FHS and Mvumi. I wrote these postcards on Monday night and gave them to many people who had helped during the Mvumi visit and been hospitable including the girls who made the bookmarks, Joy, Agnes (the house cook), the Headmaster, Mr Milawi and Mr Mbilu.

After completing our visit, we were driven by Mr Suday from Mvumi to Dodoma city where we went to a government office to buy a new flag for DCT Mvumi school. This was a long process which included a lot of logistics however, because of the determination of all of those involved, we were able to successfully buy the flag for the school.

After buying the flag, we went to the Mwambao Restaurant in Dodoma to have a meal. There, I had chipsi kuku (chips and chicken), it was a lovely meal, and the chicken and chips were much tastier than at my local chicken and chips shop. However, the chips were not as tasty as McDonalds! During our meal, about 20 men in suits with a matching pin of the Tanzanian flag walked in, washed their hands and sat down on a long, oval-shaped table. These men later turned out to be high ranking members of parliament who were also having a meal there. At that point it clicked that I was eating in a special restaurant. This later inspired me to buy matching pins of the Tanzanian flag for my siblings and myself so that we could be like the members of parliament.

After having our meal, we travelled to Dodoma train station where we took the train at 5:15PM and arrived at Dar Es Salaam train station at 9PM. It was a long train ride and we stopped at many stops such as Ruvu and Gulwe unlike on the way there where we only stopped at two as it was the faster route.

In conclusion, I think that this trip was a success as I was able to tour the school, complete the bookmarks activity with the girls and speak during an assembly three years since I had first visited Mvumi school. This has been a wonderful learning experience, from this trip I have learnt that through determination and resilience, you can do many things. This was shown through examples like the girls with the bookmarks and process of buying the flag. Along with this, being believed in and given an opportunity was very humbling to me by all involved, both the FHS and Mvumi community. I cannot wait to visit Mvumi again!

Kayla, Year 10