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Please remember the punctuation!
www.tea-a.org is also ok, as is http://www.tea-a.org Teachers for East Africa - Alumni (TEA-A) is a non-profit tax-exempt (501c3) organization supporting secondary schools in the East African nations of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Members have lived and taught in East Africa for two years or more. We know what we're doing and we make a difference. |
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different users since Oct 9, 2007:
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What's Hot
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| Each month begins with the schools, then TEAA, then EA news. | |
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| Red box means click for more. Use browser back-arrow to get back.. |
| Try it here: "Semper ex Africa aliquid novi." - Pliny | |
| Also click under "What was Hot" in lower left. |
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Funding: The All Is One Foundation and over 90 TEAA members have
contributed since mid-2005.
Click to see how & why to give and who has given. | ||
| OCTOBER 2007 | ||
Digital library project: TEAA has purchased 9 copies of the
eGranary for schools in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. At this
moment our representative in Kampala is organizing with the
schools for delivery and setup. Produced by Widernet (photo)
the device is a
750-gigabyte
external hard drive holding a
library's worth of educational material and great software to
access it.
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Internet connectivity in Uganda: Gertrude Ssekabira,
principal of MacKay College, writes: "The
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, pledged to sponsor
internet connectivity in our lab. We have been able to buy most
of the planned equipment for the first installments of the
extended funds."
80 Computers are on the high seas, bound for 4 TEAA schools in Uganda and may arrive by November 29. | Survey of ICT and Education in Africa has just appeared. Based on surveys within 53 countries, it summarizes plans and progress on educational uses of computers and the internet. The Summary Report notes "a marked shift from a decade of experimentation in the form of donor-supported, NGO-led, small-scale, pilot projects towards a new phase of systemic integration informed by national government policies and multi-stakeholder-led implementation processes." See the overview ... or you can download, the entire (long) document. | |
Brooks is cookin'! |
Kenya elections: Alliances
shift,
and votes are
bought,
as December election nears. -BBC
Business optimism: East African business leaders are more confident, about profits than last year at this time, with optimism highest in Kenya. The Ugandan information and communication technology sector expects a boost in income because of next month's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, whose website asserts that "Kampala and Entebbe are currently undergoing massive infrastructural and beautification exercises ahead of CHOGM," though some allege poor planning. | |
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The TEAA conference in Seattle, Sept 13-16, was a great success. We discussed East African education of the past, present and future, as well as other topics of shared interest. Invited speaker Vincent Khapoya has followed up by writing to Marty and Dick Lemke "to thank both of you and the other members of TEAA for a truly memorable conference. I enjoyed every minute of my time with you. With friends like you, there really is hope for Africans on the continent." Now it's time for you to follow up, by clicking "Seattle-07" in the upper left box. Then you can click any item in the lower left box, but especially "Followup."
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| SEPTEMBER 2007 | ||
New TEAA school in Uganda: St. Joseph's Centenary at Ndeeba,
just west of Kampala, has 720 students, 60% of them girls. Principal
Nakafeero Bernadette writes that "despite its Christian leanings, the
school admits students regardless of their religions, race, or tribal
backgrounds. The school has performed well in national examinations
and established itself as a centre of hope for our students who mainly
come from the nearby slums."
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Colleague of TEAA-ers: Randy Woelk (right) came from Kansas to be a Fulbright teacher of chemistry at Kakamega SS, 1963-64, where he was a colleague of TEAA scribe Ed Schmidt for a semester and of your faithful webminder for a year. His son Larry (left), then 16, now lives in England. He lived at the school the whole time, along with his mother, two sibs, two dogs (they had my dog's littermate and inherited the fabled Yankee), two cats and three fowl. After 42 years, Larry recently googled me up and came with his dad for a visit. Besides the old days, we have discussed collaboration on EA assistance and locating UK colleagues. | ||
Opposition split favors President Kibaki's bid for a second term in Kenya's December election. more He has the backing of his predecessor, Daniel Arap Moi. more Running second in polls is Raila Odinga, son of the country' first vice-president. more A major party has just nominated Kalonzo Musyoka. more - Reuters, BBC, Wikipedia | ||
| African Art spanning several centuries up to the present is on view in Washington, DC. | Great apes' origin is in Africa, not Asia, say discoverers of nine fossil teeth in Ethipia. | |
| AUGUST 2007 | ||
Mpwapwa update: "The Braillers have arrived
at Mpwapwa Secondary School, and they are very pleased to have
them. The boxes that I sent have arrived in Dar." writes
TEAAer Jonne Robinson; see July issue. She praises teacher and
TEAA liaison Paul Mkondokwa, who has been diligently overseeing
everything.
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New graduate Lydia Nalutalo has completed her work at Nkumba University, with substantial financial support from TEAAers Betsey Anderson and Ed Schmidt throughout her four year program. From her message to Betsey: "I will always be grateful for your love." | ||
Science labs open at MacKay in a ceremony
"presided over by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of
Education & Sports. This occasion included exhibitions in
science, art, and cultural performances," highlighting
student talent, writes Principal Gertrude Ssekabira. TEAA has
supported a portion of the equipment.
Reaching out: MacKay is also "trying to develop our students to be global citizens." They have joined with two nearby primary schools and "six schools from Senegal and UK to form a partnership," with Gertrude as coordinator in Uganda. She and the school both received high praise in the report of the first exchange visit, which included the performance in the photo. | ||
TEAA partner Kitengesa Community Library will soon be part
of the Uganda Community Libraries Association which will, writes
co-founder Kate Parry, "be officially launched on
August 3. The wife of the US ambassador will attend and will
announce a grant to the Association of $15,000 from the US
embassy. The money is to be used for training library managers,
for organizing a grants competition, and for distributing and
administering six grants of $1,000 each."
KCL
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| Educating Tanzania - 2006 numbers from the Ministry: 96% enrollment in primary, up from 65% just five years ago, to a total of almost 8 million, putting "more pressure on secondary schools to absorb" them. Form one has almost a quarter million, up 150% in three years. Additional teachers are to be hired. more | Higher education in Africa receives support from a partnership of several of the largest US foundations. Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya are all among the nine recipient countries. "A major initiative [has been] to supply cheaper and more reliable Internet access." more | |
Clash on Lake Albert. A faction of the Congolese army
operating outside national control apparently attacked a Canadian
barge carrying out oil exploration for Uganda.
BBC
Kisii soapstone carvers now produce official Simpsons merchandise. BBC | ||
| JULY 2007 | ||
| Two Braillers should soon reach Mpwapwa HS with its substantial blind population. They "are in Tanzania and have passed through the government procedures," reports TEAA-er Jonne Robinson who made the arrangements and once taught at the school. Other parts of the grant are in progress. | ||
MacKay on the move: Individual attention and clear rules promote learning in the computer room, while gathering roofwater and maintaining a piggery bring savings and income for academic improvements. Principal Gertrude Ssekabira writes: "We had a very successful MacKay Day and Public Lecture on 16/06/07. We officially appreciated and recognised TEAA for the support toward the equipping of the Science Lab." | ||
TEAA Representative
Enoch Nandokha, a retired biologist and former student of two TEAA-ers,
writes from Bungoma, Kenya, "I have communicated
with Butonge school; we are through with the first disbursement of
1500 dollars. I am waiting for their receipts after
purchasing." He also wrote in March: "Your
visit was quite encouraging to the schools you visited. We
were all happy for your presence in our community. I have visited
the schools after you left and they are grateful that you
came."
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| Promotion to 'Principal, Grade 2' gives Okunya Milton head of St. Joseph's at Gunga, Kenya "a lot of encouragement to press on.... The government of Kenya has pledged a little grant from September to supplement what we spend on teachers' salaries." The government has also allocated two sorely needed new teaching positions at the school. Ed Schmidt has replied that "We are happy to see your efforts at Gunga be rewarded, and to witness your joy through your written words. I think it is fair to say that your enthusiasm permeates the school." | ||
| Apprenticeship is in full swing at Nyakato where, writes William Mashimba "We have 23 teachers from different universities for their practice." | Dar al Islam in Abiquiu, New Mexico hosts TEAA leader Brooks Goddard and 21 others. 2007, writes Brooks, is his "year to better understand Islam," the religion of 45% of Tanzanians. | |
Lunch in Kampala: was recently hosted by Fawn Cousens with folks from NGOs, governments and schools. Attendees are identified in caption of full-size photo. | ||
Lake Nakuru National Park is the subject of the 2007 International Grand Prize awarded to Javish Mutembei, a Nairobi high school student, by River of Words. Click detail at right or whole to see the entire work and information on the contest sponsor. | ||
| Affordable laptop news: Intel will collaborate on the $100 laptop. Innovations will make it frugal with power. It is being marketed to governments in lots of a million. -BBC | Bag ban begins. "From 1 July the manufacture, import and use of plastic bags thinner than 30 microns will be banned [in Uganda]. All other polythene will be subject to a whopping 120% tax." Kenya and Tanzania consider similar legislation. Story from BBC. | |
| June, 2007 | ||
New school for us in Uganda. Having just implemented a
grant for new A-level textbooks, TEAA-er and long-time Kampala
resident Fawn Cousens writes "Today I sent the
Tororo Girl's School Head Teacher [Ida Tarinyeba, at left] and two
Science/Math teachers back to their school with 4 cartons of
textbooks. They were a very pleased lot and most thankful for the
TEAA grant. I convey their thanks to you all."
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Curriculum augmented: "We're planning to
recruit Form II students to study computing as an examinable
subject next term," writes Sylvester Kameo, head computer
teacher at Bwiru Girls SS, Mwanza, Tanzania. He reports that
"the installation of computers was successfully
done and students have started to use them ... The whole school is
enjoying your assistance."
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Peer teaching has come to Gunga, Kenya overlooking Lake
Victoria, thanks to Okunya Milton, principal of St. Joseph's HS.
He writes that "the senior students take topics
studied by the lower classes and teach the junior ones while the
juniors 'teach' the senior students their topics," thus
allowing seniors to review. This popular program not only "makes them confident but also appreciative of one
another." In other news, the school used a recent public
holiday to catch up on science labs, with new TEAA-supplied
equipment; see
January issue.
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TEAA daughter Julia Dickinson, a nurse/midwifery student at Yale, took this photo in western Uganda while working and learning at the Bwindi clinic on the edge of the Impenetrable Forest. She's now in Ethiopia where, writes Ann, "Paul and I and our grandson Sam plan to visit her in August." | ||
| Police continue crackdown on Mungiki on the fourth day of a retaliatory operation in Nairobi's Mathare slum. "The nation's biggest criminal organisation has been front-page news for weeks with a series of beheadings, mutilations and murders of policemen and government officials." - Reuters, June 10. more | ||
African poverty slips to at best third place on the
adenda, as "US Missile
Shield
Plans Dominate G8 Summit's Start" and "Chancellor Merkel Expects
G8 Agreement on
Climate Change."
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Ivory: To ban or not. Kenya and Mali have proposed a
20-year trade ban which might slacken demand. African nations are
split on the issue, which will be taken up at this month's meeting of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
more from Reuters.
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| East African economic anomaly: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are the three founding and principal members of the East African Community, yet belong to different economic and trade groups, indeed the two biggest regional ones in Africa. Tanzania is a member of the Southern African Development Community ( SADC) having quit the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in 2000. Kenya wants them to rejoin. The 12th COMESA Summit recently concluded with a call for the three organizations to speed up their integration. | ||
