Windrose Ramblings: Tanzania - Project Week One

Dave’s assignment here with Catalyste+ (formerly CESO). He is working on a project at Naioth Foundation.

After they retired from their jobs, Boaz and Veneranda started Naioth Foundation as a way of helping raise the living standards of the poor, destitute and orphans through education, employment on their farm and material resources. They have a small pre-school and they provide training in agricultural practices for women. It's best to let them explain their organization at: https://sites.google.com/view/naiothfoundation or on Facebook at Naioth Foundation

Dave’s assignment is to present a training course on subsistence farming practices. Boaz is the translator and as he is a seasoned agriculturalist, it is a good fit. Dave says one sentence. Boaz translate it into a paragraph. I think he’s doing more than translating the words into Swahili. He’s also expanding on the concepts. Dave sourced a curriculum that was in both Swahili and English, making the planning so much easier.

planning the lessons

the classroom

getting the technology all set up

the participants in the class

We are now at the half-way point. This first week included a couple of power outages that changed the lesson plan! No videos, so it was time for a field trip.

Naioth has a large garden plot to help in feeding the many people that depend on them. This then became the demonstration garden for the day’s lesson. A little further up the road were some rice paddies. The lesson continued. Dave’s white pants didn’t remain white as he stepped into the irrigation canal between paddies. Everyone had a good laugh!

Meanwhile, I’ve been hanging out and learning about Naioth, stepping in to help where I can. I’ve been singing songs with the littles at the daycare, grating tomatoes to add to the sauces for the lunches that we’ve enjoyed. They've fed us well - no dieting here. I'm also entertaining a little 18 month old while his mama cooks. He’s been calling me “Auntie”. Some of the little ones at the daycare have adopted me, and like me own grandchildren, try to sit as closely as they can.