Today we went back to FAWE to meet with Bibi Asma. She was very excited that we will start this mentoring program and has already talked to a few interested people. Also, Muhaymina, a teacher from Lumumba, is also willing to be a mentor. Basically, we need to create a mentor manual before January (when school starts here).
We have A LOT of work to do before the students start the next school year. Bibi Asma let us borrow a USAID mentor manual for the Ambassador Girl’s Scholarship Program (AGSP) to see what is typically included.
She also said that we should create an online database where the mentors and FAWE can enter information about our scholars. This is EXACTLY what we need, especially when we are oceans apart and have spotty communication. After being here for three weeks, I have realized that there are so few people with solid computer skills that I never dreamed anything internet related (such as an online database) would be possible. FAWE already does this with AGSP, so there is an existing system we could use. This idea still gives me goose bumps because the idea that FAWE or a mentor could enter information and we could view it immediately is so exciting. To go from hearing from our scholars once a year (sometimes as much as every 3 months) to getting immediate updates would help S4Si make great strides. Plus, this will help give us some continuity year after year and help us document whether S4Si is really making an impact through academic records and student’s progress.
PRISON ISLAND: After we went to FAWE, we took a boat to Prison Island. Prison Island was used to transport slaves and was a stopping point at which the slaves were kept until they were sent to the Slave Market on Mkunazini Rd., right by our house. They were kept there and checked for illnesses, etc. Later on, a jail was constructed (while it was still called Changuu Island, which is named after a type of fish). Finally, after being named Prison Island, it was used as a port for immigrants (like Ellis Island) into East Africa - they still had quarantine and ship records. It was never actually used as a prison while called Prison Island. There is a really nice hotel on the island (the water in the pool is transported through an underwater pipe from Zanzibar to Prison Island). They also had a tortoise sanctuary – the tortoises were just roaming around and we got to go inside and feed them. They even had one that was over 100 years old. It was so cool!
On the way back, we saw lots of debris from the ferry accident that happened a week ago. Cranes were brought over from Dar es Salaam to hoist the ferry out of the water, but they still haven’t brought it up from the harbor. Supposedly there are still bodies trapped under the ferry. Since the ferry was a cargo ship as well, there were bags and containers of soap, beans, biscuits, couches and other goods that were still floating in the ocean. It was very impactful. I haven’t had great internet for a while, so I haven’t been able to check for updates on passenger deaths and survivals.
Word of the day:
Bahari - ocean
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