Movin' On Up

No, not to the East Side -- and, certainly not to a deluxe apartment in the sky -- but The Toa Nafasi Project has indeed moved up!  Or rather, over, to be more precise, to a classroom in the nursery school block at Msaranga Primary, one that actually has windows.... and a door.... and a floor.... come to think of it!!

We have finally got a piece of the pie that is classroom real estate in Msaranga.  After having received the written approval of the Moshi Municipal Council that we can continue our activities at Msaranga Primary School, Headmaster Kennedy gifted the Project with a proper classroom in the nursery building adjacent to the main part of the school.

So, we now have a sort of headquarters on the premises (though I am wary of getting too keenly settled there as the whole point of Toa Nafasi is that it's a movable feast: rich in pedagogy rather than brick-and-mortar).  Nevertheless, I suppose it's nice to have somewhere to call home for the moment and I'll worry about getting pigeon-holed inside it at a later date.

Truth be told, we moved in about two months ago but what with my travels and school on holiday and this and that, I've not had time to divulge.  Sorry for that, but check out some images of our new digs below.

Next week, I'll inform you of some new personnel in the Toa Nafasi ranks: a part-time administrative consultant who's so smart she makes me nervous; a real-life expat volunteer, just like I used to be back in the day (!); another Tanzanian hire brought on by Vumi to chip in in the classroom; and several "wags" (short for wageni, Swahili for visitors) who've come and gone, and more who are expected.  It has been a busy couple of weeks and I expect it will be a busy few more....  Stay tuned!!

The exterior of our old classroom.

Not much to look at....

The interior.... dust in the dry season, mud in the rainy,

refuge for wayward chickens all-year-round....

 

Vumi in the forefront and our new volunteer Evelyn

in the background, both teaching in the luxury of our new digs!!

 

Art created under the tutelage of some "wags" who passed through back in June.  What a difference from the chicken room, right?!

 

Check out the origami dog faces and imagine us,

American volunteers (for the most part), teaching

Tanzanian schoolchildren the ancient art

of Japanese paper-folding....!!

 

The nursery school kids excited about their new neighbors,

The Toa Nafasi Project (!!), and peeping in.

 

 

Word travels fast!  By the end of the first week,

we were the most popular thing to hit the village since electricity!!