Wait for It

Okay, so these photos don't make much sense without the background story, but time is tight this week and I won't get around to a full-blown post until the weekend.  So, until then, just bear with me, enjoy the following randomness, and trust that it will all come together in the end!

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Mwanzo (Beginning)

Kati (Middle)

Mwisho (End)

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

Again, from The Tanzania Daily News out of Dar es Salaam, attention was paid recently to those at the crossroads of education and disability.  Can I say the stars are aligning??  Check it out:

Special Seats Member of Parliament, Mrs. Alshaymaa Kwegyir, has said that educating people with disabilities in the country is a viable investment that will help in national development.

Mrs. Kwegyir made the comments when closing a 14-day assistive technology training for people with visual impairment at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) that was sponsored by Sightsavers Tanzania.

She said that providing people with disabilities proper education will make them independent and be able to support themselves and their families.

"By giving people with disabilities handouts, it only makes them dependent and appear like a burden to society, but if we invest in educating them, then we will be making progress in efforts to bring development to our country," she said.

Speaking at the same occasion, Sightsavers Tanzania Project Manager, Mr. Enock Mangasini, said that the training this year follows a similar session as last year where fifteen people with visual impairment were trained on how to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

He said that it is heartening to see that this year, twenty-seven people were able to receive the training, noting that even more promising is the fact the trainers this year were those who themselves graduated in last year's training.

"This is promising and we hope that those who benefited from this year's program will go and spread the knowledge acquired far and wide," he said.  Mr. Mangasini was speaking on behalf of Sightsavers Tanzania Director, Dr. Ibrahim Kabole.

Sightsavers plans to train between 200 and 300 people with visual disabilities to be able use computers in the next four years.  The not-for-profit organization has pledged to continue supporting people with visual impairment by financing and providing equipment for three resource centers at Makalala Primary School in Mafinga, Iringa region, OUT and Tanzania League for the Blind (TLB) premises.

Graduates of the training program were also handed laptops fitted with assistive technology that best suit their needs as people with visual impairment.  Sightsavers promised to continue supporting similar training and called for other stakeholders to support the initiative.

OUT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tolly Mbwette, said that this training and that of last year have been eye openers to many individuals that ICT is possible for visually impaired individuals.  "I am calling upon both national and international organizations to facilitate training like this one which have far reaching implications as they keep disability and persons with disabilities high on the agenda," he said.

In a speech read on his behalf by the OUT Deputy Vice Chancellor (Personnel), Prof. Martin Victor said such training helps society widen knowledge and understanding of disabilities and persons with disabilities in both training and using ICT services as well as get rid of stigmatization and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities.

In addition to OUT and TLB, the training was also supported by Tanzania Education Authority and Freedom Electronics dealers of Samsung products in the country.

It's Official!

The Yankees have won the American League East....

....and....

....The Toa Nafasi Project is a bona fide 501c3 tax-exempt charitable organization!

 

Another Worthy Example....?

Is it possible that, so closely on the heels of my recent entry about inclusive education in Liberia, a school in Tanzania has followed suit?  And, if so, how amazeballs is that??!!  And even more amazeballs, if that is at all possible, is this quote from a disabled student at that school: disability is not inability.  I think I may have to bite that for Toa Nafasi's promotional materials.  Four very powerful words indeed.

From The Tanzania Daily News, a recent article reports the following regarding a government secondary school at which Mheshimiwa Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania himself, once taught:

The Board Chairperson of Pugu Secondary School has promised to work on all challenges facing disabled students at the school.  Lieutenant Dr. Edward Masala mentioned some of the challenges as shortage of water, ill-equipped laboratory and library, and lack of facilities for disabled students.  The school has 65 disabled students.

"We have to provide them with good facilities to create an enabling and conducive learning environment for them like other students," he said.  Lieutenant Dr. Masala was giving his keynote address during a Form Four graduation ceremony held at the school on Thursday.  He commended the graduates for behaving well before sitting for their final examinations scheduled early October this year, calling upon them to avoid using mobile phones during class hours.  The headmaster of the school, Mr. Rukonge Mwero, said education was their heritage before urging them to thoroughly prepare for the coming exams.

One of the graduates, Ezekiel Mgaya (20), who is disabled, said he was happy to graduate because it shows that disability is not inability.  He urged the public to support disabled students in order to make themselves independent, something which will be beneficial not only to them but also to the nation at large.

A total of 107 students, three of them disabled, graduated yesterday.  Pugu Secondary School was among the most popular schools in the 1970s and 1980s, having produced prominent politicians and professionals including the former President Benjamin Mkapa.  The "Father of the Nation," the late Mwalimu Nyerere, also taught at the school.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Not in the sense of nautical wreckage but rather in the way of odds and ends, I have a bit of “F and J” to share with y'all.  Seems like I haven't had time to write a proper blog entry regaling you with all my goings-on for weeks now, but I suppose that means I must be busy doing something, right?  And the Kardashians are on hiatus, so it must be work-related….

To start with, I've been talking to everyone and anyone with ears about The Toa Nafasi Project and, quite delightfully, my incessant chatter has been met with positive results!  I have a list of potential partners starting with a woman I met back in 2009 when I first began researching this project.

Angi Stone-MacDonald is currently Assistant Professor of Early Education and Care in Inclusive Settings at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.  When I met her three years ago, she was doing research for her dissertation on the role of culture and local context in developing curriculum for students with disabilities at Irente Rainbow School in Lushoto, Tanzania.  I reunited with Angi over email and then a lengthy phone conversation.  Next weekend, I'm headed to Boston to see her in person and go over plans for the assessment and curriculum modification phases of the project.  I'll be armed with copies of the Tanzanian syllabi for Standard One and Two subjects and I imagine we'll hash out details of our gameplan.  I obviously am headed back to the motherland in just a couple months, but Angi will be coming over to help implement the assessment next summer.  So not only am I gaining a partner, I'm also getting a roommate, at least for a couple of months!

Mary Gale Budzisz from the International Association of Special Education is next on the list.  I've mentioned her before on this blog and I'm sure her name will come up many times in the future.  Retired from the profession, but a tireless crusader in support of children with developmental disabilities across the globe, Mary Gale is powerhouse of energy and enthusiasm.  Under her watch, IASE has built up projects in schools and hospitals in Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Malawi, and Tanzania and they supply a steady stream of volunteers to each of these sites.  I'm hoping she will be adding The Toa Nafasi Project in Msaranga to the sites she already has going in Tanzania: Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar, Diana Women Empowerment Organization in Tanga, and Sebastian Kolowa University College in Magamba.

Speaking of Sebastian Kolowa (or SEKUCo as its known by its acronym), the third person on my list is a current IASE volunteer at that site.  Richard Zigler has been heading up the masters program at SEKUCo since 2010 and is very keen on staying in Tanzania long-term.  I met with him in Moshi on my last trip this past June and he gave me lots of advice and feedback about the project and proposed activities.  Now, due to *issues* at SEKUCo, he finds himself looking for alternate employment in the Tee-Zed.  Enter Toa Nafasi.  Not only will he find further purpose in Africa using his special education skillz, he will lend credibility to my project and provide invaluable insight and guidance.

Another excellent contact is Dr. Derrick Matthews, an American pediatrician currently based at Selian Lutheran Hospital in Arusha.  Just like everybody else, I first met him in 2009 but reconnected with him recently now that Toa Nafasi is a reality.  We have yet to sit down again and talk in detail but I think he could be a good resource in the referral phase which is when I will address students who are under-performing due to reasons other than a learning difficulty, possibly medical or psychosocial.  Says Doc Matthews, “I may have to contribute in the areas of treatment of physiologic disabilities and behavioral management by pharmacology means when necessary.  There is definitely a need for this type of approach to children with special educational needs.”

Aside from blabbing about the need for special ed in TZ, I’ve also been flexing my artistic muscles designing a logo and putting together an identity kit of business cards, letterhead, brochures, and a website.  Oy vey, it’s a heavy-duty job, this business of branding.  Not only is it time-consuming, it’s expensive!  My first year budget has been sadly whittled down….

Oh!  That’s another thing I’ve been up to….banking.  Business banking is a real bee-yatch.  And CitiBusiness Online does not make things easy.  There’s about a million passwords and tokens and secret codes.  It’s like safe-cracking just to get into my own damn account.  And wiring money to Tanzania?  I’ve tried three times now.  Haiwezekani.  I can’t wait until I’m too legit to quit and can hire a proper accountant….and IT person….and marketing manager….

Finally, and possibly most importantly, I’ve entered the world of fundraising.  Now that the IRS is officially considering The Toa Nafasi Project for tax-exempt status, I need to get my ish together and produce a viable plan for how I’m going to keep this damn thing afloat.

Easier said than done. 

However, I’ve started off by attending seminars at the Foundation Center, which is an amazing resource and I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering starting their own NGO or is currently in the nonprofit sector.  The library is fantastic, the database is comprehensive, the classes are informative, and the instructors are incredibly knowledgeable.  The headquarters is in New York (of course), but there are branches and various sister libraries all across the country.  So far, I have taken Introduction to Fundraising Planning and Grantseeking Basics.  These will be followed by Introduction to Finding Funders, Social Media, Starting a Nonprofit, Before You Seek a Grant, Sustainability, and Grantseeking for International NGOs.  Check out some of the handouts from Intro to Fundraising Planning below.  Methinks my stool is a little one-sided, no?  And I’ll never get any earned income from this project….Maybe I can just put a balled-up napkin under the chair leg like you do with a tipsy table in a restaurant….?

Anyhoo, I may jest, but this part of the process is definitely the most daunting, especially in this economic climate.  Nevertheless, I am still optimistic enough to think that after a few applications and a few events, I’ll get the hang of it.  After all, I was a publicist in my former life; I know how to persuade and cajole people into doing what I want! 

The big difference here is that this is something I’m really passionate about and, as opposed to getting an author into the New York Times Book Review or on National Public Radio, this work is about quality of life, not luxury.  That raises the stakes tremendously and is actually pretty scary.  What’s also scary is that this whole project is entirely dependent upon me: my ideas, my passion, my energy, my direction.  So far I’m doing okay, but who knows what the future holds?  When I can’t sleep, I think about what I’ll be doing (and where I’ll be living) a year from now.  I don’t think that last year I would have ever thought I’d be here, in this place, in this moment, today.

At any rate, there it is, my long-awaited update.  I hope I haven’t bored you with my various views and random ruminations.  Stay tuned for next week’s entry which will no doubt be just as fascinating….!

A Worthy Example

Busy as a bee and very little time to write, but wanted to share this article I peeped online at AllAfrica.com which talks about an inclusive education program for students with special needs being launched in Liberia.  This is exactly the kind of precedent (if it works) that Toa Nafasi needs to legitimize our ideas in the Tee-Zed!  Kudos to the Liberian MoE and Handicap International for thinking about how best to protect and encourage the most vulnerable learners, and ways in which to uplift and promote teachers who often regard their jobs as dismal and thankless.

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The Ministry of Education in collaboration with Handicap International over the weekend conducted a one day workshop on 'inclusive' education rather than special education.

Speaking to journalists last Friday at the Corina Hotel where the workshop took place, the Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education, Madam Kemeh Gama, said the one day event is part of a memorandum of understanding signed with Handicap International to pilot a three year inclusive education program.

Madam Gama said that the program was intended to make education accessible to everyone especially those with disabilities.  "So we are piloting in three counties, Montserrado, Bomi and Margibi, and in each of these counties, we have two pilot schools and four cluster schools.  The cluster schools will learn from the pilot schools, but we will direct our attention to the cluster schools," Madam Gama stated.

She named some of the pilot schools as Samuel D. Hill in Clay District and Sumo Town Public School, both in Bomi County, and Paynesville Community School and Dauzon Public School in Montserrado County.

Madam Gama said the schools were strategically selected due to their own surveys and the 2008 national census report.

"We put the project in public schools because too long our teachers have complained of their inability to take care of the children in school," she said.  According to Madam Gama, through the inclusive learning program, teachers will be taught how to talk and take care of students thereby creating an enabling environment for the students and even those with disabilities.

More than forty participants including Ministry of Education officials, county education officers, and principals of some pilot schools attended the workshop.

Summer Has Come and Passed

Today feels a little sad for obvious reasons and I can't bring myself to write about the generally-noble-but-somehow-made-mundane-by-the-magnitude-of-this-day activities of my life, even this project.

This is the first time I have been in New York on September 11th since 2006, then the five-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks and, while I have never forgotten what I saw or experienced on that day in 2001, I have not felt as close to it as I do right now.  On a more positive note, I've not felt as much a New Yorker in years as I have since I've been back on this trip.  Bittersweet indeed.

Nevertheless, I continue to be hugely busy with The Toa Nafasi Project and have been working on a big update for this blog (and for my board of directors, and for my organizational consultant, and for my Tanzanian staff, and for my parents!), but I can never seem to find enough hours in the day to perfect my prose and send the damn thing off.  Fortunately, the "there's no hurry in Africa" mentality has stuck with me and I'm not giving into a typical Sarah freak-out....  Quite frankly, there's too much work to be done and the stakes are too high for me to have a meltdown right now!  So, I'm keeping calm and carrying on....  There is always tomorrow.

I'm just about to head off to bed but I'll leave you with actual proof that the IRS knows who I am, and inform you that I am thisclose to hiring a graphic designer for the branding of Toa Nafasi.  Tomorrow, I return to the Foundation Center to basically squat at their library and, over the weekend, I'll be reunited with one of my most favorite people in the world, Mary Gale Budzisz, the past president of the International Association of Special Education, who will be in the city for a UNICEF conference.  I'll try and get some time to write more about those aforementioned mundane activities o' mine by early next week.

So with a lil' old Green Day on this chilly early Fall night, I say, "Usiku mwema, lala salama, njozi njema...."

Summer has come and passed / The innocent can never last / Wake me up when September ends ....

.... As my memory rests / But never forgets what I lost / Wake me up when September ends ....

.... Ring out the bells again / Like we did when spring began / Wake me up when September ends ....