We visited three primary schools in the vicinity of Karatu and the Farm House:  Njia Panda, Bashay, and Kamba y Nyoka, in that order.  Shirley and Joyce had visited these three schools on their previous trip, and brought books to at least one of them.  These schools differed substantially in several ways:  the quality of their buildings and other parts of their physical plant, the apparent quality of their leadership, assistance from outside sources.   Their locations are shown on the small map to the right which can be enlarged by clicking on it.  Although the time we arrived was during their between-term break, quite a few students met us with singing and waving palm branches as we approached the school.  (We didn't know of the break until we arrived at Njia Panda the first afternoon.)  At each of the schools students greeted us with singing and dancing.  As was customary here and at all of the rest of the rural schools, the facilities consisted of several buildings constructed at different times.

    Bashay Primary School, the school nearest Karatu, seemed to lead in several ways.  Its head teacher, Mr. Jusstine Basso (PO Box 86, Karatu, Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa), seemed very competent.  We interacted with both Mr. Basso, whose image appears with Shirley, and Mr. , who appears in several images, including one with Scott.  Its teachers gave us embarrassingly nice presents of locally woven baskets, and had a nice tea for us in its library.  Its library and physical plant seemed to be fairly complete.  There was a very eye-catching thing in front of the school:  A map of the world had been constructed on the ground using pebbles to outline the continents, and different colored crushed rock to fill in the land and water.  This is shown in the images accessible below. Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) tour group had contributed desks for several classrooms.  The classrooms were in three buildings organized in an L, and apparently constructed at more than three times.  The long axis of the L ran N/S ahd housed the older classrooms.  We gathered with the students to the west of the first of these buildings; the world map  was behind where the students performed.  The building running E/W (along the bottom of the L) had a nice covered porch and is distinctive in the images by its having the roof over the porch supported by substantial steel pipes.  This building housed the library in which we met with the teachers.

ACCESS TO THE IMAGES OF BASHAY PRIMARY SCHOOL


       Njia Panda Primary School, closer to the Farm House than Bashay, but farther from Karatu, was intermediate in several ways, but has been quite successful in obtaining outside assistance for building some its buildings.  Mr. William Panga  (PO Box 86, Karatu, Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa) is its head teacher.  A new building had been constructed by Kebo Guides, but with substantial funding by a OAT tour group.   The older buildings had a preparation room for the teachers, with a desk or table for each.  The library appeared substantial, given the circumstances; the books were about half in Swahili and half in English.  The Tanzanian Association of Foresters had set up a garden of local trees and shrubs.  This probably was to encourage students to protect trees, rather than cut then down for fire wood.  Two buildings, each intended to house two classrooms had exterior walls and a roof, but stood idle and appeared incomplete.