Day 5 - Thursday 24th October 2012



Loyola's Football pitch


After meeting at the school the group visited a craft market, lots of time spent wandering and selecting presents and souvenirs.  Then onto another area to visit the very famous Tingatinga Cooperative.  This is a group of arts that work together to produce a distinctive style of painting that is known as Tingatinga art.  At St Paul's we have a Tingatinga style painting outside the hall, it has fish on it.  Again many items were purchased!

Then back to school for lunch and time to help make a video of life at Loyola High.  This involved interviewing on camera students from Loyola. 



David videoing the school sign

Tomorrow is a public holiday in Tanzania.  It is the festival of Eid-Ul-Adha, a Muslim holy day. Tanzania is roughly 33% Muslim.  For Muslims it is a day to thank the Almighty for one's good fortune and to share it with the less fortunate people. The day marked by the slaughtering of animals as sacrificial offerings, after which the meat is distributed among the needy and deprived. We have seem a lot of goats in the city ready for the sacrifice tomorrow!

We are not going to school, instead we are going to visit a small town an hour's drive up the coast called Bayamoyo.  Hopefully we will go swimming in the Indian Ocean.  The weather has been very warm all week so far 30-33 C. 

Day 4 - Wednesday 24th October 2012



Miss Fatuma Husein with Geography mini-text book

 Today was a much quieter day!  We just went to Loyola High School.  Mr Dell was busy with meetings with teachers.  He met with Miss Fatuma to discuss the Geography Project.  She had worked with Miss Thomson to help produce a joint mini textbook to be used in both school.  In St Paul's Miss Seproni and Miss Laverty also worked on the project.  It looks at global warming and considers the impact on Tanzania and the UK.  Students in both schools will be using the textbook in class soon. 


Lara helping a student fill in the 'Hand of Friendship'

Ciaran writes "We got to go into some classes, I saw a History A level lesson and a Maths lesson.  It was very different to lessons in England.   We got to use some computers and went on the Internet."

Later in the day St Paul's students went in to lessons - the equivalent of Year 7 and 8 to do the 'Hand of Friendship'.  Loyola students were very pleased to find out about our students.  


Annette with Bellal at the front of class explaining



Hannah teaching the class

Loyola student filling in the sheet

Reflections on Day 3 by Lara

“Our third day was hectic to say the least!  We arrived at Loyola High School and we saw an assembly where we all gave a little speech and of course Miss Bacon had perfected her Kiswahili.  Today was the day of visiting the cluster primary schools.  So we went to Gonzaga Primary School where we were treated to another assembly with a small marching band.  After this we had a cup of tea and cake.

We carried on to our next primary school, St Therese’s Primary School.  However we were very late due to really bad traffic jams and we also had a puncture so after a tyre change we eventually got to the next school. We were treated to lots of nice food and we were warmly welcomed. 

Pit Stop!

Then we were off to our last school, by this time we were exhausted, however St Joseph’s Primary School was very welcoming but we were fed again! Eventually we were off again home, sometimes on very bumpy roads – our own rollercoaster!”

Day 3 - Tuesday 23rd October 2012 - Visits!

We started today with Assembly at Loyola High School.  Miss Bacon impressively addressed the whole school in Kiswahili; students and staff were very impressed. 

All the St Paul's students introduced themselves and said a few words about their experience so far. Mr Dell made a presentation to Miss Harriet and Sr Columba, (staff at Loyola High) thanking them for their work and giving them a gift.

"The challenge of the day was at Gonzaga Primary School (partner school is St Lawrence's Catholic Primary School, Feltham) their children sung the Tanzanian national anthem, then we were asked to sing our national anthem to them "God save the queen.." surprisingly we were quite good!"

"Today we visited 4 schools in total and got to talk and interact with pupils in the different schools."  Hannah

"In the schools we were given refreshments and treated to various entertainments, including a Maasai song and dance from 2 students at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School."  Annette

Hannah's reflection on Day 2

"Today we had to be in school at 7am, which is 90 minutes earlier than in the UK.  We had a tour of the school and got to meet all the Heads of Departments.  We also go to have a chat with the Headteacher and also the school counsellor.

Near the end of the day we meet with members of Loyola's student government.  We prepared questions to ask them and they answered with confidence.  The Loyola students asked us questions about St Paul's.  They were particularly interested in the fact that we have four seasons, (Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn), whereas they only have two seasons:  Dry and Wet.

Overall we learnt a lot about Loyola High and the Tanzanian education system: the school day; routines; lessons; roles and responsibilities.

We all had a great day and got to meet so many new and kind characters around the school.  Everyone was open, welcoming, and helped us to feel very much at home.

Day 2 - Monday 22nd October 2012

We arrived early as school starts at 7.30am.  The day consisted of meetings, a tour, discussions.  We learnt a lot about Loyola High.

Fr Binamungo (Headteacher of Loyola High) presented with a book from Miss Bacon

First Impressions

Lara “The early start was a bit of a shock!  Tanzanians generally wake up early as the sun rises around 6am.  Loyola High is really welcoming, lots of smiles and handshakes.”

Hannah “The streets are very noisy and crowded.  I was stared at, which at first was very strange but now I am getting used to it.   I have experienced a warm welcome from everyone I have met.”

Students writing their first impressions

Annette “The people do not hesitate to provide you with anything you need – especially chilled drinking water in the heat.”

Ciaran “My first impression was the HEAT; it is humid, hot and sticky! I have been on buses here, some roads are very bumpy.”