Longido Primary School - Longido

John White January - July 2009

The Maasai people, so visible in East African tourist literature, are ubiquitous in Longido. It is one of their strongholds. Their bright blue and red and purple cloaks bring a splash of colour to a parched hinterland of ashen scrub punctuated by green acacia trees, then turn spectral by dusk as they move around the sandy streets of the village. The men carry spear-like sticks; the women may have young children strapped to their backs; often too they carry buckets of water which, until recently, had been strictly rationed to two buckets per family per week.

We are supposed to be in the middle of the rainy season, or the ‘long rains’ as they call it here. Yet our anoraks and umbrellas lie unused in the bottom of our cases. Not much grows in Longido. Cattle have been taken to pastures further afield and the herdsmen have gone with them. Yet there is much activity: birds build nests; mongoose colonies keep watch on the termite mounds; donkeys bray and kick each other; and buffalo graze on the upper slopes of the mountain behind us. And the humans are also nesting. Just two weekends ago we attended a local wedding. It wasn’t quite as exotic as you might imagine: churches are the same everywhere, though in Tanzania with noisy brass bands and colourful wigs. But the cutting of the ‘cake’ was a new experience, the cake in question being a spit-roasted goat with the fur left intact on its head and a huge sprig in its mouth. Every day here brings a new adventure.

Most days, of course, we are in school, Longido primary School, an establishment with almost 900 pupils on roll. There are not enough teachers - there never are in Tanzania – but the class sizes are not as bad as some I’ve seen; and the children are a delight to teach. There is no electricity or running water (just as in Longido village more generally), but this isn’t an unusual problem in Tanzania. There are at least some text books, and you quickly learn to adapt: oral/aural approaches work well, as do display cards, pictures, anything to break the monotony of ‘chalk and talk’.

Teaching methods are definitely traditional. Given the conditions and the curriculum, that’s hard to get away from. But the staff are welcoming and receptive. Dee and I have both done some team teaching, while Dee has been giving English lessons to a female colleague. I’ve also been taught how to do Braille by a blind teaching colleague, one of three such in a school that has a small blind unit attached. By Tanzanian standards, it’s something of a beacon school. Oh, and I’ve yet to see any evidence of corporal punishment!

Life for many people in this district is harsh. The term ‘weight-watchers’ has a whole new meaning here. One weekend recently, working with members of an NGO that monitors health using WHO guidelines, we were shocked to find that all but 4 of the 60 young children measured (height and weight) were malnourished, 6 of them in the ‘critical’ category. Back home, some of these children would be in hospital. Here, the emphasis is on ensuring they attend and are fed in school. Knowing this sort of thing tempers any small gripes we might have about living conditions here. Transport is erratic, but most of the time we don’t need it; and the shops are not well stocked. But we have more than most people enjoy, including a stand-up (cold) shower and two and a half hours of electricity each evening provided by a generator. Accommodation is simple but adequate, and we would probably feel uncomfortable with better, if that makes sense.

This Longido placement is our third as volunteers and our second with the Mondo organization. As a married couple, Dee and I had half-expected that we might be left to our own devices, or have a quiet time. No chance!! Expect to be invited to the home or ‘boma’ of your new acquaintance. And to his or her church. Also weddings, obviously. Or you may even end up enjoying a cup of chai together, watching the rolling clouds that seem to go on forever. The previous Mondo volunteer in Longido talked of this place being the heart of Africa. It is a very big heart.