November 10, 2013 Beautiful Vistas Abound

Sean and I were invited to Sunday lunch at Owden Andalwisye’s house outside Manow in the village of Ndembo.  He is one of the 10 siblings of Mr. Mwakeima - another is a choir director at the church.  
Owden took us the “back way” which was quite a hike upwards and then of course downwards but also filled with beautiful prospects and vistas of the mountains around Manow and the valleys down below.  We both enjoyed it very much.  Owden is trained as a forester and is very knowledgeable about sustainable forestry and farming practices in Tanzania.  We shared some of what we discussed with the kids about sustainable farming and our frustration waiting for the rain to complete our demonstration of erosion!

 After lunch we went through the village and toured the new community center.  Owden has built the center mostly himself, with the collaboration of the other village parents and adults.  The construction is excellent so far and they have plans for a community kitchen and common areas as well as a classroom where they are hoping to have another class of Pre-Form One English located.

This year they had a couple of students from the village who did not make it into our class and Owden decided to take advantage of a university graduate who had come home to await a posting after graduation.  They asked if he would be willing to teach English and he was so they offered a class to help with English for those entering Form One – they started with 2 and ended up with 7 students.  They are meeting at the community center and working with this local man improving their English skills for Secondary school.  We are looking forward to meeting the teacher and hearing about what he has done.  What a great grass roots start for the program!