1ST PARENT - TEACHER MEETING!

Today, May 28, 2014, Rehema and I (as a team) had our first parent-teacher meeting. Rehema is quite experienced at these meetings since she's been with Shaloom, as the assistant teacher, for a number of years now. I was not sure how successful the meeting would be because I continue to struggle with the language, but we were blessed, and the meeting was a great success! I had prepared progress reports for each of the students, which would have been difficult enough in English, but given the fact that they needed to be written in Kiswahili, it was necessary to ask for help editing the reports. Thanks a million to Corine, one of our SMA Dutch lay missionaries, for always being available to help! She also helped edit the speech I prepared for the parents/caregivers. I provided each of the families with an envelope containing their child's school papers and art work completed since January, as well as a workbook to be used at home during our month long break in June. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 9am, but didn't start until 10:30 because everyone hadn't arrived until then. Actually, that's pretty normal for Tanzania, so it was expected. All of the students attended, as well as all but one of the caregivers!

Rehema

Mektilda-Shaloom Care staff member

 The following are photos of the students, accompanied by their parent or caregiver. The first is Justina, her little brother and her mother. Justina is the little sister of one of last year's students, Bernardo. She's pretty quiet and sweet, but every once in awhile she acts up in class, to the surprise of Rehema and I both! Next are Naomi and Thobiasi Isack, accompanied by their mother. I did a home visit to their home last week. I learned Naomi and Thobiasi are the youngest of eight children. Their main sources of income are selling eggs and chickens. Life is pretty rough for the Isack family.

Justina with her family

Naomi and Thobiasi with their mother

Next we have Omari and his aunt (mama mdogo in Kiswahili). I did a home visit to Omari's home the week before last. Omari lost his parents to Aids when he was an infant so he lives with his aunt and her two children. His aunt is expecting another child any time. They live in a one room shanty with very little to eat. When I visited them, it was the first time I wasn't served a meal, which is pretty rare here. I'm glad Omari's aunt didn't serve me a meal; I was spared the guilt I usually experience for eating food that could be eaten by the family. The next photo is of Magdelena, accompanied by her mother and sister. Magdelena is our newest student. I don't know too much about her yet because besides being the newest student, she doesn't attend very regularly. Maybe that will change now since her mother has visited the school.

Omari and his mama mdogo (with Mwaju in the background)

Magdelena with her family

Dolli and her grandmother are pictured next. Dolli has missed a lot of time at school due to health problems but she's a bright student so I think she'll do alright. At the end of our meeting, Dolli's grandmother said a long prayer of thanksgiving for Shaloom, the staff and the teachers. It was very thoughtful... Next is little Mwaju and her grandmother. We call her little Mwaju, or Mwaju mdogo, because we have two Mwaju's in the class. Little Mwaju was out all last week because she was hit by the swing in the play yard on Monday, the 19th, and her forehead was cut pretty bad. I was out that day for an SMA meeting so Rehema had to handle things on her own. She is very capable, though.

Dolli and her grandmother

Mwaju mdogo and her grandmother

Bonifas is pictured with his grandmother, too. Bonifas lost his mother last year to Aids so he just moved in with his grandmother at the beginning of this year. He's one of our more advanced students. We think he is 7 or 8. No one is sure. His grandmother is a volunteer at Shaloom Care House. She helps with the home visits for the families with Aids...Our next photo is of Jeremia and his mother. Jeremia is a sweet little boy but isn't real interested in learning. We're never too sure how old these children are but we're thinking Jeremia is closer to 4 than 6, if he's really 5. He seems to be catching on the last month so maybe he'll surprise us.

Bonifas and his grandmother

Jeremia with his mother

Peter and Mwaju Mkubwa (big) are pictured with Mwaju's mother and baby sister. Peter has been raised most of his life by Mwaju's mother, although we have met Peter's mother, too. We're not sure if the two children are even related. We don't know what the situation is at home for Peter but he sure seems to be a happy boy! He's one of our students who is infected with Aids. He goes for monthly treatments and doesn't show any signs of being sick... Aglipina is pictured next with her mother. One day, at the beginning of the school year, Aglipina and Justina remained after class, waiting for their mothers to pick them up, when we got hit with a thunderstorm! Aglipina just curled up in my lap and fell asleep as we waited for the storm to let up. It was nice to know she was that comfortable with me.

Peter and Mwaju with Mwaju's mother (baby on her back)

Aglipina with her mother

Last, but surely not least, are Shalon and Kasi. They are twins, although they say they're not. Their grandmother wasn't able to make it for the meeting but the kids came anyway. They began with Shaloom kindergarten last year, part way through the year, but they weren't ready yet to go on to Primary One in January so they are repeating the class. They are a little ahead of the other students, but not too much. Both of the kids have a lot of personality! I've heard that their grandmother has a distillery in the yard and brews beer for the family income. Sometimes during playtime, Shalo plays like he's "under the influence". It makes me sad to think about all that they must be exposed to. But they really seem to enjoy learning! Thank God!

Shalon and Kasiline

So now you've met our class. The only one missing is Buseleke, who lost his mother in April and hasn't attended school in the past couple of months. He's the second youngest of six children so we don't know what his poor father is going through right now. We hope, eventually, he will return to Shaloom.