By Janet Chapman | Project Leader
Most of the schools we work with are in rural areas and until recently didn't appear on any map. This is why we have set up a mapping project called Crowd2Map. Involving schools and others on the ground in Tanzania, plus online volunteers from around the world we have so far uploaded over 1400 GPS items and mapped over 4000 primary schools onto Openstreetmap. The idea of this project is that schools will have a better idea of the area around them and everyone will be able to use it for navigation and planning.
Another issue in schools is the lack of science equipment (and often teachers) so most schools do no practical science. We have been working with the Institute of Physics to train teachers in how to do practical work with more readily available equipment such as plants to measure pH. One of the students involved, Delphina, says "I used to find Science difficult to understand and boring, but now we do experiments I like it and I can see how it is useful to me. Now I want to be a nurse".
We are also working with Kings College, London, in a remote sensing project whereby students will measure temperature, water quality and rainfall over time, and also monitor deforestation, which is a huge issue in Tanzania, largely because of the widespread use of wood for cooking. One of the teachers, Alex, says, "Everyone in Zeze relies on the seasonal rainfall to grow enough food to eat. We have all been concerned that the rains were coming later each year, bringing the threat of hunger, but up to now we have never been able to measure it. Now we can.
One of the issues hampering student performance is access to light to study by in the evenings. We have been setting up student study groups who share a solar light and study together each evening. Grace says "Having a solar light has meant my grades have improved so much. Before I used to study alone with kerosene when my family could afford it. This was really smoky and made me cough and my eyes hurt." We are also looking at a method to repair solar lights by using a 3D printer to print new filaments out of disused plastic bottles.. More details next time.
Thank you again for your generosity..
Janet
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By Janet Chapman | Campaigns Manager
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