Bajeviro Primary School
13.05.2015
help2kids partnership school, Bajeviro Primary School, has had a very busy month. Bajeviro School performed a play about ending child marriage at the One Billion Rising event at Coco Beach. Vatoto Vipaji (Talented Kids) were the cover story of the Guardian newspaper the following weekend! Bajeviro Rainbows played their first official football match against the children of the help2kids children’s home, and help2kids health project distributed packages to all the Bajeviro students. With Bajeviro’s busy schedule, the children also sadly said good bye to Lauren Giffen. Lauren left help2kids at the end of February, and our new Education Manager, Martin Kuery, will be taking the lead. Lauren will be greatly missed by our staff and all the children.
One Billion Rising Event
On the 14th of February (Valentine’s Day), children from Bajeviro Primary School and the help2kids children’s home participated in the One Billion Rising event held at Coco Beach in Dar es Salaam. The One Billion Rising is a global movement to end rape and sexual violence against women. The event started with a drumming group that performed traditional Tanzanian dances. This group was followed by our children from the help2kids children’s home who entertained the audience with a choreographed dance to a popular Tanzanian pop song. Next were the students of Bajeviro who performed a play on child marriage to a large crowd of Tanzanians that were gathered at the stage. The students had been practicing the play for over a month with a local Tanzanian director. Thus, their play was amazing and it received a large applause from the crowd when they were finished. Their play was so inspirational that it made the cover story in the Guardian newspaper the next weekend! Well done to our Bajeviro and help2kids children! We would like to thank all the volunteers who were involved in this project since September last year and to the planners of the One Billion Rising event.
Football Game
On the second to last weekend of February, the Bajeviro Rainbows played a football game against the help2kids children’s home. The children from both teams and their supporters arrived at Mbezi Beach football field at 9 am sharp with both teams displaying their match day uniforms sponsored by donors. The Bajeviro Rainbows boys team was dressed in red and white uniforms provided by Lamudi Tanzania, while the boys and girls from the help2kids children’s home team were dressed in their blue and white pinned striped football shirts. Before game started, both teams stretched and had team talks with their talented and respected coaches, Uncle Masia and Mama Lucy. Since the beginning of September, Uncle Masia and Mama Lucy have been coaching the boys and girls teams of the Rainbows. However, for this game Mama Lucy took over responsibility as the coach for our help2kids children’s home, while Uncle Masia coached the Bajeviro Rainbows.
The game started at 9:30 am with great pace and the Rainbows were able to push their attack and score a goal within the first five minutes. The Rainbows scored two more goals at the end the first half, leaving the help2kids children’s home down three at half time. However, after a team chat and motivational speech by the Mamas, the help2kids children’s home team came back and scored two goals within 15 minutes of the second half! For 10 minutes both teams toiled in the middle for possession, however, it was the Rainbows in the last 10 minutes that won the tussle and counter attacked, scoring two goals to win the match 5 – 2.
Health packages & Goodbye to Lauren
On the last week of February, help2kids went to Bajeviro Primary School to hand out over 300 health packages to all the students. Each package contained a large bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, one large mosquito net and a bottle disinfectant. The older female students also received sanitary napkins in their packages. Editha Mziray, our Health Project Coordinator, went to each class and explained what was in the health packages and how the children should use and store their items at home. help2kids volunteers handed the packages to each child and smiles arose upon the faces of the children. Singing could be heard across the courtyard from many classrooms. Once every child had received a package in the school, the children gathered in the courtyard to say their good-byes to Lauren Giffen, our former Education Program Manager at Bajeviro. It was heartwarming to see the children bid farewell and giving Lauren big hugs. Bajeviro Primary School will surely miss seeing Lauren every day at the school.
Lauren started as the Gecko Manager for help2kids three years ago. From that position, she blossomed and extended her leadership qualities to start the education partnership at Bajeviro Primary School. Two years ago, she managed to uplift a school into having a great reputation within the community. She then moved onto establishing the help2kids health office in Dar es Salaam at the end of last year.
She managed to accomplish so much in a short amount of time. Now help2kids has a fully operational health office that has distributed new beds and medical supplies to the children’s home, 300 health packages to the students of Bajeviro and First Aid kits to four orphanages and to Bajeviro School. Before leaving, she also managed to establish private medical care for the children of the children’s home, our partnership primary and nursery schools, and three other orphanages in Dar es Salaam. help2kids wishes Lauren the best with her future endeavors.
New Education Program Manager
In her place, we welcome Martin Kuery as the new Education Program Manager.
Martin was a former help2kids volunteer in both Malawi and Tanzania. In Lifuwu, Malawi, Martin created lesson plans and co-taught Standard 6 at the Kazembe Primary school. As a former football player and youth coach in Switzerland, he also acted as an assistant coach to the Kazembe football team where he cultivated many lasting relationships. He is now managing the Bajeviro Primary School for help2kids and managing the Bajeviro Rainbows football project. Driven by his passion for education and great leadership skills, he is simplifying the procedure of school documents by establishing a database and building a good working relationship with the teachers, students, their parents, and the community.
