ZAP News
Please click here to read the latest news on the Power Crisis, new Jambiani Community Academy and the Jambiani Fundi Workshop among other items of interest.
‘CAS4ZAP’ July 2010
Ten days in Zanzibar
Report by a student from Headington School, Oxford
Report from previous volunteers – Olivia’s and Emily’s second visit to Jambiani
Olivia writes:
A year had passed since Ems and I had said a reluctant goodbye to Jambiani. Working under the auspices of ZAP, coupled with the hospitality of the villagers, had ensured a truly unforgettable experience. This summer, we returned with Janie to help her assess ZAP’s work in progress, and to settle in the new volunteer English teachers, whom we had recruited and interviewed together. From the many applicants for the role, Emma and Somaya, the latter being a fellow student of mine at law school, were chosen for their teaching experience, having spent summers in Morocco teaching English. Because ZAP now has official Zanzibar charity status, the girls were officially approved to teach at the village secondary school. We had realised during our previous visit that Form I would be especially in need of their help. The step-up from primary school to secondary school is particularly difficult in Zanzibar as for the first time classes such as mathematics and history are taught in English rather than Kiswahili, a sudden change which presents pupils in this critical first year with obvious problems.
When we arrived, Jen and John, the volunteers from New York, were coming to the end of a wonderful drama based teaching project. The year groups they had concentrated on were Forms III and II and the progress they had made in a matter of weeks bowled us over. With this success in mind we believed that two months of Somaya’s and Emma’s uninterrupted input with Form I could reap huge rewards. Successful negotiations with Mr Maabad and Mr Ame, the head teacher and head of English respectively, resulted in a good initial acceptance of what the volunteers had to offer, and a strong relationship developed in which both sets of teachers, temporary and existing, worked as a team, prepared to learn many techniques and ideas from each other.
Whilst we found the spirit of Jambiani mercifully unchanged, certain aspects of village life had moved on…fewer women were farming seaweed, several now turning their attentions to the sewing cooperative in full flow at the school; the fishing trade had unfortunately dwindled although the construction of the new main road had resulted in alternative employment for some of the young men; and the first Jambiani Champions League was in full flow, utilising all six football pitches, spread throughout the village!
Any fears that Ems and I had been forgotten were luckily unfounded, however. As we set off on our bikes through the village on the first evening we found ourselves stopping every few yards to greet and catch up with old friends. I was particularly happy to see one of my old pupils, Juma, the mountain biking champion of Zanzibar. Last summer Juma had presented himself as someone very keen to master English. From the outset we knew it was a daunting prospect for him but the potential rewards for him were huge. If he could only reach a competent level of spoken and written English a generous Austrian had offered to support him in opening a cycle shop which would provide him with a regular income. This would be tough for him. Juma had never had any formal education and lived precariously with no regular income; he often arrived for our classes hungry and unable to concentrate. Over the past year Juma's level of English has improved greatly. He is now able to hold conversations and his level of understanding is very high. During our stay this summer it transpired, to our pleasure, that one of the reasons for this dramatic improvement is his regular use of the ZAP library. It turns out that during the past year many of our old students have been using the system we set up last summer, borrowing books from the library to practise their English. It was so exciting to see an initiative being seized so readily by all who were introduced to it. As a result, much of our time on this visit was spent expanding the resources available at the ZAP library and showing villagers how to use the Kiswahili – English dictionaries to their advantage. Furthermore, it is not only people in direct contact with ZAP who make use of the library. Word is spreading fast, particularly amongst the women, that the Library is a place where anyone is welcome to come and study!
Emily writes:
Last year Livs and I had spent a fantastic 6 weeks in Jambiani as volunteers, teaching English and learning as much as possible about the Jambiani village community. As Livs explains, this year our priorities were very different; since ten days off from work didn’t allow us enough time to set up regular after school lessons again, we were to help Somaya and Emma settle in, introduce them to everyone in the village and also to assist Janie in progressing the various ZAP Projects.
It was therefore with great excitement and enthusiasm that we set off back to Jambiani, but like Livs, I was full of apprehension as to what sort of welcome we would receive and how many of our pupils and friends from last year would recognise us? Happily our fears were unfounded; within the first twenty fours hours it was as if we had never been away. Blue Lagoon quickly filled up with familiar faces, all smiling away and expressing their happiness to see us. On that first evening cycle ride shouts of “Emily” and “Olivia” brought a smile to my face. It was obvious from the welcome that we received that the villagers really were pleased to see us back again and obviously appreciated ZAP’s increasingly high profile in the village.
One of the things we had learnt last summer was that the school was desperately short of English, Maths and Science teachers with the requisite experience to ensure that the Form III and the newly introduced Form IV pupils passed their exams. The village committee had asked ZAP to sponsor bursaries for teachers to go to the Zanzibar State University for further training in these disciplines. ZAP Directors agreed to fund two places and our challenge during this visit was to choose candidates from a long-list prepared by the committee. All short-listed candidates submitted letters, some in more fluent English than others, and we set up a series of interviews at Blue Lagoon.
It was a tough prospect; even those applicants whose English was limited were able to convey their hunger and enthusiasm for this opportunity and we hated to dash so many hopes. However, we had Mr Pandu standing by with ‘wise and technical advice’ as always, and we all felt that the main criterion was for the teachers to return to Jambiani after their stint at University in order to benefit the pupils of our school. Whilst it would obviously be hard to enforce, those with family ties in the village, and previous local teaching experience would be prioritised. Another fact to take into account would be the likelihood of the ZAP sponsored students attaining good degrees – our first University graduates should be reasonably assured of success in this regard, to encourage others to take up places in future.
We decided that a detailed study of university admissions criteria in Zanzibar was essential, and were advised that a minimum standard of achievement in higher secondary school grades (Form IV) should be insisted upon. Two excellent applicants, Makame (man) and Nassra (girl) were awarded these first bursaries, and have already begun their degree courses.
During our ten days we spent a couple of mornings visiting the colleges where ZAP has sponsored vocational students in Stone Town. What was apparent from these very interesting visits was how grateful the students were for the opportunity to receive technical training. They were keen to show us how hard they were working and eagerly flashed their exam results in front of our eyes; these were certainly impressive, with several ZAP students coming top of their class. Nothing is simple in Zanzibar, however, and Janie was horrified to find out (initially through Mr Pandu, but also by their stick-thin appearance) that all the students were going hungry. Unable to work to support their families, they had become seriously and quite evidently under-nourished, and she quickly authorised a food allowance for them. (See Janie’s report and Mr Pandu’s ‘soup kitchen’) It was a lesson well learnt – you cannot give a young man the opportunity for full time study without providing him and his family with the basic necessities for survival while he is away from home.As we pondered on ‘our’ young men’s future, when they return to the village newly-qualified, we felt that there was another obligation looming for ZAP - to help set them up with the resources necessary to make use of their trades. Only then will they be in a position to improve things for their families, and to have the effect on the wider village economy which has always been ZAP’s goal.
Having spent time last summer helping Janie set up the ZAP Library and Internet Café I was keen to see how things had progressed since last year. We were delighted that the two ladies who are now employed part-time (in conjunction with Salum’s tourism office next door) are having an enormously positive input. Nabawia and Vivian are bright, enthusiastic and efficient, good with the tourists and excellent in communicating with the UK. But the most exciting thing for us was to see the extent to which they have been encouraging the village children to come and make the most of what the Library has to offer. At 5 pm every day you could barely hear yourself think in the library as the younger children descended on the library to hear their older brothers/sisters/ friends read English books aloud whilst they drew pictures from the story books ably assisted by Emma - while Livs and I took the opportunity to talk with the older school boys and girls whom we had got to know last year and who were eager as usual to practise their spoken English. It was certainly ‘all go’ down in the ZAP Library until 6.30 the time for people to head off to evening prayers.
It was sad how quickly ten days raced by, but what we managed to achieve in those ten days was amazing and could certainly not have happened had we not been so closely integrated into the village community, who are always directing us to the areas where ZAP’s help is particularly required. Having cemented our friendships with these lovely people we very much hope that we will be able to return to Jambiani again in 2008 to revisit them, and all of ZAP’s ongoing projects in this beautiful but desperately needy part of Africa.
Return to Volunteers Page.
In the midst of a very happy typical western Christmas, with hot and cold water and plenty to eat and drink, we heard extremely sad and worrying news from Mr Pandu in Zanzibar. For the past 2 weeks the island has suffered a complete power cut - the island is basically totally without power, and therefore electricity, light, and fresh water (since in Jambiani, as in many other villages, the source of fresh water is via an electric water pump). Those who can afford it, and all the major hotels, have generators (incidentally, a huge pollutant when used on this massive scale). Others simply have to buy water. But of course the poor people cannot afford this, and they are forced to draw water from the old, potentially deadly wells. Despite valiant efforts by Dr Hamza and others in Jambiani to warn against the danger, and to teach rules of strict hygiene, disease is rife. What makes it worse is that this is the season of heat and humidity. In the past few days, 100 people have been admitted to emergency clinics with dysentery, and 2 have died.
Very little news is available, though it is said that the problem could take several more WEEKS to repair. What disturbs us the most is that this extreme situation has gone entirely unreported in the main media. Even on the internet, there is barely a mention, except how it is affecting tourism. A population of approximately 1 million people, most of whom are already living barely above subsistence level, is without fresh water for the foreseeable future, which surely amounts to a crisis of considerable proportions.
We feel helpless, for beyond releasing emergency funds from ZAP for extra medicines, food for the emergency health teams, and an allowance for our ZAP staff to purchase water when they need it, we are powerless. There are many questions to be answered - what caused this disaster (barely a year after the last major power cut)? Are the government doing all they can? Have the big aid agencies released any emergency funds? Do they even KNOW about it?
After the Christmas break, we will contact our MP, and ask if there is anything he can do to put us in touch with international agencies. However, in the meantime if there is anyone out there who feels they could help to spread the word through the digital media, may we ask you to do so? It can do no harm to post news of the situation on Facebook, Twitter etc.
Please do email us at ZAP if you have any ideas, or contacts which you think might be useful.
The Directors of ZAP feel that our supporters and well-wishers would appreciate being informed of any news we receive about the power crisis in Zanzibar - in particular as to how it is affecting the community with which we are closely involved. However, we would like to emphasise that news bulletins such as this are absolutely NOT an appeal for funds; you are on our mailing list because you have been kind enough to support ZAP - a small 'hands on' charity doing its best to help a village (pop. approx 8,000) in Zanzibar.
Andrew, Pat, Janie and Janet are just back from a highly successful field trip to Zanzibar. We were delighted with the progress of our slimmed-down projects – particularly in the area of higher education where we give support to nearly 20 students from Jambiani currently studying in Stone Town and living in the new ZAP Boarding house. A large party of these ZAP students returned to the village to host their counterparts – 11 girls from Headington School, Oxford who came for a 10 day visit to study the local culture as part of their International Baccalaureate. The visit was a great success, thoroughly enjoyed by all the young people involved and – we hope – established a template for a return in the future. The Headington girls, in addition to raising a wonderful sum of money for ZAP, also brought mountains of educational material, baby clothes and 11 laptops which were kindly donated by a supporter. They worked hard in several areas, including the nursery schools and evening classes in Mr Vuai’s Jambiani Community Academy. We anticipate publishing a full report on the Headington visit, with the girls’ reactions and impressions of life in Jambiani in due course on the ZAP website. (see below)
Last summer Lucy Kerr, a teacher at Ludgrove Preparatory School, was part of the amazing North2South sponsored cycle ride which raised a huge amount of money for ZAP. A glutton for punishment, Lucy has now undertaken to do a sponsored swim of 5 km in the Ludgrove school pool on June 20th in aid of ZAP.
She tells us that the boys have offered to do relays to urge her on, and you can read about the wider adventure she has undertaken on her web page at JustGiving by following the link http://www.justgiving.com/Lucy-Kerr-Swim. Andrew, Pat and Janet are going down to Ludgrove to give a ZAP presentation on 18th June and needless to say we are delighted that she has chosen us as her charity.
Good luck, Lucy and thank you so much.
Great news! The power crisis seems to be over in Zanzibar and the electricity has been on, though somewhat erratically, since March 9th. The restoraton of power after 3 months is wonderful news for the people of Jambiani who have suffered appalling privations due to lack of safe water for the past 3 months. It is a great relief for ZAP, too, as we have now had to spent over $6000 on providing emergency water lorries to the beleagured villagers, in addition to consignments of bottled water and extra funds for living expenses to the emergency clinic. Our thanks are due to many ZAP subscribers for their concern and support during the crisis, and Mr Pandu sent us a message to say that we are one of the very few organisations to give vital and practical help, which is deeply appreciated by his people.
One of ZAP's original, long-standing volunteers - Emily Gerard-Leigh - is running for ZAP in this year's London Marathon - her target is to raise £2,000 and she knows from her experience what a huge difference this will make to the people of Jambiani. It is wonderful news that, yet again, a young person wants to raise money for our charity, and she is on a promise that any funds raised will be doubled should she complete in under 4 hours!
If you would like to sponsor Ems, please this link: http://justgiving.com/EmilyGerard-Leigh as a hard-working solicitor, training hard in her free time, she deserves all the support she can get. If anyone happens to be watching on the day, or otherwise tuned in, watch out for the ZAP logo on a very pretty girl's tee shirt. GOOD LUCK!!
We arrived in Zanzibar after a long flight from London, and a longer than expected boat trip across to Stone Town. After such a tiring trip it was great to be met off the ferry by Salam, a good friend of Pat and Janie’s from ZAP. Once settled into a hostel, we set about trying to organise our work at the Mnazi Moja hospital. This, as expected, was a little more time consuming than we’d hoped, but eventually we found ourselves in the small, but surprisingly well equipped physiotherapy department. Memoko, a Japanese volunteer, had been there for 18 months already and showed us the ropes for the first day. After that we were on our own.
We’d normally arrive to a department filled with patients so it was all go from the minute we walked in. Monday and Wednesday’s were assigned to adults, Tuesday and Thursday’s children. On Friday the department was much quieter and was used to see any patient you needed to spend more time with. Our day began at 8.00am and finished whenever all the patients were seen. This could vary from 11.30am to 2.00pm. When comparing this to a typical day in the NHS this seemed ridiculously short, but we soon discovered we were seeing the same amount of patients but at a much faster and much more intense pace.
Regular subscribers will remember the successful North2South cycle ride undertaken by four teachers in 2009, when they raised a staggering £5000 for ZAP. Their efforts have inspired a trip in July this year when 11 girls doing overseas culture studies for their International Baccalaureate at Headington School will stay in Jambiani and be partnered and mentored by their opposite numbers in Forms V and VI (see article on Academy).
Luckily, Pat, Janie, Andrew and Janet will be on a Field Trip at the same time, and everyone hopes that this visit will herald close ties between the youngsters in the future. The girls are vigorously fund-raising in order to help sponsor the Jambiani pupils, and they will also be helping them with their English during the visit. Establishing links between two such different cultures is a great opportunity, and we are sure that much good will come from this initiative and are very grateful to the teachers involved.
Isobel Ramsay, a friend of Pat and Janie’s from Norfolk, travelled to Zanzibar with a party of medical students from the UK in April. They spent some time at Mnazi Moja Hospital, and then based themselves in Jambiani. Isobel has written this interesting and informative report:
I and three of my fellow medical students, spent part of our medical elective on Zanzibar, splitting our time between Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Stone Town (Zanzibar’s capital) and Jambiani, a village on the east side of the island and home to ZAP – Zanzibar Action Project.
Emily Gerard-Leigh, one of ZAP's very first volunteers ran in the London Marathon last Sunday and raised over £3,000 for ZAP, including Gift Aid. It was a particularly gritty effort, as Emily was suffering from a cold and sore throat; we are so grateful to her, and to all the ZAP supporters who so kindly sponsored her. THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Mark Wren and his daughter Izzy visited Jambiani and Stone Town during her school holidays. Mark found ZAP through this website, and asked if we could help him to give his daughter the chance to experience something of the lives being led by girls of her age in a very poor African community. With the help of Mr Pandu and Mr Vuai, we were able to do just this. Mark wanted Izzy to realise how fortunate she and her contemporaries are and to see at first hand the contrast between our comparatively luxurious existence and that of Jambiani school girls. Izzy has written a moving account of her experiences. Click here to read the article
Great news! The power crisis seems to be over in Zanzibar and the electricity has been on, though somewhat erratically, since March 9th. The restoration of power after 3 months is wonderful news for the people of Jambiani who have suffered appalling privations due to lack of safe water for the past 3 months. It is a great relief for ZAP, too, as we have now had to spent over $6000 on providing emergency water lorries to the beleaguered villagers, in addition to consignments of bottled water and extra funds for living expenses to the emergency clinic. Our thanks are due to many ZAP subscribers for their concern and support during the crisis, and Mr Pandu sent us a message to say that we are one of the very few organisations to give vital and practical help, which is deeply appreciated by his people
The main function of the room, however is as a private community academy, the first of its kind in Jambiani and a brief explanation is needed of our decision to shift ZAP’s educational focus from the mainstream village school.
In retrospect, we were naïve to think that we could make a difference by working within the existing government-funded system. Systemic problems with secondary schools in rural locations are too deep-rooted and complicated to grapple with – though goodness knows, we have tried! In two subjects particular - English and Maths - standards are woefully low, and this is due to the shortage of skilled teachers. And yet from Form I onwards, lessons and exams now have to be in English. – it’s an Alice in Wonderland situation, making no sense at all.
A hugely successful Quiz Night was held at the end of January at Sussex Barn, Burnham Market. 190 people took part, and it was great to see so many new faces - including young people from far and wide - as well as ZAP’s stalwart local supporters. We were greatly indebted to the Thompsons for kindly letting us have the Barn – an ideal venue for a very jolly evening in which 24 teams pitted their wits against each other. The winning team, ‘Normal for Norfolk’ just edged ahead by the smallest of margins to take First Prize in what was, admittedly, a pretty tough quiz . Team names and interesting picnic themes were also in the competitive mix; they were very hard to judge as everyone had made fantastic efforts. Narrow winners were the ‘Missing Links’ who just pipped ‘Jewels in the Crown’ – and the best team name went to ‘Timu Ya Kwanza’ – Swahili for Top Team!
The Event was superbly compered by Alec Lochore and Henry Symington, and four enormous plasma TV screens showed films of Zanzibar and ZAP’s work in Jambiani in the intervals. Due to the skills of Quiz Controller, Janet Lane, we were also able to flash up on the screens the results of each section as they happened - which greatly added to the competitive atmosphere!
In place of a raffle, we had the Tree of Hope and Jambiani Supa-Duka lottery – you bought a piece of fruit or a special monkey or parrot and were guaranteed a prize. An amazingly generous response to our request for prizes and donations, as well as advertising space on the Programme meant that at the end of the evening ZAP had raised well over £8,000.
A big welcome to Mark Coley, recently retired financier, who has joined the board of ZAP Directors. He and his wife Julie won a holiday to Jambiani in the Golf Day raffle three years ago. Mark’s wisdom and business experience will be invaluable, and he hopes to visit Jambiani this autumn.
Our ‘fundis’ (tradesmen) continue to be gainfully employed. Two electricians and two plumbers now have good jobs at a very large new hotel complex, managed by a German company, situated in the far north of the village. The site manager is delighted with the standard of their work, and with their general attitude. The Refrigeration Engineer has found a place as an apprentice in a luxury hotel just up the coast, where he can expect to be fully employed after a few months.
The motor mechanics have almost completed their apprenticeship at a modern Toyota garage in Stone Town and will shortly be joining a small but well-run garage in Paje, 10 minutes from Jambiani. ZAP will be providing them with transport and some new equipment which they will ‘bring to the party’ so to speak. More up to date news will be available after our summer visit when we will assist Mr Pandu and Mr Vuai to lay the foundations for what promises to be a thriving partnership.
Meanwhile, two carpenter fundis have started their training in Stone Town. We are immensely grateful for substantial sponsorship from a Charitable Trust, earmarked specially for the JFW which has enabled all this innovative venture to go forward.