Preparations for the Dormitory

February 17, 2013 – Written by Eliza Hatch
Frank and Jane, the engineer and the project manager from our contractor’s office flew up to Loliondo for the day on Thursday to visit Soit Sambu Secondary School to lay the groundwork and choose the site for the new girls’ dormitory. The existing girls’ dormitory has 48 beds and houses 160 girls; the new dorm will have an additional 50 beds, easing the crowding of the existing dormitory.

Frank and Jane were extremely thorough in their choice of the site and in scoping out the general area. The headmaster wanted to put the new dorm directly next to the old one, but Jane suggested leaving some space between the two dorms as a play area for the girls or as a potential space to build a reading area in the future. They also noticed a building nearby that had settled and started to crack. I would have assumed the building wasn’t well-constructed, but they immediately asked to see the soil. Apparently when it rains, this particular kind of soil settles, so they have to account for this in the building of the foundation of the dorm. They even took a bag of soil back to Arusha with them. I am impressed by how thorough they are!

We plan to break ground in about three weeks as soon as the bricks are ready and delivered!

Nainokanoka Teachers’ House

Written by Eliza Hatch
On Saturday, January 19th, the village of Nainokanoka held a dedication ceremony for the 2-in-1 teachers’ house FoTZC built for Nainokanoka Primary School. The guest of honor at the ceremony was the Member of Parliament for the area.

The ceremony was incredible. We were all seated at a table facing the new house, and a few hundred Maasai were there for the ceremony. We were welcomed with a Maasai blessing and a speech by the Ward Councilor, who told us that the District Commissioner, the District Executive Director, and the District Education Officer would also be stopping by, as they had other business nearby. This was quite a bit more than we bargained for!

The ceremony included traditional songs and dances by Maasai women and school children, as well as a Maasai warriors dance. The politicians all spoke, and then the community gave us all gifts – bracelets, necklaces, and Maasai blankets. Judi Wineland and I presented a plaque to dedicate the houses, and then Mr. Telele, the Member of Parliament officially unlocked the door. Once inside, the Headmaster presented us with certificates from the school. Judi spoke to the school children about the importance of education in creating better lives for themselves. The ceremony ended with a final speech by the Ward Councilor, asking FoTZC to do more at the school. He told us that the school is ranked second in the entire district, which is quite impressive. The whole event lasted about three and a half hours. It was an amazing experience and both wonderful and strange to be honored in this way by a community. I’ve included a few photos from the ceremony here.

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The images above are of a Maasai women’s song, the guests at the dedication, and a Maasai Warriors dance at the Nainokanoka Primary School dedication ceremony.

FoTZC Staff Visits Tanzania

On January 16th, Eliza, our Director of Development and Operations, left for two months in Tanzania. While she is there, she will be visiting FoTZC projects and meeting with local politicians, village leaders, parents, students, and headmasters. She will also begin working on the medical dispensary in Loliondo, by conducting a health needs assessment of the communities it will serve.

The dispensary will serve roughly 6,000 Maasai, and little is known about the local health problems. Eliza will conduct focus groups and interviews with the local population to identify not only the biggest health issues in the area, but also what the local population perceives the biggest health issues to be.

She will post stories and photos on the blog along the way, so stay tuned for more updates!

The Focus and Our New Film

We have two exciting things to report at FoTZC! First, The Focus, our annual newsletter, was delivered to mailboxes over the past few weeks. The format was a bit different this year, and we hope you enjoyed the additional information and photos! We were thrilled to be able to share more of what we’re doing through this longer piece.

Second, we are proud to announce that we have released a new film showcasing some of our recent projects. Please watch the film below and send us your comments – we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Support FoTZC this year by giving a gift in honor of a loved one! We will send them a card acknowledging your generous contribution in their honor as well as a gift acknowledgement letter to you for tax purposes. This is a wonderful gift for the holidays!

Farewell to Farish Jenkins

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Much has been written about Farish Jenkins since he passed away on November 11th. He was a celebrated paleontologist, a highly-regarded Harvard professor, a loving husband and father, and a great supporter of FoTZC, but most importantly, Farish was one of the kindest men I’ve ever known.

I wish I could have been present in the stories that have been written recently about Farish – drawing bones and muscles on his suit to illustrate how they worked, and walking around his classroom on a peg leg to demonstrate how the body absorbs shocks – but every interaction I had with Farish was special and memorable. It was always such a pleasure to discuss Tanzania with him; he was so passionate about the country, its wildlife, and its people. This kindness and passion was present in every interaction Farish had; as it has been said, he was the epitome of the word “gentleman.”

Farish will be missed by many, and we are honored that the Jenkins family has chosen FoTZC as one of two organizations to have a Farish Jenkins, Jr. Fund. We send our deepest condolences to Farish’s wife and family. We feel truly blessed to have known him.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30pm Saturday, December 1, 2012 at the Memorial Church, One Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Farish A. Jenkins, Jr. Fund – to support the field work of students in evolutionary biology; c/o The Museum of Comparative Zoology 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; or Focus on Tanzanian Communities, c/o Thomson Safaris, 14 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472. Email info@fotzc.org or donate now.

Written by Eliza Hatch