Kangabusharo Primary School

SHARE has been involved in the development of Kangabusharo Primary School since March 2009, when the organization funded the renovation of one of the dilapidated classrooms and transformed it into a SHARE Library by installing secure windows and a door, painting the inside and outside walls, and adding signs.

Then SHARE equipped the classroom with 3000 children’s books and textbooks, school supplies, such as solar calculators, pencils and pens, 20 desks, and 5 large bookshelves. This SHARE room acts as the first library for the school and is the location for a daily after-school reading program for girls. Today the children are able to make use of the library and consequently improve the chances of furthering their education and eventually contributing to the wellbeing of their families, community, and the nation.   

2010 Field Report: Presented by SHARE's Teen Ambassador to the Kangabusharo Primary School: Mugisha Rugalema, Rome Italy

Soldiering On: A year in the life of SHARE Library at Kangabusharo Primary School, Bukoba, Tanzania

Introduction

The struggle to give education to the most disadvantaged children in developing countries has taken many shapes but all the effort is to try and give those children an education that can change their lives for the better. The field is full of amazing stories to tell and one such story is that of the SHARE Libraries which you will find in about five schools in Bukoba, north-western Tanzania. The story of SHARE is that of nascent, if determined effort by girl called Shannon McNamara of New Jersey, USA. I met Shannon in the summer of 2009 while on holiday in Bukoba. It was on this occasion that I was first introduced to SHARE. Shannon’s ideas behind the founding of SHARE can be gleaned at www.shareinafrica.org.  But what attracted my family and I to the SHARE project was the donation of books to Kangabusharo Primary School, one of the many primary schools in the area. My family’s connections to the school are many but most important is that my Dad schooled there in the 1970s. According to him, those were the “golden days” of education in the country. About two years before I met Shannon, my family had been established a “School Games and Sports” programme for the six schools in the county in which Kangabusharo is located. The meeting that brought us together happened at an opportune moment because it brought together two like-minded families.

When SHARE came to Kangabusharo Primary School, they had to repair one of the dilapidated room and convert it into a library. Then book shelves were installed and finally the boxes full of books were opened with a great fanfare.  This year we managed to upgrade the library by installing a solar panel and some lights so that students at the Kangabusharo School could read even when it is dark. The McNamaras live in New Jersey while the Rugalemas live in Rome, they visit Bukoba in the summer once a year. How do they manage to monitor the use of the library from thousands of miles away?

The SHARE library at Kangabusharo is managed by a teacher who is helped by about six students. These are responsible for opening the library, encouraging students and teachers to use it and to ensure the security of the books. During the summer holiday of 2010, I decide to go visit the school and see how the library was being used. Below is a short personalised story of how the day unfolded.

This way to the library

Five in the morning, I am trying my best not to wake anyone. It is still dark outside as well as inside the house. However, the security lights outside help me find my way around. I try to prepare my breakfast as quietly as possible. It’s now quarter past six and I have finish my breakfast. I am all set to go.

 I step outside but the first thing that hits me is the chilly air that sends a shiver down my spine. I think to myself, good thing I bought my jacket. As I stand still, split between going back in the house where it is warm and cuddly or going to school to see how the library is used on a normal school day. I stand there for about a minute and I decide to do the latter...walk to school.  As I walk through the banana and coffee farms, the sweet spicy scent of flowers fills my nose. The school is a long way from my house but I m determined to walk about two miles to reach there. It is a journey thousands of children have made since the school was found in 1928. It is a journey my father made for seven years until 1976.

As soon as I walk a couple of meters from the house, I spot my cousin coming out of his house yawning, I walk towards him and he looks up and says “Hey what’s up man, you’re up early.”

“Yeah I thought I might come to your school today and check it out.” I replied. He smiles I notice that his school uniform needs a stitch or two. I walked with my cousin but soon we were joined by other children and by the time we arrived at school, we were quite a big group. 

That was way back in July but I remember the walk clearly as if it took place yesterday. The road was long and dusty passing through tall dry savannah grassland. I had to jump on the rocks of a stream to avoid getting my shoes wet. We also passed a very green tea plantation which adds to the beauty of the place.

The Library

When I arrived at the school at around 7.25 am., the library was open. I found the library assistants (a certain group of girls active in the SHARE group) making sure books were in the right place the right way as well as making sure there wasn’t a book missing in the library. I walked around the library trying to find a book I could read, in the end I choose the book by Louis Sachar with a very apt title “Small Steps.”

I mostly sat there alone for the good part of the morning as the students were busy in their normal classes. At around ten o’clock is break time when children go out and play in the yard for about 45 minutes. It is during break time that many children entered the library. All of a sudden I was no longer alone.  Children came to join me and I read some books with them for the entire duration of the break. The second break time happened two hours later and children did the same...they flooded the library. Were they doing this because I happen to be there or is it their usual habit? When I asked that question, everybody said they do use the library regularly. In fact, there is a roaster and each class from Year 3 upwards has access to the library for a day per week. I though this is impressive!

I went to the school one more time, again unannounced. The experience was more like the first time. There is hunger and thirsty for education in this corner of the world. Also, for the two full-days that I spent at Kangabusharo school, I helped students improve their English language skills by reading books together and helping correct their pronunciations of some of the difficult words. The unforgettable experience is when I spent time reading with the Seventh grade. At first they were more interested in looking searching for new words to beef up their vocabulary.  Then I proposed that we read a book. The book we chose was called “Stories from around the world”. It had stories from different countries such as Holland, Mexico, England, Italy, America, New Zealand, you name it! What made reading that book fascinating is that the stories from different countries showed them the different ways of living, culture, technology, and environment. From those stories students were able to appreciate what it is like in other countries. They were inspired and amazed at the same time and in they end they learnt a lot. I also read to them the book “The Snow Queen” bythe Danish author HansChristian Andersenand they were spell bound by the imagination and descriptive writing.        

The SHARE Library was a brilliant idea at the right moment and in the right place. The SHARE programme has brought books to a place where they are needed most. I have no doubt that the children of Kangabusharo will continue to use the library so as to expand the envelope of what they know. From talking to them, many want to go on to secondary school and to eventually have good jobs and good life. They believe education will help them live better lives...and I agree.

As we left Bukoba for Rome at the end of my holiday, I felt I am leaving a piece of me behind. I have come to like the school and I have made friends with many children there. Besides me visiting their school, many children had been visiting me at my house for reading, discussion, and watching TV. Their needs and ambitions are not different from mine. My wish is that they be given the opportunities like mine here in Rome or Shannon’s back in New Jersey.

Surely we share this world and we can make a difference regardless of how old we are or how far apart we live.

Kangabusharo Primary School, located in Karabagaine Ward, Bukoba District, Kagera region of north western Tanzania, is situated in one of the most remote corners of Tanzania. Due to its close proximity to an unfenced prison, it has been impossible to recruit female teachers to this school.

Kangabusharo Primary School was established in 1974 as part of the Tanzania Government Policy for Education for All. However, its remoteness and lack of basic facilities have constrained the school’s ability to provide quality education. The most disadvantaged pupils are girls because in addition to school work they have to participate in household chores which results in limited time for learning.

Pupils, parents, and teachers are very keen on education, as it is the only source of social mobility in the area. The school has 509 pupils, ranging in age from 5 -15 years, with a gender distribution of 268 males and 241 females, and including 94 orphans. Kangabusharo has ten teachers. The student to teacher ratio is 1:50, one teacher to fifty pupils.

The Kangabusharo School is highlighted when SHARE is featured on Star TV (East Africa) on the Habari News Program, Tanzania. This broadcast is mostly in Swahili, with some English. July 25, 2009.

On July 23, 2009 the official opening ceremony for the SHARE program and library was held outside the school in a pine forest. Six hundred people, including government officials, teachers, pupils, SHARE board members, and a church choir, attended the inauguration.