Time to say goodbyes

Saying goodbyes for parents in Tambukareli.

My two and half months with Ni Hekima Pekee has now gone. It's time to say goodbyes and return home. I feel happy to go back Finland and see my family and friends again, but at the same time I feel little bit melancholic to leave Tanzania. I hope to come back Tanzania, and Mwanza too, but when it'll happen, is something I don't know yet.

What I do know, is that I've had great 10 weeks with NIHEP! I think I've learned a lot. I've seen and experienced many, many things that I couldn't have ever experienced at home. Hopefully I've also managed to share something with other volunteers of NIHEP. And what's the most important, hopefully I've managed to help NIHEP and its beneficiaries, even little bit.

I can recommend NIHEP also for other volunteers. NIHEP is young and developing NGO, so they can offer many kind of tasks for volunteers with different skills. At this moment social workers or students who study social work / social services are needed most, though. Doing internship in Tanzania is a good choice, if you are not afraid of challenges and if you are willing to share your knowledge and views. In my opinion, challenging myself like this was a priceless experience, something I'll never regret! Asanteni sana na tutaonana tena, NIHEP na Tanzania! (Thank you very much and see you again, NIHEP and Tanzania!)

Greetings, Saara

Parents had their micro financial loans

Parents just received their microfinancial loans.

Butimba executive ward  officer giving loan to the parent

It was a grateful moment to the few parents who were empowered to start small business as a way forward to reduce poverty within the poor families NIHEP working with in Butimba ward.  These parents will be able to look after their vulnerable children and their family as whole. Also this support will help them to meet the requirements of financial institutions to be able to get loans from them because parents will have experience and skills from entrepreneurship training offered to them before this support.

NIHEP thanks the Executive ward officer and other ward officers for their moral support.
Also NIHEP wants to thank most vulnerable children committees  and volunteers  who have been playing a big part to make this project active by visiting families, visiting schools, making discussions with families. All these bring a positive impacts to these disadvantage families.
Special thanks to our main supporter Mwembe, who is making things in NIHEP to move forward.

The importance of information and informing

Hi, it is volunteer Saara writing here again. I have now passed half of my time with Ni Hekima Pekee. Five weeks has gone and five weeks is still left. It's amazing how fast days go by when you have interesting and inspiring work to do!

As an volunteer I'm interested about social questions: how to reduce poverty and social exclusion in the world. These are crucial issues also in Finnish society which I'm coming from. In my home country I study social services now, but formerly I worked as a writer and photographer. So, concerning to this, I think information, informing and story telling are good ways to improve things and make the world little bit better place.

For organisation like Ni Hekima Pekee information and informing are also very essential issues. Lately we have been developing these things. Now we have our own Facebook page and also this blog has experienced some changes. For example upcoming volunteers can now find updated information and photos of the accommodation. Furthermore, on Facebook we have group page for friends of Ni Hekima Pekee.

I still have some assignments to do for NIHEP. For example I am planning to do brochure for the organisation. Also basic work, family support in the community is one of my tasks for the rest of the time. With local volunteers I will visit families in Tambukareli and Kambarage. We still have many follow up discussions to do in these streets.

My weeks in Mwanza

Primary school in Iseni.

Time has been flying so fast. I have already been here over three weeks and I will go back to Finland on Friday. My name is Madeleine Sandström and I am studying to become a teacher. My subject is special education and I have one year left of my studies.

My journey to Tanzania started the 18th of April. First I went to Iringa. There I did a teaching practice for five weeks. The 25th of May I arrived to Mwanza and I have been volunteering for Ni Hekima Pekee. I have been in the primary school Iseni and also visiting families. Me and Saara (she introduced her self earlier) have also been trying to think how we can develop the current system within Ni Hekima Pekee. So we have also been doing some office work.

The school Iseni is a government school and the also have an unit within special education. I spent my time at the school in that class. I learned a lot from the teacher Kristina, mostly about deafness. Teaching deaf pupils was something new for me and very interesting. We both shared ideas concerning education and we talked about challenges in both Finland and Tanzania.

The pupils got vacation the 7th of June so then I started with new tasks. The two last week I have been visiting families in the area Tambuka Reli and Kambarage. Ni Hekima Pekee is supporting families in the areas and the goal is that the families would get money to start some small business so that they can support them self. Some families have already got the support but some families are still waiting. For the moment we need more sponsors to be able to help all the families.

Preparing cards to teach sign language.

Ni Hekima Pekee is also arranging support meetings within the families. They meet once a week and discuss different problems that can accure within a family and they try to solve them together and support each other. Some of the families have a child with some kind of disability. In Tanzania there is a big shame for the whole family if a family member has a disability. Many children stay at home and they never get the opportunity to go to school. Ni Hekima Pekee tries to change these attitudes and I have been visiting some of the families and trying to support them concerning their child's disability. I have also been teaching sign language to one family.

I can't believe my time here is already almost over. I have really enjoyed my time here!

Greetings, Madeleine

Finally working with NIHEP

Having a Monday discussion
at NIHEP office

On September 2012 I got great news: I will have an unique chance to do my practical training in Mwanza, Tanzania! I started to do some investigation to find a nice training place. Thanks for the networking, I met Ms. Ruusa Gawaza, project manager of Tampere-Mwanza co-operation project. She told me about the Finnish organisation, Mwembe. That led me to contact Ms. Lena Johansson, chairman of the organisation. She told I am welcome to work with Mwembe and their partner in Mwanza, Ni Hekima Pekee (NIHEP).

It has been a long way, but here I am, finally working with NIHEP. I really enjoy doing my practical training here. Before I tell more about my practical training, let me introduce myself. My name is Saara Pakaslahti and I come from Finland. I study social services in Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). I came to Tanzania via North-South-South programme.

This is my fourth week working with NIHEP and I still have six more weeks to go. I mostly concentrate on developing organisation's office practices and improving their informing. For example I have done some updates and changes to this blog. One of my aims is also help to develop NIHEP's documentation and reporting. Now organisation has even their own computer at the office, so it will be easy to write reports and other important documents.

I am enthusiastic, because I feel myself useful. I really feel that I can be helpful and do something which is remarkable for developing NIHEP, young organisation. In my opinion, NIHEP has lots of potential and such a good will to help most vulnerable children and families in Mwanza, especially in Butimba area.

I am glad and grateful that I have got this chance to work with NIHEP and all the people involved in organisation. Even now I think I will miss these people and this place. And of course I will miss Madeleine, my lovely housemate. Unfortunately she is going back home to Finland this week. We have had such a good moments while living together in Mseke Ibungiro volunteer's house. She has also helped me a lot by sharing her thoughts and views with many issues. Now I really believe that sharing is caring and together we can do more.

Onesmo Kajuna and Ruusa Gawaza

What it comes to sharing, couple of weeks ago there was also great discussion between executive director of NIHEP, Mr. Onesmo Kajuna and project manager of Tampere-Mwanza co-operation project, Ms. Ruusa Gawaza. Ms. Gawaza visit Mwanza and had also time to share some thoughts with Mr. Kajuna. Thanks for coming, Ruusa. We were very happy and honoured to get you as our guest.

Volunteers Linnea & Sofia

Hello!

We are Sofia and Linnea, and we are working as volunteers for Mwembe and Ni Hekima Pekee organsisation here in Mwanza, Tanzania. We have been working here since 4th of March and will be staying til the 30 of May. We are both 21-year-old girls. We are coming Finland and we are study social services at Novia university of applied sciences.


We have had the great pleasure of getting to do a lot of creative work with the children. We have been at Tambukareli primary school working with about 20 vulnerable children using creative thinking and methods. We like to play a bit of their own, local, games and have also introduced them to a few new games. We have also focused a lot on getting their imagination to come out through drawings, playing with clay and making drama. The children seem to like being creative and we have seen a lot of beautiful drawings, clay figures and one very interesting drama-sketch. Trough creative methods we can reach the children, give them a chance to raise their talents and also to get them to trust in us. We want to raise the children's voices and give them a chance to express themselves and their situation.


We have also been working with the disabled children at Iseni school. We have focused on creative work with these children too, but we are trying to adjust the tasks in such a way that they fit the childrens competenses and that they can feel that they are good at what they do. We have been doing macrame-bracelets, playing with clay, drawing and playing games. We will also start focusing on such issues as feelings and hygiene, and try to get the children to learn the importance of being clean and also that the children learn to recognize feelings in both other children and themselves. There are 20 children registered in the class but only 7 is attending regularly. We are now planning to visit the families with the children that are not attending to see where the problem is and how we could help.
The children are really talented and eager to learn new things, they are really nice to work with and we have a really positive feeling about the work we are doing together with these children. We can see how proud they are about their creations and how their self-esteem is starting to develop. We are enjoying our time here in Mwanza and we love to work with the children and seeing the progress and confidence growing in the children.

Tambukareli school, drawing

Having fun playing around with balloons

Iseni school, making figures out of clay

Iseni school

Iseni, had a little photoshoop

Iseni school, photoshoot for fun

Tambukareli school, clay figures

Tambukareli, playing with clay

Tambukareli, clay figures

Tambukareli

Iseni school, made a circle of the desks so the children would be able to see each other and the teather better while in class

Tambukareli, the finished products of claymaking!

Tambukareli, proud children

Iseni school, clay

Iseni school, getting creative

Iseni school, lots and lots of creativity in these children!