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.

Now you can find us on Facebook

We have now joined social media, so you can find and like Ni Hekima Pekee page on Facebook! There will be fresh news and photos from time to time.

We have also created group called Friends of Ni Hekima Pekee on Facebook. It is a group where people related to organisation can share ideas, thoughts and memories concerning NIHEP. For example, if you are working closely with the organisation or if you are former or upcoming volunteer, you are warmly welcome to join the group. You can also add other members from your Facebook friends if you know they are related to Ni Hekima Pekee.

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.

Creative work by volunteers Linnea and Sofia

Hi again!

The creative work is going on at Iseni disability Unit and Tambukareli primary school. From Iseni disability Unit we have also started with familyvisiting from Iseni disability Unit every thursday, to the families with children that are not attending to school. The biggest challenge in these families is poverty and the distance to school - many families can't afford the transport to school everyday.

Iseni disability Unit

For Iseni disability Unit we have hygien as a subject with the pupils. Right now there's no water at the school, which means the pupils are not washing their hands. We decided to buy a tank for the classroom, so the children can get it to a habit to wash their hands regurarly. We have discussed with them when it's important to wash hands, how and why. We have also introduced social stories for the teacher - and printed out one about washing hands. This makes it easier for the children to understand why it's important.

Many of the pupils are deaf, and the teacher is teaching them in signlanguage. The children have been in the class for one year, so they are still learning the signlanguage. They are on very different levels in which level they can communicate trough signs. We made cards with the alphabeth, and with the signs of the alphabeth in signlanguage that we put up in the classroom. This way the children can look at the signs everyday and learn them.

Other things we've done are:

- Photography. The children are very interested in the camera. One day we took each one outside, and they got to take photoes from the shoolyard of something they like. We will print out the pupils own pictures and put them on the wall in the classroom
- Art with matches and material from the nature.
- Drawing (The children has drawed their own families etc.)
- Different games (limbo, ballgames etc.)
- Clay (Many of the children's favourite activity)
- Barcelets
- Feelingcards. (We made different cards of faceexpressions - the children got to pick one card that answers the question "How do you feel today?" and also questions "When do you feel like this?". We put the cards on the wall in the classroom, so the teacher can use this to start a day.

We have seen a progress in the children in the class. In the beginning of our acitivites many of them were unconfident in creating, drawing etc, but now they are very excited about making different things, and we are trying to learn the children that what everybody does is good - it's not about prestation.

The children made their own memorycards

Feeling-cards.

Feeling-cards.

Playing ballgames outside.

A girl drawing her family.

Don't touch the ground :)

Taking photos.

"I like the flower"

A boy with only two fingers making barcelets.

Testing the new tank.

Tambukareli primary school 

At Tambukareli the most of the attendence are boys - and many of them likes to be active, and the highest interest is in fysical games - especially ballgames. We are trying to variate the activites mix creative activites with fysical activites.

Making barcelets.

Playing a game with matches.

Drawing and listening to music.

Made balls with yarn.

It's easy to get hurt when you play..