Schools in Zanzibar

The next day we visited a primary and secondary school and had lunch with the Ministry of Education. Our guide that took us around to the different schools was one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Dr. Sira runs a center for women and children. Her center offers programs that benefit women and children, and she does many outreach programs, such as voter training classes (and we attended one!). Representatives from different villages met and were trained on the election process, and why voting is important. They then went back to their communities to help officiate the process there. Our meeting with Dr. Sira at the women’s center was taped, and we ended up on the evening news in Zanzibar that night!

The schools we visited were very similar to many we had seen in Tanzania with one large exception – there was a one student to textbook ratio. The Minister of Education said this was a large priority for him. Our group was curious how Zanzibar had managed to pull off this feat, when schools on the mainland had 20 students to one textbook. This school year the government had also made kindergarten mandatory. The funding for this program is still lacking considering that the kindergarten class at the primary school we visited had no chairs for the students to sit on.

The principal at the primary school was desperate for teachers. They were extremely understaffed, with several teachers working at the school on a volunteer basis. It twisted my heart, as we left he grabbed each of our hands, looked imploringly into our eyes and asked us if we would be willing to come back and teach. The school had a Peace Corp volunteer the past two years who had set up their computer lab. The principal was an adorable older man, with salt and pepper hair and eyes that glittered with kindness when he smiled, which was often. “ I love Americans!” he excitedly cried, “When we had the gentleman from the Peace Corp here, we became really great friends. If you came here too, I would be good friends with you too!” Dr. Sira even offered us a home she had near the school for anyone who came to teach to live in for free.

I left the school that day feeling what I had felt so many other days in Africa, lucky for all that I had, sad that I could not do more, inspired by the efforts of the children, community members, and teachers.