A job well done!

After 2 weeks days of hard work, sports, cinema (and a spot of safari), the 18-strong Nelson Thom team all arrived back home safe and sound last week...

On the sports front, many successful games of football, netball, frisbee, rugby were held, culminating in a rounders tournament on the final Wednesday (sadly postponed from the weekend, when it bucketed it down!)  In spite of frustrations with time and the language barrier (and a few cows on the pitch!), our lot persevered and got 4 mixed teams of Nkoaranga Secondary School students together....

....to fight it out for the fabulous Nelson Thomlinson School Rounders Cup 2013!  The winners were awarded medals on the day and a cup during morning parade the next day, which can be passed on from year to year. And perhaps the proudest legacy of all, the introduction of rounders (and rugby!) into the school's sports curriculum!

The winning team!

Most brilliantly of all for the construction project, the work was completed on the classrooms started - giving a new lease of life to the building with fresh walls and new roofs (that don't leak) and turning the unfit kindergarten into a place of happy learning:

From this dilapidated room....

...to this shiny new kindergarten!

And, to make their leaders proud, the team unanimously opted for the option of doing a complete renovation on a classroom out of use.  Harder work than the extra mural painting they could have done, but something that will make a huge and lasting difference to the school, giving the cramped learners more classroom space to use!

From this state....

...via a little of this...

...and a LOT of this...

To this beautiful building!

In the words of Mama Nasari, assistant headteacher, "I feel I am going to work in a new school!

Needless to say, the farewell celebration brought out a few tears, when members of the primary teaching staff, the secondary school, local educational administration, and most emotionally, an elder of the whole village, gave their speeches on what the NTS team's work has really meant for Nkoaranga - a place to be proud of.

And finally, a school that can be found as the final touches were put on the new school sign by Miss Southwell and a keen bunch of helpers!

***

And a brief safari interlude....

And just in case it seems like the 2 weeks were all work and little play, the team did get the chance for a 2 day interlude of safari and cultural experience, with Maasai dancing, medicine walk and boma visit (traditional village).

Safe to say, the safari in the beautiful Tarangire National Park was certainly a highlight for all - watching a family of elephants cross right in front of the jeep and a lion mating (who was not best pleased at being interrupted....issuing a few scary warning growls and a faux charge....eek!)

***

WELL DONE  TO ALL THE TEAM:

Abbie, Charlotte F, Bianca, Charlotte D, Johny, Tiff, Jess, 

Dan H, Dan S, Jo, Conor, Will, Laura, Annabelle, Trent

...and of course the fab teachers Miss Southwell, Miss Lovegrove and Miss Simpson!

A couple of pictures from the Nelson Thom school in Tanzania

All of us here in the office would like to thank Quest leader Chris for sending us these images from Tanzania this morning. From speaking with him we know that the team are doing really well and that work is progressing along nicely. The sanding down of the windows is proving to be a chore but they are digging deep and forcing themselves through the tedium so to complete the job. Over half way through their expedition now and the reward of a Safari is on the horizon as well as a few other surprises waiting for them this weekend.

Keep up the good work.

Quest4Change

We do love a team snap!

Supporting the Nkoaranga school by helping to renovate the school.  

Nelson Thom update

Chris has just managed to find time to send in a fantastic update from the NT guys out in Tanzania...  

"The guys arrived pretty tired and bleary eyed into the school on Tuesday.  We had a delicious treat for dinner - rice and meat, which went down well.  On Wednesday we joined the school's daily parade - think school assembly but on your feet, marching around the school grounds, with lots of singing.  Once we had been given a proper tour of the schools, the NT students were visably shocked by the conditions and this left them raring to get stuck in to the tasks at hand.  

Weds, Thurs and Friday's tasks have revolved around sanding and preparing wood for the roof, which the fundi's (builders) have been putting together, with our students assisting them from the ground.  There are also lots of cracks and holes in the walls that needed filling.

We have had a football tournament and frisbee skills session so far and the Tanzania students are super excited about all the sports events.  This weekend its that old English classic, rounders.

So far the NT students have been eating lunch everyday with the Tanzania students, and have been tucking in to Ugali, a staple of the local diet.  Today we had lunch with all the teachers which was very special, and meat was served - a real treat.

Speaking of meat, Dan H, Johnny and William tapped into some carnal instinct last night, stepping up to kill dinner, for our BBQ chicken evening.  This has gone down extremely well as you can imagine.
 
This afternoon, (Friday), we have split into three groups and are learning about life at either, the orphanage, the primary school or the secondary school.  At the primary school, it is farm day on Fridays which means students bring their tools and work on the school farm, learning new techniques whilst also maintaining the schools food supplies.  At the secondary school, the students have been getting well into the cultural exchange, teaching each other card games from their respective countries.

On Thursday night we had a fantastic Quiz and the 'team with no name' reigned supreme.  On Wednesday we had a really special evening with a visit from a local musician and his keyboards, singing Swahili tunes to us all night - it was lovely.

That's all for now.  This weekend we are having a rounders tournament, and some of the students will be doing a traditional home-stay.  Some of the students will also be dining at the teachers homes, and we are all very excited about church on Sunday".

Chris & Rose (Q4C Leaders)  

Nelson Thomlinson's first team update...

And so it begins...

After months of hard work and preparations, Team Nelson Thom are underway with their project...  After two flights, one shuttle bus and four countries, the team arrived safe and sound into Nkoaranga yesterday afternoon, in time to settle in and get a good night's sleep, ready for an energetic first day on the project site.

The team are now well into day one of the project work at the school site, and are sure to be caked in mud and cement by the time their mid-morning Chapati and Chai break comes along.

Big high fives should go to Nelson Thom teacher Hayley Southwell and Quest4Change Leaders Rose and Chris for ensuring the smooth running of the trip, and of course, to all the other teachers, students and parents involved, both in the UK and in Nkoaranga - Awesome work everyone!

Watch this space in the days ahead, as news of the team's hard work winds its way back to us here in the UK office, along with the odd photo or two...

Until then, tuonane baadaye!