TEKUA

Our first stop in Tanzania or Tanzane-ia as JJ insists on calling it was with an educational facility called Tekua just outside Arusha. Arusha is the biggest city in Northern Tanzania. It is very green and very beautiful.

 

Tekua is a free school set up by Chris and Ally and run for disadvantaged children in the Arusha area. The school is an offshoot project of a local school which is based a further 20kms outside of Arusha. This school was set up by the former head of the Detroit Black Panthers, whom we were unfortunate not to meet. Attendance to the school for certain kids required an 8hr return journey. Tekua was set up as a reachable solution for these kids. It was set up in 2003 and now teaches 80 children, aged 7 to 18.

 

As well as a core curriculum of languages and maths children can specialise in art and computing. The artwork produced the students is then sold on locally and shipped abroad in order to generate further funds for the school.  It is a testament to the quality of the artwork that they can sustain the schools running expenses. 

 

Once we had interviewed Chris we were invited into a classroom, which contained c.50 kids aged from 14 to 21.  They all introduced themselves and asked what we were doing and how we had travelled to see them. With well-practised precision Andy drew our route on an air map through Europe, North and now

East Africa

. You can always tell our journey is being explained when you see ‘air mapping’. With a conductor’s finger you chart a horizontal line through Europe to Genoa, Genoa down to Tunisia, take an air-right into Libya, until you stick on the brakes at Port Said, from which point you just waggle southwards with a flourish a la Atomic Kitten. The kids were gracious enough to act impressed.

 

We were shown the computer room where donated old computers were being used to good effect and then the tour finale, the art workshop. A selection of the artworks are included below.

 

 

 

As Chris is keen to use sport to educate young people about HIV, we introduced him to Tackle Africa's coaching manual and explained how it could be used. Chris is also a football coach and was delighted to receive the manual and was keen to put it into use. We discussed possibly getting some coaches out to Arusha to run some of the drills and train local coaches on how to use the manual.

For more information about this project please visit their website (www.tekua.com)

 

 

 

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