DUFATANYE PRESCHOOL
Summary of project status and achievements:
M&E pre-tests have been created and conducted. Follow up post-tests will be conducted at the end of the term in November. Attendance has remained high and at full capacity.
To remain within the new budget constraints, English classes have been cancelled. This is not a significant loss since attendance had diminished to only 14 students in October. To fill that time, Dominic and Josephine, the two Dufatanye teachers were asked to teach at Kunachi pre-school in the afternoons (please see Kunachi report for additional changes made there). However, the two teachers were extremely antagonistic to this request. They believed their standardized fulltime standardized salary would not adequately compensate them for the additional work of teaching another class of preschoolers, and that they would not be able to successfully teach another class with the same energy and capacity as just one. After several hours of negotiations, the teachers agreed they would only teach at Kunachi if they were provided with a lunch stipend.
After presenting the new schedule to the Kunachi PTA, it became increasingly evident that the new teachers would not be welcomed by the TC 44 community, nor would Dominic and Josephine be as committed to satisfactorily teach an additional class at Kunachi. Subsequently, Dominic and Josephine were reduced to half-time employees, and asked to teach at Dufatanye only in the mornings just for the month of November. Ernest’s role would expand slightly, as he would be lesson planning for the whole preschool, and not just his own classes. The amount of Dominic and Josephine’s pay reduction would be applied to reinstating Donat as a fulltime teacher at Kunachi for one month, and 100,000zmk from Dufatanye’s supply budget will pay for Patience to be a half-time teacher at Kunachi as well.
After informing Dominic and Josephine of their new hours and reduced pay, they resigned on November 4th. The PM is now seeking to hire two half time teachers for the school. One likely candidate includes Prince Ben, the former Playspace instructor who has ample preschool teaching experience. Playspace in Block G has been cancelled, since it was paid for by the Kunachi budget. Unfortunately though, like most of those laid off by FORGE earlier this month, Prince Ben does not speak Kinyarwanda. Another potential candidate is Antoine Sibomana, the Zone G FHS Project Facilitator. After speaking with these candidates, if the position is not filled, the PM will begin an open hiring process, advertising the position and conducting interviews with the Project Coordinator.
Since MCAC music classes have been cancelled, two of the children’s size guitars are being kept at Dufatanye for use during music period.
Future activities and projections:
Immediate efforts will be focused on hiring two teachers and ensuring that their transition is smooth. Next month the preschool will take a field trip to the bee keeping project of the Italians who live directly behind Dufatanye. They have agreed to write an easy lesson about pollination and where honey comes from in English, so that Ernest can translate for the children.
Substantial problems or issues:
After informing Dominic and Josephine of their new hours and reduced pay, they resigned on November 4th. The PM is now seeking to hire two half time teachers for the school.
KUNACHI PRESCHOOL
Summary of project status and achievements:
Attendance this month remained solid, at over 50 students. M&E pre-tests have been created and conducted. Follow up post-tests will be conducted at the end of the term in November.
A PTA meeting was held in which the parents of Kunachi students were informed about FORGE’s financial situation and how it would affect the preschool. The parents were extremely concerned about the changes, which included the facts that Donat, Patience, and Prince Ben would all no longer be teaching at the school, and that the classes would be shifted to the afternoon and taught by Dufatanye teachers. Their concerns included the level of disruption this would create in the children’s schedules since they come in the middle of the term, they also worried about the ability Dufatanye teachers have to adequately communicate to their children since none of the teachers speak Luvale or Swahili and none of the students speak Kinyarwanda.
After speaking with the Programming Director, the PM decided to re-hire Donat as a full time teacher and Patience as a half-time teacher to at least finish the term at the end of November. The budget for this is being taken from Dufatanye (please see above.) During November, the PM will think about how to proceed come January, when the new school year begins. The program will likely have to be cancelled, or else the PM may apply her extra fundraising to creating a new preschool at Road 36, where high demand for a preschool has been demonstrated.
Piano classes after school were a success this month, with over 35 students consistently attending, and will now be continued in November since Donat will remain to teach them. After school soccer practice was also popular, with over 42 children coming to practice.
Future activities and projections:
Increase standardization between the two schools is still a priority for both preschools, but it is clear that Ernest will not take on the additional responsibility of coordinating both schools without extra compensation. When Mwangaza preschool opens in January, it might be a good opportunity to restructure preschool programming and hire a coordinator for all three preschools, if Ernest is not the best candidate for the position, he may be demoted to teacher, and the coordinator salary will be applied to someone else.
Preschool wide teacher training workshops and jointly held staff meetings could still be valuable, but are a lower priority when compared to smoothing over the transitions both schools are going through in the aftermath of the budget cuts, which is where the majority of the PMs efforts are currently being concentrated.
M&E implementation faltered this month due to concentrated efforts on project operations to minimize the disruption from budget cuts, but will be re-visited next month.
Substantial problems or issues:
The entire program may have to be cancelled at the end of this term due to budget constraints.
DUFATANYE PRESCHOOL
Summary of project status and achievements:
The month of September was the first of the new term. The attendance has remained high, and even breaches our full capacity. Consequently, we were only able to accept 10 new students this term, raising enrollment from 151 to 161 pupils. This means we serve over 30% of Block G’s pre-school age population!
The Block G community finished constructing a cafeteria and bathing room for the children this month and the PM is very impressed with the results and appreciative of the community’s continued support of the school.
Initial M&E pre-tests have been constructed (currently drafts, attached separately in this e-mail). The Project Coordinator and I both believe it is best to implement these at the beginning of the new school year in January. Because most of the students are over 2/3 of the way though the school year, if the pre-tests are administered immediately, they will not likely be an accurate reflection of the amount of knowledge the students hold before attended pre-school.
Prince Ben was unable to conduct several sessions of Playspace in Block G this month due to ongoing bicycle repair problems. The PM hopes to rectify this by buying the necessary parts in town during this trip.
The PM also conducted a brief survey to assess interest in expanding after school programming and believes there is enough demand to extend music classes into block G. Clement, the MCAC guitar teacher, is willing to teach a two hour guitar class in this block once per week, his salary would be 30,000 Kwacha, which is feasibly within the project’s budget. The classes will begin next month, contingent upon FORGE upper management approval.
Future activities and projections:
Szymon sold 20 goats in the first Dufatanye trip to the Congo border. 36 remained, and since then, 8 have died. Currently 10 of our 28 goats are pregnant and will not have kids before November. 11 others are medium sized, and seven are kids. I have asked Alphonse to reassess whether we will be able to sell goats in November (perhaps the medium sized ones will be fat enough by then), and will arrange a trip ASAP if it is feasible, though the maximum number we would be able to sell would be only 11.
His most recent recommendation (as of last week) was to remain with the postponed schedule and plan selling for June 2009. This is because the cost of a kid is 80,000 Kwacha and the cost of a medium sized goat is around 120,000 Kwacha, and pregnant goats should not be sold. A fully grown, strong, fat goat can fetch over 250,000 Kwacha. Therefore, to maximize potential profits, goat selling should be postponed until there are enough fully grown goats to draw substantial profits. I am also e-mailing Szymon to ask if he has any additional input pertaining to this subject.
There are also tentative plans for building an after school children’s soccer program, please see the Kunachi report for additional details.
Because Dufatanye runs as a well oiled machine at this point, the PM is thinking about ways in which the curriculum can be diversified and more creative. One idea is to implement field trips. An easy one would be to link science class with the bee keeping operations of the Italian couple who live directly behind Dufatanye and are very friendly to the project.
Please also see Kunachi for a preschool standardization proposal.
Please note that the following M&E changes will be made for future records:Also note, the percent of Block G’s child population affected by Duftanye is an approximation based on the total population under 4 years of age living in the block, though the eligible population is aged 4-6. Conducting a census to determine the number of 4-6 year olds living in Block G is not feasible.
KUNACHI PRESCHOOL
Summary of project status and achievements:
Like Dufatanye, September was Kunachi’s first month of the term. Although formal registration numbers were initially very low, once the school term began, attendance solidified and has been consistently acceptable, at around 50 students. Consequently the PM and Project Coordinator have decided that moving the school mid-term is an unnecessary disruption and moving the school is an option that should be reassessed at the beginning of the new school year in January.
A PTA meeting was held in which the parents of Kunachi students were informed about the school’s potential change of location. Parents reacted strongly (tears were shed) and promised to increase their commitment to the school and ensure their children’s regular attendance. So far their promises have been kept.
Another factor that may affect Kunachi attendance by January is the ongoing repatriation of Angolan refugees. A little over half of Kunachi’s students are Angolan, and it is possible that by January, at least some of these families will have left Meheba. This dilemma is one that would be less problematic in Block D, where most refugees are Congolese, and demand for a pre-school is high.
English classes have been cancelled due to very low attendance at the end of last term. To fill the scheduling gaps, Kunachi now holds an after school soccer practice session for children on Tuesdays and a children’s keyboarding music class on Thursdays. Music classes were initially a bit sporadic because keyboard batteries were unavailable and did not fit in the budget. Since then, rechargeable batteries have been acquired through MCAC and are being shared between the two projects and charged at the compound.
We have made available the left over children’s soccer equipment (soccer ball, cleats, and shin guards), and Patience signs out the materials and ensures their return. The interest in the soccer program has been very high and we are thinking of expanding it to Dufatanye and holding informal soccer tournaments between the two schools. Before instituting the expansion, the PM would like feedback on the idea, given that a similar one (CSL) has been cancelled before.
Future activities and projections:
The PM and Project Coordinator have met with the Road 36 Chairman who was excited about the prospect of bringing the pre-school to the road in January. He vocalized strong demand for a pre-school in the area, and agreed that an old MSF building that is currently used only as a church on Sundays would be a good space for the school. The church has agreed to allow FORGE to use the building as a school during the week. Permission to use the building for a pre-school will now be sought from the UNHCR Program Officer, as the building is officially UN property.
The PM would also like to increase standardization between the two schools. One possible way to do this would be to promote Ernest to the coordinator of preschools. Though he is a very talented teacher, his superior management skills are even harder to match. If he could supervise all teachers at both schools and perhaps alternate which classes he conducts himself, Donat and Patience may be able to meet their potential and become strong educators. My thoughts are to demote Donat from Kunachi coordinator to teacher, and decrease Donat’s salary by 20,000 and add that money from Kunachi’s budget to Ernest’s salary to pay him 240,000 per month. Though this is slightly out of range from other coordinators, if I am unable to provide Ernest with a raise for his promotion, it may be challenging to provide an incentive for his increased responsibilities, from which both projects could greatly benefit.
Another less intrusive way to do this would be to create a preschool wide teacher training workshop, created in collaboration with Ernest and lead by him. This could also include meetings for curriculum comparisons in time to create standardized lesson plans for the new school year in January. Hopefully this will promote cross pollination of ideas and teaching methods between the staffs of the two schools.
The PM is also considering having pre-school wide staff meetings, as opposed to meetings with the staff of each school. In this way, the exemplary behavior of the Dufatanye staff (in particular their high level of motivation and initiative) may set a positive example for the Kunachi staff to follow.
Finally, the project may be losing one of its teachers (Dominic) to the RAI project and will begin considering how to fill this position.
DUFATANYE PRESCHOOL
Summary of project status and achievements:
The month of August was the term break between semesters for Dufatanye pre-school. I took the break as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the staff, curriculum, resources, schedules and general operations of the school and community. Contracts for the entire Dufatanye staff expired in August, so I constructed new ones and all have been signed by each staff member. The spatial reasoning games sent by Kjerstin were duplicated (3 copies of each game were made) by a constructor in Block G. Many supplies were purchased in anticipation of the new semester, and the staff is all set to start teaching again.
The Block G community has shown their continued commitment to the school by voluntarily building a room to bathe the children when they have accidents (current PMs Sabah Khan and Nick Reese also helped in construction activities), or otherwise need washing. They also cleaned the school grounds in preparation for the new term.
Future activities and projections: School will be starting September 8, one week late, in conjunction with the Zambian school system that has delayed opening the first day of school in honor of President Mwanawasa’s death. The M&E plans for the school have been explained to the staff, and pre-tests are being constructed to be implemented when the new term begins.
There are also plans for the community to build another pit latrine for the school. It is also possible that a new classroom shelter will be built for the school in the coming months. This would allow Dufatanye to vacate the room that General Chairman Gaston has lent the school from his building and use that room for the zone G health services project instead.
Indicators and statistics:Project Coordinator Ernest had not yet given the PM his monthly report, so these will be provided in next month’s report. Off hand, relevant statistics pertain to the goat selling IGA, which has lost a total of seven goats post-selling in Congo earlier this spring. The loss of the goats is due to unavoidable causes (illness and attacks by dogs).
It is expected that attendance will remain high, at over 100 students.
KUNACHI PRESCHOOLLike Dufatanye, Kunachi school has not been in session for the past month. Again, this time was used to familiarize myself with the staff, curriculum, resources, schedules and general operations of the school and community. A new registration was conducted the week of August 25th to combat the low registration numbers from last semester. The registration exercise went extremely poorly despite wide advertisement for over three weeks.
Future activities and projections: Like Dufatanye, Kunachi school will be starting September 8, one week late, in conjunction with the Zambian school system that has delayed opening the first day of school in honor of President Mwanawasa’s death. The M&E plans for the school have been explained to the staff, and pre-tests are being constructed to be implemented when the new term begins.
One reason given by Kunachi staff for the low registration numbers is that parents are unable to escort their children daily to road 44 from other parts of block D (especially families that live by road 36) due to other morning commitments. I have proposed implementing a “carpool” system in which each road can organize a meeting place and a group of parents who then rotate their duties to take all of the group’s children to Kunachi each day.
Substantial problems or issues:Fewer than a dozen students have formally registered to attend Kunachi in the new semester. In addition to the practical solutions proposed above, I would also like to think about how the school can be relocated to Road 36, where the demand for a preschool is much higher and where Solomon (MCAC English teacher and former Kunachi coordinator) may be able to assist in improving the efficacy of the project. This is dependent on “suspected wizards” being vacated from the room in the PECT building.
By Sabah KhanDuring my recent visit to Meheba for our twice-annual Zambia Staff Meetings, I had the special opportunity to visit the 2 Meheba Preschools. I don't think that there is a better way to start a day than to be sung to by a 4 classrooms of 3 to 6-year-olds! Especially after the hour-long bike ride to the isolated community of Block G, where they've never had a preschool before Dufatanye was built in 2007, it is such a blessing to see the care with which the community runs and treats the project. Mothers group together in threes to send lunches with the students, and the community has pooled its resources to build a set of latrines for the children. The committment to education in this community is almost and inspiring as the prospects of what these young children can do for the African continent as they grow up. -Kjerstin Erickson FORGE Founder and Executive Director
By Kjerstin Erickson
Summary of project status and achievements:
Classes at Dufatanye continued as normal. There were two staff meetings held at which the main issue was creating a policy about what to do when children become sick at school. It was decided that the issue will be discussed at the PTA meeting in July.
Class attendance remains high and the community remains committed to the success of the school.
Indicators and statistics:
Students currently enrolled: 152
Summary of project status and achievements:
Attendance at Kunachi has remained very low. Though the Head Teacher, Donat, is claiming that an average of almost 50 students attend on a regular basis the PM visited the school three times and each time there were less that 20 students present.
The PM scheduled two meetings with the staff, but the staff canceled one and the PM was forced to attend a security related meeting at UNHCR and cancel the second.
There will be a staff meeting to discuss attendance problems and other issues during the first week of July.
Indicators and statistics:
Number of students currently enrolled: 57
By Jessica Cirone and Tristan Foley
Summary of project status and achievements:
During the month of April, the FORGE Dufatanye Preschool was closed in accordance with the Zambian national school calendar. The first day of the new trimester is scheduled for 5 May. During the holidays, the Project Manager met with the Dufatanye teachers and instructed them on accurate attendance record keeping. In addition, classroom maintenance (washing of walls, termite removal, etc.) was performed in preparation for opening.
Summary of project status and achievements:
Like Dufatanye, the FORGE Kunachi Preschool remained closed during the month of April in observance of the Zambian national school holidays. Kunachi is scheduled to reopen for the second trimester on 5 May 2008. During the break the teachers were instructed by the Project Manager on accurate and regular attendance record keeping. In addition, an area behind the school was cleared to serve as grounds for Kunachi’s physical education classes and other outdoor activities, including Playspace. Despite the break in preschool activities, Playspace continued during April as normal.
By Szymon Mikulski
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