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.
