A Day at Shulua School, Tanzania

Whenever I am in Tanzania, I visit schools, libraries and other educational institutions. It is my way of staying connected to what I love best: learning and teaching.

On June 18, 2010, I visited Shulua Secondary School, as a member of a delegation of the Lutheran Colleges Consortium for Tanzania (LCCT).

The LCCT sends American students to Tanzania to study for one semester at the University of Dar es Salaam. However, the LCCT always looks for opportunities for those students to enhance their educational, social, and cultural experience in such ways as volunteering in schools or community projects. We visited Shulua School as part of this agenda.

This school is in the Kibamba area, which straddles the highway from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. We were very well received, by teachers, students and staff. The students entertained us with songs, poetry and a short satirical play.





This boy read poetry in English, which he had composed. We heard warm words of welcome and speeches and we offered our gratitude in return.

We had a good opportunity to meet and talk with the teachers. Mr. Alfred Mdima, third from the left on this photo, is the headmaster of the school. He gave us a tour of the school, which sits on farm land owned by his family.






Shulua Secondary School is a relatively new venture. We saw ongoing building and infrastructure projects. On the left is a well, just about completed.









Thinking about my experience at this school, I recall the motto of Makerere University, an institution I have visited twice. It says: "We Build for the Future."