From Isack in Tabora

Hello friends around the world – this is Isack! I hope that you have been enjoying the stories from South Africa by Erik, James, Beruk, Jody, Charles, Ben and others. On my side I’m back at school. I’m studying at Uyui High School in Tabora region.

I am now very happy to tell you about my friends Bryony Kite and Nadia from London. Bryony is Jody friend. She came to Tabora with her friend Nadia to visit me, Roots & Shoots and the Orphanage. It was my first time to meet with them but we became good friends and we ate together most of the time and discussed different issues.

Nadia and Bryony are primary school teachers and when they were in Tabora, they used to come to school to teach students English. In the evening they would go to play with the kids at the orphanage, so when I came back from school I would meet with them at the orphanage and we would play with the kids. Bryony and Nadia don’t know how to speak Kiswahili, our national language, but most of time they asked me about different words so that they could use them to communicate with the kids. They played with kids from 1 to 5 years old; they loved the kids and the kids loved them too. In Tanzania, it is not usual to see people playing with kids in the orphanage like Bryony and Nadia, so from my side I learned something new. I think kids they feel happy to play and they need people like Bryony and Nadia who can play with them.

After playing with the kids Nadia, Bryony and me would go to the school to meet with Root & Shoots members. My dear friends, you can’t believe what Nadia, Bryony and I introduced as a new thing in Tabora…. we introduced a girl’s football team at the school! The first time when Nadia and Bryony came to our school they meet with Roots & Shoots members to discuss about Roots & Shoots Uyui High School action plan for 2008. Mr. Arimas, president of Roots & Shoots at the school, told them about the club’s sports plan - here at Uyui we have a plan to establish a Roots & Shoots football team. During the holiday we will be going to the villages to educate people about different issues then we will play football between Roots & Shoots team and village team from the place we visit. We have agreed that football is a way of joining people together and also we can teach them before the match. We believe that so many people will come because they like soccer.

Now, Nadia and Bryony have introduced a football team for girls!!! It is new because we had no girls playing football before but now we have been introduced to it by Jody’s friends, Bryony and Nadia. Nadia gave exercises to the girls and then Nadia and Bryony gave two footballs to the girls to use for practice.

Nadia and Bryony then went to visit Gombe National Park (the land of chimpanzees) in Kigoma and after that they went to Arusha to meet with Salley. Right now they are in Zanzibar after that they will travel back to London on Monday. I wish my new friends all the best and I hope that one day we will meet again. Thanks for introducing a football team here at our school. That is a gift for us. It is a golden chance because you show us new ways to go forward.

Thank you Jody for introducing me to Bryony and Nadia. Also thank you all for visiting our blog. You are welcome again and you can tell others to visit this blog too to here about different programs in Africa.

With love,

Isack Nyasilu

Hello from Hippo River

Dear Moms!

This next blog finds us all well, despite a weekend where many of us turned as green as the creamy-whipped-spinach we ate for lunch on Saturday. That night was a long night for most of us, although the lucky few with their own unique strategies, managed to get a full night of beauty sleep. Strategy #1 - Stick to familiar KFC-like chicken legs and avoid the green stuff (Jaime). Strategy #2 – Develop a hearty resistance to any baddies lurking in your food and joyfully embrace a large rich portion of greens (Beruk & Ronel). Strategy #3 – Avoid carbs at all cost, unless presented with any edible form of mucus (Erik). The alternative analysis of what happened, however, is much more exciting. You see, the woman who prepared the creamy-whipped-spinach, also owns a funeral parlour. Culturally, the man who slaughters the goat (symbolizing the spirit of the person who died), is not permitted to attend the funeral for fear of bad spirits transferring to the food that has been prepared. Unfortunately, when news spread that a number of people had become sick following the creamy-whipped-spinach lunch, rumours then started to spread that bad spirits had entered our food. Luckily, further gossip was nipped in the bud through discussion with the local chief, although we are still nibbling cautiously at our lunches this week. Basically, you never know….

Otherwise, greetings from Limpopo Province! On Friday night, we drove three hours north from Johannesburg to a beautiful riverside lodge, just past the town of Groblersdal. The place we are staying overlooks a wide river filled with hippos and crocs but other than a boat trip during the Sunday sunset, most of our time here is spent traveling past the orange groves to Groblersdal and then on to the smaller town of Motetema, for this week’s professional development program (PDP). The program, which consists of innovative sessions for educators on Early Childhood Development, Numeracy & Literacy, 21st Century Skills and Digital Arts for young learners, is based on months of work by Maskew Miller Longman (MML), Pearson Education, and the Pearson Foundation, and was launched last week in Johannesburg, Gauteng province, South Africa.

The week in Gauteng was a great success. The PF team was joined by MML representatives from Cape Town and Gauteng, Longman reps from Nigeria (Femi) and Tanzania (Belinda), Pearson reps from UK (Michael and Duncan) and expert facilitators for three of the programs (Mariam, Jenny and Vanessa). My personal highlight was the Family Book Night. Preparations included visiting five different schools and taking pictures of the sweetest kids holding random objects followed by late nights huddled in our room working out how to print the stickers of the kids holding the random objects. Those evenings, conversations were pretty basic, with the main line of dialogue being, “He is SO cute!!”, “She is SO cute!”, “Ah, I love her!”, “Ah, look at her smile, she’s SO cute!”, “He is hilarious! Look at Busi’s smile!”, “Ah, she’s doing a Busi!”, Ah, he is SO cute!”, “Ah, she is SO cute!”…(See the Shutterfly link to the right). Ronel performed an amazing logistics feat to get everything else ready, and then the whole community came to attend a wonderfully lively family book-reading night as well as graduation of some of the PDP participants. On the Friday we held a Movie Premier afternoon, with the cool young students sharing their Sara movies and then the ‘old’ people (teachers – ha, love it!) proudly sharing their Movie-Maker extravaganzas.

So far this week, things here in Limpopo are going well; lots of hard work during the day, and evenings spent by the river, listening to the cicadas and frogs, and trying to save Erik and Ben from likely death-by-hippo if they were to row row row the rowing boat into the darkness of nighttime… Erik has developed a fanciful new language, named by Jaime as ‘Germanskin’ or by Beruk as ‘Jah-Man-ski’. By day, Erik claims to speak English with a New York accent while by night he transforms his own style of Afrikaans-German-totalnonsensense-ness and spends hours in hot political debates with Krista, the Afrikaans-speaking lodge owner who is fond of pink. Fortunately, Ronel is able to translate this elusive language. Krista very much enjoys Erik’s attention and adorably, Erik ‘gets into the moment’. We’ve also had Ben’s measurements taken (long story but in summary – fiancée Staci on the phone with Ben asking for Tuxedo measurements…we heard one side of the conversation…and then Mariam asking, “What measurement must be taken before the wedding? Ha...), and yep... we’ve done the Macarena!

We will be here until the end of the week, and then all of us are flying back to Cape Town. Half of us will remain in our new Cape Town home, whilst the other half of the team will fly home to the US. During our brief separation, Benyamini Don (yep, Ben) will marry his beloved, and from those of us who will be there, and those who will only be there in our hearts, we wish you and Staci a beautiful life of love together.

Keep it real. One Love.

Hi Y'all From Nairobi

Hi Y’all –

Greetings from Jaime, Beruk, Ben and Jody, blogging from Nairobi. This is the first time for most of us to visit Nairobi so it is a particularly exciting trip. Also, we heard so much from Jody, Erik, Andy and Charles about the residency in Kenya earlier this year so we were looking forward to meet some of the girls from last time as well as the Longman team.

Our expectations have been exceeded. Hurrah! The Longman team (Kakai, Peter, Evelyn, Victoria and Caroline – who is a wonderful intern) has been great again and Kenya Girl Guides Association (KGGA) has embraced the hosting of the residency and has many ideas for how they can grow the program throughout Kenya after we leave.

We have nine student mentors from the previous residency in April with us this time. The mentors are all girls who are studying in vocational programs in some of the most economically disadvantaged areas of Nairobi. Some of the mentors from the earlier program have stepped up and taught their own sections of the program. They have all risen to the task of mentoring and supporting the new participants this week and are visibly walking taller because of it.

We also have girls from different corners of Kenya. Three of the girls, from the remote north-eastern part of Kenya, near Ethiopia, traveled to Nairobi by truck over a two-day period. They got dropped at the goat market in town, and then took a taxi to get to KGGA headquarters, where they are staying. On Sunday they were interviewed by the press and were so excited to see their picture in the paper yesterday. This is a big experience for all the girls, but especially for these three.

Anyway, we are now on Day-four of the residency and it’s going really well. Jody has added a much needed female touch to a largely male team. Ben has done a wonderful job instructing, Jaime has given invaluable assistance in all aspects and Beruk has proven to be an expert videographer.

We have shared in the girls’ very emotional stories and seen how they are supporting each other to speak out about various challenges they have faced in their lives. We also have counselors working with the girls and amazing Magdelaine from KGGA who is back again cheering on the girls with her hilarious antics. Our favorite song this week has been the classic, “These are my private parts, my private parts, my private parts. These are my private parts so keep your hands off them!” Jaime, Ben and Beruk stepped away, red-faced, during the actions. This afternoon in the taxi on our way home, they proudly sang their own version, “These are my family jewels, my family jewels...”. Jody isn’t red faced at all – she always enjoys a good sing-along!

The girls are now working on editing their movies after a long, long day of filming yesterday. Beruk worked really well with the girls and produced some great videos for the girls’ films. KGGA and Longman are preparing for Friday afternoon when we will have the world premiere screenings for the girls’ families and honorary guests.

Stay tuned for more of Magdelaine’s classic song-and-dance numbers….

Cape Town and Nairobi

Fathima Dada and Charles Nyembe filming at Maskew Miller Longman



Well, Charles and I are wandering around this big house in Cape Town on our own. Ronel has gone to Joburg to skope out our venues for the big programs beginning next week. Jody, Ben, James, and Beruk are doing very well in Kenya with the second round of our Sara program with Longman Kenya. They will blog tomorrow....they promise! And, they'll have some great photos to share.

Charles, Ronel, and I filmed kids, teachers and content experts all week. Charles and I are now editing hundreds of hours of foootage down to five-minute clips. Tons of work, but it will be great when we have it all completed. Andy is working on the actual professional development programs from New York between memorizing lines and looking for auditions. Below is an overview of what we're doing this year...thought you might like to know. So, see below, then get ready for updated from the Kenya team tomorrow. Best, Erik (More filming photos to right...)

OVERVIEW OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

This year, Maskew Miller Longman and our sister companies are embarking on a Professional Development Programme in Africa with the charitable arm of one of our parent companies, PEARSON EDUCATION - a global education company. With the Pearson Foundation, we shall be traveling to and running workshops in South Africa , Tanzania , Kenya , Zambia and Nigeria , where our Pearson Foundation colleagues will be working with our local companies and colleagues. In addition, we will offer a student Digital Arts workshop to support the Professional Development Programmes.

The professional development is comprised of three distinct tracks; in line with the Africa Millennium Education Goals, the programmes will be concentrating on Literacy and Numeracy at the Foundation Phase level, Early Childhood Development in the reception year, and 21^st Century Skills for teachers and learners across the spectrum.

In each location, educator and administrator participants will follow one of these three tracks. These five-day training events will be focused, engaging, and interactive. Participants will learn exciting new approaches to presenting information in the classroom through hands-on, effective, and practical applications. They will not only learn about proven collaborative models, they will also share their own successful approaches to building teamwork among student groups.

Literacy & Numeracy track and Early Childhood Development track

In addition to learning cutting-edge approaches to teaching, participants in the Literacy & Numeracy and Early Childhood Development tracks will also be presented with ways to teach parents and caregivers how to use effective techniques with their young learners. The participants in these two tracks will be discussing best practices for engaging parents and guardians in interactive reading and learning with their children. The culminating activity, Family Book Night, is a personal, hands-on event for 50 local families. Early readers and their families will be invited to attend an evening of reading, centered around personalized books that the children and their caregivers will make together. These “1, 2, 3” counting and reading books will include photos of the child on each page, and will be the springboards for Family Book Night reading activities. During the event, professional development participants from both the Literacy & Numeracy and Early Childhood Development tracks will work with parents as they learn to actively engage their children during the reading process. The families will take these books home with them to further their interaction and effectiveness. Participants in the Literacy & Numeracy and Early Childhood Development tracks will be provided with the templates for these personalized books, in order to use them at their own local Family Book Nights, and further extend family reading and learning opportunities.

21^st Century Skills track

The 21^st Century Skills programme will integrate areas that are crucial to modern education. These themes include: Core Subjects; 21^st Century Themes; Learning and Innovation Skills; Information, Media, and Technology Skills; and Life and Career Skills. Participants will investigate effective uses of collaboration, innovation, media literacy, critical thinking, and social interaction in the classroom. The involved, hands-on approach will give participants the opportunity to practice technology skills by using moviemaking software as a curriculum tool. Participants will learn how to integrate academic objectives, technological skills, and essential life skills to produce digital movies based on curriculum standards. The programme encourages student teamwork within a project-based learning model. Participants will discuss ways to give students the skills to effectively cooperate and communicate with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Participants will learn how to facilitate digital moviemaking in the classroom, resulting in student-produced films that show understanding of curriculum objectives.

The 21^st Century Skills professional development will run simultaneously with the Student Digital Arts programme, where 30 students will learn how to write, videotape, and edit their own short films based on topics important to their individual communities. Working with local NGOs, Pearson Foundation facilitators, and local Maskew Miller Longman employees, these students will be creating films based on HIV/AIDS, and issues related to refugees across African nations.

Near the end of the week, participants in the 21^st Century Skills programme will join the Student Digital Arts programme, and use their newly acquired skills to assist the students in completing their films. The five days will then culminate in a Movie Day, where all participants will watch the student-produced movies, while practicing important feedback, questioning, and critiquing skills.

Participants in all three tracks will be learning contemporary and innovative skills to enhance their effectiveness as educators. They will also have valuable opportunities to share their own ideas about successful techniques and glean from others’ experiences. They will then synthesize all this learning, and take these exciting practices back to their own schools and communities, and continue to be leaders in the field of education.

Welcome Back!

We're back in South Africa! We've left Andy behind to continue his studies at the Lee Strasburg Studio. He's busy rehearsing scenes from The Only Game In Town and learning monologues for auditions. He also has a beautiful girl in his life, Michelle, who works in both London and New York (yes, you guessed it, she's a model, quite spectacular, extremely bright, and a force of nature...HELLO MICHELLE! We miss you! Oh, and we miss you, too, Andy!) Andy will be back with us in Africa in September.

This round, we have Jody (you remember her from last time), her partner Beruk (who has become a great videographer under the tutelage of Charles), Charles (our co-worker from Zimbabwe), my great friend James (aka Jaime...he came last year to Joburg), and Andy's amazing brother Ben. Ben is getting married in September to one of my new best friends, Staci (HELLO STACI!). They will both be moving to Cape Town after the wedding to help manage our programs here.

So, Ben and Jaime came to the new fantastic apartment in New York for two days of training with Andy then Ben, Jaime, and I flew to London for a 13 hour layover. We put our stuff away in the pod hotel (called Yotel...very cool) and headed into Notting Hill for lunch with Andy's Michelle. We had a grand time then went back for a short nap before the 11 hour flight to Cape Town.

We're in a huge five-bedroom house here getting ready for our professional development programmes for educators and digital arts programs for students. More on that on the next blog. Ben, Jody, Jaime, and Beruk are in Kenya doing a follow-up to our recent Sara program while Charles, Ronel, and I are here filming in schools for our new programmes (again, as to keep this blog entry short, I'll describe what we're doing during this trip on the next blog entry). Our days are busy and filled with filming, cooking, editing, and creating documents for the workshops. Take a look at the attached photos to see Charles training Beruk, all of us celebrating Charles' 40th birthday, and some shots of us filming early learners at a local school.

More later! Erik

After the Lugufu Refugee Camp Digital Arts Program

Erik here. I am so happy to post Isack's latest blog. Get ready to be wowed. Here is what has happened. We went to Kigoma last year and taught students to make films. Isack took it upon himself to keep his education going. He then came to Dar es Salaam and assisted us in the workshop. He and Salley ran the second program in Kigoma a month ago. Finally, they took the computers and equipment to a Congolese refugee camp (Lugufu, near Kigoma) and taught students all on their own. Quite something. Here is Isack:

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Dear friends,

We are very sorry because we didn’t put information about our workshop because of the internet. We have finished the training and every thing going well according to our action plan. We taught them how to use computers, typing, and how to make movies. All participants made their own movies about different issues that face them and other people in their community.

I’m very happy to finish this workshop. Now my dream is coming true. I remember it was in 2007 when Erik, Andy, James and Gabriel come to teach us how to make movies. I was very happy to be one of the participants of the workshop because through the workshop now I can make movies about any issues and show it to the community. Since when I get the knowledge I have been teaching friends how to use digital cameras, to record video through flip cameras and to make movies. I was dreaming that one day I will be teaching young people how to make movies. I’m very happy because now I’m doing that to my community and other friends like Refugees.

Some children come and ask me many questions. These children ask me how to make movies, how to download pictures from digital cameras to the computer, and more. Some said “sorry brother, is this a video player?” I told them no this is a computer but it is looks like a video player. I like the question because if someone asks you a question it means that she/he wants to know about what she/he is asking for. What you’re supposed to do is educate and help them. As I was sitting with the kids after the training, some of them called me brother.

The Lugufu Refugees camp workshop was the best work I’ve done. During the training some parents came and asked me some questions. I liked all their questions. After the training we came together to make an action plan with them, but I faced a challenge. They told me that in September this year (2008) all refugees will go back to Congo. But when they will be in Congo they will start Roots & Shoots. Also they will produce movies about different issues so as to educate people. So how I can help them? I think I can talk with Erik, Andy Charles and Jody to see how we can help them when they will be back to their motherland.

The last day at Lugufu Refugees Camp was a good day because some students wanted to show the movies to their parents and other members of groups and to find which movie is the best among of other movie. On my side it was bad because I was thinking how I’m going to miss my friends in Lugufu Refugees Camp. It was a difficult time for me and my fellow teachers. I believe that one day I will see them if not at the camp it will be in Congo. After the lunch we met together to make an action plan. Every member contributed his/her views on how we can reach many people in short time and how we can teach other people in order to expand Digital Arts Alliance in the community.

After the meeting we went to the classroom to meet with parents and UNHCR and FPCT Fida members. We gave them an introduction about Digital Arts Alliance and we got question from them. Some asked me “why we are teaching young people to make movies?” I told them we believe that the future of coming generation is in the hand of young people so if we will use them we will make changes to the parents and other members of the community. Children are source of changes if their parents and other member of community will accept the advice given by young people through their movies. Soon we can make changes so everyone should play the role.

After many questions, students started to give introductions about the movies that they made. Then the parents started to watch. After that I asked the parents about the movies made by the students. “Dear parents and leaders from different institutes, thanks for joining with us today this is a last day for us to be here. You just watched the movies that the students made. Is it true that all this issues from our movie is found in our community?’ They said, “Yes all is true. All has happened.” I asked,

“Sorry, do you think that it is better to make changes?” They said, “Yes it is.”

That was the end of our workshop at Lugufu Refugees camp. Thanks to all people who send emails to give us congratulation. Thanks very much I’m proud for your effort, and on my side I want to say thanks to all the Pearson Foundation team, Mr. President Mark Nieker and all staffs. Also I want to say thanks for all people who support Pearson Foundation by any means, Giving funds, advice and all people who planned Digital Arts Alliance program for youth. We like it, and we are proud for you support. Thanks. Together we are going to make a world better place for people to live.

Lugufu Refugee Camp Digital Arts Project

FIRST DAY IN LUGUFU REFUGEES CAMP

Dear friends around the world.

Isack again. I know that you missed much news from our team in Lugufu as it is difficult to access the Internet. Erik and Andy now are in the USA. Salley and I have been busy with YAAPA group, too. YAAPA is a group of youth working for HIV/AIDS and Poverty eradication in local communities. Together we made a movie on War and HIV/AIDS problems in Africa that will be shown to local communities in Kigoma.

Salley and I are in Lugufu Refugees Camp. I’m very happy to have a special class session again with Refugees. I know that they have many worthy ideas to make movies that can educate others about peace and other life challenges facing them. The training is equipping members with skills so that they can make movies about different issues that affect positive changes to their lives.

When we arrived at Lugufu, we met Shadrach Meshach, a Roots & Shoots Lugufu coordinator. He welcomed us and introduced us to Roots & Shoots members and different officials from other partners. It was a pleasure to meet with them. At the training I asked if there is any one who knows how to use a computer and they said “we don’t know”. I asked them if they had dreams to make movies before our training plan, they said “yes but we didn’t have equipment and since that equipment is so expensive, it wasn’t easy for us to reach our dreams” I said to them, “Pearson Foundation in collaboration with Jane Goodall Institute-Roots & Shoots Program is now here to teach and make your dreams happen.” It is fantastic to see us helping youths on our own since when our Pearson Foundation team has empowered us to take action.

I was the first facilitator who taught computer introduction to participants. It was so tough because many members have no exposure to apply tools like computers!!

Up to the end of my first day all participant knew how to switch on and off the computer, to open some programs and to type. Tomorrow the will came at 10:00 for revision before starting a new topic.

SECOND DAY IN LUGUFU REFUGEES CAMP

In a second day now in Lugufu Refugees camp. Today Shadrach has taught them how to feature environmental and community problems on movies. Shadrach gave an introduction about the Digital Arts project and how to interview other participants to make them realize how movies have an influence to change the lives of people. Shadrach divided the participants into groups to open a discussion about the movies they were intending to make. Finally students came with common ideas. From my first hand experiences children here in Lugufu are so clever.

Salley has taught them how to use digital cameras and Flip videos. Every participant was exited with Salley’s lesson. They have taken those cameras and Flips with them home to take photos they would want to display in their movies. All days are seen very successfully to both members and teachers teams. Tomorrow will be my day. I shall teach them how to download photos from the camera to computers, and making movies as well. I am already prepared for the lesson hoping that things will be fine. So if you want to know more about Isack, Salley and Shadrach in Lugufu Refugees camp please stay with us, we hope that you will enjoy our programs that promoting to help people who are voiceless. See you next…….

Kenya's brilliant end.

Hello everyone.

This is Andy. Charles is at the airport right now picking up his family! They will be visiting us this week here in Johannesburg. We will be sure to give you all pictures of his family. I figure some of you are busy, so I will give you a speed-update on where we are at. If you want more details, you can read further. Here is my speed-update: We went to Kenya, the Pearson/Longman team there welcomed us, we worked VERY hard that week, the girls were amazing and strong, they learned a lot, we all cried, we said goodbye, they will get a new computer lab, and we are now in Johannesburg... WHEW! Ok, so if you want more details, keep reading.

When we first arrived to Kenya, we were amazed at how organized everything was for us. They provided a nice (somewhat too nice) hotel, transportation, all the way down to a well-planned movie night at the end of the week. Skipping to the end of the week; many of you read about some of the incredibly tough stories that some of the girls had to tell. We decided that it would be beneficial to bring in some counselors that could be with the girls long after our two-week residency. The counselors were amazing. They brought perspective and clarity to the entire process. We were all a bit worried that the movie making process had opened some wounds in the girls, so when the counselors came, it ensured that the girls had support long after the program was done.

The week ended with a brilliant film-festival, where the girls got to show their movies to a large group of friends, family, Pearson/Longman employees, and the media. We had television stations and newspapers there. Jody was even featured on the front page of a few newspapers. It was brilliant! The girls were all exited to be the stars of the show, and they all did a great job of presenting their movies. When all was said and done, the week was one of the most intense weeks for us yet, but it all paid off. We can’t wait for you all to see the final products. Stay tuned!

Isack Returns from the U.S.

Erik here. It's funny. Last year, I drove myself crazy trying to blog every night, so I decided to be not so pedantic about it this year. When you give yourself an out, you take it! We're busy and emotionally tired, so coming home to blog hasn't been a priority. That said, we're going to make a huge effort to do it more often, mainly because we want you all to know about our amazing kids. Andy will tell you about the end of our Nairobi trip, and Jody, Charles, and I will tell you about our wonderful new students in Johannesburg (where we are now). In the mean time, here is Isack, back from his trip to the U.S.!



ISACK (with Dr. Jane in the photo above).

Hello everyone,

This is Isack again. I’m back from Orlando, Florida USA. I’m very happy to have met with many people from different countries around the world. Also, we meet with Mama Jane Goodall and other JGI staff members from the USA. I was very happy to meet with Mary Lewis. Also I was very happy to meet with Adam Ray from the Pearson Foundation. Soon, I’m going to start my action plan for the community and also I will go to school. I was also very happy to meet with Dr. Julie of Berry College.

The Global Youth Summit 2008 helped join youth from different countries come together to discus how to protect our future. Now we’re friends! We talked about how to join our projects and how to work together to save our world. Thanks Dr. Jane Goodall! You’re amazing. Thanks for supporting Roots & Shoots.

Soon I will go to school to start my A Level education. I have to go to school because education is key in life. We need to have it for a better future. I will be in Arusha. I will be working with Roots & Shoots at the school. I hope that I will help students at the school to learn how to protect our environment.

I’m in Kigoma now. I had a meeting with the first Digital Art Alliance participants of 2007. I’m happy to hear that program is going well. Every Friday and Saturday they meet to discuss different projects. Now they have started Roots & Shoots NAELE. Roots & Shoots NAELE is a special group of Roots & Shoots member from secondary and primary schools who are joining together to learn how to make movies in order to educate the community about different important issues. I hope to meet with NAELE group today. NAELE is Natural Ambassadors of Environment, Life and Education. This is Amazing!!! It is going to start soon.

(This photos shows the members from the Roots & Shoots Pearson Foundation Digital Arts program in 2007. They are now meeting every week to teach others how to make movies.)

I hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for visiting our blog. Please stay with us. See you next time!

A short story about one of our girls.

Hello again from Nairobi. Charles will blog tomorrow with a wrap-up of our week here, but we've all been touched by so many of the girls' stories this week that I just had to jot one down. Most of the girls are in the Girl Guides and many of them live in orphanages. When we first saw them on Saturday, I thought, "Wow. Look at these girls in uniform! I wonder what their stories are like?..." After we introduced them to the Sara program and had them read the books, they started to write the narratives for their movies. It quickly became clear that there were some deep wounds in these emotional girls. One girl, Mary, started filming her narrative and quickly broke down. We pulled her aside with one of our counselors (thank goodness for the counselors), and it turned out that she was talking about things she'd never told anyone. In the story of Sara and The Trap (the book she was making a movie about), Sara almost falls into the clutches of a man who promises to pay her school fees. Mary fell into a similar trap, and have never talked about it. Over the next few days, it came out (with all of us and the counselor) that Mary had been abandoned by her mother at 2 months. She was forced into child labor by her caretakers, then her father came to get her. As a young girl, her stepmother abused her horribly. She made her sleep outside in the trash, burned her, forced her into labor on the streets, and wouldn't feed or clothe her. A neighbor boy saw her plight and eventually forced her to give up her body to him in promise for food...as she was starving. She had never talked about it. She was determined to tell her story so that other girls who were going through the same thing could feel some hope. She filmed and filmed, but it was so emotional that we couldn't hear her story through the crying. The counselor handled it well and today, Mary filmed the entire thing with pride and candor. At the end of her narrative, she said, "I have felt filthy and dirty for three years. But now, I am forgiving myself. I did nothing wrong. I was just surviving. You (she's speaking to other African girls here), can forgive yourself, too. I'm going to prosper, and you can too." It was a magical moment. The best news is that our hired counselors have agreed to give all of the girls free services for as long as they need them. It has been an emotional week, and we're all happy that these girls have had the chance to tell their stories, and also help other girls all across Africa. More from Charles tomorrow.

P.S. In keeping with my kidney stone and salmonella poisoning, my ankle was run over by our taxi driver yesterday. I have a slight sprain, and I look ridiculous with my crutches, but I have another story! It feels much better today so I'm convinced it is very slight.

Introducing Ronel

Hello Everyone, I am Ronel . I am honoured to be counted part of this team as project manager for Maskew Miller Longman and Pearson Education. I’m assisted by Tracey in Cape Town who has a strong financial & logistics background.

The best way to learn is jump into the deep end… so I find myself in Kenya during the Sara programme with the Girl Guides.

The combination of passionate trainers and courageous girls makes for powerful results. I’m inspired by the girls’ strength and their focus and urgency for their stories to make a difference in another girl’s life. Many have used statements like: ‘I now know I’m not alone’, ‘It is better to share’, ‘I feel relieved after telling my story’

Watching the team do what they do, I was struck by the manner they interlock. Their individual skill combined makes a strong team; supported by the Pearson, Longman, MML teams in each office who have displayed commitment and passion towards the program, sets the stage for great success. Again, reminded that a chain is as strong as their weakest link… I trust that our addition will strengthen it further.

The people of Kenya have captured my heart, sincere friendliness and honest interest in other human being is a rare quality which is the natural way of interacting. I hope to return soon.

Finally! A new blog entry.

ISACK

Hello everyone!

This is Isack again. I’m very sorry for our silence. We know that you need to know about our activities in Dar. But everyone on our team is busy! That’s why we are quiet. I’m very happy to work with Erik, Jody, Andy, and Charles. I think even myself, I’m supposed to be busy so as to help other people in my community. We have finished the training and every participant enjoyed the training. I’m very happy because now I’m a teacher. I will continue to assist other youth everywhere I go in my country or out of my country. In that case, I will start to tell my friends about how the Pearson Foundation is helping Roots & Shoots to make movies about different problems facing the community during the Jane Goodall Summit. I know that the Pearson Foundation is a friend of kids not in Tanzania only but everywhere in the world. We need to give them support.

All participants learned how to use computers. Some of them they didn’t know how to use computers, to take photos by using digital cameras, and to make movies with software. Every group makes movies about different problems.

Examples include illegal fishing, water pollution, etc. Participants made movies of not more than 90 seconds to use as public service announcements to educate people about different problems facing their community. I hope that when I come back to Dar, I will see some changes if community government can take action based on the public service announcements from Roots & Shoots members.

Lastly, participants came with their parents to celebrate the movies on the last day. Parents watched movies made by their children and even ate and drank together!!! All parents liked the movies. The honorable guest of the event told Mr. Erik on behalf of Pearson Foundation to expand this program to other region in Tanzania .

Hey, time is over!!!! Now I supposed to go to find dinner. Today, I want to eat UGARI then I will come back to continue with my work. Can I tell you what I’m doing? During the training I was busy recording video about visiting and training. Now I have finished editing a movie about the orphanage, Yatima. I had 45 minutes of footage, but had to edit it down to only 6 minutes with meaning. I am now a movie editor! Thanks everyone for visiting our blog.

JODY

Greetings from Nairobi! We flew from Dar on Wednesday, which was a quick one hour flight. The highlight of the flight was seeing Mount Kilimanjaro rising up above the clouds as we were flying. Charles has spent the last few weeks starting to get into shape to climb to the peak in September, despite scary stories that the final 50 meters usually takes something like 12 hours to crawl to the top… However, after seeing how far up into the sky he would have to go, as well as a lovely Kenyan waiter informing us that it really is a terrible climb; Charles is now focusing his efforts on surmounting the Mount Kenya, and building strong muscles to embrace his wife.

We arrived safely and immediately started working with the brilliant Longman Kenya team in preparation for the Sara program which we started today. We are working in partnership with Kenya Girl Guides and SOS Children's Village who have helped identify 20 girls from around Nairobi and mentors from their organizations to participate in the digital arts program. Everyone is incredibly organized and excited about this week's residency and the girls today were full of energy and creative ideas for the movies they are going to make. We are all really looking forward to developing the program this week and working with this great group.

My personal highlight since we've been here was my birthday-eve celebration on Thursday evening. We met up with two of my Ethiopian 'brothers' who have been living in Nairobi the past few years, and went to a very fun dance place downtown – a live band from DRC who had some very good tunes and dance moves, good conversation and the feeling that I had arrived into a warm family who all look after each other…I guess it's a good time to be another year older. Ha!

We will write more towards the end of this week with stories about the girls and perhaps an adventure or two!

ANDY

Hello all. It has been a crazy ride so far. We finished our residency in Dar es Salaam on Friday last week. We ended the program with an amazing celebration at the Jane Goodall Institute offices. The proud students showed their movies to a crowd of dignitaries, teachers, media and family. The movies ranged from how to reuse plastic bags, to an announcement that fishing with explosives hurts our environment.

It was quite amazing to watch everyone take the project as their own. I think the most exciting part of our experience in Dar was to watch the students we had last year become the teachers this time. They did an amazing job, and made us very proud. Speaking of amazing people, Isack is now making his final preparations before he leaves to America. If you happen to be in Orlando next week, drop by and say hello to him!

Earlier in the week, we had all faced a few health issues, the worst of which was Erik passing a kidney stone with no pain killers. Brilliant. After recovering from these issues, we are all happy to be healthy and doing just fine.

We had met a famous rap artist in Tanzania, who came to talk to motivate the students. His name is Fid Q. We agreed to go with him to Zanzibar to make a music video with him. It actually turned out to be less expensive to stay in Zanzibar than in Dar, so we got back on the ferry and headed back to the island. We had a great weekend, met some amazing people, watched some amazing music, and finished most of a music video. We then packed up and got on the plane to Kenya.

ERIK

We have much to report from Kenya. Things are going really well. We have 21 amazing girls with some very emotional stories. We’ve been lucky in that we have two counselors with us to take care of the girls who are telling their stories for the first time. Overall, it has been emotional for all of us, but the girls are all strong and totally focused on getting their stories out so that they can help girls who are in similar situations. To avoid this blog entry going on and on, I’ll leave it at that and tell you more in a couple of days.

Isack, Part Two

Hello

It is Isack again. First of all, I would like to say thanks to all the people who have written emails to support my ideas. Example: Erik’s Mother! I need your support and advice because nobody is perfect but through your ideas and advice I will be closer! If we want to get development we must join our heads together. We are not supposed to think about our color, our traditions, or anything. I believe that all people are equal. We are living in one house called our world.

I am now moving forward through the digital arts program. At the last training in Kigoma (2007) I was a student. But now I’m a teacher! I am not alone. There are other 2007 Digital Arts participants from Dar es Salaam teaching, too. I like to assist other Roots & Shoots members because Erik told us that we are supposed to teach our friends about how to make movies. Erik now is watching how we are working. He is not teaching like last year, because we are. Andy, Erik, Jody, and Charles give us advice for teaching, but they let us do it our own way. I’m very happy to teach Roots & Shoots members.

If many of us can teach other Roots & Shoots members and friends like what we are doing now with this project, we are going to reach many kids and youths in Tanzania, then all of Africa, and finally all of the world in a few years. In that case many kids and youths will make movies about problems facing people within their communities. Thanks to the Pearson Foundation and Roots & Shoots for selecting us to assist other members about Digital Arts training. It is one stage forward in this amazing world.

Tomorrow we are going to see movies made by Roots & Shoots members. Stay with us on our blog http://www.africaprograms2008.blogspot.com/. I’m sure you will enjoy many things about our Africa Programs, 2008!

Hello from Isack

(Erik here...)



Please meet Isack! As Charles already explained, Isack is amaaaazing. We met him last year in Kigoma and we all agreed that Isack is to be the next president of Tanzania! Isack has been traveling with the movie he made last year (often over 90 kilometers from Kigoma) to villages where many refugees are learning from him. He presents workshops on everything from HIV/AIDS to environmental degradation. He has been asked to attend the Jane Goodall Institute Youth Summit in Florida in April. It will be his first time out of Tanzania! We are making a short film about the Roots & Shoots programs and how the digital arts programs can come together to affect change in local communities. Isack has done this and is finding great results. Charles will post Isack’s short film on the blog when it is finished. Here is the first part of Isack's blog, he’ll add more tonight.







Hi!

This is Isack now. This is the first time for me to write a blog. Since I joined with Erik, Andy, Charles and Jody everything is going well. I’m free to ask any technical advice if I find any problems during my work. The important thing that I learned about them is that they are friendly. Everyone…every student loves them.

I’m very happy to work with them and now I have a confidence about everything that I do. I hope during the Jane Goodall Summit in the U.S. that people coming to it can get many things from me. I will prepare a short movie which shows how The Pearson Foundation helps Roots & Shoots members to make movies about different problems which face the community…example: environmental problems, water pollution, land pollution, etc. I’m sure if people can watch these movies and follow the advice of Roots & Shoots members, soon we are going to make a difference and our world will be a good place for everyone to live. This is what Pearson Foundation and Roots & Shoots are doing.

On October this year I’m going to make movie about war. It will be about how war is a source of poverty and under-development in Africa and in the world. I’m sure I will help people to understand about problems facing people during war. I have the confidence and I believe that I can do that.


I will write more tonight after I help Erik, Andy, Jody, and Charles teach the Roots & Shoots members to make movies.

Welcome to the Blog, 2008!

We have two wonderful additions to the team this year. Jody Henderson and Charles Nyembe. You’ll remember both of them from last year’s blog. We met Charles in Botswana for the Read for the Record filming with Kelly Hu and Mitch Allen. Charles blew us away with his professionalism and videography skills. Jody was working with Pact Ethiopia in Gambella when we did our student residency last year. She and Andy had become good friends during his nine months as orphanage coordinator. When we left Charles in Botswana, we promised not to forget him. When we left Jody, we told her that we’d love to have her on the team. Et, voila! They are both working with us and we couldn’t be happier.

Charles is from Zimbabwe. He’s worked for television stations and a wide variety of video productions for film. His wife and two daughters are still in Zimbabwe, struggling to acquire the simplest of daily needs. If you’ve watched the news about the challenges there, you’ll have a very small glimmer of realization when it comes to what they’re up against. That said, it is great to see Charles Western Union money to his family knowing what it really means to them all.

Charles is an extremely bright man with an astounding grasp of the English language. His footage is inspiring and he has a way with kids that is so fun to watch. I’ve learned much from him already. Having never seen an ocean before, it was great to see him in awe of the sea in Zanzibar (more on that below). You’ll hear from him often and I know you’ll look forward to his blog entries every time you log on!

Jody is simply a joy to be around. She has the most mesmerizing eyes of light blue and green water and has already earned her keep with her organization and writing skills. When we were in Gambella, her project management and people skills came shining through. We would visit her at the Pact offices daily to go over the details of the residencies and it was clear that she could juggle 304 things at one time. She has a great deal of experience working in Africa on education, peace building, HIV/AIDS, and girls’ empowerment through capacity building. She’s been to 34 countries and knows the ins-and-outs of Africa in a way that Andy and I are just now starting to understand. She’s going to be a great help. She is from the U.K. (with an English dad and a Swedish mum) and is together with Beruk, a cool man now living in Addis Ababa, waiting for his wife to come home during breaks. You’ll meet Beruk soon! My favorite thing about Jody is her ready laugh and positive outlook. You’ll instantly see that when you read her blog entry.

Andy is, of course, here and in charge of the residencies. He learned so much last year and has developed a teaching style that keeps me in awe. In side news, Andy has been accepted into the Lee Strasburg Actors Studio in New York and will be attending his first courses in June. He will soon be in the company of some pretty darn good alumni, including Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Scarlet Johansen (he is, of course, hoping she comes back for follow-up courses). Only 22% of applicants are accepted. Mr. Andy has his work cut out for him. But, the best thing about him going to the Academy is his motivation for doing so. He’d love to open a sports complex in Gambella as well other programs across Africa. This is a means toward accruing enough money to help his friends in Ethiopia. Very cool. We have three series of programs going on this year, and he’ll come back for the third leg.

We decided to take the short boat ride to Zanzibar to train Jody and Charles as it turned out to be just as inexpensive as staying in Dar. We’ve just returned and are starting our program tomorrow with Roots & Shoots students. Can’t wait!

We are now doing projects in Dar es Salaam, Kenya, Joburg, Kigoma, and Gambella. During the second series, we’ll go to more locations in South Africa and also Zambia. Jaime will be along for that trip, after Andy trains him in New York. During the third leg, we’ll go to Nigeria, Tanzania, Cape Town, and a couple of places to be determined. I’ll tell you more about the programs we’re doing on the next blog entry as it is now time to turn this over to Jody, Andy, and Charles.

Jambo…Erik

JODY

Greetings! Erik had a brilliant idea and decided that we should travel the short distance to Zanzibar for team-building and digital arts training for the upcoming programs…

We got a taxi to the seaport at 5.30am. Erik had been awake for hours preparing his stuff and running around to wake us all up, but we all woke up immediately as soon as we arrived at the port – there were people everywhere trying to get onto the ferries – a colourful hustle and bustle. We decided to sit up on deck to watch our journey over the beautiful turquoise Indian Ocean, which seemed even more magical as it was the first time for Charles to see the sea up close and also to travel by boat. Andy fell asleep (we have learned from Erik that this is a common phenomenon) whilst we chatted, spotted some dolphins playing on the break waves (another first, this time for me and Charles) and then we had a small-world-moment when Ethiopian singer Jonny Raga emerged from the VIP section and we had a little chat. In 2006 we (when I was with Pact Ethiopia) organized a Peace Day Concert in Gambella and had arranged for Jonny and another singer Shewandagn to share a room in the ‘best’ hotel in town. They had been slightly distressed with that prospect, so it was good to know that now Jonny was traveling in comfort and style!

The port in Zanzibar was as busy and bustling as Dar. Erik remained in his ‘calm still place’ where he is protected from ‘the rough seas’ all around him. And then we set off for our one hour taxi ride to…Mapenzi Beach Club. Let me take you back…when preparing for our trip, the travel agent in Dar informed us that as this would be Easter weekend, all accommodation on the island was fully booked and the only rooms available were at the Mapenzi, so we went ahead and booked. As we drove past the beautiful old buildings of central Zanzibar and Stone Town, none of us had anticipated what was awaiting us; the Mapenzi – a huge Italian-owned-Italian-run-Italian-fueled-and-Italian-filled complex. It looked idyllic; however, all of us were deeply upset and disappointed by such faux extravagance, a posh and plush exclusive ‘island’ within the island of Zanzibar. We all went through ups and downs those couple of days but aimed to seek out and focus on the positives…. So, we taught Charles how to swim, Charles spent hours every evening exploring the ocean as Andy, Erik and I enjoyed a sunset glass of wine whilst avoiding the tourist sarong party nearby. We spent our days learning about our Pearson Programs for this year and Charles, videographer-genius, showed me how to make my first film. Andy spent many hours going through the details of the digital arts programs, and Erik covered the educator professional development workshops. I only had one little incident where I fell with the camera and cut my knee (but, saved the camera!) yet that only enriched the result with has become a comic classic entitled ‘Mapenzi – the African Dream’…. And for added comic-linguistic amusement – Mapenzi means love in Swahili, goodness-knows-what in Italian, and most suitably, crazy in Shona (Charles’ mother tongue).

Finally, we escaped into Stone Town in the centre of Zanzibar and had a lovely day walking around the old alleys, chatting with different people from the island and decided that we preferred this reality far more than our confinement in Little Italy. So, we found a small hostel, packed up our bags, and moved into Stone Town. We made friends with a guy Suleiyman who works with tourists and also supports government-run projects with young people and another guy called Jackson who takes tourists on tours around the islands, and enjoys his beers in the evenings. We learned a little about Zanzibar-Mainland and tourist-Zanzibar dynamics, about many people from Zanzibar not being allowed to go to the more exclusive ‘third floor’ of many of the bars and clubs and how many people come to set up business and invest on the island rather than investing in the people and communities of the island. But we also found a chilled-out friendliness and openness in a very beautiful old town.

Our return journey was very relaxed as we had all internalized Erik’s ‘calm still place’ concept and we were all geared up to finally begin our programs. We spent an hour at the port in Dar waiting to get a taxi in the heavy warm rain; but despite the wait, there was a ‘reason’ as Andy suddenly realized he’d left his bag on the boat and had to rescue it, and we had another adventure awaiting us………

ANDY

This is Andy now. It’s my job to tell you about our little adventure after Zanzibar…..

After waiting for an hour for the taxi to take us back to the hotel, we spent the next two hours stuck in stopped traffic. Well, the rest of the traffic was stopped, but our driver drove us through the city like it was one large rollercoaster; we drove backwards and in ditches and went the wrong-way-round-roundabouts while Charles played solitaire on the computer and Jody put on some of her dad’s cool country songs for us to listen to as we rode surreally towards ‘home’. It was pouring with fat rain and every road seemed to be covered in two feet of water; it was like driving through a city built in the middle of a lake. We got within about a mile of our hotel when our taxi driver and a car next to us collided. It was more of a slow scrape than a collision, but the other driver (a young kid with a semi-American accent) decided that since traffic wasn’t moving anyway, it would be a good time to start a heated discussion with our driver. We waited in the car for an hour while the police came to try to mediate. Unfortunately the computer battery had died so we were solitaire-less and Jody’s-dad-less. We were feeling frustrated and unable to get involved because all of us had been dreaming of a good nights sleep and listening to country classics about loved ones and heartache, and so had actually missed the crash. We all guessed that our driver was the ‘culprit’ of the crash by trying to get between the two lines of traffic to kindly speed us home, but in our hearts we all hoped that it was the American-accented cocky kid who had hit us. Anyway, finally we decided to just walk the rest of the way to our hotel. It had taken us three hours to get that far, so another twenty minutes of walking wouldn’t be that bad.

We started our journey on foot weaving through traffic. It was about 9:30pm at that point. The four of us were dragging our luggage through the muddy streets while it was raining. I think we were on a mission to get back to the hotel one way or another. The sides of the streets were flooded with water, so we had to walk in the middle with traffic slowly moving on either side. We got within a quarter-mile of our hotel when we realized that the entire road was literally under three feet of water. There was nothing for us to do but keep going. We shifted the luggage so that Charles had all four laptop bags, another side satchel and a small camera bag all draping over him, and Erik and I both had two heavy suitcases. Jody simply struggled with her Ethiopian hand-bags while trying to remain balanced. Erik is a bit fitter than I am, so he was able to carry the bags with his hands while wading through the lake. I realized quickly that I would end up dropping the bags in the muddy water… so I tried the cool technique of balancing one suitcase on my head, while carrying the other one – a little trick I picked up in Gambella but which I haven’t quite refined. I almost dropped Jody’s suitcase twice.

We got to the parking lot of the hotel, where there was an island of pavement half way through. Erik got his two suitcases there, and I subsequently stumbled there as well. Charles was wading through the water with Jody. Charles yelled at me “Andy, stop standing there and help me with these bags!” So I went over to help him and Jody walk through the lake when Jody almost disappeared into the middle of the parking lot lake. I went to help her up, and she said “Help help! I think I just stepped into a sewer!” We rescued Jody and finally met up with Erik and walked drenched into the hotel. The amazingly hospitable hotel staff looked at us and cracked up. It was quite a sight… but one that I will remember for a long time. And, Jody asked that I add as a foot note that when she asked me to check in the morning if it really had been a sewer, we were happy to find that it was just a large, sewer-less hole.

Charles

Mambo Vipi! I joined Pearson Foundation after having been working in TV production for 15 years. It was becoming more and more monotonous. I wanted something different and just like that here comes Erik and Andy to Botswana, the year 2007, September the 13^th to be precise. As fate might have it, I was the videogragher on their first ever African leg. Though I covered only one residency, to me this was the only ship which still had sails on. Teaching kids on video production was such a great concept and if possible I had to join and go along for the ride. Hence, I’m here today.

A few weeks ago, I came to Dar es Salaam for the first time. Here I was in this big seaport city, a far off cry from my lovely Gaborone, Botswana, which is also very different from Harare the capital of Zimbabwe in which I grew up. The day I arrived, Dar was hot. I was hit by a blanket of hot air and from the air-conditioned inside of a plane in which I had been for about two hours, this was something else. Earlier on I had left Harare airport in the cool morning hours and no one had advised me on such weather conditions. I got into a cab and we zigzagged our way in a traffic jam, the likes of which I had never witnessed before, to my hotel. To find your way with ease in Dar, I would advise a newcomer to study Kiswahili prior to the visit. Friendly people they are and well accommodating if you’re a visitor but language is the big barrier.

Well my days were not eventful until Erik and Andy came then Jody arrived last. So after a slow start adjusting to the heat and newness, suddenly the busy times began!

For today, I would like to introduce you to Isack whom Erik has always been emphasizing as being amazing; Erik even drags on the word amaziiing trying to put his point through! I was just awaiting for the day to come when I would meet this huge, so to say, young man…

We were in a cab from the Pearson Office, sweltering in the car, Jody, Andy and me going to the Jane Goodall Foundation (JGI) offices to meet Erik who had been there for some meetings. By the way Dar can go to the extremes of all weather conditions I think. Though winter hasn’t befallen me here yet, what I have experienced in the few weeks I have been here is something to write home about. Rain comes in torrents and heat does in waves. Well, it was hot as I was saying and we finally got to JGI. Erik was outside with three youths, local Swahili boys in t-shirts who were also suffering from the heat. Erik jumped into the car, in the back seat as usual where they are always squeezing each other. I’ve got the privilege of always being given the front seat whenever seating conditions are not very favorable because of my posture, which I’m working on! When Erik got in, the other door was opened also which meant either someone was getting out or somebody was getting in. The latter was true. One of Erik’s youths was joining us, which was not a concern to me anyway; my seat was well preserved so being squeezed to me was out of question. Introductions were made as usual and to my surprise we were on the same ride with Mr. Isack. The so called amazing Isack! To myself I just thought this could be one of Erik’s jokes but true to the fact, here was the young man. Ahhh! Truly amazing!

Jody and I sat down with Isack and he started to tell us his story, his works with JGI, his achievements, his goals, his ambitions. He showed us video clips he had shot, photos he had taken of projects he initiated and he told us of projects he intends to implement. He kept on and on, explaining every single shot on his memory stick. Truly speaking, one needs to meet this young genius to come to terms with what I’m saying.

Isaac is aged 24 with a very petite body and beautiful face. When he is thinking, he has a little furrow between his eyebrows. He grew up in rural Tanzania and only migrated to an urban setup of Kigoma where he was to do his secondary education, staying with his father who was a soldier. His town life was short lived because his mother recalled him back home to stay with her to finish his secondary. They found his father dead when Isaac was writing his Ordinary Level exams of which, despite the odds that had befallen him, he passed very well. Without a father and no other sibling who was able to support the family, life turned upside down for Isaac. With his good results still he could not find anyone willing to assist him in pursuing his education. He then approached Mr. Revocutus Edward who was the JGI Roots & Shoots projects coordinator. Being known for his hard work he was given a one year contract as a volunteer with 20 clubs under his armpit. Just to take you back, a volunteer is a non-salaried worker who receives a daily allowance for food, travel expense and accommodation whilst working on projects. In that year he steered his projects so well that the following year he was granted a two year contract now managing 40 clubs. During this tenure that’s when he met the digital arts team when they were in Kigoma last year.

In rural Tanzania Television is not accessible to every household. According to Isaac, there is about one TV set to two hundred people. Literacy levels are not very high also so Isack having gone through the Digital Arts program saw it as a strong media to bring awareness to the rural population since it encompasses everyone – those who are literate and non-literate, old and young. So has been going to many places, some more than a hundred kilometers away on a rowing boat, showing and teaching people about Digital Arts. His vision then is to work with the local youth on Digital Arts, working with them to film issues which are relevant to them and their community. He then works with the young people to call the village together for a free film show where they create awareness on the issues raised and hold community discussions to identify action points for how they can work together to address these issues.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be making a video with Isack about his work and his brilliance. Watch this spot so that you can see him in action!