JacksGap is here!

What a crazy week it has been here in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. We have accomplished so much since arriving just six days ago. We are so excited to have had the opportunity to work with JacksGap and are looking forward to some great improvements in the upcoming weeks.

The members of our Students Empowering Students program have completed several Skype calls with multiple schools in America, including Glastonbury High School, Covenant Preparatory School, and Whately Elementary School. We have had some great Q/A sessions about our culture similarities and differences, and exchanged a couple songs with one another. The connections have been a lot of fun on both sides and we look forward to using Skype more in the future.

Yesterday we were able to visit both Mnindi Primary and Magagoni Primary Schools, two campuses that Asante Sana for Education has built in rural areas around Bagamoyo. We were fortunate enough to see the six classes of Mnindi Primary School in session. Mnindi Primary School’s grand opening was on December 11, 2014. Now the campus is used to educate over 140 students and is home to four teachers. We had a very successful meeting with the village elders and our local contractors, and look forward to making some great improvements to the school in the near future. (Also keep an eye out for video footage that JacksGap obtained using drone cameras....so cool!)

Since arriving, we’ve also made some amazing progress at AMAP Preschool. Two days ago, we were able to approve a project to get electricity at the school, which would give the students access to three more classrooms! The electricians didn’t waste any time and started the project yesterday. We can’t wait to see the final product.

To celebrate, we brought many of the 90 AMAP students to the beach for some fun, which included some football and playing in the ocean with the Asante Sana For Education staff. It was perfect weather and everyone had a great time.