Scenes from OLQP

Here are some pictures taken by a recent visitor, AJ Cabrera. The first two were taken from the Land Cruiser on our way up to the university from our campus -- you get a sense of who our closest neighbors are and the conditions under which they live.

The remaining pictures of from a visit to the site a couple of weeks ago. AJ and his colleague Steph from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (International) USA came to check us out. Accompanying the three of us were a group of Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea, Italy. Their novitiate is just down the road from the Jesuit parish and their provincialate a bit further down the road in the village of Veyula.

We're hoping that they'll be our colleagues, directing boarding, serving in the girls' dormitory, and serving as the school nurse. I will be so happy when their collaboration is confirmed. It was last February when I was a a diocesan meeting of the religious of Dodoma that I first met them. I turned to my Jesuit companion and asked, "Who are those sisters?" I wanted to know because they obviously delighted in one another's company -- formators and junior sisters and novices all. As I've come to know them, this first impression has only been confirmed. Like the Society, they are an international congregation, and this fact is another thing that commends them re: working with us. This year they are celebrating 100 years on the continent and 50 years in Tanzania.

So, do you think it will be done by the third week of January? Say your prayers!

Catching Up

After the whirlwind of the last weeks, I've spent the last days trying to catch up on other things than admissions -- like following up with faculty whom I am in the process of hiring, working on the article that I write about here (but don't actually write!), etc.

I have had only one set of parents come in upset that their child was not admitted. "We just don't understand it: our daughter's in the top ten percent at her primary school." I tried to counsel them and ease their pain. Wisely, they weren't satisfied with the balm I offered and asked to see the actual test. When I showed them their daughter's entrance test answer sheets they replied that the writing was not their daughter's. And then I noticed the number on the test: 195.

There was a glitch somewhere along the line, and we had ended up with two 195's. I'd solved the problem by adding an "A" to the number to distinguish the two. The problem was that in the space provided on the answer sheets, candidate 195A wrote not the examination number issued by us for this examination but the national examination number. I did what I thought was good detective work, but in fact I switched scores between the two students. The girl ended up with the score of a boy who had the worst performance of anyone on the test -- and he with hers (rather higher in ranking!).

The parents were ecstatic to find this out -- as was I because it means one more girl in the school. As soon as they left I realized what I was faced with: calling the parents of the boy who was moved in the opposite direction from chosen to not chosen. I decided the best thing to do was just to send an SMS, explain that there was a clerical error and that they should come to my office. The father came this morning. I was ready for ugliness and was warned by folks that there most certainly would be. Not only no ugliness but instead understanding and gratitude that I had reached out in such a professional way. Whew!

Other parents have stopped by thanking me for he decision. The fact of the matter is that decisions were all made blindly. Names only appeared at the very end of the process. It is nice, nonetheless, to have a chance to meet parents of our future students.

Not everyone who stopped by to say thank you was a parent. The superior general ("mama mkuu") of the St. Gemma sisters stopped by thankful that one of their sisters will be among the students in Form One. Yep, you read that correctly. Many sisters come to religious congregations from the villages, having finished only primary school.

Just moments ago four mothers whose daughters have received tuition assistance at St. Ignatius Primary School came by to thank me in the absence of Sossy for all the help they've received over the years. They were very gracious. Couched, of course, in their expression of gratitude was a plea for continued help now at the secondary level. I thanked them for coming in and for their gracious words and explained that though financial aid decisions were not mine to make, grants would be prioritized and that I was certain their own history at SIPPS would be factored in.

Crazy, exhausting, but ultimately rewarding days. Now to get back to writing the article that refuses to write itself.

One final comment about the entrance test. I spoke with two faculty members and Sr. Euphrasia from SIPPS. They mentioned that our admission's test scores almost perfectly matched the academic performance of the students at school. This made me happy: If you're going to use examination to make admissions decisions, it's good to have one that parallels actual performance, no?

Karibu Saint Peter Claver High School

For some reason some folks meant to go to another site are ending up here.

Families who received an SMS re: a welcome to Saint Peter Claver High School, Dodoma, should click here.

Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

Those words are in the imperative mood; they aren't a suggestion, they're a command. Yikes!

My heart was troubled yesterday morning -- "the best laid plans..." I was so proud that I'd figured out such an easy way to inform out of town folks of their status at 6 a.m. yesterday, using SMS sent out in batches using wireless broadband. When I went to do so, I realized I had 0 bytes in my account. I arrived at the Vodafone shop two hours later; and after waiting for twenty minutes for the shop to open, I bought the cheapest plan so I could get the information to families waiting for it.

I got home to find out that I couldn't send any messages. And then, the power went out. Finally at 3 p.m. I returned to the Vodafone shop, where the very helpful salesperson who sold me the plan despite knowing what I needed and that it was useless for what I needed, sold me an additional plan (very cheap, mind you) for SMS messages. Finally at 4:30, after many families had already been contacted by phone, I got the SMS messages out.

Thought it didn't work, it did work. What do I mean? That the SMS had listed a website (a blogger page, actually) with results, criteria for decisions, etc. For those accepted there was a link to Google documents where they could download the same documents people here in Dodoma were receiving. Already this morning there have been many visitors to the site.

Frustrating, yes; but ultimately it was an okay day (even restful in some ways given that I avoided the office -- knowing from previous experience it is better not to be available to meet on the day of publication of decisions, giving disappointed parents a day to cool down -- and given we had no electricity). Of course, not having electricity meant that I could not work on the article due in two days for a Spanish journal -- hoping to be able to spend some time on that.

This week I'll be trying to tie up some loose ends re: hiring faculty, dealing with the admissions process, and generally trying not to let my heart be troubled. (I'm reminded as I write that of Emily Dickenson's line: "'Consider the lilies' is the only commandment I ever obeyed.")

Mtoto Wako Amechaguliwa

There will be many parents happy to read those words tomorrow, Monday, morning: "Your child has been chosen." Others won't be so happy when they read "Mtoto hakuchaguliwa" -- "Your child was not chosen." And I hope others are hopeful when they read "second selection," otherwise known as wait-listed.

Our turn-around time would be quick by US standards -- within ten days of testing. By Tanzanian standards we are slower than the slowest tortoise regarding announcing admissions decisions. No apologies from me in that regard. I've taken the time to correct exams (with some great help), develop criteria, fine-tune documents, and prepare for the announcement.

When our gates here at the parish compound close tonight, I will post the results so they will be available for viewing tomorrow. At 6:00 a.m. I will inform those out of town by SMS of their status -- and in the absence of a school website, I will direct folks to go to a blogger site for further information (e.g., the criteria used for admission, their child's scores, and for those admitted instructions re: registration, etc.).

Disappointments? One great one: that we didn't have more girls test. We have accepted only 65, even after applying different criteria. That is 5 fewer than we need for a complete class. In the coming weeks we'll figure out how to proceed.

On Wednesday I'll be available for appeals -- I will have put on my armour and chilled my heart, so I think I'll be ready. In these next two days while I'm evading disappointed parents a bit, I'll be finishing an article about education and development for a Spanish journal. Thursday is a national holiday (Nyerere Day -- my favourite national holiday!); I'll spend it with some friends (a mix of ex-pats and Tanzanians involved in work with ngo's and at local hospitals) at a picnic site on a lake about 40 kilometres outside of the city. I spent Friday evening with this same crew eating kiti moto (pork) and solving all the world's troubles -- it was a needed break after some few hellacious weeks.

Soon we'll be putting to use the generosity of so many, offering assistance to those families who need it in order to attend Saint Peter Claver High School at Our Lady Queen of Peace Educational Centre.

And that, my friends, is all the news that's fit to print.

We Passed

Folks are asking how the entrance examinations went on Saturday. We passed with flying colors.

I was very pleased, and the parents were as well. Things were orderly, and many parents mentioned to me that such order was a welcome change given their experience at other schools. However, some of the good order can be attributed to few students. We had about twenty students who did not show up for the examination. I had prepared two different times because we could only accommodate so many at the primary school. In fact, all of our candidates would have had places in the morning. Oh well.

The testing on Saturday was followed by correcting on Sunday. There were six hired correctors from a local teaching institute. They were very efficient, and the correcting was completed by 4:00 p.m. I spent Monday doing data entry and figuring out criteria for admission and working on our "joining instructions," a document that lays out the requirements for registration, etc.

Parents are clamoring for results. Because I had announced that they would be posted on 11 October, I feel duty-bound to keep that date. Not everyone made the cut, so some will be disappointed. It will be a test for my cold heart. I think I can manage.

I have also had the opportunity to hire another science teacher, Mwalimu Esther Said. She did a fine job teaching a lesson to Class Six at St. Ignatius Primary School. Still waiting to hear from some others to whom I have offered contracts.

And that is a quick update.

Entrance Examinations

Wow! It's been years since I've been involved in organizing such -- and even at that, I always had a admissions director to do the brunt of the work.

Tomorrow we have our entrance examination. We don't know exactly how many will show up. It could be as many as 267 students taking the examination for 140 spaces.

I've planned for every eventuality. Walked through the day in my mind repeatedly. I think we're prepared, but as one of my teachers from language school just reminded me, "Remember, this is Tanzania."
More when I come up for air!