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Letters from EA Travelers
Charles Wabwire, Harry Stein, Mabel Lee,
Michael Panter, Fran Vavrus
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Charles Wabwire Dear TEAA members, Greetings from the horn of Africa. It is heartwarming to see the fire lit by the TEAA team burning brighter every day. I have read through various articles posted on the [TEAA] website - they rekindle fond memory of my home Uganda and my experiences as teacher training student in Tanzania. I am proud to be associated with the team of grey-haired educationists who contracted this incurable passion for education in East Africa. I am currently pursuing the same path it seems. I am working with a project to establish a teacher training system in Somaliland [Northwest Somalia state]. And I am already learning that there comes that moment when you begin to develop a strong attachment to a people - with a passion to make a difference in the lives of others [especially children] not as fortunate as you were. I will send a brief of what I am doing - I know it is outside the geographical territory of TEAA - But I have no doubt it lies well within the TEAA spiritual boundaries. Best regards, Charles Wabwire. Harry Stein Ed: I am returning to Kenya for work with government higher education institutions in January. The focus is on instructional strategies that improve both learning and memory. I will be both in Nairobi and at Moi University in Eldoret and other nearby teacher education centers. It is a short, packed trip. On another trip I would like to visit Tanzania and some schools that the organization supports. Best wishes. Harry Stein, TEA, Kapsabet Boys High School, 1963-1966. Mabel Lee Hi Ed, It's always good to hear from you! I just wanted you to know that I am preparing for my third assignment in Malawi. This time I will be going to a different college, Mzuzu., very close to the Tanzanian border. My date for departure has been set for January, '07. It's good to get ready to go back after having been home since June of '05. I am still with IFESH, the agency based in Arizona. Love to all, Mabel Michael Panter Dear Ed, My son is as I write, hopefully, about half way up Kilimanjaro. He is leading a group of five British climbers, members of his church and other friends, who are climbing alongside a similar number of Kenyans from Nairobi; they are aiming to raise money to buy a much needed bus for a new school, Church Army Academy, being built on the edge of Kibera slum, in Nairobi. They had between them raised just over half of the 20,000 pounds required before leaving UK last Wednesday, but are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up the momentum. I am writing to ask if there are any of your readers who would like to support this brave venture and help the teachers at the Academy in their aim to provide a balanced education for some of the desperately needy children in this vast slum. You can find more information about this expedition through his church website - www.christchurch-hernebay.info/kilimanjaro, and you can contribute online to www.justgiving.com/nigelpanter. I was in TEA from 1963-71, initially studying at Makerere College in Kampala and then teaching in two schools in Kenya, Machakos school for 4 years and 2 more at St Mary's school, Yala. I was married soon after reaching Machakos and our 3 children were born while we were there. This is our son's first opportunity to return to the country of his birth, although our daughter chose to spend her honeymoon in Kenya! Thank you for reading this and especially many thanks to any who feel able to send any financial support too. Michael Panter (now living near Nottingham - no not in Sherwood Forest!) Update July 4th. Most made it successfully to the top, but not without a tremendous effort. Also the much needed rainy season began on their first day of climbing, falling as snow above the saddle!! See photos on the website. Last week the bus was delivered to the school, amid wild cheers from the children. However about 3,000 pounds remains to be raised to pay for it. Further support is still much appreciated. Fran Vavrus Dear Ed, I'm not a TEAA member but would like to submit something for the newsletter, if it is not too late. As a professor of Comparative and International Educational Development at Teachers College, Brooks and I have communicated a number of times during the past few years about Africa-related activities at TC. I thought TEAA members might want to know that a TC faculty member will be in Moshi, Tanzania from August 2006-June 2007 as a Fulbright Scholar at a newly upgraded teachers' college: Mwenge University College of Education (MWUCE) in Moshi. This year, MWUCE began its first bachelor's degree program, in addition to its 2-year diploma program for future secondary school teachers in the sciences, especially biology and geography. Should any TEAA members wish to visit MWUCE or, if they are career teachers, teach a 5-week module at the college, please contact me at fkvavrus@gmail.com I will not be using this email address during my year in Tanzania. Sincerely, Fran Dr. Frances Vavrus, Associate Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, |