What is Sega?
The Sega (Secondary Education for Girls’
Advancement) School is a residential secondary school for bright, motivated
Tanzanian girls who otherwise would not have access to secondary education due
to extreme poverty. To qualify they must
have been out of school for a period of time (a year or so), have not finished
high school (grade 10 in Canada) and have been referred by their community
(passing an entrance exam). If you are interested in more details as to why girls and why education have a look at the website under Nurturing
Minds. Suffice it to say that stats
indicate that girls have the least educational opportunities and the gain from
educating them is the biggest (they give the most back to their families and
communities).
Sega was founded
in 2008 and is located in Mkundi near Morogoro in central Tanzania. There are
currently 150 students boarding at the school, 90 in Forms 1,2 & 3 (Grades
8-10), and 60 students in two transitional remedial classes. Sega aims to be
educating 200 girls at the school by 2015.
Founder Polly Dolan, originally from Pennsylvania, has lived in Africa
since 1996. Based in Morogoro with her husband and 6-year-old daughter, she
directs the school along with a Tanzanian headmistress.
The two primary sources of funding for Sega include
Nurturing Minds, the US NGO started by Polly’s sister Tracey, and USAID, the US
government agency that provides development grants overseas. The ultimate goal, however, is for the school
to be self-sufficient so you will hear from me
about the various enterprises it is currently and hopes to be involved
with (e.g. 2000 egg laying chickens...very noisy at times; a hotel and conference
centre soon to come etc). There is a
very strong local Board of Directors to guide both the day to day running of
things as well as the international input.
Cultural dove-tailing is essential or the school would become just one
more well-intentioned but failed project.
Who are the girls and what am I going to do here?
The 150 13-19 year olds come from Morgoro or two
neighbouring cities (each 3 hours away), Iringa and Dodoma. Many of the girls are orphans (cared for by
grandmothers) and some have babies back in their village/town, or are HIV
positive (and other health issues).
Their family/community is asked to pay a nominal yearly fee. Of course this fee barely covers the costs to
educate and house these girls so there is a sponsorship program run by
Nurturing Minds.
As the
school is just this year seeing its’ first graduating class (O level=grade 10)
in November, there is a movement afoot to determine if A level education should
be offered here, plus sponsorship programs for girls who wish to continue with
training/education. This is where I come in. Acting as a Career Development Advisor I will be helping to hire and support a
Career Counsellor to co-create a program to assist with the ‘what next’ for the
graduates. As many of the girls will not
have either the interest, ability or means to continue with higher education, vocational
training and mentoring will be a big focus.
Everyone is hoping to avoid the girls simply returning to their villages
and having no further prospects for an improved future than they had
pre-Sega. It’s encouraging to note that
one very bright student said she feels she has learned enough at Sega about
entrepreneurship to go home and start her own small business. It does go without saying that the advantages
of the girls having been at Sega are multi-layered and probably not measurable,
even if just in terms of sociability and learning to take responsibility in
their lives.
The girls seem to be used to visitors.
On the several occasions I visited before I was always greeted with
warmth and a desire to interact with me.
There are a small number of volunteers (I am one of 3 women at the
moment, along with a middle-aged Lawyer via Peace Corps who is here to teach
English for 2 years; plus a senior ESL teacher from Toronto who is here for a
year on her own dime). They anticipate
two youth volunteers over the summer and someone coming to “paint murals”. I am learning that there is always something
fun going on around here.
That brings me to where I am living for this next 3-6 months. I am housed on the campus of Sega which is
1.25 Km from the main road, and is several kilometers out of town (not even the
Daladalas run this far out). Someone
likened it to being ‘out on the Reservation’ (in all the good ways) which I can
see. It’s out in the country-side,
surrounded by agricultural plots and unused land, views in the distance are of
the mountains to the south and west, big sky with lots of birds (in spite of
the scarcity of trees), crickets, geckos and lizards, giant millipedes (almost
a foot long) and I’m told snakes. When I
go for a circumnavigational walk, it is about the distance of the concession
roads in Alberta (which I think are one mile x one mile) and the people I meet
along the way are courteous, curious and friendly. I often hear a “shikamoo” from both kids and
younger adults which is a sign of respect.
The various buildings (dorms, classrooms, chicken coups and
administration offices are all painted red, against the red soil. At this time, the wet season, there wonderful
lightening shows and wild storms (with or without rain) coming passing through,
leaving behind lots of green scrub grass growing in leaps and bounds.
I am currently living in a
‘volunteer house’ which can sleep 8 but there will be only 2 of us. There is a chance that one of us will move
into the counsellor’s house while she is off for 2 months of maternity
leave. Meanwhile some other volunteers
will be coming and going. Lots of
communal living for me this year!! These
past 10 days the girls have been on spring break (and the other volunteers took
holidays) and so I have had peace and quiet except for the odd staff person,
meeting with my director and the numerous Maasai askaris (security
guards). These guys rotate shifts but
live here for a month at a time so in between shifts they constantly play a
game which some of you may have seen, involving a long narrow board with cupped
grooves, metal balls, and some sticks for scorekeeping. Today I found 3 of the older Maasai sitting
the banda (open air room which serves as a dining room and auditorium when the
girls are here) plaiting a woman’s hair with ‘extensions’!! Who knew they had such talents? This has been a wonderful respite time for
re-grouping and nourishing my body mind and spirit. In a way, I’d say it was even better than
going on a holiday somewhere, as it has given me time to nest and relax into my
new surroundings. Ahhh (again!). We shall see what Monday (start of a new term
and my new job) shall bring.
