Tanzania 2024-25
MAARIFA PROGRAM, TRINITY ACADEMY
Peter Morrin with the Carpenters
In 2023 one of our Partners, Ndossi Ndumi, asked for our help in developing a Maarifa program at his primary school, Trinity Academy. Maarifa is the Swahili term for self-reliance and embodies the intent of this new program.
Ndossi had long been concerned about the lack of practicality in the Tanzanian curriculum. This was a recurring theme that I have heard from educators in Tanzania from the Primary level to Vocational Training to Medical schools. Like Canada, Tanzania abandoned its programs to technical training. It is interesting to note that Ontario, Canada has re- introduced trades training courses as a core requirement in High schools.
In Tanzania, one of the challenges of technical training is a lack of tools. Good quality tools are very difficult to find, and if available, are extremely expensive. Quality tools will be three times Canadian prices, yet trades workers make 1/20th of their Canadian counterparts. Equipping a training workshop is an expensive exercise, that most schools are not able to fit into their budget.
Trinity Academy is a mixed primary school (Primary 1 to 7) with students aged 5 to 14. About half of the students are full board and live at the school and the rest come from the local area. For the boarding students, the school is their home and the teachers serve a dual role as both educator and parent.
Ndossi’s vision for his Maarifa program was that his students would develop practical skills while applying academic principles and developing an appreciation for working with one’s hands. He wanted to start with a carpentry program and slowly add other life skills including sewing, cooking, agriculture, and animal husbandry.
In 2024 a friend from Kingston, Professor Darko Matovic (Queen’s University Mechanical Engineering) joined me for a week at Trinity School. I asked him to help with both the Maarifa program and our Raspberry Pi computer program (a subject for a future article). In the months prior to our departure, Darko and I put together a selection of hand tools that we felt would be suitable for a Primary School in Africa. Some of the tools were donated by friends, others were purchased in Canada, and some were sourced locally. We brought the tools with us in our checked luggage. Thank you to KLM for your generous luggage allowance.
Working with Ndossi, the shop teacher, and some of the students we created a shadow board to store and manage the tools. I got a chance to work with some of the students building furniture for their new library. Ndossi has continued to engage the students in small projects around the school allowing them to develop skills and contribute to their school home.
