I was in Moshi this past December and as we move into year five, we have some big changes to the workshop program.
We have changed the financial structure of the workshops. Do Science is unable to continue to support the teachers with the monthly workshop stipend as we have over the last three year. I have met with the Municipal Council Education Director’s office and they have agreed to support my request that Head Teachers offer this support to their own teachers in order to attend the workshops. Now that Do Science is well known to everyone and that the benefits have been demonstrated I feel that this is a reasonable request and we will see how this plays out. I have yet to confirm whether my letter has been forwarded with this support by the Municipal Council. If the stipend is not offered then this may result in a slight decrease in participation. We are interested to see exactly how many teachers continue to participate.
For two years now, Madame Bertha Msaki has headed up our local Do Science executive. She has organized the workshops and ensured that all has run smoothly. Do Science has relied on her and she has done a fantastic job. I arrived to find out that Bertha has accepted a new job and has left teaching altogether. While sad for students and for Do Science, this is good for Bertha. She told me that it is partially due to her experience managing the Do Science workshops that she got a position with the municipal council business department. We thank Bertha for her years of service to Do Science and wish her well as her career takes a turn in a new direction.
While we will miss Bertha immensely, we hold on tightly to Mr. Robert Bright and Elizabeth Tarimo. Robert will head up the team and both he and Elizabeth have a broad knowledge base covering all three panels and we are relieved that they have agreed to continue with Do Science and confident that they will continue to serve well. As the year gets underway and we see how the new financial structuring works out we may increase the number of leaders on the executive once again.
The first workshop is going forward this Monday and I look forward to their reports.
Happy New Year….Do Science Year Five!
dosciencetanzania 