Last Update from here in Morogoro!

We have reached the final day of work for this year's internship, and while we are sad to be going soon, we are proud of what we have achieved with the menstrual hygiene project and WASH. Over the last week we have had our last meetings of the internship. We had a meeting with the Tungi Primary School administration to finalize our expected timelines and to say goodbye. We also had some interns travel to the Tanga region to meet with an organization named Community Volunteer Services (CVS). The introductory meeting was quite beneficial as CVS is currently operating a very similar menstrual health project to SIHA's. We are pleased to have learned much from them and hope that future interns can benefit from them as well.

Above we have SIHA interns Akanksha, Anastasia and Ellen in a meeting with ICR Charles and the CVS founder, Simon Mashauri.

We have also been working on preparing for next year's internship: we've transitioned
to new exec roles and are now working on recruitment plans for the next year's team.
We've also completed our final report outlining all that we have done and learnt this summer. 

Though work at the office may be done this year, We still have a week here in
Tanzania. Stay tuned to see what fun activities the interns manage to pack in before
we head out, and to find out more about next year's internship!

-Ahmed.

2 Weeks After Our Vacation!

 The interns returned from their mid-internship break 2 whole weeks ago! While the SIHA interns were away, URDI was invited to attend the African Child Day conference of Morogoro. This event was hosted by the Regional Officer for the NGOs of the Morogoro Region. It was a great opportunity for URDI to expand their network and form collaborations with other local NGOs.

As for the interns, work came in full speed ahead as soon as they got back. The week of their return, they attended meetings with the Dar es Salaam and Edmonton based Rotaries, aiming to form partnerships and build our capacity to carry out our local projects.

URDI and SIHA also hosted a SWASH day at Tungi Primary School, which was a half day event of games and sports open to the entire community. The objective was to increase awareness on the WASH and menstrual hygiene projects, as well as get a chance to engage with the community. The interns took this opportunity to run an interview station to gain more insight from the community on their awareness of menstrual health and hygiene.

Above is a photo of our intern Akanksha conducting interviews on SWASH day.

As for last week, we are happy to say that URDI began teaching the WASH curriculum at Tungi Primary School. This was an important goal we are glad to have achieved, we are also continuing to work on expanding to other schools. 

Here we have a photo of Pastone, one of our ICVs, delivering instruction to the SWASH club.

Despite being near the end of the internship, the interns have not lost their thirst for adventures. First they took a tour of Mzumbe University as part of their cultural exchange sessions. Next, they completed an 8 hour hike to Bondwa peak, which is the third highest mountain in Morogoro.

 

On the left is a view from bondwa mountain looking down on Morogoro region. On the right we have one of Mzumbe’s many courtyards where students can study or relax with friends.

-Ahmed.