A weekend with Leboy part 4.

Today was a strange day. As planned, we drove to Esilalei to drop Leboy and the school supplies off, which was a fun drive and full of different sights, including camels! Leboy kept quizzing Corneille and me about things he had learned at school ("what is red + yellow? what is 23 + 14? True or false: we don't look both ways before crossing the road.").

Driving into Esilalei was a weird experience for me. It had been two years since I had last been here. It must have been even more strange for Leboy.

All the women and children came to greet us. The women kept asking Leboy questions, while the children circled him in silence. It was a slightly unsettling sight: he was one of them, but it seemed like he was being treated as thought he wasn't entirely. The fact that he was wearing clean Western clothes while the other children wore tattered shukas only made the difference more palpable. He seemed uncomfortable.

His parents live in Ngorongoro. The only relative who lives in Esilalei, which is approximately half the distance to the crater, is his grandmother. At one point Leboy tugged at my sleeve and said "We go back now?" He did not want to stay.

While I found this slightly unsettling, Corneille just laughed it off. We dropped the school supplies off, got on the car again, and went back to Arusha, stopping on the way to eat some chips. Leboy would stay with Corneille until his father would pick him up in a few days.

I left early the next day, but not before getting a big hug from Leboy and a promise that he would continue to work hard and keep aiming to be number one. See you soon, Leboy!

A weekend with Leboy part 3.

Saturday was a long day. We woke up early and had some breakfast while we watched another Bruce Lee movie. Then we did some school work, and Leboy wrote a letter to all of us.

Then we went to the road and got on a Matatu towards town. We made an improvised stop and got some ice cream, which quickly became Leboy's new favourite food. Returning to the plan, we went to a stationer and bought a lot of school supplies for the Laibon's school in Esilalei. The funds come through the generosity of Vincent Chai.

(Note: Throughout the day Leboy would keep asking what we were going to do next. I would then simply look at him till his face lit up, at which point he would fish out the plan we made on Friday, read it, and stuff it back in his pocket)

We bought a cool new school bag for Leboy, and stopped for some Nyama Choma for lunch. Seeing as how they didn't have pizza nor ice cream, Leboy settled for chips.

We stopped quickly at a clothing store and bought ourselves a pair of swimsuits and went over to the Impala Hotel for an afternoon dip.

This was Leboy's first swim ever, and he was very brave about it. At first he clung on to me really tightly, but bit by bit he loosened up, and we learned how to kick in the water, and how to move around the edge of the pool. He was even brave enough to jump into the water, ready for me to catch him!

We walked over back home, making a stop to buy some ground nuts. The nuts man kept speaking to Leboy, who was decked out in a Michigan sweater and a baseball hat, in English. As we left the stand Leboy pulled at my sleeve and said to me: "Did you see that? He thought I was a black American!"

Back at home, we played a bit of soccer till we got hungry again, and walked over to Masai Camp with Emma. We had some more pizzas and fantas, and fell asleep watching Bruce Lee.

What a long day!

Letter from Leboy (click to enlarge)

A weekend with Leboy part 2.

After picking up Leboy from school, we went home for lunch. We watched a bit of Fists of Fury (Bruce Lee is his favourite actor), played a bit of soccer on the front lawn, and then went down to Masai Camp for a Fanta. At Masai Camp Leboy and I planned out our weekend, and I made him write it down and keep it in his pocket at all times lest we forget what we had to do next.

His favourite food was chips (fries), but after I made him try a slice of pizza he quickly changed his mind. I showed him the blog on a nearby computer and he showed me his mouse and keyboard skills (see the blog post from him below!)
Corneille joined us afterwards for a beer before coming back to finish Fists and falling asleep.

A weekend with Leboy part 1.

Good news and bad news.
Bad news: I lost my camera with all the lovely pictures I took of Leboy before I could upload them.

Good news: I still have some stuff I got from his school, including his grades!

So, I had a quick weekend escapade to Tanzania while I was researching in Kenya earlier this month. I stayed with Corneille and Emma, a Scottish volunteer, at the Art in Tazania house. Next day (Friday) we drove up to St Thomas to pick up Leboy as it was the last day of the term. I was immediately impressed with the state of the school facilities as we walked over to the headmaster's office. The Headmaster, Mr. David, welcomed us and while we waited for Leboy to arrive he told us a bit about the history of the school.

St Thomas was founded in 2003 by Mr. Makongoro, a businessman who started a number of pharmacies in Arusha. To date, there have been 5 graduations, and they are ranked top 5 in the region given Nationa Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) scores. Makongoro has established a Christian ethos, as can be seen from the Old and New Testament quotations painted throughout the school.

At this point Leboy ran in and gave me a big hug. He looked exactly the same as when I had left him, only a little bit taller. He positioned himself on Emma's lap and gave me his report card.


As you can see, Leboy is intent on becoming number 1. He has achieved the highest position yet, 6, and is bit by bit shedding all his Bs in exchange for As.
I spoke to one of his teachers, Mr. Isaac, who was very happy with Leboy's performance and attitude to work. Leboy, with flawless English, told me that his objective is to be first in the class. Perfect work ethos, Leboy!

Leboy then showed me around the school. First we went to his classroom and he showed me some of the work that he had done over the term. Then he showed me his dorm and introduced me to the "aunties" that take care of him. He showed me the Computer Lab, which was full of computers kindly donated by the Unviersity of Washington. He showed me the library, which would put a lot of school libraries here to shame: It was full of new and donated books in English, Swahili, and even French!

He showed me the dining hall and the TV room, where some of his friends were watching a Swahili soap. Leboy's best friend is currently the incumbent "Number 1." (We'll see how long that lasts!)

Then he showed me the soccer field. It was beautiful. He told me he loved playing soccer and that his favourite player in the world was Kaka.

Overall, I got a great sensation from the school. The headmaster and the teachers seemed to be very professional and very keen on having their students do well. This is no doubt complemented by the great facilities in the school. St Thomas seems to be a great school that can feed Leboy's ambition.

Happy Birthday Leboy!

Today is Leboy's birthday. He is now 8 years-old!