An Introduction to Pommern

We began our first full day in the village by setting our team goals for the adventure ahead and discussing characteristics of an effective team. From there, we moved out into the community for an extended tour.

Our first stop was Pommern Secondary School where we met with the secondmaster (assistant headmaster), Haran. Prior to becoming secondmaster, Haran had Edward's job as the GV country manager for Tanzania, so he was more than familiar with Global Volunteers and what we were there to do.

Pommern Secondary School Secondmaster, Haran Ngede**

Let me take a moment to emphasize GV's philosophy of service. We go to the community not to change the people there, not to impose our ways on them, but instead we go to serve them in whatever way they wish, under their terms, under their cultural guidelines. Very rarely did I let myself pass judgment about the things I saw and did. Instead I learned the system at hand, incorporated some of my own ideas particularly in the classroom, but worked within their framework. And I truly believe that is how it should be. Of course I made comparisons between things I knew and the new things I was witnessing, but for the most part I tried very hard not to consider "good" or "bad," simply "different" or "same."

Back to the secondary school... Students pay the equivalent of about $500 per year to attend Pommern Secondary. (Only primary school is mandatory in Tanzania.) This is a considerable amount of money for most families in Tanzania. While some people have jobs like being a teacher or owning a shop, most rural people are sustenance farmers -- they farm enough land to provide for their families and that is their only job.

Pommern Secondary School: The buildings in the left foreground are girls' dorms.
The building on the right is the school store and some other offices, The rest is the main
part of the school -- see the description of the courtyard setup below.

After some conversation in Haran's office, we were given a tour of the school. It was rather empty with most of the students home on holiday. (I know, I know, I got used to British English while I was there!) I'll just have to go back again some day and make sure I go when the schools are fully in session!

We walked around the courtyard area, which is framed by a large rectangle containing most of the school's classrooms. Secondary school in Tanzania consists of six levels, Form I through Form VI. Some forms had fewer students than others and had only one section, whereas other forms had more students and were broken into two sections. The school has a total of 600+ students.

A panoramic view of the inner courtyard at Pommern Secondary School

We saw the school's dormitories. The boys were in dorms beyond one wall of the courtyard, girls in dorms beyond the opposite wall. In the dorm we stepped into, I counted 11 bunk beds. We were told that in some cases two people share the same bed due to lack of space. At one end of the dorm, a series of several 1 foot deep walls jutted out of the main wall, providing the only "closet" space in the room.

Left: Two adjacent boys' dorms
Right: Inside one of the dorms (the students bring their
own mattresses when they return to the school)

We saw the kitchen where the school's food is cooked. The main food source in rural Tanzania is a dish called ugali, basically mashed corn. The kitchen is old and poorly ventilated. Our main work project was to help continue construction of a new kitchen, which is adjacent to the dining hall (constructed a couple of years ago by Global Volunteers) as opposed to being beyond the opposite wall of the courtyard from the dining hall as it is now.

Inside the school kitchen**

Our tour also took us to the school's computer lab, a rare commodity in rural schools. This lab was funded partially by Global Volunteers and partially by the Tanzanian government, however, and contains 9 desktop computers as well as a couple of laptops. It is powered by solar energy.

Two of the solar panels that power the computer lab can be seen in this view.
The computer lab itself is just to the left of the more distant solar panel.

Finally, we saw the teachers' quarters on campus. Teachers who are not from Pommern are provided with housing for themselves and their families. The headmaster's home was recently remodeled, but the others are in need of some remodeling as well. We were told that some teachers refuse to live in the housing, as it is currently so inadequate.

Teachers' Quarters: Headmaster Shadrack's home is the closest bright white one on the left.
The remaining homes are for the other teachers.

After our visit at the Secondary School, we moved to the clinic. We had been told by the General Secretary in Iringa that Pommern's clinic is one of the best village clinics around but warned that it would still not be like any American facility. We met Dr. Godlove Makayola, whom we simply call Dr. Godlove. What a perfect name!! Dr. Godlove was extremely generous with his time, taking time away from his patients to explain and show the clinic to us. Such is the African way. We also met Nurse Patricia and two nurse's assistants named Neema (meaning Grace) and Furaha (meaning Happy). Their names suited them very well also!

Dr. Godlove with Sonia and Amy later on during our time in Pommern;
a patient waits in the background (photo taken by Edward)

We learned that the top disease seen by the clinic is malaria and that AIDS is eighth on the list. On my plane ride home, I read a Time magazine article about malaria that was fascinating in light of everything I had seen and learned in Pommern. I encourage you to access that article online by clicking here. We had learned from the General Secretary that the AIDS rate in Tanzania is 15.4%, though it is higher in rural areas like Pommern than in urban ones. While this is a hugely substantial percentage, there are countries in southern Africa with rates in the 40-some% range.

We also learned about the many efforts that go into keeping babies healthy, by providing some prenatal care to women and by having monthly baby clinics where growth is tracked and vaccinations and vitamins are given. I'll share more stories about the clinic later, as I was able to do a few things over there during our time in Pommern.

The U-shaped clinic in Pommern

Patients waiting outside the clinic to see Dr. Godlove

After we left the clinic, we had a tour of the village area where the various shops, pubs, and so on are located. We also met the city chairperson (kind of like a mayor), who gave us some more information about the village. Pommern's population is currently about 3500, more than half of whom are under the age of 18, evidence of a society where life expectancy isn't high. The village area covers approximately 40 square miles.

All in all, we had a busy morning (information overload, as you are probably feeling now if you managed to read this far!) and were eager to return to the Mission House to eat Mama Tony's delicious lunch. The afternoon was spent with a Swahili lesson from our very patient instructor, Mohammed, then time outdoors to meet and play with some of the children. Sonia had purchased a soccer ball in Iringa, and Jack became an instant hit with the children as his soccer skills put him in the money, though we joked at the time that he did have to endure a few games of "Mzungu in the Middle" (mzungu = white person)! The evening was spent visiting and journaling, and we were all looking forward to beginning our actual volunteer activities in the village the following day.

**These two pictures were taken by Greg and Marcia Potvin during their January 2010 trip to Pommern. Used by permission. Please check out their blog also by clicking here!