Moshi Campus News – 12 May 2023

Mr. Cofer is currently preparing for Plains L4 out near Lake Manyara, so it has fallen on me to put together this week’s newsletter…and, as always, it is an opus!

Each week, it becomes harder and harder to edit as there are so many wonderful and impactful events and happenings, everything deserves to make the cut. So, I offer only half-hearted apologies that it will probably take you some time to work your way through everything but it is so fantastic that we are part of such a dynamic and exciting community.

Ben Morley-Deputy Head of Campus

We hope you are as excited as we are for this September’s 24 Hour Run! As you know, music is an essential part of running-and that is why we are calling for DJs! If you feel like you have got what it takes to keep everyone pumped up for an hour, this is for you!

You can sign up to be a DJ on this spreadsheet-all students, staff and community members are welcome. Do not forget, this is UWCEA’s biggest fundraiser, so please pledge your support through our official donation page or via M PESA 5656408 (I.S.M).

Remember, every little helps!

The 24 Hour Run Team

On Tuesdays, Emira, Tina, Jihene and I have been working with the NGO, Courage Worldwide, through Courage Café. This organization focuses on providing safe houses for child victims of sex trafficking and is committed to ensuring that the children reach their unique potential through hope and healing.

At the moment, in Tanzania, Courage only has the capacity to host 116 girls, out of thousands in need. This is due to a lack of funding and resources needed to cover living costs, staffing, buildings, trauma teams, counselling, cooks, educators and guardians. Interestingly, their main method of earning money is through the Café, as 50% of its income goes towards the houses. Over the weeks, we have been working closely with the NGO and developed their trust and they decided to empower us with a special visit to one of the Courage Houses. We were fortunate to meet the girls and were inspired to see how confident they were in themselves which is a testament to the NGO’s initiative and quality of care.

The growth of character in them varies, depending on their time spent in the Courage House. Although we already knew this to a degree, after meeting them, we could only imagine what they been through, the trauma they had survived and, seeing some not even ten year olds, were filled with respect and huge admiration.

This is why we decided to support Courage Café. We can do so by helping with social media and fundraising, as those are their main needs right now. What is unique about this new partnership is that, once we started to think about our UWC values, we realized that the Courage Worldwide’s mission essentially aligns with four of them:

A sense of belonging, acceptance and tolerance
An education in a global context that promotes an appreciation and understanding of multiple perspectives and interdependence of individuals, societies, and environments
A safe, collaborative, and caring community
A shared responsibility and a collective duty of care for ourselves, each other, and the environment

Now, you can also contribute to and support this incredible movement by going to Courage Café for a meal or a coffee. Don’t be surprised to see us there as well, because we plan to take more action to help make a change in these girls’ lives.

Ania (D1)

On Thursday, the MYP Student Government reps hosted our second event of the semester! An MYP game show event called “Weakest Link.” After some hectic weeks of planning, we are proud to announce that our event was a booming success! Although there were some slight bumps, we are thankful to everyone that came and participated or watched (and to all the people that helped us make this happen). This is what inspires us to plan more events for your enjoyment and even explore more ways that we can bond the vast MYP community.

Timanoi Kasaine (M3)

On Thursday, 6 of our students sat Round 2 of the South Africa Math Olympiad (2 in the junior section and 4 in the senior section). They had 25 questions to answer in 2 hours. Mr Ben paid a visit when they were writing, took one look at the questions and ran away!

The results will come in about a month. Stay tuned to see if any of our students qualify for Round 3. It is quite a challenge as only the best 100 in each section qualify, from thousands of candidates! 

See if you would have a chance of progessing by answering this:

The time on a clock is 12:00. After how many minutes will the two hands of the clock make an angle of exactly 66°?

Julien Munier

Last Wednesday, led by Dr. Marieke and Ms. Stephanie, we had the opportunity to go to the KiliHub here in Moshi. We met with the founder of Songambele, Ms. Faustina, who gladly explained all about this special community and their projects.

Songambele promotes and encourages good health, education, wellbeing and social inclusion for women, girls and children with disabilities in Tanzania. Ms. Faustina is a Tanzanian disability rights activist, inspirational speaker and Master Peer trainer for people with disabilities in Africa.

The KCMC CAS group is really excited to start helping Ms Faustina and her team with the Songamebele event which will be a race/walk taking place on September 3rd 2023 in Moshi, where some of the streets will be blocked off to traffic! So, please make a note of that date! Dr. Marieke also took the opportunity to donate money from an anonymous donor to Ms. Faustina to kickstart this inspirational event.

This visit was a lovely opportunity to develop connections outside of the school and start exploring new projects which impact the community! We want to thank Ms. Faustina for taking the time to host us and we are looking forward to meeting with her again soon.

Of course, as always, we also want to thank Dr. Marieke and Ms. Stephanie for all their guidance.

More activities to come!
KCMC CAS

Please note that as our D2 students finish or almost finish their journey here at UWCEA, we will be officially signing them out of residences on Saturday 20th May at 5:00pm. If your child is needing accomdoation after this, please inform me and we can accomdate them in our off campus residence, Kishari, at cost. If your child is traveling with friends before leaving, I need to have all of these details in our residential software ‘Life’ and approved by you in advance. We also need to surrender their residential permit for legalisation purposes and this will allow them seven days thereforth to depart the country, as they have officially graduated and are not a student any longer. Should your child be leaving after Saturday 27th May, we will be asking them to complete the immigration process in Moshi, Arusha, Dar Es Salaam or Zanzibar themselves and we will provide all the necessary documentation to do so. Failure to do this could be problematic with the government and cause issues for them departing Tanzania.

I must also add that our M5’s will be officially finishing their schooling on Friday 2nd June and, in turn, we will be closing our residences for them on Sunday 4th June. Please do liaise with them and share their travel plans so I can organsie transport accordingly.

As always, I appreciate your communication and look forward to seeing many parents next week for your child’s well-earned Graduation.

Simon Johnston-Head of Residential Life & Pastoral Care

D2 Parents-Request

The IC3 Institute is collecting data on how students, counselors, and parents engage with the career and college decision-making process. Your help to complete this 10-minute survey is greatly appreciated. Click the link below and then find the PARENT button to begin the survey.

QUEST SURVEY

D1 Virtual Parent Meeting-SAVE THE DATE!

We will have our final D1 virtual parent meeting for the school year on Tuesday 23rd May from 7:30-9:00pm. This meeting will be focused on explaining the differences between application systems across the world. If you have questions about the session topic, please send them in advance. We anticipate spending the last 30 minutes of the session covering your questions. Please send questions to cassandraford@uwcea.org by 21st May. No RSVP is required.

Zoom link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4095574237

Meeting ID: 409 557 4237

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 17th May-D1 UK/UCAS Application Support Drop-In Session from 7:30-8:30pm in the University Counseling Office. All students considering applying to the UK for university studies should plan to attend during this timeframe.

Monday 22nd May-M5 High School to College Information Session. We will talk about what courses are appropriate for certain majors, understand college terminology, and discuss how best to begin to prepare for the DP in terms of CAS participation, summer programs and time management.

Tuesday 23rd May-In-Person Visit by Ponoma, Swarthmore and Williams Colleges (Davis Partner Schools). These three highly selective, top 50 liberal arts colleges, will explain all about their programs and the topic How to Write Your Personal Statement for Highly Selective Colleges. 4:00 pm-5:00pm in K-Hall.

Dr. Andrea Kitomary-University & College Counselor

We were asked this week if we would be packing any canoes for this weekend’s Plains Level 4 trip? After a good laugh, we thought it would be better to send the paddleboards instead! Touché. Never a dull moment here at Moshi Campus. Joking aside, despite all the glorious rain, our team of adventurers are very excited to explore the Manyara region this weekend. We wish them well.

The end of the OP trip calendar is upon us but there is still a bit of time to join the last trip. Please get in touch with the OP team soon.

Reefs L2: Saturday 3rd-Tuesday 6th June

Baden Dowie – Experiential Learning Coordinator

As the academic year progresses, we all know how important it is to balance rigorous academic studies with engaging extracurricular activities. The upcoming weekend offers multiple chances to engage in some healthy competition, socialize with friends, and unwind from the pressures of the recent exams and assessments.

On Friday, students and staff alike will have a unique opportunity to show off their athletic abilities as Mr. Julien is organizing a mini-school volleyball tournament. It will be a friendly competition between teams, including a staff team. 

On Saturday, Dr. Wade is also organizing a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. This event is a fantastic chance for students to decompress and enjoy some time with friends and teachers.

As part of this quarter’s calendar, we have several NTSAA tournaments lined up:
 Saturday 20th May: Touch Rugby–Mix U15 & Open–SCIS
 Tuesday 23rd May: Touch Rugby-U9/U11–Moshi Campus
 Tuesday 6th June: Netball-U9–Kennedy House
 Saturday 10th June: Netball-U11/U13– Kennedy House

Stay tuned for more updates on exciting events and achievements happening throughout the quarter.

Mostafa Rihan-Sports & Activities Coordinator

When we sang “bless the rains down in Africa,” we seem to have started something as it feels like it has been raining ever since! It is slightly more challenging starting the exams in this weather, however, I continue to be impressed with the attitude and behaviour of the D2 students. They arrive on time and follow the procedures correctly. They are using all the allocated exam time and, when we have a break between back to back papers, are getting in that last bit of revision.

Some students have now finished and they can use the short break before Graduation to travel but this must be agreed with their residential parents. The last exam finishes on the morning of Thursday 18th May, followed by Graduation on Friday 19th May. There will be Graduation rehearsals on the afternoon of May 18th and on May 19th if needed. A special meal is also planned with staff on the evening of May 18th.

Graduation will start with photographs at 3:00pm. We do group photographs by residential houses and geographical regions, as well as recognising those who have been at the school for a long time. There is normally time for small groups as well. The ceremony is planned to start promptly at 4:00pm with the students walking in with a peer and a teacher. There will be refreshments afterwards.

Students and parents are kindly reminded that school rules still apply after the ceremony and that, unless there is a good reason, students must be off campus by Saturday 20th May.

For D1, life continues. There are only three weeks left of classes before the End of Year Exams. These are followed by a few days for exam paper reviews, then the Group 4 Project, TOK Exhibition and other end of year events. The Group 4 Project is for students who take Biology, Chemistry or Physics and it allows them to find the connections between subjects by busting myths–last year a group experimented to see if Jack and Rose could have both fitted on the plank in Titanic! Meanwhile, the ESS students will go on a field trip. In the TOK Exhibition, students will share how TOK manifests in the world using a prompt, such as “How does culture affect knowledge.”

Margaret Brunt-DP Coordinator

Many thanks to Ms. Grace and the Daycare students for hosting the Primary Gathering in K-Hall on Friday. We very much enjoyed it.

P4-6 also enjoyed their visit to Arusha campus on Tuesday to see their P6 class present their PYPX. The presentations were interesting and we learned a lot.

This week, the P6 children went camping at the Namalok Reserve in TPC. We look forward to hearing their news on their return. Next week, Ms. Kacey’s class will camp at Kishari House and will also travel to Mweka for an art activity at Blue Zebra.

The yearbook deadline has been extended. If you would still like to order a copy, please send your order (name, contact details and 25000 Tshillings) to Ms. Agnes in reception, by the end of the day on Monday.

Preparations are going well for the Gathering of Gratitude on Friday 26th May. All of the children will be presenting and we look forward to seeing you in Rafiki Hall at 7:40am, in 2 weeks’ time.

Dates for your calendar:
Tuesday 23rd May-U9 and U11 Touch Rugby 10:30 am

Friday 26th May -Gathering of Gratitude

                            Brownies Camp 2:00pm onwards (provisional)

Monday 5th June 7:30am MYP Survival Fair (P6 & M1)

Tuesday 6th June-U9 Netball at Kennedy House

                              4:30pm Semester 2 Sports Ceremony

Wednesday 7th June-Primary Day of Sports

Thursday 8th June-PYP Move Up Day 7:45am (P6 will spend the                                     whole day with M1)

Friday 9th June-7:30am P6 Ceremony followed by P6 parents                                    transition coffee with Ms. Farah

Saturday 10th June-U11 Netball at Kennedy House

Monday 12th June- Whole School End of Year Assembly

Friday 16th June-Last day of classes

Deborah Mills-PYP Coordinator

The children are enjoying their group work and they had time this week to develop their ideas a bit more.

 

 

The ‘dinosaur and truck’ group joined forces and found some interesting books in the library. Next week, they will choose one item to look at in more depth. The ‘nature’ group had a visitor who took time to help them to experience nature more. Thank you, Mama Hattie, for spending time with the children and helping them make a bird’s nest.

The ‘games and play’ groups also took time to develop their ideas and they are coming along very well. The ‘play’ group has decided to create a Piggy and Gerald puppet show which they will be developing further in the coming week.

The ‘games’ group has looked at two sports, football and netball. They inquired about where the games can be played, the equipment they need and how many players were needed for each game. Next week, they will visit the coaches to ask more questions about these two games.

Mboka Mwasongwe

We are excited about starting our last unit of the year-Tanzania. We kicked off with a brainstorm to see what we already know. Students listed lots of places and unique features. One student even wrote Tanganyika + Zanzibar = Tanzania. Wow!

The Central Idea of this unit is:  Each country has its own unique identity.

The Lines of Inquiry are:

Unique features of Tanzania

History, Language, Culture of Tanzania

Our Place in Tanzania

As a highlight of this unit, we have the wonderful opportunity to go to a Tinga Tinga art lesson at the Mweka branch of Blue Zebra. This outing will be part of our camping trip on Thursday. Information was sent home last week. Please return the permission slip, money, and the list of things needed from the OP store on Monday. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. It’s going to be a terrific experience.

Kacey Buckley

The P4/5 children enjoyed their visit to Arusha campus to see the Exhibition (PYPX). Some of them are already talking about what they would like to do for their own, future Exhibitions. This week, the children have carried out research on a country of their choice and have worked with atlases. They have been working on an extended writing piece, practicing using paragraphs and commas.

Next week, Greg Emmanuel will visit the class to talk about his family’s migration into the area and their subsequent work as coffee farmers. We will also revisit our unit on Body Systems and Mr. Ken Grob will lead the class in a heart dissection. In Maths, we will be looking at capacity and weight.

Deborah Mills

At the time of going to press (!), P6 are on their way back from what sounds like a successful camp. It seems that everything has gone very well at Namalok and, thankfully, the weather has been kind-it apparently even got quite hot at one point! The children have planted trees and been on a ranger-led hike through the forest. They played games, ate a nice dinner and enjoyed a campfire. They had more tree planting and a second hike planned this morning before they return to school. 

I am sure there will be lots of stories and photos coming your way soon.

Hywel Davies