…after the hardest climb! Our seventh Values statement from our UWC East Africa Guiding Statements, reads: Opportunities to engage with the culture and nature of East Africa.
For me, this remains one of the most appealing aspects of living and learning at UWCEA. We are, rightly, very proud of our extensive Outdoor Pursuits programme and valuing this allows us to make the most of our unique position in Tanzania and take advantage of all she has to offer.
Last week, I had the pleasure of joining the Peaks Challenge OP Trip, hiking across the incredible Ngorongoro Conservation Area, summitting the ethereal Mount Loolmalasin (Tanzania’s third highest peak), hiking down into the unwordly Empakaai Crater before trekking across the majestic landscape to the foothills of Ol Doinyo Lengai and on to the edge of Lake Natron.
It was a genuine privilege to spend time in such an incredibly beautiful and untouched landscape. The students and adults involved were an absolute delight, positive, supportive, helpful and enthusiastic…most of the time! For those of you who have not yet experienced our OP Programme, please make sure you take advantage of this singular opportunity. As we discussed many times during our adventure, pain is temporary but memories last a lifetime. These are the unique experiences that you will struggle to find in any other school. For me, this strand of the UWC education is just as valuable as the academic element.
For many of us, this is why we chose to work at UWCEA and we see these additional commitments as a bonus, enormously rewarding and, often, a privilege. These opportunities offer us so much that, perhaps, classroom teaching cannot. They allow us to build incredible relationships with students and colleagues, to connect on a completely different level. However, it can be taxing at times. It is exhausting, believe me, and it does mean we often have to sacrifice other things. Of course, many of us will continue to do it because we love our community and are proud of the role we play in it. Still, all too often, we become too caught up in our own day-to-day happenings to recognise and appreciate this. So, please, please, PLEASE take a moment to say thank you. Do not take all of these amazing, additional learning opportunities for granted, as students, parents or colleagues. This does not happen at many other schools. We are fortunate. We have a lot to be thankful for. Let people know. It is the right thing to do.
Ben Morley
Deputy Head of Campus
University Counseling
The focus has continued to turn to the D1s as they begin their university search and think about their path after UWCEA. Adam Kendis, the University Counselor on the UWCEA Arusha campus, prepared a presentation that I’d encourage you to watch on “US College Rankings: How to Get Into a ‘Good’ College.”
Summary: What do the rankings tell us about a college or university? How are the rankings made? Are there other factors to consider when looking for a “good” college? In this video we’ll explore these questions and look at resources to help you find colleges where you can get a great education that will help you build a great life.
Leopards on the Move! Our Leopard football teams returned to the pitches last week for some friendly competition at St. Judes. The U13 and U19 girls teams looked organised and played well. The U19s, led by their capitan, Catalina, showed heart, taking 4th position on the day. They were able to link together some nice goals and played tough defence.
The U13s came out with a semi-final victory over a very tough Jaffery team. This placed them in the finals. It was very exciting and the emotions were high. These experiences build character and pride. It was a fun day, great job U13s!
Coming up in the next month, we have some interhouse swim competitions and, also, NTSAA swim competitions in Arusha. Go get in the pool so we are ready!
Feb 18 – Primary Interhouse Swim Gala
March 12 – Secondary Interhouse Swim Gala
March 14 – Primary NTSAA Swim Gala in Arusha
March 15 – Secondary NTSAA Swim Gala in Arusha
Our Volleyball teams have been gaining steam and practicing hard each week. Coach Julien has organised a 2 day tournament for the U19 teams.
March 1st – Day One League Play
March 15 – Semis and Finals
Additionally, we are planning to continue the success of a newly added tournament from last year for U16 volleyball, U16 and U19 Ultimate, as well as a U19 Netball Festival. The day will be packed with movement.
March 29 – Volleyball, Netball and Ultimate Festival
See you on the pitches,
Coach Pickell
Upcoming Events
Virtual Tanzanian Youth Climate Summit 2025
Blood Drive
We are all looking forward to the first UWCEA Blood Drive of 2025. This event, organised in collaboration with the National Blood Bank, will take place on February 28th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM in Rafiki Hall. One blood donation can save up to three lives, and we hope to encourage as many students and staff as possible to participate.
There will be music and snacks to create a comfortable and engaging atmosphere, and medical professionals will be present throughout the event to ensure safety. Every donation counts and genuinely saves lives so please do add this to your calendar now!
William Frederick Mwamyalla
KCMC CAS Co-Leader
Book Week 2025
Let’s look ahead to Book Week 2025, from March 3-7! The theme this year is “One World, Many Stories.” Students will be invited to dress like a Book Character and don’t forget to start taking photos for our annual “Get Caught Reading” fun. The Long Weekend may give you cool opportunities to take photos of you reading in neat places (please send photos to Ms Kacey at kaceybuckley@uwcea.org). Students have been given information about the Battle of the Books so we hope you’ve been busy reading.
More information will be sent to Primary parents about ways to participate, such as popping in as Mystery Readers.
Kacey Buckley
PYP News
On Monday, representatives from the Sustainability Committee met with the PYP Eco-Reps to discuss how we can work school wide to encourage sustainable practices. On Wednesday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. The children enjoyed a variety of fun activities (see photos) and a lovely cake baked by the school kitchen team. On Friday our soccer teams headed to Hope School for a tournament – results will be shared later.
Tuesday, 18th February, will be our PYP Swim Gala. This will start at 8:30am and will finish before lunch. You are very welcome to attend to cheer on the children. Please send your child with:
Swim suit Goggles Swim hat if your child uses one Towel House T-shirt Flip flops/malapas/shoes to wear around the pool Sunscreen – please do an initial application at home before your child comes to school Water bottle (named) Nutritious snack
We need people to help time the races. If you would be happy to volunteer to be a timer please email me (deborahmills@uwcea.org) or Coach Pickell (joshpickell@uwcea.org). Afternoon clubs will run as normal on Tuesday but we realise that some of the children will be tired and may not wish to stay for their club. If you wish your child to go home at lunchtime on Tuesday to rest, please let the class teacher know so that we can keep track of everyone.
A reminder that classes will finish at the regular time on Wednesday 19th February and there will be clubs as usual on this day. We will then break for the long weekend. Classes will resume on Wednesday 26th February.
As mentioned last week, please keep in mind that Book Week will take place 3rd – 7th March and will be here sooner than you think. Please send any “Get Caught Reading” photos to kaceybuckley@uwcea.org and start thinking of a book character costume that your child can wear.
Deborah Mills
PYP Coordinator
EC/P1 Class
Happy Valentine to all of you. I hope you enjoyed the cards the children made for you. They all love you very much and often share this with us. In the words of Elvis, as he was thinking of the letter q, ‘My mum is a queen!’ Also, thank you to Mama Rowan, Rowan, and Yara, for making cupcakes for us this week. The children enjoyed them.
Ms. Susann and the children spoke about leopards this week, and we learned a new fact. Do you know that a leopard can jump 6m? We all tried to do that but, unfortunately, we couldn’t. We had to get 7 children to jump from spot to spot in order to reach 6m. Amazing!
Our class enjoyed the 100th day of school celebrations. They had a chance to mingle with the rest of the primary and visit all the classes. Thank you, P6 buddies, for taking care of them.
Home learning will be sent on Monday but will not be due on Wednesday as it will be a three-day week. You can return it on Friday when we’re back. I hope you all enjoy the coming holidays.
Mboka Mwasongwe
P2/3 Class
Love was in the air in P2/3 this week. We had such fun on the 100th day and created a cool 3D art piece together with the other classes with all the names of students, teachers and helpers who make our Primary so wonderful.
On Thursday, the class enjoyed celebrating Gianna’s birthday. Friday, we made Valentine’s Day a focus and wrote notes to each other and decorated cookies. Thank you, Mama Nicholas, for the delicious dough. Ms. Zitha did a fabulous job helping the students roll out and cut the cookies.
The week wasn’t all fun and games. We did plenty of work as well! We did an experiment to show the difficulties faced when cleaning up an oil spill in the ocean. Students simulated various approaches to this terrible ecological problem. The photo shows Uma and Nicholas using an absorbent and trying to remove oil from the water. Not easy work. We also continued with our Persuasive Writing work and students tried to express their opinions clearly. Next week we will use those skills in making posters that reflect our learning as we wrap up on our Water unit.
Please note the announcement in the newsletter about Book Week coming up in March. Your child needs to be thinking about a Book Character costume as well as deciding where to take a terrific ‘Get Caught Reading’ photo.
Kacey Buckley
P4/5 Class
We thoroughly enjoyed the 100 days of school celebrations on Wednesday – the children completed art, exercises, construction and threading activities. Many thanks to Megan Morris for leading the children in decorating Valentine’s cookies this week. I hope they tasted as wonderful as they looked.
We have enjoyed a busy week of learning about body systems. In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of multiplication. Please support your child in practicing their times tables and division flashcards.
The children’s snake paintings are on display on the breezeway and look sensational – please pass by to take a look. A reminder that classes will finish on 19th February for the long weekend and will resume on 26th February.
Deborah Mills
P6 Class
This week, P6 has been mixing creativity with sustainability—celebrating Valentine’s Day by decorating cookies and learning how to make our school more eco-friendly!
On Monday, we were joined by the Environmental and Sustainability Committee, who shared ideas on how we can be more eco-conscious at school.
They reminded us about sorting trash properly and invited us to brainstorm ways to make our school even more sustainable. A big thank you to Marta, Alvis, and Camille for their visit. On the same day, P6 also enjoyed an enthusiastic presentation from the M4s on recycling, renewable energy (including solar energy, biodiesel, and bioethanol), and sustainable practices. This was part of their preparation for the upcoming AISA GISS Conference in Uganda, where they’ll explore how schools can be designed to encourage sustainability. Afterward, P6 collaborated with the M4s to come up with ideas for improving our school’s sustainability. Thank you, M4s, for such an inspiring session—we know you’ll do great things at the conference!
To finish the week, Ms. Megan joined us for a fun cookie decorating session. The heart-shaped cookies looked amazing, and based on how few were left by lunchtime, they tasted great too! Thank you, Ms. Megan, for making our Valentine’s Day celebration extra special.
Natasha Berri
MYP News
Greetings from Uganda! I am writing this week’s entry live from the International School of Uganda where I am chaperoning six of our M4 students at the AISA GISS 2025 conference. This is my first trip with UWCEA students, and I am thrilled to share it with them. They are truly a wonderful reflection of everything the school stands for and everything we try so hard to do as educators to make sure they are ready for this world. Our MYP students shine bright wherever they go, and that is a story worth telling.
Huge congratulations to Joshua, Nila, Resa, Kamili, Jean and Joan who were truly incredible delivering their workshop about the future of education in relation to sustainable development. In the words of teenagers today, it was “fire!” They are excited to share everything about their experience with the community, so, more to come from the students next week.
As both M4 I & S classes uncover the topic of Development to explore how development and economic growth affect countries, we did an activity called ‘The International Trading Game.’ We were divided into 7 groups and categorized as follows: 2 groups as A countries, 2 as B countries, and 3 as C countries.
The goal of the game was to have the most money in the World Bank when the timer stops. The primary method to maximise monetary gain was to trade resources to make shapes that act like currency, each shape weighing different amounts, or from having notes to exchange with the bank. The category we represented determined our starting resources. This activity aided us in understanding how trading works between countries, how it is difficult to obtain resources to develop, and how trading resources is not a process that goes smoothly as desperation can lead others to result in other methods to acquire wealth. -Jedidah
MYP Dates to Remember February 12th-16th- AISA GISS Conference February 20th-24th- Long Weekend February 26th-28th – M5 Mock Assessments March 3rd- 7th- Book Week March 8th-9th- MYP PPX Setup March 10th- MYP PPX (Personal Project Exhibition) March 18th-21st- M5 French Final Orals April 2nd- M3 Science Fair April 5th- 21st- Holiday April 22nd- Classes Resume Q4
Have a wonderful week ahead! Farah Fawaz MYP Coordinator
DP News
D1 The D1s have continued with their rotational Life Skills classes this week. Some of the students went up to the laundry here on campus and learnt how to iron and fold clothes. While some students have had many years of practice, others picked up an iron for the first time this week. Here are some pictures.
Students also submitted proposals for their Extended Essay topics and we will be working with the teachers to allocate subjects and supervisors in the next few weeks.
D2 The D2s finished mock exams on Thursday. On Friday, we celebrated with a “fake” exam which turned out to be cake and sodas (and not an interdisciplinary exam as we suggested.) They also received some Valentine’s roses and chocolates from the Valentine’s Day Committee. Mock reports will be published in the first week of March to give parents and students an identification of their performance.
Next week, we will turn our attention to work that needs to be submitted to the IB in March. Students will likely need some time this weekend to make sure they are up to date with submissions.
We are all looking forward to the long weekend next week but also wish all the best to our students climbing Kilimanjaro in the next few days.
Catherine Dowie
DP Coordinator
EAMUN Review
The largest Model United Nations (MUN) conference in East Africa took place from February 4 to 7, bringing together over 700 young delegates. These participants actively took part in proposing, debating, amending resolutions, gaining amazing experience, and, of course, socialising.
One of the committees was Economics, one of the largest at the conference, with more than 110 delegates representing different countries. Over the course of four days, delegates debated on nine resolutions, covering topics such as the Microloan System in Kenya, the debt crisis, cobalt extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), pilot programs in Zimbabwe and Madagascar, the EU Deforestation Regulation, socioeconomic models, the minimum wage system, and cocoa refineries in Cameroon. The debates were so dynamic, with delegates competing for opportunities to speak, convincing others to support their positions, and vote “for” or “against” resolutions. Unfortunately, not everyone had the chance to share their perspectives on the podium during the sessions. However, lunchtime became a great moment for planning the next moves, refining strategies and of course socialising.
In the end, only four of the proposed resolutions were passed. However, the committee’s work didn’t stop there. On the third day, delegates participated in a Crisis Simulation, where they were tested on their ability to take action under pressure and work collaboratively to find solutions that could benefit all nations. Our delegation went through the challenges and took part in resolving the crisis.
This conference was a great experience, and emotions when you deliver a speech in the real United Nations headquarters were unforgettable! It was truly worth it!
Aleksandr Kasilnikovs D1
EAMUN wasn’t just about standing at the podium, delivering speeches, and debating policies, it was about the moments in between. The quick, random interactions tat made the conference unforgettable. The brief conversations while waiting for a committee session to start, the shared frustration over a poorly developed resolution clause, the spontaneous lunch plans with someone you had just met that morning.
Beyond the formalities of diplomacy, we, delegates, found ourselves connecting in the most unexpected ways. A simple “Where are you from?” could lead to a deep conversation about cultures, shared experiences, or even a new inside joke that carried through the week. The hallways, stairs, and even the rush to grab seats before a session turned into places of real connection, where friendships started over nothing more than a passing comment or a mutual struggle with a complicated amendment.
At its core, EAMUN was a reminder that diplomacy isn’t just about policies and procedures. It’s about the people; about learning from one another, sharing perspectives, and leaving the conference with more than just a certificate. It was about the faces you passed on the first day as strangers and left on the last as friends.
Carlos Rubondo M5
P.S. Here is a folder with LOTS more photos if you are interested
Outdoor Pursuits News
The Peaks Adventure trip to Ngorongoro to Natron returned safely with students and staff having an incredible experience, enjoying some of Tanzania’s finest scenery. Please read Mr Ben’s review above as he embarked on his final and favourite OP trip and/or Theo’s reflection below as he set out on one of his first trips.
Kilimanjaro preparations are in the final busy stages. For those keen mountaineers, students will be undertaking the Marangu Route.
This is approximately 82 km and takes 6 days. The route and itinerary includes:
Day 1-hike from Marangu Gate to Mandara (2720m) Day 2-ascend to Horombo (3720m) Day 3-acclimatization hike to Zebra Rocks (4000m) & return to Horombo Days 4 & 5-ascend from Horombo to Kibo (4750m), summit Uhuru Peak (5895m) at midnight, then descend back to Horombo Day 6-descend from Horombo to Marangu Gate (HONGERA!)
Students depart on Monday and the OP Team wishes them all really well!
Andy Ross OP Coordinator
Last week, I had the opportunity to take part in an Outdoor Pursuits trip across the Ngorongoro and up to Lake Natron. This experience, between vast plateaux, imposing mountains and volcanic lakes, was one of the highlights of my year (which has just begun, admittedly, but still!).
Right from the start, when we left Moshi at dawn and picked up other students in Arusha, the trip promised to be intense. We drove through some magnificent scenery, and when we arrived at the Maasai camp, the silhouette of Loolmalasin against the evening sky left me speechless. The next day, the ascent of Mount Loolmalasin, Tanzania’s third highest peak, was a real achievement. Eleven hours of walking through a village, tall grass and rocky areas, punctuated by surprising encounters, between Maasai with their goats and cows, a gazelle and zebras crossing our path, all surrounded by lively conversations about biodiversity, education systems, and even improbable debates about survival in the event of an apocalypse. Once at the top, the views were breathtaking, and the lunch break was a well-deserved reward after so much effort.
But one of the most magical moments of the trip was the descent into the Empakaai Crater. This place, with its lake inhabited by pink flamingos and its gigantic trees with tangled roots, exuded an almost ethereal atmosphere. Being in the middle of this intact nature, surrounded by the sounds of the forest, reminded me just how precious these areas are and how much they deserve to be protected.
The nights in tents, the meals prepared as a group (even around the fire! how cool is that?) and the exchanges with the guides and teachers also contributed to making this trip unforgettable. These moments of sharing, whether walking on the plains, admiring the majestic Ol Doinyo Lengai, or enjoying a well-deserved drink at our last camp near Lake Natron, strengthened the bonds between us. On the way back to Moshi, I realised just how much this kind of expedition encourages me to learn about myself and others. It helps me remember the importance of group cohesion, the value of physical effort and the raw beauty of the Tanzanian landscapes. But above all, I’ve learnt to appreciate every moment, whether it’s the wind blowing over my face on the mountain tops, seeing the majestic giraffes under the rising sun on our return journey, or simply the luxury of a shower after five days in the wilderness. This adventure made me want to explore other remote corners of the world even more, and for that I’m grateful.
