Dear all.
It is my pleasure to announce that our NOREC-project is active again, after a long break due to Covid-19. Just a few days after the Norwegian government opened up for travelling abroad, we (Siv and Thrine) went to Tanzania to visit our partner and friends at Patandi Teachers College (PTC) and Patandi Primary school in Arusha, and potential partner Open University of Tanzania. Seeing each other again was so good, and our joint belief in starting up the project again was strengthened.
Thrine and Siv on the way to Tanzania October 6. 2021.
Joyful reencounter with the PTC project team. Eager to continue the collaboration, we started to plan further project activities. From the left: Thrine M.N. Bromstad, Siv E.N. Sæbjørnsen, Peter Mbwambo, Anita Kway and Isaack MyovelaThe first physical encounter with Mariana Makuu and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) management in Dar es Salaam. The idea about involving OUT in the project had already been discussed for a while, and now we started to think that it may soon be realised. From the left, behind: Richard Pareso and Dr Johnnas Buhori. From the left, front: Mariana Makuu, Dr Maulid Maulid, Thrine M.N. Bromstad, Prof. Elifas Bisanda, Vice Chancellor of OUT, Siv Sæbjørnsen and Sarah.Meeting in Dar es Salaam with Mariana Makuu and one of her contact relations with Unicef Tanzania. Unicef Tanzania prepare to open a department for children with disabilities, which may be a very useful relation to our NOREC-project as both aims at improving the situation of children with disabilities and implement their UN human rights in the practicing field. From the left: Siv Sæbjørnsen, Mbelwa Gabagambi from Unicef Tanzania, Mariana Makuu from OUT and Thrine M.N. Bromstad.
Based on the collaboration between HiMolde and PTC, a new project round, with start-up in January 2022 was applied for and approved by NOREC. Some social educator students had applied for project participation, and wanted to go for exchange to Tanzania. However, the students decided to drop their application, which is very understandable, due to the unstable Covid-19 situation. The project exchange for 2022 will therefore consist of:
2 HiMolde staff to PTC for 6 months from January 2022
10 PTC special teacher students to HiMolde for 4 months from August 2022
4 PTC staff (of which 2 represent staff at primary/secondary school) for 4 months from August 2022.
Project Plan
The idea of expanding the project with two more partners, namely Open University of Tanzania (OUT) and Wester University of Applied Science (HVL), arose quite a while ago, because of a desire to reach more children with disabilities, to contribute to their improved quality of life and implementation of UN human rights in the practicing field. This idea was further developed into an application for the NOREC feasibility study, which fortunately also was approved by NOREC.
Monday February 7. the feasibility study started with a two-day partner meeting at the OUT in Dar es Salaam (day 1) and then at PTC, Arusha (day 2). In these interesting and successful meeting days, including minimum two representatives from all the four partners the collaborative development of the new 4-partner project started. Now the four partners, HiMolde, PTC, OUT and HVL will jointly develop the project plan and application to NOREC for approval.
The first part of the partner meeting, day 1, took place at OUT in Dar es Salaam. From the left: Dr. Maulid Maulid (OUT), Anita Kway (PTC), Florah Muhumba (PTC), Mariana Makuu (OUT), Sipha Shaban (OUT), Hege Aarlie (HVL), Siv Sæbjørnsen (HiMolde), Agnes Fotland (HVL) and Thrine M.N. Bromstad (HiMolde). Business and pleasure…. The second part of the partner meeting, day 1, was combined with lunch at a restaurant close to OUT. Delicious food! From the left: Florah Muhumba (PTC), Sipha Shaban (OUT), Agnes Fotland (HVL), Richard Pareso (OUT), Dr Maulid Maulid (OUT), Mariana Makuu (OUT), Anita Kway (PTC), Siv Sæbjørnsen (HiMolde), Hege Aarlie (HVL) and Thrine M.N. Bromstad (HiMolde).Starting early in the morning from Dar es Salaam, the second day of the partner meeting was held at PTC in Arusha, including a lovely lunch prepared by the PTC kitchen. Before we ended the meeting, development of the new project plan had started. The next partner meeting will be an online meeting, including representatives from all partners. From the left: Xavery, Sipha Shaban (OUT), Mariana Makuu (OUT), Siv Sæbjørnsen (HiMOlde) Hege Aarlie (HVL), Alida Sebastian (PTC), Agnes Fotland (HVL), Anita Kway (PTC), Thrine M.N. Bromstad (HiMolde) Isaack Myovela (PTC), Flora Muhumba (PTC) Ombeni (PTC) and Peter Mwambo (PTC). The day after the partner meeting, representatives from all four partners went for a field visit. This mother came to pick up her son after school. Here they are having a nice little chat with Mariana Makuu.
As NOREC participants on exchange, Thrine and me have many interesting tasks to work on during our six months in Tanzania. We are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you here as we go, so watch out for new blog posts!
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