Sunday 27 February 2011

Kids' Club Polana Secondary School

This week was spent on visiting schools and trying to organize schools to start Technology clubs. Only managed to get started in one secondary school so far but will start also in a primary school, a teachers training college and a vocational training institute in coming days.

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Thankful

Today I visited one of the schools that we are starting a Kids' Club at. Seeing the study conditions at the school made me feel thankful that I did not have to study under those conditions. On the other hand I am sure most of the kids at this school are thankful that they have the opportunity to go to school. A friend here is voluntarily working to get sponsors for children to join this school and it cost about 20€ per student per year. A fee that might not sound high but to many of the families in the area it is still high enough not to send the kids to school. The School is not that big in size but still has 1462 students divided on only 39 teachers. As seen in one of the pictures even the yard is used as study grounds. On the way back to town I saw several mini lorries leaving town packed with people and again I was thinking that I am thankful I do not need to travel like that back and forth to work on the other hand as it is difficult to get a transport during rush hour I am guessing that they are probably thankful they managed to get a transport. Just hoping at least that none will fall of the truck.

Saturday 19 February 2011

Museo de Historia Natural


Paid a visit to the nearby museum after sending Ilkka of to Airport for a return to the negative 30C instead of the positive 30C we have gotten used to here in Maputo.

Friday 18 February 2011

Thursday 17 February 2011

Kids' club training - Winning robot



For pictures and more info please check participants blogs that they made as part of the training.
Group1 blog
Group2 blog
Group3 blog
Group4 blog

Sunday 13 February 2011

Sunday buffé @ Polana Hotel


Since it wasn't cheap I made sure I still got value for money by having six plates of food as seen in picture. Could feel for all those who hunger as my stomach was about to burst.

Braai at Erkki's home


Braai party at Erkki's house with me as Braai master. After grilling 8.5 kilo of meat it was nice to inaugurate the pool.

Friday 11 February 2011

Pool filling, Maputo


Erkki is happy that I deliver on the water-filling task and is now waiting for me to deliver on the PhD work as well.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Visit to Eduardo Mondlane University


Checked out the venue for next weeks Kids' Club training.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Make a car from waste

Had a meeting with a young innovative guy this morning who will be involved in the Kids' club where we will see how we can make his smart toys even smarter. I liked especially the home made remote control and his idea of designing a glove that can control the vehicles.

Saturday 5 February 2011

A walk in Maputo


First an afternoon walk to a a great cheese and meats place where we bought some delicacies and then an evening walk to Clube Naval for a swim and to have some snacks by the ocean. Maputo has such a nice and peaceful vibe.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Erkki's home, Maputo


Arrived in Maputo yesterday and will be here for more than a month. Staying in my supervisor Erkki's home which is spacious and nice. On the agenda is to work on my PhD when there is time and otherwise I will work with starting up Kids' club activities here where the main activities will be training of facilitators and provide support in starting up new clubs. Despite being well taken care of by Olga, the maid in the house Erkki has lost a lot of weight, so hope I can do the same while I am here. Except for a number of writing tasks I have been given, I have also been challenged to find a way of filling up the pool with water so we can have a refreshing swim after some hard work.