Thank you for your interest in Project Wezesha. We created a new website and now our website and blog are together. Please visit http://www.projectwezesha.org/ to find all current information, photographs and updates.
Sincerely,
Rai Farrelly
Co-Founder
Project Wezesha
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Utah Artist, Hadley Rampton, Supports Project Wezesha through Art Sales
Upcoming June-July sales of Hadley Rampton's water colors from the 'Zanzibar' series will benefit Project Wezesha! Keep reading to learn more!! We're so excited!
Hadley Rampton is an exceptional artist from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is perhaps best known for her remarkable plein air oil paintings of wilderness landscapes in Northern Utah. However, her talents with water color are equally impressive. For her water color inspiration, Hadley makes annual trips to Europe to capture the history, architecture and culture of old cities. She strives to find the story of time gone by in the old buildings and cobble stone streets.
Recently, Hadley accompanied me to Tanzania to visit the villages, meet the children in our scholarship program and see the site of Amahoro Secondary School. On the way to Western Tanzania, we traveled to Stone Town on the island of Zanzibar. While there, Hadley captured some wonderful images which she magically transformed into gorgeous water colors. Stone Town makes an ideal setting for painting because, as Hadley puts it "its once affluent buildings, now wonderfully worn, provide an elegant backdrop for the juxtaposition of women in their flowing hijabs and tourists from worlds away."
Anyone who knows Hadley will have many wonderful things to say about her, but I'm sure one of the most frequently mentioned attributes must be her thoughtfulness. She regularly goes the distance to take care of her family and friends. She also serves her community - not only through her art, but also as a devoted employee at Phillips Gallery, a board member for RDT, a supporter of the arts and a promoter of important social and evironmental causes.
In June, Hadley is giving back, yet again by donating 10% of the sales of water color paintings from her 'Zanzibar' series to Project Wezesha! Given the number of images in this show, Project Wezesha has the opportunity to earn up to $550 from these sales. We are deeply grateful to Hadley.
Please help us spread the word about her show and encourage collectors - new and old - to invest in both the beautiful art of a celebrated local artist and the education of children in rural Tanzania.
The show opens on Friday June 17th at Phillips Gallery and runs through July 8th. Hadley's oil and water color paintings will be shown alongside the work of another local artist, Sharon Alderman. For more information on the show, please click here.
Thank you so much, Hadley!Love,
Mgaraganza Village, Lucas and Rai xo
Hadley Rampton is an exceptional artist from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is perhaps best known for her remarkable plein air oil paintings of wilderness landscapes in Northern Utah. However, her talents with water color are equally impressive. For her water color inspiration, Hadley makes annual trips to Europe to capture the history, architecture and culture of old cities. She strives to find the story of time gone by in the old buildings and cobble stone streets.
 |
| Hadley Rampton painting the sunset over Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania |
Anyone who knows Hadley will have many wonderful things to say about her, but I'm sure one of the most frequently mentioned attributes must be her thoughtfulness. She regularly goes the distance to take care of her family and friends. She also serves her community - not only through her art, but also as a devoted employee at Phillips Gallery, a board member for RDT, a supporter of the arts and a promoter of important social and evironmental causes.
In June, Hadley is giving back, yet again by donating 10% of the sales of water color paintings from her 'Zanzibar' series to Project Wezesha! Given the number of images in this show, Project Wezesha has the opportunity to earn up to $550 from these sales. We are deeply grateful to Hadley. 
Please help us spread the word about her show and encourage collectors - new and old - to invest in both the beautiful art of a celebrated local artist and the education of children in rural Tanzania. The show opens on Friday June 17th at Phillips Gallery and runs through July 8th. Hadley's oil and water color paintings will be shown alongside the work of another local artist, Sharon Alderman. For more information on the show, please click here.
Thank you so much, Hadley!
Mgaraganza Village, Lucas and Rai xo
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
May 2011 Update on Amahoro Secondary School
It is so exciting to see the progress on Amahoro Secondary School. Project Wezesha is lucky to have Lucas as our co-founder and in-country director because he is really driving this project with his encouragement, diligence and excellent photos. He just sent 27 photos via email to share the progress!
Since November, there have been some interruptions in the work due to intense rainy periods and some illnesses. Our General Contractor, Isaya, got very sick in January, but he's better now and back to work - keeping his crew motivated and doing stellar work.
Recent building progress was possible thanks to contributions from friends and family over the holidays and into February when the Ignite Salt Lake presentation garnered some attention for the work of Project Wezesha. I also drove some funds into Project Wezesha as my birthday wish on Facebook this year. We'll have to arrange a few good fundraisers in the summer before I head back in August to make sure all the completed classrooms can get their roofs this summer.
The first big successes of the winter building endeavor were the two additional classrooms that Isaya and his crew finished.
After completing this row of rooms (4 classrooms and 1 office space), Isaya began work on the foundation for the next set of 5 rooms. This required the very difficult job of clearing the land and digging the trenches for the foundation. The foundation consists of a cement/lyme mix poured over boulders placed in the trenches. These stones and the sand that gets mixed with the cement are valuable to local villages - in this case, the village of Mgaraganza has donated all the stones and sand as well as the labor required to get these heavy stones and buckets of sand to the site from a nearby dry riverbed. I've said it before and I'll say it again, those buckets are HEAVY and the women carry them with no hands, babies on their backs and flip flops on their feet. I'm ever impressed!
Again, without Lucas the work would likely get done at a much slower rate. Lucas is often visiting the village and talking with the local leaders to remind them that the school is a community project. After the rainy season, Lucas stirred everyone into action again by checking in and encouraging them to pitch in. I think he's getting good at giving pep talks (as you can see in the picture where he's captivating them).
Lucas, you rock! Asante Sana!!
Since November, there have been some interruptions in the work due to intense rainy periods and some illnesses. Our General Contractor, Isaya, got very sick in January, but he's better now and back to work - keeping his crew motivated and doing stellar work.
Recent building progress was possible thanks to contributions from friends and family over the holidays and into February when the Ignite Salt Lake presentation garnered some attention for the work of Project Wezesha. I also drove some funds into Project Wezesha as my birthday wish on Facebook this year. We'll have to arrange a few good fundraisers in the summer before I head back in August to make sure all the completed classrooms can get their roofs this summer.
The first big successes of the winter building endeavor were the two additional classrooms that Isaya and his crew finished.
After completing this row of rooms (4 classrooms and 1 office space), Isaya began work on the foundation for the next set of 5 rooms. This required the very difficult job of clearing the land and digging the trenches for the foundation. The foundation consists of a cement/lyme mix poured over boulders placed in the trenches. These stones and the sand that gets mixed with the cement are valuable to local villages - in this case, the village of Mgaraganza has donated all the stones and sand as well as the labor required to get these heavy stones and buckets of sand to the site from a nearby dry riverbed. I've said it before and I'll say it again, those buckets are HEAVY and the women carry them with no hands, babies on their backs and flip flops on their feet. I'm ever impressed!
Again, without Lucas the work would likely get done at a much slower rate. Lucas is often visiting the village and talking with the local leaders to remind them that the school is a community project. After the rainy season, Lucas stirred everyone into action again by checking in and encouraging them to pitch in. I think he's getting good at giving pep talks (as you can see in the picture where he's captivating them).
In addition to the villagers of Mgaraganza, a group of students in the Project Wezesha scholarship program came out to help! These students are already going to secondary school at Mwandiga Secondary School and PW helps with their school fees, uniforms and materials. But still, they have come out to Mgaraganza with Lucas to chip in! They carried sand and water and then took some breaks to make sure Isaya was staying on task. :)
After a strong push to get the foundation dug and round up enough stones and sand, the workers finished the foundation for the next row of classes! The next step will be to buy bricks, transport them to the site and start raising them to the sky! So exciting!!
Lucas, you rock! Asante Sana!!Thursday, April 14, 2011
Project Wezesha Founder Speaks at Ignite Salt Lake
Ignite Salt Lake is part of a worldwide speaker series entitled Ignite. The slogan for Ignite is "Englighten us, but make it quick!" The idea is that regular folks from around the world have a chance to speak about something they are passionate about ... in five minutes!
After submitting a proposal and being accepted to present, each speaker prepares a powerpoint presentation on their topic with the following guidelines: You must have 20 slides which will turn automatically every 15 seconds for a total presentation time of 5 minutes exactly. The range of possible topics is unlimited, so the audience is sure to be engaged and entertained as the ideas fly at them all night. The speakers this year presented on topics ranging from communicating directly with astronauts in space to hunting underwater. You can see a list of the speakers and their topics here.
In 2011, Ignite hosted its seventh event in Salt Lake City, Utah. Other Ignite events took place around the world in cities such as Dublin, Mumbai, Bucharest, Amsterdam and up to 100 more! I found out about Ignite through another friend's Facebook wall. She was attending this Ignite event in Salt Lake City and I was intrigued. After finding out there was a call for proposals, I decided to give it a whirl and my topic would be "What happens when you say "Yes" to the request of a village Chief?" The presentation was fun to plan and exciting to deliver - and at the risk of sounding overly confident, I think I nailed it! I even recieved some donations in the days that followed from people who were there and were impressed by the work we're doing in Tanzania! Thank you very much to those fabulous supporters and all of you who have contributed along the way!
So, without further ado - here is my presentation, which tells the story of Project Wezesha.
After submitting a proposal and being accepted to present, each speaker prepares a powerpoint presentation on their topic with the following guidelines: You must have 20 slides which will turn automatically every 15 seconds for a total presentation time of 5 minutes exactly. The range of possible topics is unlimited, so the audience is sure to be engaged and entertained as the ideas fly at them all night. The speakers this year presented on topics ranging from communicating directly with astronauts in space to hunting underwater. You can see a list of the speakers and their topics here.
In 2011, Ignite hosted its seventh event in Salt Lake City, Utah. Other Ignite events took place around the world in cities such as Dublin, Mumbai, Bucharest, Amsterdam and up to 100 more! I found out about Ignite through another friend's Facebook wall. She was attending this Ignite event in Salt Lake City and I was intrigued. After finding out there was a call for proposals, I decided to give it a whirl and my topic would be "What happens when you say "Yes" to the request of a village Chief?" The presentation was fun to plan and exciting to deliver - and at the risk of sounding overly confident, I think I nailed it! I even recieved some donations in the days that followed from people who were there and were impressed by the work we're doing in Tanzania! Thank you very much to those fabulous supporters and all of you who have contributed along the way!
So, without further ado - here is my presentation, which tells the story of Project Wezesha.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Gifts of Education for the Holidays
This holiday season, you're likely being pulled in many directions for your holiday shopping. I get several emails a day about how I should shop this year - all worthy causes, such as Seva.org, Kiva.org, Heiffer.org, Amnesty International, and many others. So why would you even consider Project Wezesha as your option this year? Well ....
For better or worse, we're a very small organization with one important project on the table and over a dozen wonderful children in our scholarship program. Because we are so small, all of your donations go to one of three possible places - the building of Amahoro Secondary School, the school fees of our 12 rock star students and the salary of our co-founder, Lucas Lameck - which is small by our standards but life-changing for this amazing young man. Lucas is currently using half of his salary to attain his own high school diploma with the hopes of one day going to university, which will only enhance his capacity to work on improving access to education for children in this region.
Here's another amazing reason. Yesterday, while I was sitting in a NonProfit Academy workshop on High Impact Philanthropy, I received a text from Tanzania. It's the first text I've ever received from anyone there (Lucas and I usually email or skype). Here's what the email read (word for word/letter for letter):
My name is Dibeith. How are You and your fine that we have very happy because we can pass an exams. me and saidi. can help me to get the communicate you for now Thank You.
Backstory - That was Dibeit and Saidi (see pictures), writing from their village to tell me they passed their primary school exit exams! Primary school is taught in Swahili, with limited English instruction. Then, the medium of language for most classes in secondary school is English. You can imagine how challenging this makes learning in secondary school - and hopefully you can better appreciate the English in the above text. With the passing of these exams, Dibeit and Saidi will be joining our scholarship program, as I told them they could if they passed.
Dibeit and Saidi are two of the first children I came to know in 2008, along with Hindu and a handful of others in Kiganza village. Of course, when I got this text I cried in public and shared the news with the others in the workshop. I am so happy for these boys!! Click here to read a blog post with more about the Kiganza kids.
1) You can make a charitable contribution in the name of a friend or family member. You choose how much you donate (no less than $5 per person) and we will send you Gift of Education postcards with pictures and information about Project Wezesha and the impact of this gift. You can enlose these postcards in the holiday cards you send out - Hannukah, Kwanza, New Year's, Boxing Day or just because it's that time of year.
2) You can purchase a desk or wall calendar for 2011. The calendars have pictures of the students, the community and the building project. Desk calendars are $13 each ($10 goes to PW) and wall calendars are $20 each ($13 goes to PW).
Please consider helping us move towards our 2011 fundraising goal of $20,000 by August! With these funds, we will be able to complete over half of the 16 classrooms for the school, invite three more students to our program and ensure that exit exam fees for our first group of students are paid in November.
Please click here to donate. Then contact Rai Farrelly at railiz@yahoo.com with a mailing address for the Gift of Education postcards and/or calendars.
Asante Sana and Happy Holidays!
For better or worse, we're a very small organization with one important project on the table and over a dozen wonderful children in our scholarship program. Because we are so small, all of your donations go to one of three possible places - the building of Amahoro Secondary School, the school fees of our 12 rock star students and the salary of our co-founder, Lucas Lameck - which is small by our standards but life-changing for this amazing young man. Lucas is currently using half of his salary to attain his own high school diploma with the hopes of one day going to university, which will only enhance his capacity to work on improving access to education for children in this region.
Here's another amazing reason. Yesterday, while I was sitting in a NonProfit Academy workshop on High Impact Philanthropy, I received a text from Tanzania. It's the first text I've ever received from anyone there (Lucas and I usually email or skype). Here's what the email read (word for word/letter for letter):
My name is Dibeith. How are You and your fine that we have very happy because we can pass an exams. me and saidi. can help me to get the communicate you for now Thank You.
 |
| Dibeit and Saidi - Two of the brightest! |
Backstory - That was Dibeit and Saidi (see pictures), writing from their village to tell me they passed their primary school exit exams! Primary school is taught in Swahili, with limited English instruction. Then, the medium of language for most classes in secondary school is English. You can imagine how challenging this makes learning in secondary school - and hopefully you can better appreciate the English in the above text. With the passing of these exams, Dibeit and Saidi will be joining our scholarship program, as I told them they could if they passed.
Dibeit and Saidi are two of the first children I came to know in 2008, along with Hindu and a handful of others in Kiganza village. Of course, when I got this text I cried in public and shared the news with the others in the workshop. I am so happy for these boys!! Click here to read a blog post with more about the Kiganza kids.
 |
| Dibeit and Saidi - Posing Pensive |
2) You can purchase a desk or wall calendar for 2011. The calendars have pictures of the students, the community and the building project. Desk calendars are $13 each ($10 goes to PW) and wall calendars are $20 each ($13 goes to PW).
Please consider helping us move towards our 2011 fundraising goal of $20,000 by August! With these funds, we will be able to complete over half of the 16 classrooms for the school, invite three more students to our program and ensure that exit exam fees for our first group of students are paid in November.
Please click here to donate. Then contact Rai Farrelly at railiz@yahoo.com with a mailing address for the Gift of Education postcards and/or calendars.
Asante Sana and Happy Holidays!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
PW Students Visit Amahoro Secondary School
Last week, Lucas passed through Kiganza village en route to Mgaraganza village to collect more pictures of the school. On his way, he picked up some of the Project Wezesha students who were making the long journey home from school in Mwandiga. For those that live in Kiganza village, such as Hindu, Edina, Ismael and Diana, that trek is about an hour long on foot. For those that live in Mgaraganza, there is another 30 minutes through the forest to get home - that impacts Zainabu, Silvasia and Khadija.
On this sunny day, Lucas invited all of them to go the extra distance through Mgaraganza village to the school building site to see the progress. They wandered through the lush forest (rainy season just passed) and up to the school where they were so excited to see the progress. Along the way, they also picked up Matamshi and Judith, two of our students who go to secondary school in Kagongo village. In this picture, they are crossing the river that divides Kiganza village and Mgaraganza village.
Lucas told me on the phone this morning that they were all so happy about the school, even though most of them will be finishing secondary school in Mwandiga. It makes them happy to know this school will be here for new students. They laughed, joked, talked about studying and even chipped in by carrying some bricks for the new classrooms that they've begun building.
Lucas and I talked about how several of them will be graduating at the end of the upcoming year from secondary school. Their academic year starts in January, not September, so they'll start Form 4 at the start of 2011 and take exit exams in November of 2011. Lucas gave them a mini-lecture or 'pep' talk in the shade of the trees about the importance of this year. The students told Lucas that they needed some books if they were possibly going to pass those important exams. Since they have the next 1.5 months off between school years, they want to have books and begin studying now. So, Project Wezesha is buying them books to study the core subjects - Math, Swahili, English, Geography and Science. Lucas also told them to stay focused on doing well this year and not only passing their exit exams, but doing very well on the exit exams so they can go to High School.
Secondary school is really only the beginning. If students are fortunate enough to have support for secondary school, then they learn English - as the medium of all instruction is English at the secondary school level. Primary school goes from Standard 1 thorugh 7; secondary school goes from Form 1 to Form 4; high school is Form 5 and 6. After high school, they can apply for college or university. Interestingly, a student who completes secondary school can be hired to teach at a primary school. Someone interested in teaching at the secondary level must complete high school with a focus on a particular core teaching subject and pedagogy. Teaching at high school and many other careers require specialized university or college training. So - while secondary school education is a key stepping stone for a bright future, the road ahead will be paved with greater opportunities for each year of additional education.
Given that Project Wezesha is only three years old and our first group of students will graduate next year, we have yet to see what will happen next in terms of their desire and ability to go on to high school. Our hopes are high and the students are motivated toward this goal. If their teachers and families support them in this final, critical push, then we'll be celebrating high school graduations before we know it!
In the meantime, Lucas is their mentor and Project Wezesha is ensuring that they even have this opportunity in the first place. We'll keep the updates coming and let you know how they're doing along the Form 4 journey.
On this sunny day, Lucas invited all of them to go the extra distance through Mgaraganza village to the school building site to see the progress. They wandered through the lush forest (rainy season just passed) and up to the school where they were so excited to see the progress. Along the way, they also picked up Matamshi and Judith, two of our students who go to secondary school in Kagongo village. In this picture, they are crossing the river that divides Kiganza village and Mgaraganza village.
 |
| Crossing the River that borders Kiganza and Mgaraganza Villages |
 |
| The Kiganza crew heading up from the river |
Lucas told me on the phone this morning that they were all so happy about the school, even though most of them will be finishing secondary school in Mwandiga. It makes them happy to know this school will be here for new students. They laughed, joked, talked about studying and even chipped in by carrying some bricks for the new classrooms that they've begun building.
 |
| Happy to see the new school underway |
Lucas and I talked about how several of them will be graduating at the end of the upcoming year from secondary school. Their academic year starts in January, not September, so they'll start Form 4 at the start of 2011 and take exit exams in November of 2011. Lucas gave them a mini-lecture or 'pep' talk in the shade of the trees about the importance of this year. The students told Lucas that they needed some books if they were possibly going to pass those important exams. Since they have the next 1.5 months off between school years, they want to have books and begin studying now. So, Project Wezesha is buying them books to study the core subjects - Math, Swahili, English, Geography and Science. Lucas also told them to stay focused on doing well this year and not only passing their exit exams, but doing very well on the exit exams so they can go to High School.
 |
| The whole crew by the river in Mgaraganza - judging by the laughs, they were being shy and Lucas was insisting on a picture! Thanks, Lucas! |
Secondary school is really only the beginning. If students are fortunate enough to have support for secondary school, then they learn English - as the medium of all instruction is English at the secondary school level. Primary school goes from Standard 1 thorugh 7; secondary school goes from Form 1 to Form 4; high school is Form 5 and 6. After high school, they can apply for college or university. Interestingly, a student who completes secondary school can be hired to teach at a primary school. Someone interested in teaching at the secondary level must complete high school with a focus on a particular core teaching subject and pedagogy. Teaching at high school and many other careers require specialized university or college training. So - while secondary school education is a key stepping stone for a bright future, the road ahead will be paved with greater opportunities for each year of additional education.
Given that Project Wezesha is only three years old and our first group of students will graduate next year, we have yet to see what will happen next in terms of their desire and ability to go on to high school. Our hopes are high and the students are motivated toward this goal. If their teachers and families support them in this final, critical push, then we'll be celebrating high school graduations before we know it!
In the meantime, Lucas is their mentor and Project Wezesha is ensuring that they even have this opportunity in the first place. We'll keep the updates coming and let you know how they're doing along the Form 4 journey.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks-Asante-Urakoze!!
On this lovely Thanksgiving Day, I would like to give thanks to everyone who has made Project Wezesha a great success over the past year. Lucas and I had a simple plan when we sat at the Sun City Cafe in Kigoma in July 2009. We just wanted to give out scholarships to a handful of children who wanted to go to secondary school, but couldn't afford it.
Now, only a year later, we are happy to be supporting 12 children in secondary schools in Mwandiga, Bitale and Kiganza villages. We also have three young students awaiting test results who hope to join the program in January! In addition, we are so happy to be building Amahoro Secondary School with the village of Mgaraganza. So much went into making this all possible - and I give thanks for all of it!
I give thanks for Lucas, my partner and co-founder - a key player in making all of this possible. Lucas has worked so hard with the village government to make sure everything is accepted and approved by the village and feasible for Project Wezesha. He tirelessly interprets for me when I am in Tanzania, negotiating with the Ministry of Education, the Land Management office, our builders and the villagers. He is also actively involved in the lives of the students we support, ensuring that they have what they need from month to month - materials, uniforms, school fees and of course - good attendance.
I give thanks to all of my friends and family, friends of friends and everyone else who has supported Project Wezesha through charitable donations, volunteer hours, participation in our race event last year, spreading the word and providing encouragement along the way!
The whole experience has been amazing and I'm so excited to share, on this day for giving Thanks, the following series of pictures sent this week by Lucas. They have finished all but the roofs on the four classrooms and the headmaster's office. So fabulous!!
Lucas, Isaya (our builder) and I have recently decided to roll our current funds into the completion of two additional classrooms and the teachers' offices. When that is finished, we'll move on to the roofs. It's so exciting to see this project unfold faster than anticipated. We're well on our way to having the first ever secondary school for Mgaraganza, Kagongo, Kigalie, Mtanga and Bubango villages!
Now, only a year later, we are happy to be supporting 12 children in secondary schools in Mwandiga, Bitale and Kiganza villages. We also have three young students awaiting test results who hope to join the program in January! In addition, we are so happy to be building Amahoro Secondary School with the village of Mgaraganza. So much went into making this all possible - and I give thanks for all of it!
I give thanks for Lucas, my partner and co-founder - a key player in making all of this possible. Lucas has worked so hard with the village government to make sure everything is accepted and approved by the village and feasible for Project Wezesha. He tirelessly interprets for me when I am in Tanzania, negotiating with the Ministry of Education, the Land Management office, our builders and the villagers. He is also actively involved in the lives of the students we support, ensuring that they have what they need from month to month - materials, uniforms, school fees and of course - good attendance.
I give thanks to all of my friends and family, friends of friends and everyone else who has supported Project Wezesha through charitable donations, volunteer hours, participation in our race event last year, spreading the word and providing encouragement along the way!
The whole experience has been amazing and I'm so excited to share, on this day for giving Thanks, the following series of pictures sent this week by Lucas. They have finished all but the roofs on the four classrooms and the headmaster's office. So fabulous!!
Lucas, Isaya (our builder) and I have recently decided to roll our current funds into the completion of two additional classrooms and the teachers' offices. When that is finished, we'll move on to the roofs. It's so exciting to see this project unfold faster than anticipated. We're well on our way to having the first ever secondary school for Mgaraganza, Kagongo, Kigalie, Mtanga and Bubango villages!
Thank you very much! Urakoze cane! Asante sana!
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