I hope you liked the photos! I missed a shot of the ostriches eating a snake. 🙂

Onward and Upward,
Janice

A special thank you to Mr. Suleiman Saleh for taking me to Pemba (an island which is part of the Zanzibar Archipelago) to view future schools for Powering Potential. Mr. Saleh is the Second Secretary for Political Affairs at the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington D.C.

In the photo below, at Kizimbani Secondary School, from left to right is Mr. Saleh from the Tanzanian Embassy; the assistant headmaster; and Muhsin Shamte, the headmaster. This will be the first school where we will implement The Technology Tent in Pemba.

Below is the current computer room at Wingwi Secondary School. They do have some computers but they are very old and the day we were there they weren’t in use because the electricity had gone off which happens from time to time in Tanzania. With the solar power which Powering Potential installs we can avoid that problem.

We also visited a primary school which needs English books. The following two photos are from that school:

I’m looking forward to returning to Pemba and working with the beautiful people I met there!

I had the honor and pleasure of joining the Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar (Tanzanian ambassador to the U.S.) and her safari group for their one-day visit to Zanzibar on July 2. In the photo below, the group is waiting in the VIP airport lounge after arriving at the Zanzibar airport. When you travel with diplomats you get VIP service  🙂

In the following photo I’m relaxing with Ambassador Maajar at the Zanzibar Serena hotel. Powering Potential’s budget does not allow for me to stay at such fancy hotels but a Tanzanian/American member of the group who is very appreciative of Powering Potential’s work offered to pay for my room so that I could stay with the group and the hotel helped out by offering the lower resident’s rate.

Below is the scene being prepared for our dinner at the hotel with Second Vice-President (Zanzibar) Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi and Ministers of Zanzibar. Although Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, they have their own Ministries. It’s a unique political arrangement between mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Zanzibar is magical.

After our lunch with President Kikwete on June 30, we were taken to a State House garden and invited to have our photo taken with him and then we each formally said goodbye to him and another photo was taken. I’d like to express a special thank you to Muhidin Michuzi, the President’s Assistant Press Secretary, for sending me the photos. Before the following photo was taken he referred to me as “Mama Karatu” and complimented me on the work of Powering Potential and I invited him to come and visit one of our schools.

In the photo below, he’s telling me in Swahili that when he comes to Karatu he will come and visit a Powering Potential school.

Another historic day for Powering Potential and personally an exciting one for me. (I’m in the second row with the turquoise shawl.)

Ambassador Maajar had invited me to join her VIP safari group of American business people for their activities in Dar es Salaam including dinner with President Kikwete. Plans changed and we had lunch instead of dinner with him at the State House today. A few of us were also invited to have our photos taken individually with the president. I’ll get a copy of that photo later. President Kikwete referred to me as “Mama Karatu” and he complimented me on our work. I invited him to visit our project and he said the next time he’s in Karatu he will come and visit. I also had a chance to tell the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania more about Powering Potential. He gave us a grant in 2010.

In her remarks at lunch, which were videotaped, Ambassador Maajar mentioned Powering Potential by name. That video will eventually be on youtube. Ametupa heshima kubwa sana. (She has given us a very big honor.)

Tomorrow I join the group for Saba Saba, The International Trade Fair and then on Monday we fly to Zanzibar for activities there.

Stay tuned…..

Today was another historic day for Powering Potential.

We signed a contract with the Tanzanian Rural Energy Agency, a division of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. They awarded us a grant of  Tsh 13,517,874. That’s Tanzanian shillings not U.S. dollars. It’s equivalent to about $8,600.

Left to right: Janice Lathen (Powering Potential, Founding Executive Director) Eng. Msofe (Rural Energy Agency, Director for Technical Services) Albin Mathias (Powering Potential, Country Director).

This grant will help cover the costs of The Technology Tent Phase 1 at Baray and Endallah Secondary Schools which will be implemented in October 2012.

I’m thrilled that a Tanzanian government agency is supporting our work.

If you want to go fast, go alone
If you want to go far, go together

Today the Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S. Ambassador Maajar (in black and white head scarf) and her VIP safari group of distinguished American business people visited a Powering Potential school (Banjika Secondary School in Karatu). She arrived with a police escort accompanied by the District Commissioner and other high level district officials. She gave an inspiring talk to the students. I showed them the computer lab and spoke to them about Powering Potential. They were very impressed with the educational content (RACHEL) which we have installed on the computers. It was an especially exciting day for us and everyone was very honored by her visit. A reporter from the Washington Times was part of the ambassador’s group and he interviewed me and a few students.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Dar es Salaam for meetings and then on Saturday I will join the ambassador and her group for dinner with President Kikwete at the State House.

I arrived in Tanzania on June 19 and hit the ground running with meetings, technology issues, etc. I was a guest at the Arusha Rotary Club and had a chance to tell them briefly about our work. There is so much interest here in Powering Potential and the students and teachers are eager to learn about computers. Our work is cut out for us.

Stay tuned….

My name is Scott Morgan and I’ve been privileged to serve as an Advisory Board member since the inception of Powering Potential and I want to bring your attention to some of the amazing work and accomplishments of Powering Potential during 2011.

Janice Lathen, Founding Executive Director, has done an extraordinary job of building the profile of Powering Potential. In 2011, Janice met with Ambassador Maajar, Tanzanian Ambassador to the US; Minister Wasira, a Minister of State in the President’s Office; Mr. Mlaki, former director of the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology; Dr. Kawambwa, the Minister of Education; and the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete himself!

Janice’s tireless efforts to network and build relationships are paying huge dividends! At a meeting at the Ministry of Education, Janice was asked if she would be willing to join a team of people devising technology solutions for improving education across the country, as well as set up a Powering Potential demonstration computer lab at the Ministry. Ambassador Maajar has invited Powering Potential to partner with the Hassan Maajar Trust to improve Tanzanian schools. And finally, Janice is continuing her discussions with Tanzanian government officials to secure funding for Powering Potential.

In her most recent trip to Tanzania Janice concluded a five-month technology training course certifying 23 high school graduates to be Powering Potential Technology Trainers, installed The Technology Tent—a solar energy system and five computers with embedded educational content, and commenced technology training at two more secondary schools.

The beauty and genius of Powering Potential is that it builds knowledge experts and trainers from within to exponentially train more and more students. I have been to Tanzania and met some of the teachers and students whose lives have been changed by Powering Potential. While words escape me to adequately describe what Powering Potential means for so many students, I can surely tell you that one look into the eyes of any Powering Potential participant and you will see the pure joy of having the opportunity to learn. As Samson Goodluck, a Technology Tent graduate, put it, “Now I see the way to pass in my life.”

Janice has taken a simple idea and in less than six years, turned it into a superbly managed, stunning example of a small non-profit that exists to change young lives.

As we approach 2012, we have laid the groundwork for a new level of growth. The demand is palpable, the stage for expansion is set, the players are in place—and we need you to join us.

With a 2012 budget of $150,000, we only have commitments of $45,000.

Nothing can be more satisfying then a gift to change a child’s life.

Please help us to meet our 2012 budget so that Powering Potential can continue to grow and serve young people, to give them opportunities that would otherwise never be possible.

As Janice often ends her emails:

If you want to go fast, go alone
If you want to go far, go together
              —– African proverb

Join us and let’s go together to make 2012 a successful and empowering year to bring technology and education to young people in Tanzania through the power of Powering Potential.

To donate online, click here
To donate with a check, please make payable to ICSEE-Powering Potential and mail to:

Powering Potential
PO Box 230913
New York, NY 10023

ICSEE (International Collaborative for Science, Education and the Environment) TIN: 22-3158263 is a 501(c)3 non-profit public charity and serves as fiscal sponsor for Powering Potential. Donations to ICSEE-Powering Potential are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

With warmest wishes for the holiday season and New Year,

Scott W. Morgan
Powering Potential Advisory Board
 

After bidding adieu to the Powering Potential people and programs in Karatu, Moody (a entrepreneur with a shuttle service) and I began the two hour drive to Arusha. There had been a huge rainfall the night before and it created some serious problems along the way. At one point we had to shut off the car engine and be pushed through the water by some Maasai men who were out in force to help with the crisis.