Update from the JTTI

Time just seems to fly by here. In January our Year 2 students climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Four reached the summit, but I must say that they all worked really hard to reach the top. Those that didn’t summit still reached a very respectable 3,000metre+ height. Thank you to all of you who donated to make this trip one of the highlights of their life.

Presently, at the JTTI, we have Phillip Stuart from New Zealand, Liu Si from Shanghai, China and Mary Cramer from Glasgow, Scotland. The students are having a fun? time trying to distinguish what the teachers are trying to say to them in English. So far, I think Liu Si is the winner!! He is also very kindly teaching an after-school Mandarin class and has about 15 students. We have lots of laughs in class and everyone is really interested in learning the language. Three months is not long but at least we will have a foundation. Zui jinzen me yang?

We have just returned from a one-week break. During their whole two years with us the students get only 3-4 weeks holiday throughout the year. Some of them don’t even take all of it as they want more Work Experience and will do that over their breaks.

We have had to say goodbye to Barbara Albers from Zurich, Switzerland and Mark Sherwood from British Columbia, Canada. Thank you to both of you for the very professional manner and the huge caring that you put into helping the students whilst you were here. Mark- no more papaya trees and soccer for you!! Barbara has set up a dental program for our students where they have their teeth checked and if any work is done then it is completed by Dr. Feroz and his team in Stone Town. Thank you Barbara for your continued interest and support of the students. Some of the students have had their wisdom teeth pulled out, fillings done and teeth cleaned. Most of them are learning about the importance of oral health for the first time and they are all very grateful to be able to have their dental care looked after.

The Year 2’s are preparing for the final countdown. Their graduation day is approaching quickly on June 14^th and many of them have had good job offers already. We have just completed our interviews for the incoming class of 2013-2015 and have some very strong students. We had 55 applicants and accepted 16 of them our highest acceptance number yet. The selection committee of students and teachers (seven of us) would have intimidated anybody! I certainly have never been interviewed by seven people for a job, so kudos to all of the people who were interrogated by us! It was, as usual, a very difficult decision as there were many worthy candidates.

The training rooms/accommodation is reaching the final structural building stages. Another two weeks should see the roof on and they have started the work on the first floor – electrical, plumbing and plastering. Although the new undersea cable promised no more outages we are still getting them. Hopefully this will be sorted quickly as the wear and tear on equipment with brown-outs and surges is high. We are expecting the building to be completed (very optimistically) in about a month, giving us the chance to complete the furnishings and decorating. We are hoping to have a “soft opening” in June which will be just after graduation day for the Year 2’s. Never a quiet moment around here!

We are now in the final stretch for the last term and it means that the Year 2’s are preparing themselves for the next stage of their lives. Business Plans, CV’s and other important documents are being completed or updated so that they can take them with them when they leave. It is always with mixed feelings that I watch the students move on but luckily many of them come back to visit.

So until the next update, take good care everyone and we shall return.