“KITABU CHA TABIA NJEMA NA AFYA BORA”

Vaa viatu mara zote! Always wear your shoes!

We were in a new school that the government just completed. The great news is the parents and teachers of this area are very involved in the school. Classrooms were painted beautifully. The parents came to greet us to find out how their school can win the CHaRA best school award. This award was established at the teachers seminar in August. Our team will watch for the school that takes care of the students, they are wearing shoes, drinking clean water, grounds are kept and classrooms clean. An award will be presented each February.

The coloring books created by the CHaRA team and illustrations by Christina Kaspersen are a huge hit in the schools. We have had so much fun bringing color to the classrooms. The team is doing a great job teaching from this little coloring book. The kids connect the characters to the health teaching we have been giving for the last several years in their classrooms.

We began teaching about worm prevention and wearing your shoes in 2011. The first survey we did in 3 schools showed about 85% of kids did not wear shoes. Now it appears about 85% are wearing shoes to school. We will complete a new survey this year. CHaRA with the help of the ministry of education have given 93,993 pairs of shoes in the schools of Zanzibar since January 1, 2016. It is a joy to be able to provide the health and character teaching books & crayons, along with new shoes for students so that they have better health leading to a better education.

Thank you TOMS Shoes for giving CHaRA shoes to give. Enjoy the pictures – CHaRA truly is JOY!