" Idigima Secondary School Beginnings"

-an article by alumni student Stan Mwampamba

Stan Mwampamba

Stan Mwampamba is a 2011 Division One (highest National Exam scores) graduate from Idigima Secondary School. He served as a part-time teacher following graduation, prior to moving on to Form Five Advanced Secondary School education in the Iringa Region. We asked him to write about the early days of Idigima. He was with the very first Pre-Form One class, meeting under a tree for class, before any buildings were completed. He and his classmates have been involved in the building of their school, from the digging of the first foundation stones to the completion of twelve classrooms and other buildings. Since their graduation, ten more classrooms have been added.

(Editor's note: Stan’s article was forwarded as typewritten words in an e-mail, with edit helps by Gary & Joanne that are in parenthesis. It is unknown if Stan typed the article himself, dictated as it was typed, or written on paper and later typed out by Gary or Joanne. Assuming the latter, while maintaining it as unedited, for visual impact I took the liberty to change the font to simulate handwritten words and to display it on tablet paper images to better replicate what Stan's original article may have looked like.)

Pre Form 2007 studied under the trees

Headmaster Chaula

Boni

Ombeni

Building Idigima

On September 1, 2009, we arrived at the Village Schools Tanzania headquarters at Madisi Secondary School in the Iringa Region. After two weeks of training and living with students in their single room “ghettos,” we were sent to serve as volunteer teachers at Idigima Secondary School. We arrived on Saturday, September 12, 2009. You can pick up on the history of the students and campus growth through our archived blog updates.

God bless you for partnering with us in this adventure with God.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne