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Happy New Year! [2021-01-01]

Happy New Year from Reneal!  It’s always exciting to follow the arrival of the New Year in the Philippines, then Tanzania, and then finally here in the US.  In Tanzania, students finished the school year in early December.  As soon as the school year starts in January, Reneal Team Tanzania will be making their beginning-of-the-year visits to each computer lab to make sure everything is running well.  Reneal’s youngest batch of high school scholars will begin Form 4 in January, their final year at Mwandet Secondary School.  And Reneal’s original group of scholars will be resuming their first year of advanced education in January. 

Looking ahead [2020-12-11]

Reneal’s work began in the Philippines, growing out of its co-founders US Peace Corps assignment on the island of Cebu.  From 2013 to 2018, the number of Reneal computer labs in schools in Cebu grew from one to 34.  During this same period work began slowly, haltingly, in Tanzania.  However, the last three years have brought a dramatic shift in Reneal’s focus.  In 2018, Reneal installed seven new computer labs in the Philippines compared to two in Tanzania.  In 2020 by contrast, eight (and soon nine) new computer labs have been completed in public high schools in Tanzania compared to a single new installation in the Philippines.

2020 project status [2020-11-30]

Reneal Team Tanzania has continued their efforts in installing new computer labs.  All but one of the new labs is completed!  So far, the Team has installed new computer labs in five public high schools in Longido District as well as a new computer lab at Arusha Girls’ School in the city of Arusha.  These both are new territories for Reneal, with our previous years of work focusing on the rural Arusha District surrounding Arusha City. 

Visit with scholars [2020-11-02]

A couple of weeks ago, Reneal Country Director David Nyangaka traveled to Ngorongoro District for business. While he was there, he made a surprise visit to Loliondo Secondary School where two of Reneal’s scholars began their A-level studies in July.  It was a happy reunion with our students Elimaini and Daniel.  They are enjoying their classes so far and doing well.

Over halfway [2020-10-30]

Reneal Team Tanzania and our partners at Habari Node and Arusha Node Marie have been making amazing progress!  Four new Reneal computer labs have already been installed in government schools in Longido District: Longido Secondary School A-Level, Namanga Secondary School, Engarenaibor Secondary School, and Tingatinga Secondary School.  We are very excited to welcome these schools to the Reneal family, and we hope the students and teachers learn a lot with these new resources.

First installation! [2020-10-17]

We are excited to report that the first Reneal computer lab installation in Longido District has been completed!  A-level students at Longido Secondary School now have a computer lab to support their learning.  Professionals from Habari Node, Arusha Node Marie, and our very own Reneal Team Tanzania travelled to Longido for the hard work to install the computers and network cabling.  Reneal Technician Robert Nyangaka returned the following day to begin Super User training and conducted a Teacher Orientation session for some of the faculty members.

Boxes received! [2020-09-28]

The past week has been a rollercoaster, but I’m thrilled to report that the 18 boxes of computer equipment from Reneal arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport early Friday morning and were handed over safely to David Nyangaka, Reneal’s School Liaison in Tanzania.  David and other government officials in Arusha Region worked wonders to make it a seamless process at the receiving end.  This equipment is headed now to seven new schools in Arusha Region!  And it is really exciting to know now that Reneal has another viable means to get equipment to Arusha.

Safari njema! [2020-09-18]

This day has been on the calendar for weeks now – it’s the day that we say “safari njema” (“have a good trip” in Swahili) to 18 boxes of computer equipment heading to Tanzania.  As I write this, we are waiting for the trucking company to arrive for the pickup.  The boxes will be palletized and trucked down to LA before boarding a flight to Doha, Qatar and then on to Kilimanjaro International.  While it’s disappointing to think of those boxes going without us, we are excited that Reneal’s expansion will continue in Arusha Region.

Plan B [2020-08-30]

Although it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, it has actually been extremely busy for Reneal’s Team in Tanzania as well as here at Reneal headquarters.  The Team in Arusha has been doing software updates at each of the schools to add some new educational content and fix some bugs.  And here in California, we are preparing an equipment shipment that will give five new schools in Tanzania a computer lab.  This is our first time shipping freight to Tanzania, and we are really hoping this allows us to carry on our expansion there in spite of Neal and me being pinned down at home due to SARS-CoV-2.

Back to school, Part 2 [2020-07-21]

This week brings the beginning of the new school year in Tanzania for Advanced Level (“A-Level”) secondary school students.  Three students from Reneal’s original batch of scholars are starting a new chapter in their lives, traveling to a different school as A-level students.  Cynthia left yesterday for Oshara Secondary School, and Daniel and Elimaini headed to Loliondo Secondary School.  We at Reneal are very excited for them as they begin this next step!

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