April 10, 2017

TFFT is able to support our scholars and other Tanzanian students by ensuring that the people who have daily interactions with them have the skills and knowledge needed to ensure positive outcomes. TFFT has programs to build the capacity of teachers, school administrators, parents and guardians, our scholars, and TFFT staff. Recently, our Psychosocial & Health Program has introduced initiatives to build the capacity of matrons, patrons, and the nurses in our partner schools to be more effective in supporting children.

Matrons and patrons are ‘house mothers’ or ‘house fathers’ who live with the students in the dormitories. They are the responsible adult who provides safety and simple support for students 24 hours each day. School nurses have more access to training than matrons, but still have simple and limited decision- making responsibilities. Matrons, patrons, and nurses can be the first port of call for students who have problems, and they routinely refer young children and young adults to appropriate people for follow up. It is critical that these individuals are skilled in emotional intelligence, are good communicators and can build and maintain a pleasant culture and atmosphere in the school community outside the classroom.

Many Tanzanian schools have non-academic support staff who have little formal training. TFFT has provided training that taps into support activities such as simple counseling, how to provide comfort to a distressed child, or how to create an environment where children are happy to come and express themselves. Through TFFT’s facilitated sessions, these critically important staff members were able to discuss the meaning of vulnerability, and how vulnerability can be expressed through a child’s behavior. They learn about the importance of appropriate referrals and recording of interactions to facilitate follow up and accountability. Through this training opportunity, the participants were able to talk to others in the same position from different schools and share ideas and challenges.

The knowledge of a child’s psychological development is very important for anyone with any responsibility for school children. Through TFFT training, the participants were introduced to this important topic. The sessions were practical and relevant and used many different learning techniques to stimulate thinking, and actively problem solve various scenarios.

There will be careful follow up and mentoring interactions for these staff members who play such a large and important part in the lives of our scholars. We aim to provide them professional development opportunities, and believe that by building relationships with these staff members, TFFT can positively influence a healthy and peaceful school environment.

2022-05-21T02:33:29+00:00