The Hekima Waldorf School

 

Waldorf in East-Africa is the catchword with which we want to present our project to you. Worldwide humans have sat together to found Waldorf schools. In the last ten years the number of Waldorfschools doubled over thousend worldwide. One of them is the Hekima Waldorf school since 1997 in Tanzania.

The project "Hekima Waldorf School" was founded with the thought of going another way of school education in Tanzania. This teaching method is established worldwide and exists as real alternative to normal teaching methods. This education system earns meaning in the developing country Tanzania, because there are only very few good education possibilities.

 

"Hekima" is a Kiswahili word meaning wisdom, an ability which should be fostered in the school. This is the wish of the founder who established in 1997 the Waldorfschool in Dar-es-Salaam in the district of Mikocheni. The two-storied building has space for 8 classes, the robust building is situated in a wonderful garden of around 5000 m². The impulse to the Waldorf-pedagogics was brought by two former Waldorfpupils, David Lynne and James Mcculauch, of the Wynstones Waldorfschool in England. At that time they were working as volunteers in Tanzania. David and James were teaching at the "Dogodogo center for streetkids" which was led by Rashidi Mbugundi, and also at the Mayflower school, whose director was Adelin Mlay. Through talking with the former Waldorfpupils, Rashidi and Adeline, the founder personalities, got to know the Waldorfpedagogics and were very inspired by them. Thats how the resolution was developed to found a Waldorfschool in Dar-es-Salaam. Owners and partners of the first private media house "The Business Times", under others Rashidi Mbuguni, Gertrude and Richard Nyaulwa and Adeline Mlay together with Richard Mandara and one or two others became the founders of the new Waldorfschool.

The state does not give any support

The kindergarten teacher Funiwa Mndende opened the kindergarten in 1997 with six children. In the following year Irmgard Wutte from Nairobi took over the first class with 10 children. Peter van Alphen and Ann Sharfmann from the "Center for Creative Education" in South Africa started as continuation course in July 1997 for 14 Tanzanian teachers who took over the lessons in the meantime. The newly founded Waldorfschool doesn't get support from the State and Registration and accreditation take a lot of time due to bureaucracy and lack of understanding. The curriculum has been adjusted to the cultural traditions of Tanzania to some extent but further change will take place gradually as the teachers become more conversant with Waldorf Pedagogics. Tanzania has a rich artistic cultural heritage which can be taught in a Waldorfschool. The traditional community life in the vilages can be the base for a new form of schoolcommunity. The newly founded school faced three problems: The lack of teachers educated in Waldorf pedagogy,finding parents who are not only looking for a good school for their children but understanding and supporting Waldorfpedagogics and the financial means to keep this young initiative alive. Tanzanian publicity looks on the Waldorfpedagogics as a wonderful idea. There are also enemies who compare the school with other schools which teach reading and writing at a very early age. That a Waldorf school school starts reading and writing only from the first class confuses many parents.