As part of Logos’ participation at Zanzalu, members of the Logos Circle Zanzibar joined us for a visit to the Straight Training Center in Fuoni Mambosasa, Zanzibar. The visit brought together Logos contributors, Zanzibar Circle members, Impact Circle participants and Zanzalu residents around a shared goal of supporting the school. Last year at Zanzalu, we were able to fundraise for 10 Raspberry Pis to equip their IT department, which we were happy to see being used this visit.
About Straight Training Center
Straight Training Center was started in 2014 by Modest Tumaini Elinema. After attending private school and graduating from university as a tour guide, Modest wanted to create opportunities for children who had not had the same access to English education.
What began as a small evening English class for a handful of children has grown into a community education center serving more than 120 students with seven teachers, with the teachers themselves being former students.
The center currently provides:
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English classes: Monday–Friday, 7pm–9pm
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Computer classes: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8am–11am, and Sunday, 4pm–6pm
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Literacy classes: weekends for parents who do not know how to read and write
The center particularly supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds and orphans. Beyond formal education, it aims to provide students with a safe and supportive environment where they can develop confidence, relationships and practical skills.
The center’s connection to tourism is particularly important. Modest works as a tour guide, and many students aspire to follow a similar path. The center therefore links English education with a tangible local employment opportunity. When resources allow, students also visit places such as Spice Gardens, Jozani Forest and beaches around Zanzibar, later using these experiences as material for English essays and other learning activities.
The center has since secured a plot of land with grant support and is now working towards constructing its own permanent building. This would remove the ongoing vulnerability of renting a space and give the center a stable base from which to expand its educational programs.
What worked
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The visit connected the Logos and Zanzalu communities with an existing local initiative. Joining me was Paschal Logos Circle Africa Coordinator, two members of the Zanzibar Circle × Impact Circle, and three Zanzalu residency participants.
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We brought practical educational resources. English children’s books were collected through the Lisbon Circle and the local community and brought to the school as a gift for the students.
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Reading together created an immediate point of connection. We spent time reading English books with the children and helping them engage with English in a relaxed setting.
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The older students were given a class for English conversation and speaking practice. This created an opportunity to interact with students who are already developing their English and who may use the language as part of future employment opportunities.
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The visit included cultural exchange as well as teaching. Impact Circle Zanzibar members played violin and sang with the students. We spoke in English sharing different practices from where we live, such as what is normal for us to eat for breakfast and spend our Sundays.
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There is already a path towards greater long-term sustainability. The center has secured a plot of land for its future building and has also received support to purchase ten computers, creating the foundation for expanded educational programs. We were able to film content to create a fundraising video to support the school long-term.
What we learned / What broke
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Community visits need to remain flexible. We had originally expected to spend more time doing reading and activities with the younger students. However, because we arrived during mosque prayers, we could not continue using the school facility in the same way. This meant adapting the program and moving towards a speaking and teaching session with the older students.
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Speaking activities require more preparation. The English speaking session with the older students was not part of the original plan, so we were not as well prepared as we could have been. Future visits should prepare several adaptable English activities in advance, including conversation prompts, games and structured exercises for different age groups and levels.
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Educational donations are most useful when connected to ongoing activities. The books became part of the interaction between participants and students through reading together. Future donations could similarly be paired with activities that help students use the resources.
What was produced
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English children’s books were delivered to Straight Training Center, collected through the Lisbon Circle and the local community.
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Reading session was held with children using the donated books.
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An English-speaking and teaching session was held with older students.
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Music and cultural exchange activities took place, including violin playing and singing with the students.
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The visit strengthened the connection between the Zanzibar Circle, Impact Circle, Logos organisers and Zanzalu residents around a concrete local education initiative.
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Video footage was collected by Zanzalu Artist in Residence Yessie. The footage is intended to become a short film introducing the center and its story, helping communicate its needs and support future fundraising.
What happens next
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Complete and share the short film about Straight Training Center to help communicate its story and fundraising needs.
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Support the center in telling the story of its permanent-building project to potential donors and aligned communities.
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Explore how future Zanzibar Circle and Zanzalu activities can support existing community-led education initiatives rather than creating one-off interventions.
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Connect future visits with the center’s longer-term goal of becoming financially and physically sustainable through its own building.
The next step: helping build a permanent school
Straight Training Center already owns the plot where it hopes to build its permanent home. The proposed building includes classrooms, a computer room, office space, toilets, an assembly area and space for volunteers.
The construction plan is divided into six phases, allowing fundraising to proceed incrementally. The first phase would establish a minimum viable educational facility with three classrooms, an office and toilets. Later phases would add the computer classroom, additional classrooms, an assembly area, volunteer accommodation and a garden.
This makes the building project particularly relevant for future community support: there is already a local organization, an established student base, teachers, land and a concrete plan. The remaining challenge is turning that foundation into a permanent physical space.
The short film being developed from footage collected by Yessie can help make this story more visible to potential supporters and donors, showing the school, its students, its teachers and the community behind it.
You can donate to the school here
Build on this
Straight Training Center demonstrates what community-run education can look like when a local initiative grows grassroots from a simple need: giving children and adults access to English and other practical skills to help with their employability.
The visit was small, but it created a direct connection between people building the Logos and Zanzalu communities and a local organisation that has been doing this work for more than a decade.
Thank you to Modest and Yanis for connecting us to the school one year ago, and organising this visit!
Build the parallel λ