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Tanzanian first lady Mama Salam Kikwete [shown above, at left] met with Asbury Park Middle School teacher, Kevin Williams [right], as part of the Footprints to Education program, according to a press release from the program.

Footprints, through cultural and educational exchange, is designed to enrich the lives of children while promoting global understanding between students in the United States and Africa, the release said.

Williams, district liaison to the program, and Kikwete discusses an ongoing pen-pal program and the development of one-on-one video conferencing between students in Asbury Park and their Tanzanian counterparts the two hope to achieve by the year’s end, the release said.

“The program is working and was successfully launched from Asbury Park,” said John M. McLaughlin, founder of Footprints to Education and Asbury Park High School graduate.

The effort was initiated two years ago through a pilot program between the Asbury Park Board of Education and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Last year, the Asbury Park Board of Education partnered with Monmouth University to donate a retired school bus filled with used text books and sneakers to the Republic.  To date, a total of 17,000 books have been donated, the release said.

Along with the Asbury Park Board of Education and Monmouth University, New Jersey Natural Gas, A&J Sneakers, Standard Supply, Garret Giberson and Pat Fasano were also involved with the process or donated items, which included over 100 pairs of sneakers, to the container.

“The bus, books, and sneakers are in Tanzania and her excellency’s visit to the area is proof of her commitment to the program,” McLaughlin said.

The African nation that receives the donation pays for shipping costs and must participate in the creation and implementation of cultural and educational exchange programs between their students and the district that gives the donation, McLaughlin said.  The programs can be as simple as pen pals or more involved such as faculty exchanges, joint research and grant applications.

The first lady’s visit to Monmouth University gave her the opportunity to personally participate in the ongoing discussions on the logistics and specifications of exchange currently underway between Tanzania, the Asbury Park Board of Education and the University, the release said.

[Photo at top: First lady of the United Republic of Tanzania Salma R. Kikwete and Kevin Williams, Asbury Park Middle School teacher.]

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