Graduation and gifts

Graduation for the form four's was last week. During my two years here I have been to a couple rounds of graduations. I noticed a striking parallel in the Tanzanian graduations. The form two graduation is akin to middle school graduation, where there is very little to the ceremony. The form four's graduation is a big celebration, and like high school graduation it's seen as a transition point, even though they still have two years left of A levels until college. Family and friends all come together for the ceremony and school is basically shut down for preparation the week before the awards. Form six is the end of high school and though it is probably the more significant life change and achievement (like college) the celebration is a more private affair. Their graduation often takes place when the forms one through four are one vacation. Also the students from A level are fewer and come from further away so family visits are not as practical.

My presents for the form fours were brownies, which though they enjoyed them neither the students nor teachers understood their name. Brownies suffer from a poor branding identity. People don't recognise the word "brown" in the name. Also if you try to call it caki they fail to recognise the reference, due to the vastly different appearance. The naming of course was not important when they were given as presents. It became a bigger issue when used a promotion for math pamphlets.

I believe part of the problem of students passing math is that they fail to invest in supplemental materials. For the O level exams four figure tables are required to solve several problems. Most students don't buy these tables because typically there are enough tables in the school for them to get a copy during the exam. These tables, like computers, are useful and simple once you learn the basic way to read them. However since the tables are dispersed throughout the school the students can't use them to learn during classes. I made photocopies of the tables and tried to sell them at the cost of photocopy 200 sh. (less than 20 cents and roughly the cost of breakfast).
I finally started to sell the pamphlets when I displayed the brownies covered. I originally covered them in tinfoil to preserve their freshness and prevent students from just stealing brownies. However, I quickly found that covering the brownies added to the mystique and gratification of buying a brownie. Which since the brownies are more expensive than normal cakis is a selling point.