Lucky Vincent reopens as sorrow mood remains

Arusha. Lucky Vincent Nursery and Primary School re-opened on Monday after losing its 32 pupils and 3 staff during the May 6 tragic accident in Karatu with the sorrow mood evident in the faces of its pupils and employees.

Pupils were attending classes from early in the morning but for those in Standard Seven were missing 32 of their colleagues who perished when the mini bus they were travelling in swerved off the road and plunged into a gorge.

Ephraim Jackson, the head teacher said 106 pupils travelled in three mini buses on the fateful trip to Karatu where they were to sit for a joint mock examination with Tumaini School.

Death claimed the lives of 32 pupils, two teachers and a driver. Three pupils - the only survivors in the tragedy - were on Sunday airlifted to the United States for specialized treatment. They have already arrived.

Mr. Jackson said teaching at the English-Medium school, which topped the National Standard Seven National Examinations in Arusha region last year, was back to normal in the academy.

"It is still a difficult time for us but our commitment to serve the society remains. We continue to pray God for what happened", he told The Citizen.

He said he could not give statistics but noted that a big percentage of the pupils were already back to the school which was closed on May 7th, one day after the disaster which sent the nation mourning.

Several pupils were still arriving at the academy around noon accompanied by their parents. There were no confirmed reports that some of the parents intended to seek transfer of their kids to other schools because of the calamity.

Mr. Jackson said they were still waiting for counselors promised by the regional authorities and who are expected to offer their services to the traumatized pupils and staff members of the academy.

Arusha regional medical officer Dr. Timothy Wonanji said last week that a team of health officials and psychologists from the government would soon embark on a comprehensive programme to support grieving families and offer counselling to the pupils.

"We are still discussing with them the modalities on which counseling will be carried out", the head teacher said, noting that matters pertaining to payment of consolation money to the bereaved families were being handled by the government.

Survivors of the tragic crash - Doreen Elibariki, Saida Awadh and Wilson Tarimo  - arrived in Iowa on Sunday for specialized treatment.

The flight of the injured kids to the US has been organized by the Singida North MP Lazaro Nyalandu as a co-chair of Siouxland Tanzania Education Medical Ministries (STEMM).