Build a Kitchen and a Dining Hall for 200 students

Dear Friends, 

We are truly thankful for the outpouring of generosity that we have received over the last several months.  It is with great joy that we write to you about the impact of your donations. We are thrilled with the progress that has been made on the construction of our new dining facility.  Layers of brick and cinder block continue to grow daily. We have had a great deal of rain lately and though it has slowed some of our momentum there isn’t a day that goes by that we can't look out our classroom windows and see the headway being made. There are walls! It is no longer just a foundation, but a true structure. The attached photos represent the lower level of the building where the academic office, assistant academic office and two additional classrooms, as well, a beautiful library and storage area will be housed. The excitement on campus is palpable. 

It never ceases to amaze us how talented and supportive members of our local community.  Their skills in construction and attention to detail allow us to be confident knowing that our dining hall will not only be a structure we will be proud of, but one that will last for many years to come. The goal of feeding 200 students two nutritious meals a day, in a kitchen that will support the ever growing population, seemed only a dream at the start of 2019, but now as we enter 2020 those dreams are coming to fruition.  Your continued support of our mission is deeply gratifying to us and we hope it is the same for you.  

For a school that started as a wish and later as a conversation over a campfire and grew one classroom at a time, we feel blessed.  Our commitment to the families of the Madawe community and surrounding villages continues to be our number one priority. You have truly helped to make a difference for the students at Ikirwa School and for that we are extremely grateful. Please feel free to contact us if you have any specific questions, we would love the opportunity to speak to you and say ahsante sana again!

With deepest gratitude and warmest wishes. 

Rose Hogan

Greetings from Midawe our dear supporters,

It has been 3 months since we launched this fundraising effort and what has happened since was a chain of miracles. In the past, the classrooms were built mainly through the support of a few overseas donors. The dining-hall project heralds the first time that we have been able to bring in local support as well both monetary and in-kind. It will also be the first two story building on our campus, which brings a whole new set of complexities to the construction.

When we say that our school was built brick by brick with grass roots support, I am not mixing words. Half of the donations we have received so far have been piles of bricks and bags of cement. Which means that work has started. The MP for Arumeru Region, donated 100 bags of cement and set the foundation stone during our first graduation ceremony. The foundation has been dug, rebar for the second story supports has been set, concrete poured and walls have begun to go up.

In addition to the local community, every volunteer that has come on campus has contributed to the construction to the best of their means, purchasing supplies and making donations. And then there is all the help we have received from you, our dear Global Giving supporters. Brick by brick may not be the fastest pace to raise a building, but the walls we are building are strong, held together with more than mortar and cement. The strength of your friendship and commitment to our school and its students make for the stoutest bonds indeed, 

From all of us at Ikirwa School Project,

Asante Santa