Education Tanzania, United Republic of Project #47991

Build a school for 100 Maasai children in Tanzania

by Smart Villages Foundation

Build a school for 100 Maasai children in Tanzania

Project Report | Jan 23, 2022
Kiruru update

By Bernie Jones | Project leader

The new school building so far

Hello Friends,

We have some good and some bad news from Kiruru in Tanzania for you this time. The positive news is that progress on the school is continuing. We've been able to add your generous donations over the last quarter to funds that the village has contribributed themselves. And progress is being made on the new school building - you can see some of the pictures below.

The 'old' pre-primary school hut has also been fully repaired after the storm last year, and is once again in full swing. The village is keen to finish off the school building, connect it to the new solar power system they have in the village, and then the building can start to be used.

The bad news that we warned you about is that this year, the rains have failed so far. There is supposed to be a 'small' rainy season in November and December, that would usually allow the community to grow a crop of vegetables and beans for the year ahead. Last year you'll remember there was too much rain, and crops were washed away. This year, other than two or three days, there has been no rain since June. The ground is rock hard, and it is impossible to grow anything. Even the grass has died, which means that the cattle upon which the Maasai also traditionally rely have had little or nothing to eat - the are news reports of thousands of cattle dying across the region. We don't know if it is climate change, but it is noteworthy that since we started working in this region 3 years ago, there has not been a single "normal" set of rains!

Despite the lack of crops (and therefore money) the community is committed to completing the primary school, and continue to contribute what they can themselves. Your generous donations help us support them in their ongoing work. As ever, if you would like to share the project link with friends and family, we and the community of the small sub-village of Kiruru in Northern Tanzania would be extremely grateful! Thank you in advance!

We look forward to sharing more updates with you soon!

Bernie

Dry landscape in Kiruru

The school office/pre-primary classroom to be...

Progress on what will be the main classroom

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Sep 27, 2021
Harvests and roofs in Kiruru

By Bernie Jones | Project Manager

Kiruru new primary school roof being installed

Dear friends and supporters,

It has been another eventful few months in northern Tanzania. Happily the waves of COVID that have gripped the country since February seem to be on the decline, and the new President has introduced a lot of public awareness, data and information campaigns. Vaccines are also - albeit very slowly - becoming available in the country.

For Simanjiro, the distrcit where Kiruru sub-svillage is located, it has been a challenging time. Last year they had too much rain, which severely damaged the crop. And this year, the maize crop is still much less than normal, because there hasn't been enough rain.

Nevertheless, eager to move ahead with their school project, the community were able to contribute some funds from their harvest income towards paying for a workman to finally build the roof for the school building. We were delighted to able to support them with this, thanks to your generous donations, by helping pay for the workman and the roofing timbers.

So the excellent news to be able to share with you is that the school now has its roof!

Next steps will be to finish the inside of the school building, and provide some furniture and resources, and build some houses for the new teachers who will come when the government allocates them. And of course, we still to connect the school with the electricity supply. But things are progressing in Kiruru, and the community is pleased with what it has been able to achieve with your generous help.

We look forward to being able to share another positive update with you in a few months' time - in the meantime, if you'd like to share the project link with any family and friends, the community of Kiruru would be very grateful!

Kiruru new primary school roof

Watching the work in Kiruru subvillage

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Jun 1, 2021
Focus on pre-primary and primary school roofs

By Bernie Jones | Project leader

Kiruru pre-Primary outdoor lesson

Dear Friends and Donors,

It has been an eventful four months since the last update. Tanzania went though a full-blown COVID wave, which sadly even reached the Maasai plateau where Kiruru is located. The wave now seems to be over, fortunately, and the country is taking steps to ensure they have good procedures in place for the future.

In Kiruru, the priority of the community was to fix the roof of the pre-primary school, which was destroyed in January. We're happy to report that, with the support of your generous donations, this was done in April. The community also now has almost all the material they need to able to roof the primary school they are building, which will ensure the structure is weather-tight, and can start to be used while they continue to finish it. The community hopes, with your help, to be able to carry this out in June and July.

During our last visit, in May, we were able to install a 10kW solar-power hub for the sub-village, supplying the church and shops with electricity, and allowing community members to begin setting up new businesses. The community is also keen to connect up the school as soon as possible - all they need is £500 / $700 to purchase the armoured underground electricity cable to cover the distance between the solar system and the school. With your generous help and donations, it might even be possible to complete the electrical connections at the same time as finishing the roof !

If you would like to share this update, and link to the project page on GlobalGiving, with your friends, relatives and colleagues, we, and the people of Kiruru sub-village and the surrounding area, will be extremely grateful.

Many thanks for your continued support - we look forward to updating you again soon

Bernie & the community of Kiruru

Class under a tree, making the most of the weather

New school roofing sheets stored in the Church

School window frames waiting for installation

New primary school awaiting its roof

Re-roofed pre-primary school in Kiruru

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