Send deaf Tanzanian children to school

Students at Kigwe primary school need to pass their Standard 7 exams in order to progress to secondary school.  For many students particularly who missed many years of education due to poverty this is impossible. Many then return to their villages with a bleak future to look forward to. The Matumbulu deaf vocational centre in Dodoma offers an alternative to such students.

Matumbulu now has 31 deaf students including 8 new standard 7 leavers who joined in late September. Students learn Tanzanian Sign Language, as well as vocational skills in carpentry, welding and tailoring, so that they can eventually support themselves and their families.

December is the end of our first semester and our second will restart in mid January, and students have made amazing progress. The deaf students can now make good products such as window frames, tables, and school uniforms with correct measures and good quality. All students can now sign fluently, even those who were beginners. This means they can finally communicate, a great step forwards.

 We have a lot of land at the centre which we want to develop to grow food, meaning we can reduce costs and be able to accommodate more students. (There is currently a long waiting list of students who want to join us). Growing food has been a problem because of the lack of water for irrigation outside the rainy season, but we have now drilled a borehole at the centre and are ready for planting.

We have also constructed a table tennis table, following a special donation from Bounce ping pong club in London and the students have started to learn this sport, which they find very exciting.

Thank you for your support, and we wish you well for the festive season.