2020 PROJECTS
Community meetings in October of 2019 led to the development of priorities and a plan for 2020. Top priority was the installation of solar energy at Dumbeta Secondary School in order to supply electricity to the school. The completion of a classroom building at Gichbord Primary school to help alleviate severe overcrowding was the second item on the communities list of priorities. Connecting Lamay Primary School to the public water supply, building a labor maternity ward at Dumbeta, and purchasing a photocopier for the schools were also identified as high priorities.
DUMBETA SECONDARY SCHOOL SOLAR PROJECTIn the fall of 2019, none of Dumbeta Ward's five schools had electricity. School electrification has been shown to improve student performance, enhance teacher satisfaction and benefit the community in multiple ways. Without electricity students do not have access to educational content available on the internet. By supplying electricity to Dumbeta Secondary School, we sought to have a positive impact on school enrollment, school attendance, test scores, graduation rates, and ultimately, the economic health of the whole community. The government did not have any plans to extend the national electrical grid to the schools in the foreseeable future. Even if grid power was available, solar energy has many advantages. It is a sustainable form of energy not dependent on the burning of fossil fuels. There are lower installation and infrastructure costs. The school will not have to pay a monthly utility bill and therefore ongoing costs will be lower. And, finally, solar powered schools are not susceptible to grid blackouts, which happen frequently in Tanzania.
STATUS:COMPLETED MARCH 2020 COST: $4,122 |
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GICHBORD PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM CONSTRUCTIONGichbord Primary School is faced with extreme overcrowding. It has 372 students and only four classrooms. Several grades have to double up in the same classroom. In 2014 the local government started to construct a new classroom building. However, due to lack of funds this building was never completed. Our first project for 2020 is to complete this partially constructed building. When it is completed it will provide the school with two additional classrooms and an office.
STATUS: Completed August 2020 COST: $10,620 |
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Hand Washing StationsHygiene is a universal problem facing primary schools around the world. Poor hygiene leads to diarrheal illness which in turn causes absenteeism and poor school performance. When children use pit toilets and have nothing but a communal bucket to wash their hands in maintaining good hygiene is nearly impossible. Something as simple as providing a means for children to wash their hands can have a huge impact on people's lives.
This year the Rafiki Village Project funded the construction of hand washing stations at Dumbeta Ward's five public schools. These locally designed low tech stations are inexpensive to build. They are controlled by foot pedals and allow up to six students to wash their hands without touching buckets, faucets or soap. In addition to cutting down on the spread of diarrheal illness we hope to decrease the potential transmission of Covid-19. STATUS: Completed August 2020 COST: $1125 ($225/station) |
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LAMAY PRIMARY SCHOOL WATER PROJECT“Water is life!!! Particularly during this time of Covid having access to water is essential for the health and wellbeing of a school and community. Lamay Primary School currently is the only school in Dumbeta Ward without a water source on the school grounds. In order for there to be water for drinking and washing, students must bring water from a public water tap that is over a mile from the school. The lack of water also makes it challenging to cook lunch for the students. The community has asked the Rafiki Village Project to partner with them to construct a water line connecting the school and surrounding community to the public water utility."
STATUS: PROJECTED GROUNDBREAKING: Fall 2020 PROJECTED COST: $10,176 |
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PHOTOCOPIER FOR DUMBETA WARD SCHOOLSThe five public schools in Dumbeta Ward do not have a photocopier. Currently, when teachers need to make copies of educational materials, examinations, or student assignments they use a commercial stationary store in the nearby town of Katesh. This is expensive and cuts deeply into the schools’ limited budgets. A shared photocopier would allow schools to spend money on other things. The solar energy project at Dumbeta Secondary School will provide sufficient electricity to operate a photocopier. Therefore it will be housed at the school.
STATUS: PROJECTED PURCHASE FALL 2020 PROJECTED COST: $1,100 |
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