2021 PROJECTs
Our annual Community Meeting was held on December 6th, 2020 in a classroom at Dumbeta Secondary School. Teachers, parents, school board members, school administrators, health care providers, local politicians and interested members of the community all came together to share successes and challenges from the previous year and to hammer out priorities for the coming year. Because the Covid-19 pandemic made travel to Tanzania impossible, the Rafiki Village Project Board of Directors attended the meeting virtually. Utilizing electricity supplied by the recently installed solar panels https://www.rafikivillageproject.org/2020.html and expertise and equipment supplied by our good friends at Karimu International Help Foundation, we were able to overcome the significant technical challenges involved in this transcontinental meeting.
The community decided that their top priority was addressing the extreme overcrowding at Dumbeta Primary School by constructing a new classroom building. The other priorities identified by the community included: constructing a permanent kitchen at Dumbeta Secondary School, replacing the dilapidated student toilets at Gijega Primary School, renovating classrooms at Gichbord Primary School, supplying a desktop computer for Dumbeta Secondary School, and continuing the quarterly stipends to all the schools and the Dispensary. From the community meeting and the discussions that occurred in the following weeks a detailed plan and budget for 2021 were created.
The community decided that their top priority was addressing the extreme overcrowding at Dumbeta Primary School by constructing a new classroom building. The other priorities identified by the community included: constructing a permanent kitchen at Dumbeta Secondary School, replacing the dilapidated student toilets at Gijega Primary School, renovating classrooms at Gichbord Primary School, supplying a desktop computer for Dumbeta Secondary School, and continuing the quarterly stipends to all the schools and the Dispensary. From the community meeting and the discussions that occurred in the following weeks a detailed plan and budget for 2021 were created.
|
|
Community Meeting December 2020
DUMBETA PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM CONSTRUCTIONDumbeta Primary School is Dumbeta Ward’s largest and oldest school. With 698 students and only seven classrooms it is also the Ward’s most overcrowded. Three of the school’s seven classroom buildings collapsed during a torrential rain storm in 2017. Thankfully, the buildings were unoccupied at the time but the loss of the classrooms resulted in class sizes of greater than 100 pupils. With so many young bodies squeezed together it is a wonder that any learning occurred. As the head teacher, Dominic Niima, pointed out at the community meeting, “The new classrooms will be very helpful because they will reduce the number of students in a single class, making the teaching process easier and improving student performance.”
STATUS: COMPLETED JULY 2021 COST: $23,132 |
|
DUMBETA SECONDARY SCHOOL KITCHEN
Prior to 2018, none of the schools in Dumbeta Ward had a school kitchen or a formal school lunch program. In 2018, the Rafiki Village Project partnered with the community to build a school kitchen at Gijega Primary School. https://www.rafikivillageproject.org/2018.html. Many of Dumbeta Ward’s children come from families that are only able to provide one meal a day. Malnutrition and hunger are common and have a negative effect on school performance. The kitchen and school lunch program at Gijega School has had a huge impact on the lives of the students. A school kitchen makes it possible for students to receive a daily hot meal at school. No longer do students have to sit all day with empty stomachs, thinking about their next meal.
In 2021 the community asked for help to build a new kitchen at Dumbeta Secondary School to replace the open fire they had been cooking over. It is the second of five kitchens that we hope to build at Dumbeta Ward’s schools. As with all our projects this was a collaborative effort. The community supplied the bricks to build the kitchen. Parents committed to supplying the food that is used for their children’s lunches. Parent volunteers do the cooking and clean up because it is important that teachers and students not be taken away from the classroom. The Rafiki Village Project paid for construction costs and assisted with ongoing maintenance to ensure that the kitchen continues to provide meals for many years. STATUS: COMPLETED COST: $10,459 |
|
GIJEGA PRIMARY SCHOOL TOILETSPrior to 2021 Gijega’s students were using unsanitary and unsafe pit toilets. Children either washed their hands in a communal water bucket or wiped their hands on the ground if no water was available. Adequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a fundamental human right. The lack of adequate sanitation is a major cause of infectious diseases, school absenteeism and poor school performance. It has been shown that improving bathroom hygiene improves student health, attendance and school performance. While all of Dumbeta Ward’s schools are in bad need of modern bathroom facilities, the community prioritized replacing the toilets at Gijega Primary School. The old dilapidated structure was torn down and 24 new pit toilets with secure doors and washable floors and surfaces were constructed. At the same time a handwashing station with multiple facets was installed. In 2016, the Rafiki Village Project helped Gijega connect to the public water supply. This made it possible to install the sinks.
STATUS: COMPLETED COST: $6251 |
|
DESKTOP COMPUTER FOR DUMBETA SECONDARY SCHOOL
The solar panels that were installed at Dumbeta Secondary School in 2020 [https://www.rafikivillageproject.org/2020.html] made it possible for the school to have a computer on site. According to Sophia Malley, the school’s head teacher, the computer is being used to write and print examinations, compile examination results, write official letters, keep student attendance records and connect to the internet. Internet access greatly expands the teaching materials and content available to the school, thereby enriching the educational experience of Dumbeta’ s students. Many of the tasks that are now being done on the computer were previously done by hand. This has increased the amount of time that the teachers have available for classroom teaching. It has reduced the school’s administrative costs and freed up funds that can be used in other ways to benefit the students. It is amazing how such a small investment can make such a big difference.
STATUS: PURCHASED MARCH 2021 COST: $291 |
|