2022-2023 Projects

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Community members met to discuss priorities and to vote on upcoming projects in March of 2022. For the first time, this occurred in a two-step process designed to promote local participation and engagement. First, meetings were held in each of Dumbeta Ward’s nine sub-villages. All village residents were encouraged to come and participate. Each village meeting produced a list of priorities. Then each village meeting elected a representative to attend a larger Ward-wide meeting. This larger meeting was tasked with finalizing the list of priorities to be presented to the Rafiki Village Project. A dedicated maternity ward at Dumbeta Dispensary, a kitchen at Dumbeta Primary School, new student toilets at Lamay Primary School, and new student desks at all the Ward’s schools, were identified as the projects for the coming year.

​MATERNITY WARD AT DUMBETA DISPENSARY

The first infant was born at the Dumbeta Ward Birth Center in November of 2023. Prior to its construction we had frequently heard from community members, Dumbeta Dispensary staff, and the District Medical Officer about the need for a dedicated maternity ward at the Dispensary. Prior to the opening of the Dispensary in 2008 (?) all births occurred at home attended by lay midwives. Running water was not available, conditions were unhygienic, and emergency services unavailable. As a result, maternal and infant deaths were not uncommon.

In recent years most births in Dumbeta Ward have occurred in the Dispensary, attended by trained nurses and medical officers. While this provided a safer and more sanitary environment, and resulted in a dramatic decrease in maternal and infant mortality, conditions were still far from ideal. Because of the large volume of patients seen at Dumbeta Dispensary, and because it lacked a dedicated maternity ward, mothers labored in exam rooms, often at the same time that other patients were being seen. Due to a lack of beds, mothers and infants were sent home within an hour or two of giving birth. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers and infants be observed for at least 24 hours after delivery. This practice has been shown to reduce post-partum and neonatal complications and death. 372 infants were born in exam rooms at the dispensary in 2021. At the March 2022 community meeting the need for a dedicated maternity ward was listed as a top priority. After the community raised 10% of the funds needed for its construction, and after our generous donors contributed the remainder, the birth center finally became a reality. The new stand-alone building is adjacent to the Dispensary. In addition to a dedicated room for mothers to labor in, the new maternity ward contains a
post-partum observation room, a nurse’s station and an indoor bathroom for the exclusive use of laboring mothers.

STATUS: COMPLETED
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COST: $25,426

​DUMBETA PRIMARY SCHOOL: KITCHEN

A new kitchen began serving meals to Dumbeta Primary School’s 800+ students in April 2024. It is the third school kitchen that the RVP’s has helped finance. A new kitchen was built at Gijega Primary School in 2018 and another one was built at Dumbeta Secondary School in 2021. These kitchens are free standing buildings that contain sinks for washing and food preparation, a storage room for keeping grain away from rodents, and fuel-efficient stoves that burn substantially less wood than an open fire.

The Rafiki Village Project has made significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that all 2500 of Dumbeta Ward’s primary and secondary school students receive a nutritious hot lunch every school day. Research has demonstrated that school lunch programs alleviate hunger, improve school performance, incentivize school attendance, and decrease dropout rates. A clean and roomy kitchen with the capacity
to prepare food for a school’s entire student population is an integral part of a successful school lunch program. When we have asked the citizens of Dumbeta Ward what they would like help with, school kitchens consistently rise to the top of their priority lists. Prior to the Rafiki Village Project’s partnership with the community, Dumbeta Ward's public schools either did not have a kitchen or meals were being cooked over an open fire in a smoke-filled shed.

The community provided 10% of the funds for Dumbeta Primary School’s new kitchen and the RVP provided the remainder. Community members signed a memorandum of understanding that obligates parents to donate sufficient food to the school to feed all students a daily hot lunch throughout the school year. The community is also responsible for maintaining the kitchen in good condition.

COST: $15,241
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STATUS: COMPLETED

​LAMAY PRIMARY SCHOOL TOILETS

The need to replace the toilets at Lamay Primary School was listed as a top priority at the March 2022 community meeting. The existing toilets were unsanitary, unsafe and did not provide adequate privacy. Substandard sanitation and hygiene is linked to diarrheal illness, school absenteeism and poor school performance. The United Nations has identified access to sanitation and hygiene as a universal human right. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) call for “access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all” by 2030.

The community contributed 10% of the cost of constructing new toilets. They also signed a Memorandum Of Understanding that obligated the community and school staff to keep the toilets clean and in good repair.

Students at Lamay Primary School began using their new toilets in September of 2023. In addition to six stalls each for boys and girls, they contained an accessible stall for students with disabilities and a handwashing station with running water.

COST: $11,081
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STATUS: COMPLETED

​STUDENT DESKS

The lack of sufficient student desks is a challenge for Dumbeta Ward’s schools. In some cases, as many as six primary school students share desks meant for three students. Providing additional student desks for the Ward’s schools was listed as top priority at the March 2022 community meeting. A local crafts person was able to construct wooden desks at a fraction of the cost of factory-built metal or plastic desks. We provided 20 news desks to each of the Ward’s five primary schools in 2023. As funds become available, we will continue to work toward the goal of ensuring that no more than three students share a desk.

​Cost: $2,777 ($27.77 each)