In Tanzania only just over 50% of the population enrol for primary school and even fewer manage to make the next step to Secondary School. Facilities are extremely limited and often pushed to the limit to cope with the number of children:teacher ratios. Classrooms have fallen into disrepair, have leaking roofs, termite infested walls, mud floors and often no windows, doors or even desks.
Quest was approached by the Livingstone Tanzania Trust to work with them to help improve the quality of schools in the Babati district, near Lake Manyara. After a visit to the project in August 2007, we could instantly see how our volunteers could help! It was truly heart breaking to see the teachers and students struggle through each day with the poor facilities they currently deal with. Walking away was not an option.
Julian, our project partner told us that when he first arrived, the boys from a local school had been challenged to a football match with a another school but were too afraid of the humiliation of not having a football that they declined the invitation. So he bought them a football and says it was the best $10 he ever spent. He still can't quite believe that something so simple could give so much happiness to so few for so little.
We are now working with the LTT to help renovate the existing buildings, cement the floors, plaster and the walls, put in windows and doors, put in new desks, give the teachers shelves for their books, build new buildings from scratch, put in water, irrigate land for teachers/student's gardens, improve the teaching standards, get English conversation groups up and running to build student's confidence, have football matches with other schools, introduce computer technology for the school administration, have educational posters so that groups can study them. As you can see the list goes on as to what we want you to do to help us give these kids a chance and give the teachers more value and so more satisfaction!
Join this project and make a real and immeidate difference to the children of Babati.
You can combine this project with our East African Kenya & Uganda Explorer