Going to School in Safety

Does Luhunga Secondary School really need a dormitory for 60 adolescent girls?

“Yes please!”  Currently, 31 girls stay in this unused classroom. 6 girls share each set of rickety bunks! Can you find the bottom bunk that gave way? Water is carried in pails, cooking is done out back on ‘three-rock’ open fires, the maize flour sacks are stored in one corner and windows are broken and missing causing security concerns.

The new dormitory or hostel as it is called here, overlooks tea fields in a gorgeous view.

Mr Lalika, the headmaster comes to check on the progress.

Essaye and Lebaye from the NGO come to check on the progress

Geoff and Vicky Fox, heads of the NGO, come to discuss progress with Restus Sanka the contractor (left), and Alan Roy, the architect (right).

The parents come to check on the progress being made to keep their girls safe.

Alan is here to teach the making of trusses. Local carpenters are employed and have an opportunity to learn new skills.

Alan brings a manual saw from Victoria that “cuts through wood like butter.” The saw is awarded to the most successful hardworking carpenter (fundi). It is a precious gift!

A finished truss…made the ‘right’ way! 

Building continues. Local materials (all the bricks were hand-made in the villages) are used in innovative ways to improve and strengthen the structure. We are 3/4 of the way there! We hope to have the dorm complete by the beginning of the January semester.

Every cent of your generous donations is being put to good use. In Canada we say that this project has employed the ‘snowball effect’ where ONE project has employed local people, trained local carpenters, used local materials, built infrastructure and boosted education for girls and the local economy all at the same time.

Tanzanians say: “Happa kazi tu!”

which is an idiom meaning roughly: “Let’s work hard together!”