It is hard to believe we’ve been 10 years at Kilimanjaro watching this amazing cohort of Tanzanian students grow, progress and achieve at all academic levels.  It has been a rich cross cultural experience for the project and the many alumni who have joined volunteer trips over the years.  We’ve come to know an extraordinary Kilema community and meet strong and determined people.  As we celebrate this anniversary, consider what we all have accomplished.

 

• Since this project started in 2008,  80 children have received a minimum of three years of  school support  including school fees, uniforms and school supplies. The average number of years of schooling provided per student is 4.9 years.
• Of those children 86% or 69 children completed basic secondary school to Form 4 or our equivalent, grade 10.
• Twenty nine or 42% of those graduates continued on  to Form 5, Form 6, vocational training, diploma studies, teachers college and university.
• Seven (7) completed teacher college.
•  Eleven (11)completed vocational or trade such as construction, electrician, tailoring, electronics.
• Seven (7) have completed Bachelor degrees at various universities in northern Tanzania.
• One student is currently in her second year of study to become a  Clinical Medical Officer.
• One student, Stephen, is studying at the Masters level  Education.

 

 

We have been able to accomplish this with support from a wide and generous community and the success here belongs to everyone. An array of donors, volunteer helpers, and the students who continue to persist, often with very little margin.  Their focus and determination continues to be inspiring.   Our annual budgets have been $Can 10-13,000.00/per year.  Thank you to everyone!

 

 

Stephen remembering his Granny on the screen saver.

 

As our fiscal year  comes to an end let us give you a snapshot of highlights this year, 2017-18.

• In the last fiscal year we funded 13 students at various academic levels, secondary through university.
• Congratulations to Paulina L. who is graduating from Form 6 at Mtwara High School May 2018!  She is a strong student, ranked 8/64 and has a desire to study medicine. We are looking forward to seeing her reach her goal.
• Congratulations to Maximilian Raziki who graduates July 2018 from the University of Dodoma with a Bachelor of Business and Accounting.  It is thrilling to see him grow into a tall, fine young man.  We enjoyed our visit with him in Dodoma in January and toured the sprawling hillside university.  We also give thanks to his mother who has gifted us with one or more live chickens every year of the ten years Max has been in our project.

 

 

 

• Congratulations as well to Erick who graduates from Moshi Cooperative University in August 2018 with a Bachelor degree in Accounting.  Ongara sana!  He has persisted, living on a strict food budget of $1.25 per day while at school.
• We were happy to get news that Ambrose, who completed his vocational training in construction in 2014, is doing well enough to build a 2 room addition on to his mother’s fragile wood and mud house.
• After 10 years we have built sufficient trust and respect to be able to negotiate on behalf of our students.  We were happy to recommend Lilian, a B.Ed grad,  for a teaching position at Kilema Vocational School.  Headmaster, Mr Mkunde, brought her on to teach English and she says it’s going very well!  In exchange we will bring a new student Raziki, who is eager to study electricity, to Kilema Vocational. Win win.
• We have been working to help Stephen L. apply for full scholarships to study abroad in the Netherlands and wish him luck, he’s done so well.
• We provided school support for a young woman with mental health concerns due to the threat of sexual violence, struggling to finish her final two years of Laboratory Sciences.
• Eight computers were distributed to college students this year and one was refurbished by Godfrey N. for resale, the proceeds which would be split between himself and Flora  for small business seed money.
• Repairs were made to 5 laptops at the Ifati/ Rukima secondary school computer lab.
• Discussions were made to start a computer lab at Resesa secondary school in Sembeti and we hope to have a cost sharing agreement in place and computers arriving with Chris Fraser in September 2018.
• We had the honour of naming Franki and his wife’s new baby boy!  Franki graduated  from teachers college and lives in western Tanzania with a family of his own.  We named the baby Julius, of course, after the first post colonial president who is revered.
• Best of all we hit the road for a 1637 km loop through northern Tanzania to visit Max and Happiness in Dodoma and Idda, Margareth, Flora, Godfrey, Jackson and his dear ill father at Ocean Road hospital in Dar.

 

                                                                    Lilian, a new teacher!                                                                                  
                                                                        Augustina, a recent graduate B.Science.

                                                                    Happiness, proud to be in  Clinical Officer training.

                                                                   Idda and Godfrey helping each other.

                                                                     Ifati school computer lab. 

 

How you can help.

Do you have a used laptop you wish to donate? We can get it to a computer lab at Kilimanjaro this September.

Would you or anyone you know wish to support a known  student in the latter academic years of study at vocational school or university? Partner with a friend or extended family?  We know these students, their histories and  eagerness to continue to study.

 

New initiatives coming soon…

Inspired by the young doctors at Kilema Hospital, Drs Maro, Kyaruzi and Omboga, we are working on a new CACHA linked project to help with the maintenance and purchase of needed biomedical equipment , Kilema Hospital Improvements Project: CACHA.  The first priority will be to explore an assessment and repair of current hospital equipment by Engineering World Health biomedical tech volunteers, a US nonprofit group (ewh.org). Following this, the hospital is in need of an automatic transfer switch for the generator to have continuous light in the OR especially during frequent power failures.  Operating room lights and  a cardiac monitor will be up next.

And finally an exciting venture coming soon..the launch of a  GO FUND ME campaign- Help Dr. Victor Kyaruzi (right) to become a General Surgeon.  He’s already a fine rural doctor but dreams of  reaching farther and contributing more.  We are looking forward to helping him with 3 year of specialty training in surgery at the University of Dodoma…We invite you to help out or forward to anyone who may be interested….Stay tuned!

Speaking of doctors, we enjoyed having Dr. Julius Omboga with us in Victoria , B.C. last December for an wonderful reunion and clinical experience at Cool Aid  Community Health Center and Rebalance MD.  We loved having him and thank you to the community of practitioners who offered their time and experience to give Julius an excellent orientation to Canadian health services!

 

 

Then ….

 

 

 

Thank you everyone!

Our donors and  those who are partnered with individual students.

Our volunteer who provides and prepares used laptops for donation, Richard Corman.

All  the contributors of school supplies from the Harling Point neighbourhood and Compassion Resource Warehouse of Victoria.

And especially …Thank you to the Kilema community and our field staff Avelin who keeps  order on the ground in Tanzania and without whom we would not succeed!

All for now…..