Iselamagazi, Tanzania

Students had to sit on the floor in their old classroom, made of sticks.

The school’s three classrooms were all made of branches and sticks with thatched roofs. There were no desks, tables or chairs and nowhere for the teachers to live. The extent of the situation was felt most severely during the rainy season, when the school had to close for three months due to the lack of adequate shelter. As head teacher, Leonard took this disruption to his students’ studies personally.

World Vision, through the Iselamagazi Area Development Programme (ADP), came to the rescue in 2003. It supported the construction of five classrooms, two teachers’ offices and a teachers’ house, and supplied furnishings including 50 three-person desks. “We thank God that World Vision intervened in the situation,” says Leonard. “The support has greatly improved the Ng’wanhangala teaching and learning environment. Now the staff enjoy teaching in the school, pupils are comfortable and motivated to attend classes no matter what the weather is like!”

The new classrooms, shown here under construction, are made of concrete so they will protect children from the weather all year round.