Mshikamano
Primary School
GPS Location: -3.4802231, 36.8133973
Mshikamano Primary School is a government school with 420 students and a dedicated female headteacher that’s located in a very rural village of Marurani, Nduruma ward, Arusha. The local community are 90% Massai Tribe, living in mud huts and their sole occupation is tending to their cattle. The community are desperate for their children to have an education to escape extreme poverty.
When we first visited in 2019 this school had no access to fresh drinking water, no electricity and no public transport. The government had started building classrooms at the school but lack of funding meant they had left these unfinished decades ago and students were being taught in dangerous conditions with walls and roofs that were falling down. There were no windows so children would get wet at their desks from the heavy rains. Students grades were poor, average at best and the morale of teachers was low.
Alongside the community, we identified many areas that needed our support, from classroom renovation to new toilets. We’re making great progress and working with Mshikmano every month to create an environment for students to thrive.
Mshikamano Primary School when we first visited in 2019
Abandoned classrooms due to no money for roofing
Extremely dangerous water supply
Classrooms had no windows so rain pours in when children are at their desks
Our impact so far
Top 3 achievements at Mshikamano so far thanks to our supporters
Exam grades put Mshikamano at the top of the school league in their district (previously number 30).
Increased attendance from girls by 91%+ as they can now attend during their period
Increased water supply by 600% for drinking, cleaning and cooking
How we’re supporting Mshikamano students
Our partnership began in February 2019, and we are actively supporting this school with the following four programmes:
Let Us Learn: School builds
Completed:
Renovated 8 existing classrooms and build a new classroom (cost just £26,399) in 2022.
Constructed 1 classroom for the nursery students in 2023.
Being Well: Health
Completed: Construction of hand washing facilities with 14 taps and sustainable education on hygiene (cost just £3,047) in 2020.
Constructed a kitchen and dining room facility in 2023.
Still to do: Renovate the boys toilet block of 8 toilets. Create a sustainable school lunch feeding programme.
Girl Empowerment: Education for girls
Completed: 10 girls’ toilets constructed (cost just £10,465) in 2020.
Completed: Menstrual Hygiene Management Project, including reusable menstruation products, for 68 girls
Water Is Life: Clean water
Completed: 6 x 5,000 litre water tanks installed.
Watch the video below to see the celebration the day the water tanks arrived at the Mshikamano!
Project progress
A huge thank you to One Kind Act, St James Place Wealth Management, the Hilden Charitable Trust and all other donors for supporting this project so generously.
We would also like to thank the amazing Mshikamano community for volunteering their time to help construct these projects so rapidly.
Explore more projects