Meru East Community School

As you may recall, Ian (the art teacher here) and his wife Mary (the Administration Manager) have been working at building a school in Mary's village of Meru for some years now.

Yesterday October 22nd was the most wonderful culmination of so much hard work when the first 24 students were presented with their uniforms.

Most of the uniform and the school furniture have been made at the local leprosy mission. I was privileged to bring 24 pairs of green socks from Australia which they could not source locally.

The smaller block of land belongs to Mary's family and a house and stables have been refurbished to provide two classrooms and a residence.

The residence and office

Classrooms under the shade of a jacaranda tree

Through donations, their NGO - Tikundane- (which means love in Meru) purchased the adjoining block and they have had a multifunction structure built with an adjoining kitchen.

The children have been selected from the poorest and most needy families of the area. In Tanzania 50% of the population is under 25 years old and their simply aren't enough schools. Poor children have basically no opportunities.

At the appointed hour (give or take half an hour or so) the children arrived with their mothers, grandmothers or aunties.

This was the first time they had been inside their classrooms or formally met their new teacher Elly-Woo (in the orange dress).

Just sitting at their new desks was a new experience as some of their homes literally have no furniture.

Then it was time to collect their uniform. Uniforms are very important in Tanzania and a source of great pride.

The children had all been measured a couple of months ago for their uniforms and shoes however the jumpers only came in small, medium and large so the children were lined up in height order.

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What a transformation..........................



The children's names include Glory, Happiness, Advent, Viola, Jackson, Nickson and Godrester. Aren't those green socks something special!!

This is Advent. He doesn't know it but he is the only child still needing a sponsor. He is a really bright lovable kid .The cost is $25 per month.

If you would like to read more about the project the website is http://www.tikundane.com/