The photographs in three slide shows below were taken during a visit by Ludlow Rotarian Alistair Thornley to Msasani which culminated in the school building and the toilet block being formally handover to the Msasani Primary School and the community of Msasani on November 11th 2022.
Our thanks to all those who have been involved in this project from its inception in 2017 to the present day. Particular thanks go to the members of Marangu Rotary Club, the host club in Tanzania and to the Construction Manager Sia Sandi.
To see how the project has evolved please tab down the Tanzanian pages in the menu above. In early 2023 the project was completed with the training of the teaching staff in the delivery of the WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) training and finally signed off by The Rotary Foundation on December 20th 2023 as complete.
Handover Ceremony – We were welcomed by a salute and the whole school lining the drive. There were refreshments before taking our places for the formal handover ceremony. The guests included Rotarians, and local and regional councillors and we were sat facing across to the pupils, parents and school board. Children opened the proceedings with a welcome of traditional dancing and singing followed by speeches of welcome and greetings. Great stress was made by the school and the wider community of Msasani on their commitment to take care of these facilities that were being transferred in to their care. This was followed by the cutting of ribbons, spontaneous dancing and final group photo.
Schoolroom – Now completed with disabled access and with both rainwater harvesting and mains water storage, provides the school with much need space for exams, school assemblies and a dining area for pupils to eat lunch in when it is raining. As the only school room with electricity it will also be used for IT lessons. Out of school hours it will be available for rent with the income going to maintenance cost of both schoolroom and the toilet block, and the funding of consumables such as water, cleaning material and sanitary products. Post Script: These photographs now include 2 of the room in use. – December 2022
Toilet block – Replacing the schools current facilities of 2 dry closets for the 205 children and teachers, the new toilet block has separate toilets for girls and boys, staff and disabled, each with their own washing facilities. Water is provided from the storage tanks on the schoolroom. Adjacent is a partition wall screening the building from the kitchen with a further sink for children to wash their hands and bowls before and after lunch. The wall will also be used to display posters for the WASH programme (Water and Sanitation, Hygiene) that will delivered by the teaching staff with the aim of improving health of the pupils.
Alistair Thornley – November 2022