With a grant of £12,150 from the IM Foundation, which was launched in December 2010, EdUKaid has refurbished and resourced Imekuwe Primary School in the Mtwara region of Tanzania, a school that was in desperate need of repair.
“Imekuwe Primary School was in a particularly bad condition: there were children sat on the floor, there were blackboards so badly ripped apart the teachers could hardly write on them and the children had nothing to write on and no desks to sit at. That was probably the poorest school I’d ever been into, and I’ve been into many over there," said Tim Varney, chair of trustees at EdUKaid.
Using funds raised by Incisive Media's staff and at client events over the past year, EdUKaid has now provided 65 desks and chairs to seat two pupils each; replastered and redecorated six classrooms; repaired six floors and external walkways and resurfaced 12 blackboards in the school's six classrooms.
"When I visited the school, I saw something I'd never seen before in Tanzania. In every classroom at Imekuwe there was a teacher; they were able to use blackboards and the children were using brand new EdUKaid desks that had been built by local tradesmen. The floors had been repaired and the walls had been painted inside and out – the children had books in front of them and they were learning. The joy on the headmaster’s face when he showed me round was just a complete contrast from what I’d seen previously," said Tim Varney.
Since the work at Imekuwe was completed, a second IMF grant of £8000 has been used to refurbish and redecorate Singino Primary School (pictured), and to set up and run a pre-primary classroom at the school for children aged 4-6. Following the installation of 65 desks and chairs, as well as replastering and redecoration of the school's seven classrooms, the new pre-primary class opened in the first week of October.
"The classroom has been completed except for shutters and 35 pupils are now being taught at pre-primary level. This is ahead of schedule; more pupils are expected to join in the future and new mats will be ordered for the children instead of the small desks they have at the moment," says John Cox, one of EdUKaid's trustees, who visited the school recently.
The completed work is already having a direct and massive impact on hundreds of lives, transforming the opportunity to learn and develop for young people living in great poverty. Without the support of the Incisive Media Foundation these two schools would not have seen investment and the opportunities for learning and education would have remained hugely challenging.
Further projects are currently being planned in Tanzania and EdUKaid hopes to use future Incisive Media Foundation grants over the next couple of months to provide latrines and more desks and chairs at Imekuwe. Looking into 2012 the Foundation will focus on raising money for a much-needed vehicle to support the charity's extensive work across the Mtwara region.
The Incisive Media Foundation Mission Statement
The Incisive Media Foundation partners with local and international charities that aim to improve the education and career opportunities among disadvantaged people, raising significant funds for those charities through Incisive Media's portfolio of client events. The Foundation also seeks to provide a framework through which staff can volunteer a small amount of their time to contribute their skills and make a meaningful difference to the lives of others.
