Ngara, TZ – Parents provide ingredients for school breakfast, and in return receive a photocopier for the school – Jul 2024

Mukibogoye Primary school received a photocopier after parents achieved ingredient contribution targets that will sustain the yearly feeding stock until next year’s harvest in April.

SODAT in collaboration with her three feeding schools and parents, agreed to start an ingredient contribution target to sustain serving breakfast every school day. Each school’s parents successfully achieved contributing enough based on the total number of students available at each school.

Kabalenzi Primary School’s parents contributed 6,964 Kgs of corn for 753 students, Mukirehe Primary School’s parents contributed 4,559 Kgs for 580 students, and Mukibogoye Primary school’s parents contributed 7,087Kgs of corn for 945 students which make a total of 18,610 Kgs of the corn stock for feeding 2,278 students. The schools’ corn field harvests are stored as a breakfast emergency stock. Better Lives and SODAT are assisting by funding storage bags, flour milling, and delivery costs, and by providing stock management services each year.

The schools want to encourage good attendance and academic performance, by making the school administration services more effective and efficient. Therefore, the school requested office equipment like a photocopier and printer. These machines will save 140,000 TZS of monthly running costs, and saving teachers’ time and energy traveling 40Km to and from Ngara town for stationary services, or writing monthly tests on the blackboards. Instead, they will be printing monthly examination papers and mid term tests at the school. This will make teaching and learning meet expectations, easier and more enjoyable for both students and teachers.

These machines can be used to print monthly examination papers and mid term tests for nearby schools. They can also be used to assist local community people who need stationary services to make their lives easier and more enjoyable. It’s a business opportunity for the school to launch a shop that provides these services for the local schools and community.

The income from stationary business will pay the running costs, so the parents will not need to pay to sustain stationary services for the school and the community. The school has a teacher who is good on the computer using Microsoft Excel, and he has volunteered to share his knowledge with students who are interested in learning about computer.