Utete, TZ – High school students from Switzerland, Ireland and UK assist local schools and families this summer – Jul 2024
Kindwitwi village and Utete district schools were very happy to host six student groups from four schools for a cultural and educational exchange this spring and summer, and are very grateful for all their assistance and the good times they had together.
The visiting school students, local volunteer families and students collaborated to do the work of building a Grow-own-Breakfast (GOB) organic vegetable and banana garden when they raised and planted vegetable garden beds, and planted banana trees. They also dug trenches to supply water to standpipes near school garden, and three local families were connected to piped water. These projects and others assist the sustainability of the harvests and breakfasts at schools and families, because the gardens will feed school children and the schools will earn income for buying other food ingredients by selling surplus vegetables and bananas.
The student groups each built 6 compost piles, and made 18 liters of organic growth booster and pest repelling sprays. These will assist the schools and families to sustain maintenance of the gardens with low running costs. This assistance promotes sustainable practices for environmental stewardship through organic gardening, which nourishes the soil and sustains harvests for building the children’s health.
The first school to visit was Surval Montreux from Switzerland in March. The school raised funds for a number of projects including the very impactful Grow-own-Breakfast (GOB) garden tools and materials store room with water tank on its roof. They enjoyed the following activities while being hosted by the community. Thank you Surval for all your support and assistance.
1- Planted 15 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 12 garden beds
3 – Making organic sprays and buster.
4 – Making and turning compost piles.
5 – 30m trenched to connect Miriam with clean water.
6 – Supplied with Miriam reusable S. pads to needy families for trials’ mentorship.
7 – Supporting a sewing machine to Bibi titi girls sewing club.
8 – Supporting S.pads material & machine to Juhudi vicoba women empowerment.
9 – Supporting academic supplies to FRRTL and Siasa school kindergarten.
10 – Murals painting at FRRTL kindergarten to grow the learning environment.
11 – Visited an ongoing store & water saving tank construction that their funds are building.
St Conleth’s College sent two teams from Ireland in June. The school’s students assisted KCM and the local community with many projects including trenching for laying water supply pipes. Team 1 enjoyed collaborating with KCM and the local community to undertake the following activities. Thank you Team 1 for all your hard work and assistance.
1- Planted 15 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 8 garden beds
3 – Making 10L each of organic sprays and buster.
4 – Making 3 and turning 6 compost piles.
5 – 150m trenching to connect Siasa garden with a sustainable water system.
6 – Supporting academic supplies to Siasa kindergarten school.
7 – Improving the Siasa toilet to ensure a hygienic learning environment.
8 – Finish building banda & boxes for sustainable compost production .
9 -Experienced cooking and eating with the community families.
10 – Installing 25 mosquito nets to protect & maintain health in Utete sec.
11 – Knowledge sharing in classes.
St Conleth’s Team 2 also enjoyed collaborating with KCM and the local community to undertake the following activities. Thank you Team 2 for all your hard work and assistance.
1- Planted 15 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 8 garden beds
3 – Making organic sprays and buster.
4 – Making and turning compost piles.
5 – 150m trenching to connect KCM garden with sustainable water system.
6 – Supporting academic supplies and Mattresses’ to Siasa kindergarten school
7 – Painting murals to Siasa kindergarten for a better learning environment and academic growths.
8 – Building the compost banda and watering FRRTL garden.
9 -Experienced cooking and eating together with the community families.
Ranelagh visited from south west of London, UK in first half of July, and raised contributions for sustaining their projects, which included supplying water to the Katundu Grow-own-Breakfast (GOB) garden. They worked hard on the following activities while being hosted by the community. Thank you Ranelagh students for your support and assistance.
1- Planted 12 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 8 garden beds
3 – Making organic sprays and buster.
4 – Make and turn compost piles.
5 – 300m trenching to connect Katundu garden with a sustainable water system.
6 – Supporting academic and sport supplies and Mattresses’ to Katundu kindergarten school, Utete, Siasa and Utete girls.
7 – Painting murals to Katundu kindergarten for a better learning environment and academic growths.
8 – Building FRRTL comfortable kitchen.
9 – Building KCM garden fence.
10 – Experienced cooking and eating together with the community families.
Parmiter’s School raised funds and sent team numbers 2 and 4 from North of London, UK in second half of July. The school donated exercise books, pencils, colors, 28 water proof mattresses, reusable sanitary pads material, and sport kit to further enhance the children’s education and health.
Team 2 enjoyed collaborating with KCM and the local community to undertake the following activities. Thank you Team 2 for all your hard work, support and and assistance.
1- Planted 10 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 8 garden beds
3 – Making organic sprays and buster 10L each.
4 – Make and turn compost piles.
5 – Trenching 10m, 15m, and 20m to connect 3 families with a sustainable water system.
6 – Supporting academic and sport supplies and mattress covers to kindergartens, Siasa and Bibi titi girls.
7 – Painting murals to Mapinduzi kindergarten for a better learning environment and academic growths.
8 – Contributed 1,460,000 TZS for KCM to fund and maintain prioritized projects.
9 – Building KCM garden fence.
10 – Siasa class renovation by painting walls and flooring.
11- Experienced cooking and eating together with the community families.
Parmiter’s School Team 4 worked closely with KCM and the local community to complete the following activities. Thank you Team 4 for all your hard work, support and and assistance.
1- Planted 10 banana trees.
2 – Raised and planted 10 garden beds
3 – Making organic sprays and buster 10L each.
4 – Make and turn compost piles.
5 – Trenching 85m to connect Utete garden with a sustainable water system.
6 – Supporting academic and sport supplies and mattress covers to Katundu, Siasa and Bibi titi girls.
7 – Building KCM garden fence.
8- Painting toilet walls renovation
9- Knowledge sharing in classes.
10- Experienced cooking and eating together with the community families.
The groups have assisted with improving local schools’ water sanitation and hygiene (SWASH) facilities by laying piping and renovating toilet blocks. They also renovated a classroom at Siasa Primary School by laying a new concrete floor, and re-painted classroom walls at Utete Secondary School. All of this work has contributed to a better learning environment that will help grow attendance and academic performance.
The KCM team says it “is very grateful to all the visiting schools, True Adventures and Better Lives for organizing the visits that engage with us to support our communities’ schools, families and children’s lives. We wish to strengthen this collaboration with both sides because hosting assists developing local schools, families and children to progress towards sustainable living based on self-reliance.”
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