Orphans Africa

When the OA staff first visited the Marilynn Primary and Nursery School, located 20km outside of Dar Es Salaam in the town of Majohe, Tanzania, our field partner had completed only half of the school before running out of funds. The empty dormitories didn’t have a floor or a roof. One classroom had no floor. Students were crammed three to a desk. All 120 students and staff shared one toilet at the headmaster’s house because the lavatories remained unfinished. And the water had to be brought in by hand-cart because they could not afford to finish the well.

There was very little writing paper to go around, only a few chewed-on stubs of pencils, and some chalk. The teachers shared one set of dog-eared textbooks for the entire school. Their soccer ball was composed of many plastic bags laced together. Many of the students did not have uniforms; for those that did, their uniforms showed signs of significant wear and tear. Often shoes were too big or too small.

Upon OA’s return, we undertook the project of completing the school at Majohe. While we have made huge strides, the project is not yet completed.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Since returning in Oct. ‘07, OA has accomplished the following with respect to the Marilynn Primary and Nursery School:

Shipped and delivered one pallet containing over $2500 worth of school supplies, clothing, shoes, and science equipment.

Shipped and delivered a library of 400 books, completely catalogued and ready to loan to the children.

Completed an ten-hole lavatory (five for boys — five for girls), including water hook-up, plastering, painting, tile work, two septic tanks, and flushing toilets.

Cemented the floor in the “sand” classroom & painted the walls.

Provided new student desks and chairs; one student per desk.

Completed a water tower with water well and pump. The well is open to the community during off-school hours.

Installed locking steel doors on all doorways.

Completed two dormitories, with construction continuing on the third. When all three dormitories are complete, they will house 72 orphans.

Provided tea and bread to the students at lunchtime, in addition to their regular porridge.

Began construction on a kitchen and dining hall in preparation for 24 hour orphan residency.

Bought the children a real soccer ball!

GOALS:

Textbooks in every subject for every child

Electrical hookup

Volunteers to teach children English, music, math, science, history, art, games, and more!

Completion of the third dormitory and furnishing all three dormitories with beds, dressers, chairs, student desks, and bedding

Completion of the kitchen and dining hall

Once these final objectives have been accomplished, not only will the Marilynn Primary and Nursery School become registered with the government (a HUGE achievement), but its three dormitories will soon teem with seventy-two lively orphans!

SELF-SUSTAINABILITY:

All OA schools are operated according to a model of self-sustainability. Meaning, that once the school is operational and fully registered with the government, it is capable of supporting itself and OA can move on to the next project. OA’s model combines tuition-paying students with fully-dependent orphan students. Tuition received from parents of non-orphan students cover the costs of teachers’ salaries, school operation, plus the room and board of the orphans. Also, by combining non-orphans with orphans, social stigmas and prejudices are reduced as opposed to being reinforced through orphan-only schools.