History of Karatu Education Fund

Karatu Education Fund has been active in the Karatu community for over 18  years. 

Karatu Education Fund was started in 2000 by Dale Jensen, American National and former General Manager of Gibb’s Farm.

When Dale and his wife Elena came to work at Gibb’s Farm they immediately took an intimate interest in their community of Karatu.  They visited the schools frequently and befriended many people in the villages surrounding the Farm.

They thought it would be a unique and interesting experience for guests of Gibb’s Farm to be able to walk through the village and visit the local schools, to meet children and observe first-hand the very real hardships facing Tanzanian children today.

Almost instantly Dale began to receive cash and material donations from guests who wanted to help to improve the state of the schools. The need for someone to manage these funds became evident very quickly, and Dale, together with his Tanzanian colleagues, started an official NGO.

With the help of Elena, he began to identify needs in the village.  The first school to receive assistance was the Karatu Secondary School. The girls’ dormitory had an old electrical system that was no longer operational.  After an initial estimate of $300, KEF was able to secure the funds to upgrade the system. The girls can now study after dark. Contributions continued to come in, and in 2001, with a substantial donation from the Rotary Club in the United States, KEF built a classroom and additional toilet facilities at Tloma Primary School.

Dale and Elena lived and worked at Gibb’s Farm for 7 years. After relocating to the  U.S, they still remain very closely connected to Tanzania. Dale continues as KEF President, with 4 directors on site in Karatu to manage projects and local funds.

KEF now has board members both locally in Karatu, Tanzania and the US.

Please contact us if you’re interested in assisting with our projects or contributing.

Brief History of Projects

2002-2023:

KEF has assisted with various community and education projects over the years, including building classrooms, a library, science lab and lab supplies, school kitchen projects, providing internet, e tablets, textbooks, desks, chairs and student sponsorship.

Early projects included sponsorships and  building additional desks at Ayalabe Primary School , starting the Donate a Desk Campaign.  In 2005, KEF helped to build a teacher’s house at Tloma Primary School.  In 2006, KEF facilitated the building of 10 latrines at Ayalabe Primary School.

From 2009- 2023 KEF has built and provided additional desks at Tloma Primary School, Haymu Primary School , Ayalabe School, Ganako Secondary School and various other schools in the district. 

KEF has assisted in the building of a new library at Ganako Secondary school in 2009.  KEF has continued to support the library, providing text books, e tablets for internet learning and also sponsoring a librarian through library training school, and currently assists paying her salary at the library.

In 2015- 2023 KEF assisted building various classrooms, including Science Labs, Secondary and Primary school classrooms

2019-2023 projects included providing the library with assistance through book donations, librarian training programs, computer lab and assisting in setting up community programs for both adult, family and early childhood reading.

• continue scholarship program for students in Karatu district

• provide computer training for the school and community.

• provide assistance expanding classrooms and other school projects

• Beginning the Compressed Earth Brick Project at G Lambo School, providing locally made environmentally friendly bricks for projects in the community

• Sustainable Kitchen project , built with Compressed Earth Bricks in local schools.

• 2023 will continue with above projects.

. Please contact us if you’re interested in contributing.