THE SUSTAINABLE KITCHEN PROJECT
THE TECHNOLOGY GAP
In the west nowadays, technology in schools is fairly mainstream. Most children in Karatu have no access to computers, much less the option of exploring or searching the internet or emailing their friends. Karatu Education Fund has been assisted schools with internet access through computer donations and penpal relationships. Bellevue High Schools Penpal project introduced many students to email for the first time, and now with internet cafes accessible throughout Karatu and Tanzania, internet skills are a useful and necessary tool for their future. Currently KEF is supporting students with great needs to succeed in their schooling through sponsorship programs. Although any donation helps, our long term hope is that the sponsors will follow their students through their school career, which gives the student the knowledge that they are supported and believed in.
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to all of our donors
Your continued assistance helps the Karatu community through student sponsorship, school support, infrastructure and community support. Asante! Thank you!
2002-2024
For more information on any of these projects, or to obtain full project proposals and budgets, please contact us.
Below are just a few highlights of KEF work.
2023 - 2024 KEF continues to support our sponsored students and families, and we have added a few students that were in great need of assistance. Please consider donating to helping these students realize their dreams. KEF also continues to work with the Compressed Earth Bricks projects and the local schools to provide opportunities for building locally sourced sustainable classrooms and other buildings in the Karatu community.
2022 KEF projects included continuing to build with the Compressed Earth Bricks built locally. Projects for much needed new classrooms and continued student sponsorship were our priorities.
2021 was a very difficult year world wide. KEF greatly reduced its projects but continued to support our sponsored children and families during these difficult times. We are pleased that our students remained in school and are progressing, thanks to our wonderful sponsors!
2020 Projects include building a simple cost efficient and sustainable kitchen that is energy efficient and built with local materials, including non wood fired bricks ( compressed earth) and energy efficient stoves. This pilot project can be repeated in various schools using the same format. Learn more in the Campaigns section of this site. in 2020 KEF will build kitchens at Askhofu Primary School and G-Lambo Secondary School.
2019 Projects included building 2 new classrooms and teachers room at Ganako Primary School as well as building kitchen facilities. This is an integrated school with deaf and blind students. They are in great need of assistance.
Sponsorship: KEF works with donors to choose and sponsor students to finish their secondary education. This is an ongoing project, please contact us if you would like to help. Very Special thanks to Frank Mellor for his continued sponsorship of 2 young women through Secondary School, University and now in their Master programs. This is a true story of success and how a little help and support can change lives.
Haymu Classroom Finished. Thanks to our donors we were able to finish much needed Haymu Classroom additions in 2017 and 2018. Special thanks to Ellen Jacob and Kirk Shayfitz for this 2017 project as well as other kind donors for the 2018 classrooms and teacher office.
Donors pulled together and especially with the help of Jennfier Jaynes and Remembering Hannah Project, the Ganako Science Labs was finished in 2013. KEF has continued to support the Science lab with materials on a yearly basis.
Ganako Library was built in 2009. The first library in the Karatu district. Special thanks to Alberto Navarro for creating and funding this project. The Library program an ongoing project.
Projects Overview
KEF has fundraised for projects using locally made compressed earth bricks. 2 projects are the affordable kitchens at Askhofu Primary School and G Lambo Secondary school. These kitchens are made using the locally made bricks ( no wood fire bricks), and energy efficient stoves with the goal of reducing wood burning in the area. School lunch is often the main meal of the day for students and is very important for their nutrition.
Askhoful Primary Kitchen Finished 2020. Lunch is Served!
Karatu School Projects
JUST NOT ENOUGH
Many schools in Karatu have 3 or 4 children to one desk, and 4 children to one textbook. 45 children share one latrine. Needless to say there is a great need for additional facilities. KEF continues to help to fund the building of additional classrooms, kitchens, latrines and desks, to make learning more comfortable for children and teachers alike. All the schools KEF has assessed are in dire need of these basic facilities – especially textbooks, desks and toilets.
Science, Math, Health and illustrated reference books donated to Ganako Library thanks to “Books For Africa”
THE TEXTBOOK DILEMMA
When you walk into a classroom in Karatu, the first thing you notice is how many children are huddling around one textbook. Sometimes up to 6 children are sharing one textbook – making it very difficult for them to read and follow the exercises. Karatu Education Fund hopes to help to create a more comfortable learning environment by buying textbooks directly from the publishers, making the ratio of children: books 2:1. KEF has been able to assist Tloma Primary School, Ganako Secondary School and the Karatu Ganako Library with the purchase of locally published school textbooks. Thank you to the Bellevue High School Leadership program for heading much of the initial textbook funding drive.
Haymu Classrooms
Haymu Primary School
2009-2019: PROJECT COMPLETED!
Haymu Primary School is situated in Ayalabe Village in Karatu District and it was founded in 2009 with 75 students and 3 teachers and grades from Kindergarten thru 7. The school has currently about 500 students- 245 boys and 2260 girls, and 14 teachers. There are 5 completed classrooms at the moment, but more space is needed. An expansion project is underway to add 2 new classrooms and 1 teacher's office.
KEF has assisted projects to build classrooms at Haymu school, notably a new classroom in 2017, 2 new classrooms and teacher office in 2018 , as well as provide desks and chairs through our Donate a Desk program.
Mlimani Classroom,
Mlimani School Project
2012-2019:
“We were very much shocked when visiting Mlimani Secondary School, to see that the class rooms are not large enough to accommodate Form One students. More than one hundred students are sharing the same class. Some buildings are in the beginning phase of construction but the speed is very slow as they are expecting and waiting for donations from the community.”
KEF Tanzania board members,
KEF assisted the project to finish the classrooms in 2012 and continues to support the school through our Donate a Desk program
Microscopes in the Ganako Science Lab
Ganako Secondary School
2011-2020:
In 2011, form 4 students wrote the first “O” Level Exams in their school’s history – with no Science Labs! These 124 brave pioneers managed to sit their practical exams for Biology, Chemistry and Physics in make-shift labs that teachers set up with the limited resources they had. in 2012 KEF assisted the school to finish the labs they had started and equip them with the necessary chemicals and apparatus for this year’s students.
From 2012-2018 KEF has supported the school, among other projects suppling Lab materials, e -reader tablets, text books, desks, and the librarian program.
GANAKO LIBRARY PROJECT
2009-2020:
KEF has assisted in the building of a new library at Ganako Secondary school in 2009. In continuation 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.
This library is used for both the school and the community, making it the first community library in the Karatu district. The library was built using a sustainable building technique called CESB "compressed stabilized earth blocks". The building was entirely built by local workers, who were trained in the sustainable and earth friendly building techniques of compressed earth bricks by the French architect Satprem Maini from the Auroville Earth Institute and Alberto Navarro of the program Bricks for Life. For more information on this building technique, visit the site 'Bricks for Life'.