Nanette and Angele from Clayesmore school in Dorset recently visited Ikondo with Trustee and Project Officer David Gibbons, who is currently teaching in Dar es Salaam.

They met many of the school staff and students and saw the hostel which we started funding in 2018 in action.  This started in the very small headteacher’s house but has now expanded into two classrooms where 70 girls sleep on the floor.

Being able to stay in school has many benefits to rural girls – it saves them from walking up to four hours a day to and from school through remote areas, sometimes at great personal risk; and it frees them from the domestic labour of collecting water and firewood for cooking once they get home. Instead, they benefit from morning and evening study groups with their friends which has huge benefits for their results as Epifania explains here.

Ikondo has started many income-generating projects to support the girls in the hostel whose parents cannot afford to provide food and to employ part-time science teachers so that students can do practicals.

For the partnership, the 2 schools have done many joint activities, particularly in Art, PE and Music.

They are doing 30 days of challenges through July. 15 set by Clayesmore students for the Ikondo students to complete and vice versa. One will be posted each day through July on Instagram. The purpose is to raise awareness throughout the community. We look forward to seeing the results!

Clayesmore’s current plans are fundraising to facilitate a trip for 7 of their students to visit Ikondo in October, and for a group of Ikondo to visit their school in Dorset. They also hope to help improve the chicken project, making the shed larger to provide space for more chickens so that more Ikondo students can benefit from this successful enterprise.