Need

Gaining an education is a vital step towards a future free from poverty. Tanzania follows a secondary school syllabus almost identical to the UK. However, teaching resources are often allocated to teacher salaries, accommodation and the provision of basic sanitation on the school premises instead of text books. As a result, an average pupil to text book ratio is 5 to 1.

Solution

Our focus for 2012 is to ensure the books we donate are used sustainably by school students and teachers. We will build upon the success of our library renovation programme scaling the positive outcomes from providing a designated book storage space and loan system. Working together with Tanzanian volunteers they will create a mini-library in each school and run a series of activities to ensure their fellow students and school teachers understand how to use the books to support their studies.

Aims

To create a mini-library in each school

Activities

» Providing relevant UK textbooks specifically relevant to the subjects and academic levels the school teaches.
» Providing shelves and loan register to store the books effectively.

Success will be seeing over 200 books be loaned and returned to the library in the first year of use.

To inspire thirst for knowledge

Activities

» Orientating the whole school with the library and encourage them to use it.
» Encouraging our student volunteers to work in collaboration with students from the recipient school to share their love of reading and study.

Success will be students returning to the library to borrow more books.

To empower READ International volunteers

Activities

» Enabling the school and our volunteers to take ownership of the renovation.

Success will be READ volunteers gaining skills and experience which has empowered them.

Impact

The project will increase access to education for thousands of East African students - empowering them to fulfill their potential and enabling them to improve the chances of access to employment in future. We will monitor use of the library at the school, including use of the loan register and book/student ratios. We will evaluate using qualitative and quantitative data.

Risk

The school library will not be sustainable if ownership is not felt for the library. We will therefore ensure that this is a collaborative process between READ volunteers, READ International, the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and the recipient school, students and staff.

Reporting

An impact report in October 2012 including photos. Photos and videos available on request.

Budget - Project Cost: £5,733

Location

We work in 14 regions across Tanzania including: Kagera, Tanga, Ruvuma, Mbeya, Mara, Kigoma, Morogoro, Mtwara, Lindi, Rukwa, Shinyanga, Singida, and Tabora. We are seeking funding to cover all regions.

Beneficiaries

Each library directly benefits an average of 400 students per academic year for the 5 year life cycle of the library. The library also benefits staff and the wider community. Through this project we will create 10 libraries and change the lives of over 4,000 school students in Tanzania.

Why Us?

We have been undertaking this project since the first pilot in 2008 and have renovated over 20 libraries to date. We work closely with local stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and other local NGOs to make each renovation a success. Each renovation is led by our UK student volunteers in partnership with Tanzanian students from the recipient school. This collaborative, youth led process ensures a vital sense of ownership and long-term sustainability.

Read more about the Charity running this project.

People

Rose Blackie

Country Director - Tanzania

Student Volunteer Teams At Universities Across The UK

They lead the projects at their universities to collect and sort books. They then travel to Tanzania each summer to distribute directly to schools.

School Student Volunteer In Schools Accross Tanzania

Who work with the UK students to unpack the books, set up the library, and maintain the school library in the future.