LOVE OF LEARNING

Shikabania, which means “fight for me” is a Pre-K through Class 7 school in the small Tanzanian village of Nkoaranga, founded in 2010 to teach children of poor families in English. The need for English language skills is critical in order for them to continue their education and future employment. All of the secondary schools (grades 8-12) are taught in English. Unfortunately, adequate English is not readily available in the local government school where classes are taught in Swahili with few books, no maps or globes, and in vastly overcrowded classrooms. As a result, many students fail and are unable to continue their education.

Shikabania is now poised to change the lives of an entire village. Now that we have an established school program, teachers, books, desks, and the coveted, much sought after registration from the Tanzanian government, all we need now is continued funding.

After 14 years of building and improving, Shikabania is well established in the village with nine classrooms, a library, eight toilets, a tiled kitchen and staff room. A new 50,000 liter water tank secures us against shortages.

We have 245 students (100% capacity) in Pre-K, Kindergarten, Class 1 through 7. (Primary school in Tanzania.) Ten teachers, all local residents, provide a solid government required curriculum of English, Swahili, Math, Science, History, Geography, and Civics, as well as Library. All classes are taught in English. Five support personnel: 2 cooks, a cleaner , watchman and gardener directed by our Administrator complete the staff. There is an annual school field trip to a nearby National Park.

The school fee is $20 per month to cover all books and supplies, morning porridge and a nutritious lunch. About 1⁄3 of the parents are able to afford part or all of the fees, and the rest of the budget comes from our family of donors.

Our graduating classes passed the National Exam for entrance to secondary school in the top 5% of the nation. We are very proud of them!