About Us
Jitegemee School Building Project Overview
The project is split up into phases outlined below, the building work for Jitegemee is labour intensive. Foundation has been dug by hand. Forms for building concrete blocks are built on site. Frames for building pillars are hand crafted. Water is manually pumped from a well to mix concrete by hand. Earth is moved shovel by shovel all in the tropical sun. The workers sweat just like we do, appreciate shade and work in cooling rain.
Project Phases
Phase 1 Buying the land set aside by the government for a Primary School as part of Project 20, Chanika, Buyuni--a low cost housing project for workers. Preparing and leveling the land. Building of temporary sheds for keeping the materials secure. Preparation of drawing for the school building complex. Obtaining the government permits. Consultation with Renatus Mwakimbwala, the architectural adviser. The selection of Brother Kizito Ndunguru, the Supervisor contractor for the entire project. Preparing and making cement blocks.
Phase 2 Foundations dug, aggregate placed, layers of rock and gravel. Locating of Water and development of Well. Continuous work of making concrete blocks.
Phase 3 Building the walls with the cement blocks, together with iron rod support pillars. The building of the complete ground floor which consists of: Staff room, Staff kitchen and toilet, Multipurpose Assembly hall, Computer lab, General Store, Headmistress office, Assistant Head's office, General office and SIX classrooms, toilet block.
Phase 4 The formation and placing of the slab for the next level; iron bars, wooden forms and cement. The whole building complex has been divided into four sections. The first section is completed. Now the second section (January 2012) is being prepared. The further two sections will be worked on throughout the time period of Phase 4.
Phase 5 Building of walls for the upper level floor; supporting columns to support the roof.
Phase 6 Roofing: Timber trusses for support; iron sheets for roof. Treatment of wood for termites.
Phase 7 Interior Finishing: This includes all plastering, painting, furniture, installation of water, electricity for the whole school building.
As of January 2012 we are now in Phase 4.
This project is completely grass roots in its operation. Workers are locally hired. The well that has been mechanically dug is now available for use by local people whose hand dug wells become dry before the rains come. The social benefits of this project are already being realized.
Each time the Sisters go to the building site they plant something. Already bananas, coconuts, maize, cassava and beans are growing.
The school will open gradually, starting with Class 1, then adding other classes year by year.
While we raise funds to complete the project, classrooms will be used to house teachers and students.
Our Organization
Jitegemee School Building Project is based in the United Kingdon, USA and Tanzania. The object of the organization is to advance the education of the children in Tanzania by the building of Jitegemee Primary School.
Trustees in England are responsible for fundraising as well as the Clerk of Philanthropy in the USA.
The UK trustees are Mike Summersby OBE, Mrs Maura Illingworth, Anne Charlton and Elizabeth Johnson.
Two Catholic Tanzanian Sisters provide guidance on the development of the project on site.
As a new charity we are seeking to raise funds through applications to Charitable Trusts, by fundraising efforts locally and nationally and from philanthropic and Christian establishments: women’s groups, schools, internationally minded associates. All money raised goes to the Project account in Dar es Salaam.
All workers for the charity are voluntary, there are no overheads.
Tanzanian Sisters
These women are committed to a lifetime of service and want their school to offer the best chance for their students to excel. They already run a pre-school centre in Dar es Salaam and parents of these children are requesting the Sisters to develop their own Primary School. Parents assert that the greatest inheritance they can give their children is a good education and that schools run by Sisters offer the best environment for learning and character development possible. The Sisters have experience dealing with donors and architects and government departments. The Sisters have consistently struggled to get the necessary qualifications for teaching and now have sufficient staff to begin a Primary School.
How it all began
In 1966 two young American teachers answered the request for individuals to staff a newly built secondary school in the south of Tanzania, East Africa. This new school was located in a part of Tanzania that had up to that time not catered for girl students. There was tremendous enthusiasm in the nation for development and equality and this school fulfilled these desires.
Now it is forty years later and some of those students are qualified and experienced teachers . They are asking us, their former teachers, to help them raise the funds needed to build a primary school complex near the capital city of Dar es Salaam. We have kept connected with many students over the years and it is due to this strong bond that these teachers have shared their vision with us.
.jpg)
