Welcome to the Engaresero School in Loliondo! On the shores of Lake Natron
Edgar and I, Directors of the agency, visited this school and were touched by the living conditions of the students and teachers. We would like to introduce you to this place, in the hope that you will be interested in supporting them with us. This support is personal and informal, as we are not an NGO and have no connection with this school other than with the two members of its management. Nevertheless, we would like to encourage you to help them in their daily life. We are at your disposal for more information.
As you can see from these pictures, the classrooms and the grounds are very basic. In the middle of the right picture are the foundations of a building that collapsed and that they cannot rebuild.
691 students (393 girls and 298 boys) are divided into 7 levels (corresponding to the same levels as here), and 7 teachers. Classes III and IV have 114 and 190 students respectively! In classes V to VII, the number of students per class is much lower (42, 59 and 65 respectively) because as soon as the parents consider that their children can read and write, they take them back to work in the fields, in the household or in the paltry possibility of income they have. Below is a photo of class III.
Some students walk up to 18 kilometers a day to get an education and return home. There are no dormitories, because the government, which recognizes the state examinations done in this school, nevertheless refuses to support it financially. Another school is already located, he argues, a few kilometers away that has dormitories. The school in question is therefore useless in his eyes. What about the 691 children attending?
Parents have to pay $30 a year for their child to receive a bowl of porridge at the 10:00 a.m. break and a bowl of polenta with beans (ugali na maharage) at noon. 232 parents of students cannot afford to pay this amount, so these children watch their peers eat.
In the photo on the left, you can see how basic the kitchen is, and it no longer has a working fireplace. On the right, the children are waiting to receive food. Sometimes the pot is empty before their bowl is filled…
It would be necessary to build a fence around the school grounds to protect them, to build a bigger kitchen with a working fireplace and to be able to cook in big enough pots. The teachers have no computer equipment, nor enough paper. School supplies of all kinds are in short supply. Rice, corn flour, oil, or salt are also welcome. And the list is not exhaustive.
The Director Saruni Mollel and the Assistant Director of the institution Joyce Minja will be very grateful if you are willing to make a donation during your visit to Natron.
On April 17, 2023, we had the pleasure of bringing them the result of a client’s donation: a pan whose contents provide a bowl of polenta to approximately 300 children.