On September 19, Nicole and Branko traveled to Tanzania, first to Dar es Salaam to visit previous projects and explore a potential new one. They visited Kituo Cha Baba Oreste, Young Life, SALT, and Valita. Then, on September 29, they continued their journey to Giriama to prepare for the group’s arrival. Before the group arrived, they replaced 56 broken windows at the church with plexiglass.
In Giriama, local builders, carpenters, and handymen have been working on the renovation of the school since the end of June. This renovation is being funded by us and supervised by Kabora and Mac.D. . We decided to renovate two school buildings, which included replacing the roof, strengthening the foundation, replacing some window frames, plastering and finishing the walls, leveling the floors, repairing cracks in the classroom walls, and expanding the toilet block with four extra toilets.
On October 4, the group arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport. This year, besides Nicole, Monique, and Branko, the team consisted of David and Raymond (Pameijer clients), Mathijs and Peter (both Pameijer staff), and Greetje (a volunteer from Hilversum and Branko’s colleague).
The first weekend was spent acclimatizing to the temperature, exploring the surroundings, cleaning the church on Saterday and attending the usual church service on Sunday.
On Monday, we got straight to work painting both school buildings and adding the mural. In the morning, we focused on work, and in the afternoons, we held workshops for the children. These included sewing lessons, making bracelets, playing checkers, and football. Here we had support of Dayness.
In the end, everything was painted in about a week and a half. Midway through the second week, the final tasks were completed, and we organized a fun farewell party for the children, complete with pancakes and other treats. The usual gifts were also given.
On Wednesday, October 16, we left Giriama for Arusha for an overnight stay. On Thursday, the whole group went on a safari in the Ngorongoro Crater.
The group of five then flew back to the Netherlands on October 19. The final result of our work can be seen in this short video.
Nicole, Monique, and Branko then traveled on to Mwanza to visit a potential project for 2025, before returning to Dar es Salaam.
Once again, we brought along many donated items such as clothes, toys, musical instruments, football gear, and school supplies. Everything was distributed properly. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed.
