MATABETE JUNIOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

The Maasai tribe in Matabete have been in the village for over ten years. They moved there from the Serengeti, a journey which took over a year on foot, with their valuable cattle.

The impetus to build this school for the youngest children in Matabete has come directly from the women of the tribe. In order to kickstart the project they have been making jewellery (which is sold in the UK) in order to raise money to send a local man to teacher-training college. They are already making mud bricks and firing them in an oven they built themselves, ready for the building work to start.

Priscilla Webster is a Scotswoman, living and working in Tanzania, training teachers. This is from her recent email and gives you a sense of how much funding this school would mean to the village:

"In my experience all Tanzanians listen resignedly to plans to raise money, and they really don't expect to rise out of any of the poverties they face every day. I have learned to listen carefully and to say "I cannot Promise." The faces you see when some soul overseas sends funds glow, shine, radiate with disbelieving joy. "