Meserani Secondary School

We launched our biggest initiative in 2017 –  to build a secondary school in the Meserani region – this is in collaboration with the local population, local council officials, village elders, local politicians, and the government. There is currently no secondary school in the Meserani region, which means that all our secondary school sponsored pupils have to attend boarding schools far away from their homes. Last year in the Meserani region, there were 584 young people who passed their national primary school examinations, but there were no secondary school places available for them.

A 30 acre site for the new school has already been identified – it is between Meserani Snakepark and Meserani Chini Primary School. In January 2019 we met with Idd Hasan Kimanta (Monduli District Commissioner), and Loti Naparana Tarakina (Meserani Ward Councillor), to discuss the plans for the new school, and the following outcomes were agreed:

  • By the end of March 2019 the District Commissioner will have completed a Land Survey and obtained a Land Occupancy Certificate.
  • Building work will begin in April, with teachers’ houses being built around the perimeter of the site, as an initial security feature.

The situation, as of 15 March 2019 was:

  • The Maasai groups within the Meserani Ward have already made substantial contributions towards the initial building costs.
  • The Land Surveyor is due to complete the survey and school plan in April, with building work due to start in May.
  • Once the building work begins, the Tanzania Government joins the project, with funding from the Education Department.
  • At some stage The Meserani Project will join the building project as a stakeholder – this will be discussed initially with our committee in Tanzania, and will then need to be approved by the charity trustees.
  • Currently there is approximately £30,000 in The Meserani Project charity bank account, that has been raised exclusively for the building project.

Keep up to date with progress – on this website – or via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/meseraniproject

In late November 2019 work finally began!

We were sent a short video, (apologies for the quality). View it here. 

In early January 2020 further progress had been made.

A group from Virgin Media installed bases for two water tanks in January 2020.

In February 2020 work began on the roof. Shortly after this, work was interrupted by the seasonal rains, and then the Coronavirus issue.

In May 2021 the building project took a major step forward – the Tanzanian government committed 600 million Tanzanian Shillings (£200,000) to the project. The Meserani Project has already committed to funding a double classroom and office, and a dormitory, with further resources promised once pupils have started attending.

In July 2021 a meeting was held at the site, involving the District Commissioner and council officials from all departments involved in the project. As soon as the promised government money is released, building can continue – it is hoped that the school will be built before the end of the year, so that the first intake of pupils can start in January 2022.
A video of the meeting can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/IcQf–HNaDM

In early December 2021 the government released the first 470 million Tanzanian Shillings, along with details of the buildings that must be included in the new school, and on 22 December there was an on-site meeting involving government officials and Monduli Council officials to share ideas on how to proceed with the building project. A video of the meeting can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/U5cLys4uOj8
There was concern over the absence of various stakeholders, so another meeting was scheduled for 29 December. 

A further meeting took place on 29 December, to include various stakeholders, and the go-ahead was given for building to start in January 2022.

On 18 January 2022 the perimeter of the 25 acre site was marked out.

 

 

 

On 21 January the building work started on the first eight classrooms – a momentous day for the people of Meserani, and for The Meserani Project.

 Further progress was made in early February.
Mid-February some classrooms were at the gable end stage, and work had begun on the foundations for the three science classrooms.
On 24 February 2022 planting started on the first of the 5,000 trees that are planned for the school site. The first 200 trees and all the finger euphorbia plants for the full perimeter fence around the 25 acre site were funded by a member of Middlesbrough Erimus Rotary Club, in memory of her parents. The planting ceremony was attended by many members of Monduli Council.

More progress was made with the building work –  11 March 2022:

Significant progress with the roof work had been made by 15 April 2022:
Further progress had been made by 8 June 2022:
The Meserani Project made a commitment in June 2022 to fund the building of two dormitories and a dining hall/assembly hall with kitchens. The location of the two dormitories was decided on 8 June by the District Engineer, our preferred builder (Ibrahim Kileo) and the Councilor for the Meserani Ward (Loth Naparana).
Building work on the two dormitories began on 24 June 2022.
Trustees from The Meserani Project made their first visit to the school site on 9 July 2022 to see how the two dormitories were progressing.
The Trustees were also able to check on the progress of the school buildings being built by the government.

A second visit was made by the Trustees on 21 July 2022.

Further progress on the two dormitories had been made by 22 August 2022.
In January 2023 work on the dormitories was making rapid progress, and we paid for the first set of bunk beds to be made.
At the same time, a group from Virgin Media/O2 installed water harvesting systems to both dormitories.
 
The first bunk beds were delivered in February.

 Work began on the first teachers’ houses in 2023.

Finally – in January 2024 the school opened to the first pupils!!!!

At the same time, work on the teachers’ houses was almost complete.

Another important milestone was when building work began on the dining hall and kitchen in February 2024.

With further progress being made in March and April.

The first in a series of videos tracking the building work can be found here.

 In the meantime, how can you help? Some suggestions of what you could buy are shown below – we would make sure that your name was shown on your gift – a meaningful legacy for you 4,000 miles away in Tanzania! Please contact us if you would like to help (meserani@hotmail.co.uk)

  • Trees for £1 each – we will plant them for you
  • Text books – £5 a book
  • A desk and chair for £40
  • An overhead classroom projector for £85
  • A double bunk bed for £90
  • A pull-down projector screen for £140
  • A laptop for the ICT room for £390
  • A desktop computer for the school office for £590
  • A printer for the school office for £590
  • Pay for solar power for one of the school buildings – approximately £680 for a double classroom or a dormitory
  • A photocopier for the school office – £1,000
  • Pay for a water harvesting system – approximately £1,600 for a double classroom or a dormitory
  • For anyone who knows a company or commercial organisation who may wish to get involved in a big way, the cost of a dormitory is £27,000 – what a legacy this would be for your company!

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