We are hoping to raise enough money to build a technology center for Renea Girls and Renea Boys schools in Tanzania, with 30 computers and access to the internet. The aim of the center is to improve the education offered to the students, to provide them with computer literacy skills and advance their ability to research and educate through the internet.

Rise Africa continues to support in excess of 80 children in Tanzania, of which 50 children are now in secondary school. We work closely with a boarding school called Renea, who have two schools one for girls and one for boys, two separate schools, about 100 meters apart, under one management. We visited the schools in January 2023 and were very impressed by what we saw, both with the facilities offered and in the attitude of the children. The current head boy and head girl are both children sponsored through Rise Africa UK.

During the visit to the Renea schools, we identified that the children have no access to computers. Today, gaining some level of computer training and being able to use computers for research and educational needs would give them a further advantage and means of achieving their goals and aspirations.

Until now, all the funding Rise Africa has provided has been specific to each child; either through school fees, school uniform and accessories or items for their specific family, e.g. a goat or food. After some discussions we now feel that a project to equip Renea schools with computers for all the children to use would be something that meets the charities constitutional objectives and provides the children an added qualification and skill.

I have engaged with the owner of Renea schools and the head teachers at both the girls school and boys school, and they have come up with the following plan: a single computer center with 30 computers, that both schools can use. It will be a dedicated technology room, the school will provide the desks, chairs and the electrical infrastructure and we aim to raise the funds for the building and the computers. The local internet supplier has said a connection can easily be achieved and the school will fund the ongoing connection costs.

We feel its best to source the computers in Arusha so that there will be local support and backup should the need arise. They have contacted a few suppliers and have received competitive quotes for laptops and desktops. They are also looking at a backup power system to use when there are power cuts.

I have also approached Microsoft and the Gates Foundation about the provision of educational software and am awaiting their decision, but I am hopeful we will get some support from them.

Initial numbers would indicate that the whole project will be in the region of £25,000 and we have decided to create a new dedicated Just Giving Page for this project and, for the first time, to make an appeal for the funds. We have been very fortunate in that we have been offered some matched funding whereby for every £1 we raise the supporter will give us a further £2 plus the associated gift aid. As a result, to raise a total of £25,000 we need to raise £7,000. So for every £1 you donate the charity will receive £3.5 towards this computer project.

I hope that you will consider supporting this amazing project. It will make a huge difference to the children to have computers at school and will help equip them to go to university or go into the employment world. Something that they would never have believed possible before joining the Rise Africa family.