I've always wanted to run the London Marathon and I finally got accepted in the ballot this year. This is my first 26 miler.

A friend of mine, Peter, who is an education specialist has started a charity to support a school for AIDS Orphans in the village of Njombe, Tanzania.

I'm running for them. This is their story.

This charity was set up and registered with the Charities Commission in October 2017. Its aim is to support and develop the educational facilities, resources and management of a St Mary's Anglican Primary School in Njombe, Southern Tanzania.

Background

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Its educational system is widely supported by international charities. The facilities and quality of teaching and learning are well below those of Western schools. Our group was asked by the Tanzanian Government to specifically provide support and development needs for the community of Njombe.

St Mary's Anglican School has about 300 children aged 4 to 11. There are 7 teachers and a Headteacher. There is an Anglican convent adjacent where some 8 nuns grow vegetables and fruit to provide a meal each day for the children.

Njombe is in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, east of Lake Nyasa and north of the border with Mozambique. Its specific problem is that it has one of the highest levels of HIV/AIDS in Africa. The level is Tanzania is about 5% whereas in Njombe it is about 16%. Njombe is on the main trucking route between Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan and the Mozambique border. Truckers throughout Africa transmit the virus via the 'twilight ladies' (an African term) who they meet when they over-night in truck-stops. As a result there are many orphans in the community of Njombe, whose parents have died prematurely. These children are vulnerable and unsupported in their education.

The needs of the children

The charity is having some notable success in raising the number of children in school and improving the school's facilities. Together with a New Zealand charity two new classrooms have been built. We are now trying to raise the residual funds to complete a sports facility - a basketball/netball court so that the children may play a competitive sport during breaks, after school and at weekends. A group have undertaken a sponsored climb of Mt Kilimanjaro which has raised £2000. A school in Evesham has raised £1000. We have a residual sum of £1400 which we need to raise urgently.

When the sports court has been completed it is our aim to raise funding for some textbooks and internet access. Currently there are only about 2 textbooks for each class of 30+ children. There are some working computers but no online learning is possible.

Education is not free in Tanzania. Providing sustainability for the education of these young children is therefore a challenge for the relatives of the orphans. The wider charity based in New Zealand has funded the planting of some acres of avocados, which grow well in the Southern Highlands and are a valuable cash crop. The revenue from these will in due course help fund the school fees of the children concerned.

Within St Mary's School the children are hungry to learn. They are delightful students who welcome visitors and describe their education and ambitions with much enthusiasm.

All funds raised go directly to the needs of the students. No expenses are withdrawn by the trustees, all three of whom are senior international educationalists who provide consultancy support to the school's teachers and management. Our priority is to ensure that when the resources and infrastructure are in place, the teaching and learning, and the management of the school, will be of the highest order possible.

Njombe Educational Trust UK | Registered Charity No 1174738