Education: giving children of all ages and abilities a better environment in which to learn.

Mount Kilimanjaro lies just three degrees south of the equator and is one of the highest volcanoes in the world. Mad Foundation has been working with an organisation called Village Education Project in the foothills of Kilimanjaro to improve the education of children in rural areas.

Kisambo is a small village, near Marangu in the foothills of Kilimanjaro, its school Mseroe Primary School has many problems due to poverty and a lack of funding from government. The village chairman, Mr Kimaro, and the school headmaster, Mr Mtemba, approached us and asked for help in improving the classroom conditions at Mseroe Primary School. Having visited the school with Village Education Project and assessed the work and costs for this desperately needed renovation project we agreed to work with the village as soon as the necessary funds could be found.

Mseroe Primary School educates children of all ages and abilities, whilst the school has six basic classrooms, one of the rooms was impoverished and in such a state of disrepair it was unusable. This limitation on rooms was forcing children of mixed abilities into the same learning environment compromising teaching standards and forcing too many pupils into cramped classroom conditions.

Based on costs quoted locally for materials and some skilled labour from local fundi (craftsmen) the full project cost for renovating the unusable classroom was estimated at £1250. The villagers were very keen that this project should go ahead and did all they could to assure us that plenty of labour and support would be available.

Raising the funds for this project took several months and was boosted by donations from local businesses and by individuals who knew of the Mad Foundation through Madventurer. Madventurer also made an additional contribution when the last of the funds were becoming very difficult to raise

A team of nine madventurers and a crew leader from Madventurer, Steve Lord, joined a team of volunteers from Kisambo at the beginning of January 2005. A new stone floor was laid, gables built, walls plastered and windows and doors added to the classroom, all the volunteers worked very hard together mixing concrete, plastering and laying stone slabs. The fundi were very helpful teaching the volunteers anything that they needed to know and the villagers were eager to help all they could. A new roof was built and finally the renovated classroom was given a coat of paint. A small amount of materials were left over which the school gratefully kept to ensure they could effect any necessary repairs in the future.

The renovation work took a little over four weeks to complete, at the end of which there was a wonderful closing ceremony and party organised by Mr Mtemba, Mr Kimaro and the villagers. The villagers presented the UK volunteers with certificates for their efforts and the children expressed their delight at their new classroom.