Here is an update on the school in Tanzania we regularly help
Middlesbrough Erimus Rotary are working in collaboration with the U.K. registered charity, The Meserani Project, to provide safe and respectable boarding facilities at the new Meserani Secondary School, in a remote area of Tanzania. The charity has funded the building, furnishing and resourcing of four dormitories, a dining hall and kitchens, and a toilet block, therefore transforming the school from a day school to a boarding school. This was in line with the wishes of the local population – predominantly families from the Maasai tribe.
Allowing pupils to attend a boarding school has many advantages, the main three being:
Pupils receive three meals a day.
Pupils can engage in private study on evenings and weekends.
It is a much safer environment – particularly for the girls.
A key challenge for The Meserani Project has been to provide beds for the final two dormitories that have been built, which will be needed in January 2026 when the third cohort of pupils started at the school. As part of the charity’s ‘sponsorship bundles’ initiative – an idea initiated by a member of Erimus Rotary - a ‘bed sponsorship bundle’ was launched in November. A donation of £125 would provide a double bunk bed, two mattresses and two pillows. The response has been amazing, and 50 double bunk beds have just been ordered for the school, ready for the new pupils who start in January. Eleven of the beds have been funded by individual members of Erimus Rotary, and two beds have been funded by the club itself. This means that twenty-six pupils who start their first year at secondary school in January will have a comfortable night’s sleep throughout their four years at the school, and wake refreshed and ready for a day of learning!
Members of Erimus Rotary have witnessed the situation in other schools in Tanzania, where pupils have to either sleep two or three to a single bed, or have to sleep on the floor, as shown here.
The situation at the new Meserani Secondary School is completely different, and reflects the commitment and collaboration between Erimus Rotary and The Meserani Project.
You can find full details of the work of The Meserani Project at www.meseraniproject.co.uk
