Amani School
About the Amani School and the work in Tanzania
The remote village of Pande in the Tanga region of Tanzania has, for decades, lagged behind the country in childhood education. Others have stigmatized this Digo community, moving the people to the margins of society. These difficulties are in the context of a country already recognized as poor. A recent survey performed by UNICEF concluded that 74 percent of all children in Tanzania suffered deprivation from three or more of the following necessities: nutrition, health, protection, education, sanitation, water and housing.
The Amani Primary School was thus founded in 2008 to meet the physical, spiritual, and educational needs of the Digo people. The project began as a partnership between a Canadian school teacher serving with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and a local Tanzanian pastor/couple who established a church in the region.
Amani has now been active for over ten years and offers over 300 vulnerable children access to an otherwise inaccessible high-quality education. Today, based on national grade 7 examination results, the school ranks among the top 10% of all schools in Tanzania, including private schools and those schools in large cities.
Through the support of generous sponsors and contributors, Amani can offer this education, and a path out of poverty, to children in families with limited or no means. The school operates a breakfast and lunch program to combat malnutrition, and shares the Gospel through dedicated and caring teachers, and children also receive vocational training through specialized classes that provide essential life and business skills.
The Teaching Garden and the new Poultry Project are two examples of practical, hands-on agriculture training to give children in a primarily agrarian region some valuable skills for the future. Teachers take the time to visit the children at home, and to engage families, developing not only future leaders but a community of support and hope.
And the brand new Amani High School recently opened for the first time - providing a more hopeful way forward for at-risk teens in the community! The team calls the new high school "a bridge to somewhere" for at-risk teens.
Current Projects in Progress
New High School
The Amani School leadership, with the support of Hope Story, recently built a brand new high school building to offer secondary education at the Amani School in Tanzania, serving a community which did not have a high school before. The Amani High School launched in January 2022 - and this exciting new initiative helps to ensure that students graduating from the Amani Primary School can continue to receive the high quality education, loving care and discipleship that will shape their future.
For most of the students at Amani primary school, the cost and long distance involved in attending high school elsewhere has made secondary education inaccessible. Lack of education perpetuates generational poverty, teen crisis including teen marriages and chronic unemployment. But you are re-writing that story for at-risk teens with your support for Amani!
Rainwater Harvesting Solution
The Amani School needed a rainwater harvesting system as an alternative source of water for the Teaching Garden. Tap water is not always available due to system reliability issues or city shut-offs, which means sending students home from school. To ensure access to sustainable clean and safe water at the school, and avoid shut-downs, a rainwater harvesting system was required. This project included two large water tanks, which were purchased, installed, and properly connected to the school’s various taps.
Working in combination with the new freshwater supply from the borehole well, the rainwater tanks can help the entire community. In this remote rural community, in which families are largely dependent on what they ca grow on their small family farms, it was useful for parents to participate in helping to build the tanks so they could learn how to do this themselves. Some parents also help out at the school's Teaching Garden, and side-by-side with their kids they are learning how to increase their crop yield and make their crops more drought resistant.
Borehole Well
In September of 2021 The Amani School, as well as the surrounding community, found themselves without any water for days that stretched into weeks - again. This had happened many times before. The municipal water supply had inexplicably cut off, the water in the rainwater tanks was used up, and the anticipated rains were late. School staff were driving into the city to bring back jugs of water for the students daily. The decision was made: build a borehole well. The crew hit "sweet" water right away*, which so close to the ocean was a blessing. With the rainwater storage tanks, and the well, water for both drinking and agriculture is now much more secure for the students and their families.
*UPDATE Oct 2022: some saltwater has seeped in, but an amelioration is underway.