The Nursery School Gets a Roof!

As you know, this year, the HIV Support Group at Dwambazi Rural Hospital started a nursery school for students affected by HIV who are between the ages of 2 and 10.  The goal is to prepare these students for entrance into primary school, with lessons on speaking basic English, social studies and math.  The school has enrolled 68 students, 48 girls and 20 boys, with two full-time teachers.  The intention for starting this nursery school is to prepare all students for entrance into primary school.  Since more than 70% of the students are female, this is a great opportunity to instill the importance of education in young girls. The expectation is all students will attend primary school after they have successfully completed lessons at the nursery school.   They meet at the Under-5 shelter on the lakeshore in Machilika.  School began this term and attendance is high.  After the completion of the chalkboard, the school had one more request before rainy season: a roof to keep them dry.      A "before" shot of the roof  It is expected that rainy season will be here by December and many students who typically attend primary school in Dwambazi will not be able to walk to school as the path that they use is a high flood area.  During rainy season, this village is cut off from the rest of Dwambazi.  Students have attempted to go to school in previous years, however three have drowned.  To ensure these students are continuing their studies, the nursery school has hired an additional teacher where they will join the nursery school students at the Under-5 shelter in Machiika.  However, the roof on the shelter is in great need of improvement.  The Nursery School Committee and I discussed the possibility of a metal roof, as this would last many years, however the building is not built in a way to sustain such a roof.  We would need to make vast improvements and time was limited, so we decided to thatch the roof with a plastic lining to reduce leaks in the roofing.  This will be a temporary fix as the committee collects more funds for a more permanent roof next dry season.

I wrote a small grant for the plastic for the roof and we received the funds in the same week.  Within days, the plastic was purchased, measured, sewn together and placed on the roof.  The community donated thatch and worked on the project tirelessly until the day of the first rain.  The students cheered and danced and consequently, they were able to attend school during rainy season because they were protected from the elements. 

 

 

An "after" shot of the roof

As always, my favorite part of any day is to visit the nursery school and listen to the children practice English.  I taught them “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and they love to play “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  They teach me songs, as well, but I can’t possibly keep up with their dance moves (even though I am an impeccable dancer).