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L. van Iersel (Project Manager)
Meru Peak School is a school in Ngongongare village in Tanzania (near Arusha). The school has very limited means because there are many orphans studying at the school who can't pay school fees. These students lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS. They have no means to pay school fees and the director of Meru Peak School decided to let them study at the school for free. For this reason the school doesn't get enough money from school fees to pay for all food, teacher salaries and other costs. The school generates additional income by farming chickens and organising safaris (please have a look at www.huntingdogsafaris.com).
I'm currently working at this school as a voluntary teacher. Before coming to the school I collected money on Betterplace to buy pens and exercise books for all students and books for the school library. This money has already been donated and the students have already received the pens and exercise books and the library books are already in the library. This is a very important development for the school because when I arrived at the school many students didn't have a pen and many students didn't have enough exercise books. Please have a look at the pictures and read the visitors reports written by some of the students. In addition, the dictionaries and school books we bought are a good addition to the library.
However, the school still faces many problems and one of those problems is that there are almost no school books at the school. We bought 36 books from Betterplace donations but this is of course not enough for all 250 students. It also turned out that almost no students have the means to buy their own school books.
Therefore we decided to start a new school book project. The aim of the project is to buy all school books for all students. The project will be financed by money donated on Betterplace, money earned by Hunting Dog Safaris and money of the director of the school. From this money, we will buy all school books for all students. The students will not get these books for free but pay a fee of 1000 shilling (about 50 eurocents) per book per year. The result of this system is that after five years the school will have received enough money from book fees to replace all books by new ones. In this way, this project will make sure that the students of Meru Peak School will have school books for many years to come.
In addition, I'm looking for sponsors for orphans who are studying at this school. Please read their stories on www.merupeakschool.com These orphans can't pay their school fees. The director decided to let them study at the school for free, but told them that they have to try to find a sponsor, because the school can't survive if there are too many children living and studying at the school without paying. You can read more about the children who need sponsors on our website
www.merupeakschool.com
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I'm currently working at this school as a voluntary teacher. Before coming to the school I collected money on Betterplace to buy pens and exercise books for all students and books for the school library. This money has already been donated and the students have already received the pens and exercise books and the library books are already in the library. This is a very important development for the school because when I arrived at the school many students didn't have a pen and many students didn't have enough exercise books. Please have a look at the pictures and read the visitors reports written by some of the students. In addition, the dictionaries and school books we bought are a good addition to the library.
However, the school still faces many problems and one of those problems is that there are almost no school books at the school. We bought 36 books from Betterplace donations but this is of course not enough for all 250 students. It also turned out that almost no students have the means to buy their own school books.
Therefore we decided to start a new school book project. The aim of the project is to buy all school books for all students. The project will be financed by money donated on Betterplace, money earned by Hunting Dog Safaris and money of the director of the school. From this money, we will buy all school books for all students. The students will not get these books for free but pay a fee of 1000 shilling (about 50 eurocents) per book per year. The result of this system is that after five years the school will have received enough money from book fees to replace all books by new ones. In this way, this project will make sure that the students of Meru Peak School will have school books for many years to come.
In addition, I'm looking for sponsors for orphans who are studying at this school. Please read their stories on www.merupeakschool.com These orphans can't pay their school fees. The director decided to let them study at the school for free, but told them that they have to try to find a sponsor, because the school can't survive if there are too many children living and studying at the school without paying. You can read more about the children who need sponsors on our website
www.merupeakschool.com
More information:
- 56 news from the project – the latest from 02 May 2013
- About the carrier of this project “L. van Iersel”
- Location: Ngongongare, Arumeru District, Tanzania
- Updated on 17 May 2013, published on 07 February 2010
Information about the project:
Ask L. van Iersel (Project Manager):
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J. Mansfield asked 10 months ago
Hi
I visit four children at Good Hope orphanage who could not attend this school earlier in the year because school fees had not been paid. However, the school's website suggests that orphans from Good Hope are provided with a free education. This obviously is not the case. Towards the end of last term many teachers had left because they were not being paid.
I suppose my question relates to the integrity of the management and whether you have confidence that money donated to pay for school fees and books actually benefits the students?
I was very disappointed in discovering that Form 4 students were kept out of school just prior to their Mock Exams, and could not reconcile that decision by the school with the information on the website.
I would appreciate your response.
Jennifer M
L. van Iersel: (Project Responsible) answered 10 months ago
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for your question and your commitment to the children of the Good Hope orphanage! The situation is like this. Meru Peak School is a privately-owned school and does not receive money from the government. Hence, to pay teacher salaries, food and other costs, the school depends on school fees together with the salary that the director earns as a university teacher and some donations. For several years, children of Good Hope could attend the school for free, and so could many other orphans and children of poor parents. However, eventually it turned out that school fees from the other children, the director's salary and donations were not enough to pay for all the costs. The result was that teachers were leaving because they were not being paid in time, as you also mentioned. Moreover, there were even difficulties buying enough food for all the students, paying for electricity, etc. This situation was not good for anyone and something had to change. Effectively the paying students and the director were sponsoring the non-paying students, and in total there was just not enough money coming in to sustain the school, let alone to develop it. This is the point where it was decided to look for sponsors for the non-paying students. It's good if orphans and children from poor families can attend good schools, but someone needs to pay for this. So, for children whose parents can't pay school fees, we try to find sponsors who can pay school fees for them. Quite some children have already found sponsors, some of them via Betterplace. So, yes, money paid for school fees does benefit the students. Donations in the form of books are a bit easier to control because I simply buy the books myself (based on the advice of the director and headmaster) and give them to the school. Donations for school fees are simply given to the school. They make sure that the concerned student can go to the school, and help the school to pay for all the costs, but there is no control over which costs exactly are being paid with this money. I'm going to the school later this year, not only to buy new school books but also to check how previously donated books are being used and I will write an update about the situation at the school on Betterplace.
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K. Price asked over 2 years ago
Leo, I'd also like to send 2 boxes for the kids from Jessie. Last time she was there the post office charged $1 per box. Can you include any fees that may be incurred in the total for Eliah? And can I address the packages to you as well? Thank you for all of your help.
L. van Iersel: (Project Responsible) answered over 2 years ago
Dear Kayte, I'm not at the school at the moment, so it's difficult to give Eliah pocket money or money for his uniform or to help with the boxes. If you send me your email address in a personal message then I'll contact you when I go to the school and then we can arrange all this. Most important are the school fees and these have been paid. Great! Thanks, Leo
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K. Price asked over 2 years ago
Hi Mr. van lersel,
I would like to sponsor Eliah Baraka, a student in the secondary school. My daughter taught at the school in 2008 and has stayed in touch with him since then. Can you please let me know what the boarding fees/tuition are for the this school year and can you provide a link or add Eliah to the betterplace needs listing so that I make contribute funds? I am very happy to see the library still in place and growing. Thank you so much.
L. van Iersel: (Project Responsible) answered over 2 years ago
Dear Kayte, That is very well possible. Eliah will be very happy. The school fees for secondary school are 400 euro per year (including tuition, accommodation and food for the full year). It does not include money for the uniform, pocket money, etc. I added Eliah to the Betterplace needs listing. So you can donate to this need and Eliah's school fees will be paid from this donation. I can also give you the school's bank details if you prefer to make a bank transfer. Thank you very much!
Leo
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Michaela B. asked over 2 years ago
Dear Betterplace fans,
I only want to anounce that I just donated 10 school books on behalf of my former manager Nicole and her husband. They did not want to accept my invitation for fare well drinks and insisted paying for themselves. Who would thought drinks can turn out to be so educative. :-)
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Joris E. asked over 2 years ago
Hi Leo,
I am very impressed about the imput on information I could find in this project. Keep it up and congrats to the donations you could collect so far. I am sure it serves the school well. regards, Joris.
L. van Iersel: (Project Responsible) answered over 2 years ago
Hi Joris, Thanks a lot for the donation and for your kind words! The money you donated will be used well and I'll keep you updated!
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