Gijedabung Primary School
Tanzania

The local children who attend Gijedabung Primary School live in a rural area near Tanzania's Tarangire National Park, and getting to the schoolhouse can involve crossing miles of bush on foot, often accompanied by a father or elder brother to guard against predators. Despite the difficulties of the daily trek, few children arrive tardy, as an education is considered too important to be taken for granted.

In 2000, Abercrombie & Kent and Sanctuary Swala Camp built two new concrete-building-block classrooms for Gijedabung. The new classrooms meant students could be separated according to age, as previously all the students were taught in one mud-brick classroom. With our support and the generous donations of compassionate travellers, a kitchen, dining area, restrooms, and additional classrooms have been built.

Conservation is a major focus at Gijedabung, given the school's proximity to one of Tanzania's most threatened parks. Subjects include Swahili, mathematics, history, geography, and science and agriculture. The typical school day begins with a communal jog, followed by daylong lessons, with students sitting at small wooden desks. The school has a plot of land to raise vegetables and maize, and students enthusiastically help with the planting.

Today more than 600 children attend Gijedabung. Donations are needed to refurbish and restore classrooms in dire need of repair, and to build cabinets in classrooms where children have no place to put their things.

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