WENTWORTH AFRICA FOUNDATION HAS SUPPORTED A LIBRARY REFURBISHMENT AT THE MSIMBATI SECONDARY SCHOOL IN MTWARA

Wentworth Africa Foundation and READ International are collaborating to set up a library at Msimbati secondary school in Mtwara, as part of READ’s Library Refurbishment Programme. This is the 6^th year that READ has been running this programme in Tanzania.  The aim of the programme is to create libraries in secondary schools that improve and support access to books, create an environment that is conducive to study, and provide a creative space where reading for pleasure is encouraged.

Wentworth Africa Foundation ("WAF" or the "Foundation") was founded by Wentworth Resources to enable its social responsibility programme. WAF is a registered charitable foundation that exists to facilitate projects that build the skills, health, and experiences of those living in the communities where we invest and work. WAF supports education in rural southern Tanzania. Our projects focus on ensuring that boys and girls study and live in a clean and safe environment.

READ recruited Tanzanian university student volunteers who, working in teams of 4, spent 3 weeks at each school working to transform a spare room into a brand new library.  The work involved making minor repairs to the building, repainting the walls, installing new furniture, setting up a referencing system for the books, and training library prefects.  Over 2700 books were added to the schools stock of books.  The experience is intended to enhance young people’s skills in preparation for entering the job market.

“I got a chance to learn a lot including working as a team.  This project was more of a mission as well as an adventure. I’ve never been here [Msimbati] before and this place is very different, I felt like I was going to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, of course I was nervous but I wanted to try. I experienced a different way of living, culture, environment, food, just few to mention. I had to face a couple challenges to learn and grow and I have, indeed.  Although it felt hard at first to make a theoretical library into a reality especially on our own as a matter of fact I never did that before even something close to it neither did my colleague.  It really is amazing at the end when we made it happen. And I realized it is possible. It pushed up my self-esteem.”  Alferio Njau, Volunteer at Msimbati, Student at the University of Dar-es-Salaam.

MSIMBATI Secondary School has 164 students studying to take their O-level. It is located in the village of Msimbati, just south of Mtwara town.  The Academic Master, Mr. Erasmos Pascal, commented that the new library will have an impact on the academic performance of students: “It is our hope that the library will increase the motivation of students and even teachers to read more books and that habit will yield better results in terms of academic performance”.

The opening ceremony was held on the 8^th September, when students, teachers and volunteers celebrated the new library.

READ International has also been generously supported by our partners Goat Races Charity and Radar Education who have donated locally published books to Msimbati’s library.

About READ International

READ International is a UK and Tanzania registered charity.  Since 2004 we have distributed over 1.3 million books to over 1,000 Tanzanian schools, created 57 libraries in schools in 17 regions, and improved access to education for over 500,000 school students.  These vital educational resources have been distributed into thousands of schools across Tanzania Tanzanian university student volunteers; providing help for schools to deliver their education programmes.

To find out more visit www.readinternational.org.uk.