SGG volunteers help improve school facilities for Tanzanian children

In line with its strategy of adding to the education and accomplishments of its young members, Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) took a group of 8 guides and senior guides on a volunteering a trip to Zanzibar City, Tanzania, from August 1 – 7, 2019.

 

The volunteering trip was facilitated by The Hope, an UAE-based volunteering enterprise dedicated to identifying needs in different communities across the globe and providing solutions.

 

The 8 guide and senior guides volunteers visited a school in a poor Tanzanian village on the outskirts of Zanzibar, called Jendili village, whose only school lacks the space and infrastructure to support the educational needs of its students. The only other school is eight kilometres away, leaving students no choice but to walk there daily.

 

Part of the larger school expansion project being led by The Hope, the mission entrusted to the SGG volunteers as fellow ‘Hope Makers’ was to help fix the primary section’s kitchen and expand it, since it was in shape and lacked basic facilities to run its daily operations of making fresh soup for kindergarteners.

 

The volunteers initiated the makeover by helping fix the kitchen, and then over the next few days moved on to expand the premises, which will be part of a new school building, so that more out-of-school children can be eventually accommodated.

 

The volunteers were involved in the construction work and assisted across the various stages including digging, lifting, pumping water, and making and laying bricks. They also participated in cultural education workshops that allowed them to embed and immerse themselves within the local community for a rewarding experience.

 

With the expansion of the school, the SGG volunteers contributed to the education of the local children in Jendili. After the successful completion of the volunteering activity, participants were awarded the prestigious spread happiness in Zanzibar badges.

 

According to a 2016 UNICEF report, 42.5 percent of the population in Zanzibar are below the age of 18 and about 12 percent of primary school-age children are out of school. Poverty is the greatest barrier to education, followed by long distances to schools.

 

The SGG volunteering initiative underpinned the organisation’s mandate to encourage guides and senior guides to participate and dedicate their time and energy to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children and young people.

 

Shaikha Al Shamsi, Manager of SGG, said: “SGG had chosen this particular exercise for our guides and senior guides so as to instil in them the importance of volunteering with compassion and also allow them to learn essential life skills that will give them an edge in both their professional and personal lives. The volunteers came away with the immeasurable satisfaction of having contributed to improving the level of education offered to the students in Jendili, which will stay with them all their lives and influence their choices in future.”

 

She added: “Through these initiatives, we try to push SGG’s boundaries as a centre for holistic youth development and empowerment by responding to the new and emerging learning and capacity-building needs.”