solar panels on stucture with school building behind

Solar Power at Twegashe School

Twegashe School now has solar-powered electricity through a grant from US Rotary District 5030. The solar power system was installed last month by the Tanzanian company Photons Energy. Thank you to the Rotarians of District 5030!
long building with dark red roof in grassy field

A Virtual Photo Tour of Twegashe School

Phase I construction of Twegashe Primary School is almost complete. Take this virtual "photo tour" to get an idea of what the school looks like and how it feels (minus the heat!) to walk around the school grounds.
Man looking out window of partially constructed school building

The Fruit is Almost Ripe

A Tanzanian proverb says, "The one who is patient eats ripe fruit." We're learning that establishing a new school in rural Tanzania presents many challenges and requires a lot of patience. But we are making good progress and soon we will be eating ripe fruit together with the people of Bushasha Village.
partly constructed cement block building with stick scaffolding

Going Up!

Our construction team is making good progress. The walls are more than half-way up, they've constructed a water storage tank, and have also begun work on the biofil toilets for the school.
men working in red dirt with shovels, hoes and wheelbarrows

Construction Update

We've completed all the preparations for construction and recently broke ground digging foundation trenches. We've also received our official permission from the government to build a school, so we can now proceed with construction full-speed-ahead!
village women moving dirt on soccer field

“Unity is Strength”

We began work on a soccer field for Twegashe School during our last visit to the village, while waiting to obtain a building permit. We commissioned the village women's cooperative for this challenging task, and they definitely rose to the challenge!
partly made dirt road down grassy hillside

The Road to Twegashe School

The first activity to take place on the Twegashe School site was the construction of a road. View a video of that road taking shape.
kilns and stacks of drying clay bricks

Building Blocks

Many homes in Bushasha are built with clay bricks, either sun-dried or kiln-fired. But to build Twegashe School we plan to use environmentally-friendly stabilized soil blocks. We had our soil tested during our recent trip and were happy to learn that it will work well for this type of block.

Field Trip to Tanzania

On January 27 we leave for a two-week trip to Tanzania with our volunteer builder. The trip will include visits to a number of schools across northern Tanzania to learn about their construction methods, and a week-long stay in Bushasha village. A very exciting field trip! Read about our trip goals and itinerary.
different types of latrines

In search of the perfect toilet

We've been researching many different types of toilets looking for a safe, economical, culturally appropriate, and environmentally friendly design. We're pleased to report that we think we've found an answer: the microflush biofil toilet.