roadside sign for the Equator restaurant

September Trip to Bushasha – The Journey

In September we made a very productive three-week trip to Bushasha to prepare for school construction. The journey went quite smoothly, and good news awaited us when we arrived in the village!
cover page of permit drawings with sketch of school design

September Progress Report

We're continuing to move forward in preparing to build and operate Twegashe School. Our design team has a set of drawings ready for final review, we're planning a trip to the village in mid-September to get ready for construction, testing has confirmed that there is water available on our site for drilling a well, and we've got an experienced and enthusiastic curriculum committee designing our kindergarten curriculum.
brick press machine with newly made block with holes for rebar

March Progress Report

We're making steady progress in our preparations to build Twegashe Primary School. Highlights from our March newsletter include getting our 501(c)(3) approval, finding a machine that makes blocks suitable for earthquake-resistant construction, receiving an offer to drill a well for the school, and having a few new volunteers join our team.
green hillside with grass and banana trees and lake in the background

Trip Notes from Bushasha Village

We arrived in Bushasha village on Saturday afternoon to an enthusiastic welcome from Michael's family. Our week in the village flew by much too quickly with so many tasks to complete in preparation for the school.
school courtyard with large mange tree

Trip Update from Katoke

From Bunda we headed to the village of Kitongo on the south shore of Lake Victoria, where we toured the Mainsprings center. The next day we took a full-day drive to Katoke-Lweru Secondary School, just a few hours from our final destination, Bushasha Village.
rolling green hills with cluster of village huts

Trip Update from Bunda

The next leg of our trip took us from Karatu to Bunda via Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. In Bunda we visited several schools run by the Anglican Church of Tanzania.
dorm buildings arranged in a curve with trees and pink flowers

Trip Update from Karatu

Our first day-and-a-half in Tanzania was very eventful, with visits to the Maasae Girls School and Orkeeswa Secondary School in Monduli, and to the Rift Valley Children's Village in Karatu.

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.
Tanzanian children doing homework on the floor

December Progress Report

We're continuing to move forward in preparing to build Twegashe School. Some of our successes so far include finding a construction supervisor, discovering the "perfect" toilet technology, reaching 20% of our fundraising goal, and getting local US high school students involved with our project!
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.