This will further improve security following the installation of a fence paid for with donations from last year's participants, and will also allow teachers to introduce afternoon lessons with time previously spent commuting now being used to help pupils.
Firstly, we needed to totally demolish the old staff accommodation that was uninhabitable following a bat infestation. Secondly, a half-finished building on the top site needed to be cleared of vegetation and earth to allow the floor to be levelled and concrete floors to be put down. With an appetite for destruction, students used sledge hammers, rope, spades and brute strength to knock down the building and clear the rubble, while at the top site earth was cleared rocks were collected and laid, all by hand. The work was physically demanding, but the levels of effort put in from everyone were phenomenal and over the two days the site was transformed! Showers ran thick with dirt in the evenings following our work there, proof of the way everyone threw themselves into the task at hand and gave it their all.
Having returned safely to Shanghai, we would like to take this chance to thank everyone who helped us to fundraise for this trip. Although we were lucky enough to see first-hand the difference the service projects are making on people's lives, you all should also be happy to know that you are improving the lives of so many in Tanzania.
Current Year 8 and 9 students who have been inspired by our stories should listen out for upcoming information about next year's trip very soon!
April Rudd, Mathematics Teacher and Tanzania Expedition Co-Leader