Two years since last visit

In the last part of January I visited Godbless and Neema, that was visit number 14. The first one was in 2006. For a particular reason there was no visit in 2017.

A lot has happened since 2016 – many more children at school and a big building - a guest house. The number of children in the boarding is almost the same as in 2016, that is 190. The number of children in school has increased a lot and is now more than 750. That includes the 174 small children age 3 – 6 that have not yet entered the school. I don’t think there are any primary school this big in Norway.

The picture shows a part of the children an early morning when they are waiting for the bell to ring.

 There are several reasons for the large growth in the number of children and pupils.

1.       The most important is probably that the school fee is about half the price of what is normal among other private schools. The fee for living in the boarding and attending school is 1,2 mill TanzSh per year, that is 530 USD. Pupils at school only pay half the price – 600 000 TSh. Some families who can not afford this payment, pay less. This is very unusual among private schools. Usual private schools are for rich families and it’s good business. More than 70 adults are working at school and in the boarding or both. Their payment, and food for the adults and the children are the biggest expenses. It has also been necessary to build a lot of classrooms and houses in the boarding, since the start in 2009. Because of these things the budget is quite difficult to get in balance.

2.       The pupils in class 7 have very good results at the national exam. The exam-results for all the 16 000 primary schools in Tanzania are published on the internet and people are very interested in this.

3.       The consequence of the combination of points 1 and 2 is that a lot of people go to Bethel with their child (children in some cases) early January each year. Some are rejected, but it’s a strong cultural obligation in Africa that you shall not reject wishes from your family, neighbours and friends. Godbless and Neema have a very big network of friends.

The Guest House has 10 big rooms and each room has its own bathroom. In each room there are two double beds. There is also a room for dining and relaxing. The size is about 70 m². There are several places to sit outside. Both inside and outside the standard is very high with nice tiles everywhere.

Godbless and Neema outside the entrance to the dining room

For many years it has been a big need for a house like this. There are a lot of guests and visitors. The high standard will also make it realistic to invite tourists to come. This is only ½ hour from the entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park for those who want to climb the mountain. This can give quite a lot of money to make a less stressed financial situation for the main activity – giving children a good start in life through teaching and developing them.

The dining room seen from the kitchen part. Dinner time

Probably The Guest House will be announced on internet in some months from now.