January 2010 Archives

Using the power of human GPS (involving asking villagers for directions as we pass them) we eventually arrived at Kibindu Secondary School in the heat of the late afternoon sun. This school is one of the most remote I've seen during my trip into rural Tanzania. It's about six hours north west of Dar es Salaam and proved to be very well-hidden, off a sub-track of a slightly less minor dusty road.

Kibindu Secondary School has 452 students. Amazing, considering it has just seven classrooms and nine teachers. The students are aged from 13 to 24 years. As well as being incredibly remote, its facilities are basic and the community which the school serves is very poor. But Kibindu has a reason to be hopeful about the future - a 240W solar system on its roof; bringing light to all seven classrooms.

The school no longer needs to spend money on kerosene, candles or batteries for torches like it did six months ago, before the installation. The high number of students at the school is partly due to the reduced school fees - owing to the fact that students no longer have to contribute to the cost of kerosene.

The Head Teacher, Mr Benedict, was thrilled to tell us that he'd seen a dramatic increase in exam pass rates since the solar installation. He also told us that student attendance has increased as there has been a huge drop in bronchitis and other respiratory diseases, since the school put a stop to the use of candles and lanterns, for good, six months ago.

The school offers a phone charging service to the community - charging 300Tsh per charge (about 13p).

Local villagers are intrigued, as well as proud, to have a building in their community with light. Mr Benedict told us that people come to the school at night just to see it lit up.

"It looks so nice at night time" he told us. "It's the only light for miles and miles. We are like a beacon in the community now!"

Head Teacher Mr Benedict proudly switches on the lights in a classroom at Kibindu.

The view from the very remote Kibindu Secondary School. Photo by Charlotte Webster.