Project info
Operator: VICE VERSA EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT NGO Arusha, Tanzania
Foundation of the association: 2023
Board: 3 honorary board members
Contact person: James Somi, director and board member, founder of the school
Instagram: jaligreenschool
Location of Jaligreen School: Nkoasenga Village, Arusha Region, Tanzania.
In operation since 2016 – 202 children between 3 and 16 years old (April 2026)
Principal at Primary School: Josephine Elibariki Nnko
Principal at Secondary School: James Abraham Somi
18 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff (kitchen, boarding school, garden and animals husbandry)
Project: Support for the continued development of the Jaligreen School
Our funding:
Contribution of 21,000 euros toward the costs of building the kitchen and dining hall; purchase of a brick-making machine and a concrete mixer for 7,000 euros;
an additional 17,500 euros for 2026 and 2027 for necessary purchases
Funding period: 2023 to 2027
Jaligreen is a private preschool and elementary school, and since 2026 has also included a secondary school on a large campus of 20 acres (80,340 Meter square) in Leguruki, near Arusha National Park and Mount Meru. There is plenty of water there, so the landscape is very green. “Jali” is Swahili and means “to care for” and “respect”; “Green” stands for nature. It is very important to the school’s founder and the teaching staff that the children preserve nature and take responsibility for a healthy environment. That is why every child plants a tree on their first day of school and cares for it for as long as they attend the school.
The school was built through the efforts of the community starting in 2000. Every Saturday, the family of the founder, James Somi, made bricks for the construction of the buildings. Two school buildings were constructed, featuring nine classrooms, restrooms, a teachers’ lounge and offices, a school library, two dormitories for 90 boarding students, stables for rabbits, chickens, goats and cows, and a large sports field with a kiosk that also serves the village community.
The project operator
Vice Versa Education and Environment (VVene) is committed to an independent society, focused with the clear goal of empowering children in terms of their development, participation in communities, shaping their social relationships and maintaining their health.
Education and environmental inspiration are key for VVene to socialize young people in Tanzania and maximize their potential and self-image. This includes disseminating knowledge for sustainable living and using it to benefit the Tanzanian community.
Specifically, VVene advocates for:
- Improving renewable energy and energy efficiency, technologies and installations, income opportunities, access to electricity, clean cooking and sustainable buildings.
- Promoting agriculture, food production, subsistence farming, diversification, organic farming, zero-kilometer food (food direct from farm to consumer), intercropping, and other sustainable land use practices.
- Promoting reforestation and biodiversity, practical projects and awareness of global challenges.
- Promoting the environment and natural resource conservation as an income-generating opportunity and a policy for a better life.
- Establishing a mechanism to help needy children access school and higher education.
- Establishing entrepreneurship courses to students’ sustainable life after classroom education.
Jaligreen School
The goal is for children to enjoy going to school and to discover and develop their potential there. Teachers are also involved in daily school life through their own ideas. During the last week before each school break, they hold “Talent Week,” during which children develop their own learning projects. The teachers observe, encourage, help them see connections, acknowledge each student’s individual work, and refrain from imposing their own ideas.
From the very beginning, the children learn English at school so that they do not encounter communication difficulties when they move on to secondary school. In addition to academic subjects, the children learn about organic gardening and harvest their own vegetables and fruit.
Training sessions are also offered for parents on topics such as healthy eating and other health-related issues, child care, independence, family planning, organic farming, and nonviolent communication. The organization “Mwangaza Education for Partnership” conducts these workshops for parents, teaching staff, and students.
The school continues to grow. Since then, two science labs, the secondary school, and two buildings with additional dormitories for boarding students have been added.
In addition, plans are underway for a building to house volunteer staff, some of whom come from Europe, for example through the “weltwärts” organization.
Our mission is to promote, encourage and facilitate the academic, social and emotional education and health care of children and adults, as well as to raise awareness and interest in environmental conservation.
Students are given the opportunity to test their personal talents and skills to consolidate their abilities while improving moral values and creating a self-confident society.
James Somi, founder of Jaligreen School and director of VVene
School kitchen and dining hall
VVene aims to support improvements to the teaching and learning environment in schools. As a first step, VVene managed the completion of the kitchen and dining hall at Jaligreen School, where the children can eat their meals.
Food is an important aspect of health, so a pleasant environment is essential.
Classes run from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the children are provided with three meals during this time. Boarding students receive two additional meals in the afternoon and evening. They are cared for outside of class hours by a house mother and a house father.
Tuition fees are kept very low to ensure that children from poorer families can also attend. The school is a non-profit organization and requires alternative sources of funding for its projects so that they do not have to be paid for out-of-tuition fees.
The school kitchen is to be equipped with an energy-efficient stove to conserve firewood and protect the environment. A stove powered by biogas is being considered. The kitchen and dining hall are now complete and are actively used for celebrations and exams.
A brick-making machine and a concrete mixer
To save on the costs of expanding the school with new buildings, a brick-making machine and a concrete mixer were purchased in 2025. The school community is now also independent of supply chain issues.
In August 2025, the machine was proudly demonstrated to our foundation’s board on-site during the grand opening and dedication of the new buildings.
Why we are committed to the project
We visited the Jaligreen School in August 2022 and were impressed by James Somi and his wife Lilian. They have built the school with their own hands over many years and are committed by heart and mind to their vision: namely, to inspire interest in environmental conservation and to promote harmony, justice, freedom, peace, dignity and self-reliance in rural Tanzanian communities through the provision of quality education. They are breaking new ground and training the teaching staff and parents to discover the individual potential and competencies of the children and support their development.
Back then, we planted small trees on the school grounds ourselves, and the children take care of them for us. This makes us feel very connected to the school, the children, and James and Lillian.
The school founders invited our board to the grand opening of the kitchen and dining hall in the summer of 2025, as well as to the inauguration of the building block machine. The school is growing and thriving (as are the trees we planted), and we are impressed by the courage, perseverance, and patience of the Somis in continuing to advance this school.
