Project info
Sponsor: VICE VERSA EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT NGO Arusha, Tanzania (VVene)
Foundation of the association: 2023
Board: 3 honorary board members
Contact person: James Somi, director and board member, founder of the school
Headquarters: Nkoasenga Village, Arusha Region, Tanzania
No website available yet
Location of Jaligreen School: Leguruki Village, Arusha Region, Tanzania
In operation since 2016 – 198 children between 3 and 14 years old (Aug 2022)
Principal: Nikodem Gabriel, 18 teachers and non-teaching staff (kitchen, boarding school, garden)
Project: Construction of the kitchen and dining room for the Jaligreen School
Our funding:
Contribution to the costs of this project in the amount of 2 x 7000 €
Funding period: 2nd half of 2023 and 1st half of 2024
Jaligreen is a private pre- and primary school on a large site in Leguruki near Arusha National Park and Mount Meru. There is a lot of water there, so the landscape is very green. Jali is a Swahili word and it means: care – Green stands for nature. It is very important to the school founder and the teaching staff that the children preserve nature and take responsibility for an intact environment. Therefore, every child plants a tree on his first day of school and takes care of it as long as he goes to school.
The school was built by own-work starting in 2000. Every Saturday, the family of the founder James Somi made bricks for the construction of the buildings. Two school buildings with nine classrooms, toilets, a teachers’ room and offices, a school library, several dormitories for nearly 50 boarding students, stables for rabbits, chickens, cows and a large sports field with a kiosk also for the village community were built. The construction of the kitchen and dining hall has stalled due to lack of funds. With funding from the foundation, both buildings can now be continued.
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.
Jaligreen Pre- and Primary-School
The aim is for the children to enjoy going to school and to discover and develop their potential. The teachers are also involved in everyday school life with their ideas. There is a Week of Talents every last week before holiday, during which the children develop their own learning projects. The teachers observe, empower, show them the bigger picture and recognizes every single participation of the pupils in showing their talents, holding back on their own ideas.
From the beginning, the children learn English at school so that they do not have any communication difficulties when they move on to Secondary School. In addition to academic subjects, the children learn organic gardening and harvest their own vegetables and fruits.
Training is also offered for parents on topics such as balanced diet and health, caring for children, self-reliance, family planning, civilization and non-violent communication. The organization “Mwangaza education for partnership” conducts these workshops to parents, teachers and students.
The school has to develop further and grow: three science laboratories, the secondary school and additional dormitories are planned. VVene started building the laboratories and dormitories in 2024.
In addition, a building is planned for volunteers, who will also come from Europe, for example through the “weltwärts” organization.
School kitchen and dining hall
VVene wants to support the improvement of the teaching and learning environment of the schools. First of all, VVene wants to support the construction of a kitchen and dining room at Jaligreen School, where the children can have their meals.
Food is an important aspect for health, so a pleasant environment is inevitably important.
Classes run from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and there are three meals for the children during this time. The boarders get two more meals in the afternoon and evening. For them, there is a house mother and a house father who take care of them outside of class.
The school fees are kept very low in order to be able to accept children from poorer families. The school operates on a non-profit basis and needs alternative sources of funds for the projects so that they are not paid for by the school fees.
The school kitchen is to be equipped with an energy-saving stove in order to save firewood and protect the environment. A stove powered by biogas is being considered. So far, the kitchen is a shell. The shell of the dining hall has also been completed and is already in use, both for eating meals and as a hall for activities such as school theater.
Work will soon continue on the interior fittings and furnishings.
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
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 potentials and competencies of the children and support their development.
We have planted small trees on the school grounds ourselves, which the children take care of for us. This makes us feel very connected to the school, the children and James and Lillian.
