Girl's Dorm Makongoro Secondary School is one of only 2 government secondary schools for the 30 villages of the area, consisting of more than 60,000 people. As a day school (not boarding), most students find themselves walking the 2 miles from Nyamuswa to Makongoro Secondary School each day. They have to go home for lunch and many do not return for afternoon classes. Most of the students come from villages much further away and find themselves searching for rooms to rent in Nyamuswa. The girls are especially vulnerable in their search for temporary housing. Many find themselves doing excessive housework in exchange for room and board or with unwanted pregnancies and STDs from older men who offer them gifts and empty promises. They score poorly on exams or drop out of school. Only 2 girls were graduating per year. The solution was to build a girls' dormitory. Though the hard work and commitment of the Nyamuswa community, Zinduka, Malaika Project volunteers, Friends of Tanzania, Project Zawadi, and students at Bancroft School in Worcester, MA are committed to seeing this happen.  The first dormitory is complete and has been handed over to the school.  Fifty girls now have a comfortable and safe place to study and live. We believe that the result will be increased enrollment of girls, improved attendance, higher scores, and fewer dropouts.  The community is anxiously awaiting funds to build the second dormitory so that another 50 girls will be able to stay in school.  If you are interested in supporting this project by organizing a group to raise funds and/or travel over to Nyamuswa to work on the construction, please contact jenniemalaika@yahoo.com

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