After consultation with MM, seeing the point they made after observing our school for almost two months and after meeting with sisters, I clearly see that our educational adoption efforts must be directed for the time being (especially with our sponsors' donations for the next year) to the procurement of school books for our students in primary school.
The textbooks are very expensive in Tanzania (taking under consideration the purchasing power of parents in our area). The wholesale price in Dar es Salaam for one set of compulsory books for English medium standard one students is around 40 usd (including transportation from Dar to Kiabakari) at this point of time. The price for one book in wholesale store in Dar varies from 3 to 6 USD and the set consists of some seven textbooks, if I remember correctly.
Our parents refuse or are very reluctant to cover the bill, understandably, as they already have real trouble to pay school fees and other contributions like safari to Serengeti or city tour in Musoma. Obviously, we will have to purchase the books as the property of the school and make sure students are careful handling them, so these can serve longer than one year, and be available for those who will come after them. And gradually, we will collect funds through educational adoption program, buying textbooks for all levels.
We will have to put system in place, forcing parents of careless children to refund stolen or destroyed books. Otherwise, these books will have very short life as no one will pay much attention to its maintenance (knowing that their mishandling will go unpunished) and our sponsors' donations will go waste...
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