How did the Ndifo Community Development Foundation start?
Ndifo Community Development Foundation began working with the Likamba Primary School when our director, Steven Ngowi, was out birdwatching in the rural area on the far outskirts of Arusha. He came upon a school that looked like a battle had been fought around it - busted concrete floors and walls, broken windows with jagged glass, leaking roofs in all classrooms, no proper kitchen, and scarce food availability. Some days, there is no food, the kids don’t eat, and they faint throughout the day. The parents in the community are responsible for whatever is lacking.
This community is composed of Maasai people who were nomadic only a generation ago. Since they have settled, they are ill equipped to support themselves and sourcing food can be difficult. Very little assistance is offered to these poor, rural communities without running water or electricity. The kids often slog through mud for miles to get to school during the rainy season - if they are hungry and there is no food at school, they tend to stay home to conserve energy and help gather food. If a warm meal was ready for them each day at school, they are more likely to attend regularly and get the nutrition and education they so need.
Steven describes why this project is so important to him, a father of three who does not want to see any child suffer:
“I was inspired to help when I realized how kids who live out of town go through a marathon trying to get an education. As we all know education is everything right now especially to today's world. A good environment at school is needed, and that's not what Likamba Primary School has. That's why we decided that they deserve it, too, just like other modern schools. They deserve a clean, safe place and food so they have the energy to learn.”
So we started with one class for the kids who are starting school then moved to the kitchen. The point here is to welcome this new generation of children starting school to have a better environment.
How have we helped so far?
The school did not have a kitchen, only a shack where the wind and rain came in to blow away the fire. We needed to build a real kitchen. So we have designed one built in a more modern way so you don't have to use a lot of firewood (just two or three pieces) so the whole thing is good on fire.. At first the school would use a lot of firewood because they were cooking outside with the wind blowing so to build this new modern kitchen is a game changer. The building Started on August 29th for the kitchen, we had 8 workers that made it happen by building it from brick to brick until they finished. Click the link below to see the kitchen transformation!
Day by day as the kitchen building was being built the kids at the school were full of smiles seeing a positive change is being brought to them. Because of donations, now the kitchen is finished and has something not seen around here before - running water. The school cook is all smiles when we see her which makes us happy too.
The next project is building a gated fence around the school to keep the kids safe inside. Stay tuned to watch us transform the Likamba Primary School further.