Mvumi School Trust

Currently there are: 455 students in total, 266 boys and 189 girls. There are 244 boarding places in the school hostels.

13 to mid-twenties.

Mvumi is a co-educational, English Medium, Anglican school in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika.

It’s in the middle of Tanzania, the biggest country in East Africa. Mvumi is situated 36km, South of the Capital of Tanzania, Dodoma.

It is scrubland most of which is under cultivation. It is semi-arid, and the subsistence farming is almost wholly dependent on the rains. With the exception of the national highway, the regions roads are poor, so travel and communication are difficult. There is severe poverty and many people suffer from malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

We have 156 day pupils and 299 boarders. The boarders are looked after by House Patrons for the boys and House Matrons for the girls.

They do, and boarding pupils particularly really enjoy the experience of having a comfortable and special environment, which may be different to their homes.

They speak tribal languages, Kiswahili and English. English is the teaching medium.

Very good. Mvumi is consistently one of the best performers in the region.

Football, volleyball, netball and basketball are played and there is also cross-country running. Our visitors encourage such diverse games as rugby sevens, rounders, Frisbee. The School plays regular matches against other schools.

Yes, but the fees are very competitive. About a third of the pupils are sponsored or earn scholarships through fund-raising by the Mvumi School Trust and well-wishers mainly in the UK, Australia, New Zealand. Funds raised are channelled through the Mvumi School Trust, which is based in the UK.

Yes, we do have some. Internet access has been poor in the past, the climate and dusty conditions have made maintenance difficult but things are improving fast. We do have a mobile phone network.

There is a preparation schedule and a programme of regular tests. A large number of motivated students will work whenever they can. It is not uncommon to see students working in the classrooms until late in the evening. The lack of suitable lighting in domestic homes can otherwise be a problem.

Ugali (a thick porridge made from maize), beans, and rice. Meat is prepared twice a week. Vegetables are a rarity although greens are now grown on the School shamba (vegetable plot). Fruit is available once a week.

There are thriving groups in art, drama, debating, reading, mathematics, singing, dancing and more and there are cultural competitions with other schools when possible.

Nearly all the teachers are Tanzanian and graduate or diploma level. The Headmaster is British and there are sometimes teachers seconded from the UK particularly for a contract period. We also welcome ‘gap year’ students, who have proved to be very helpful in teaching and in other activities.

Slowly but surely there is an increasing number of pupils going on to further education. They will perhaps work for a Government department or maybe go into business. Quite a few though have to help their families survive by farming. We are setting up training schemes in forestry and health services with local organisations. The school’s philosophy is ‘Education is Liberation’.

Communication creates a problem: many homes do not have a postal address. Some live too far away to visit the school. Some who live locally are poor farmers who not inclined to get involved.

Yes. We’re pleased if pupils want to correspond with friends from abroad. We have links with schools in Britain and elsewhere and some of the sponsored students are able to be in touch with their sponsors through a co-ordinator.

The tree symbolises growth through education. The word Mvumi, in the Gogo language, is the name of a tree found locally.

Mvumi School Trust supplies virtually all the capital for development as well as financing 150 scholarships and bursaries. The School aims to cover its operating costs from school fee income. The Tanzanian Government is to assist with funding of teachers of blind and severely visually impaired students (the ICAP Project).

Donations received for sponsoring bursaries and cases of hardship are kept in a special fund which is restricted to that purpose. We encourage students to communicate with sponsors and sponsors with students.

After consultation with the Headmaster, funds are allocated to specific projects such as new classrooms, books, computers etc. When required funds are transferred from the UK to a trust account in Tanzania that requires the two signatures to operate it, one of which is the Headmaster. An account is kept to demonstrate that expenditure has been spent as agreed by the Trustees. A local firm in Tanzania audits the account, and the Treasurer of the Trust visits the school at least annually to review the records. Administrative expenses of the Trust are minimal so that virtually every pound donated benefits the school.

Like all students some are formidably industrious, others need plenty of encouragement!

Mvumi is special because it has excellent facilities, a genuine concern to provide education for the most needy, a commitment to a broad education, and the opportunity for educational partnership with donors from more developed countries. The latest initiative is the new ICAP unit for blind and severely visually impaired students opened in January 2009.