When the project started there was one run-down primary school to serve the whole village. Some children had to walk miles to school. The fabric of the building was crumbling, there were holes in the roof and resources were minimal. Absenteeism was common and often classes did not have a teacher.

In the early 90’s the project worked with the villagers to refurbish the school, then to build two more primary schools on the outskirts of the village, one at Likarangilo and another at Ngembambili. Likarangilo was then part of Luhimba but is now a village in its own right with a school of around 600 pupils. The three primary schools together currently have around 1400 children on roll. Then in 2000 the village decided it needed a secondary school as the children’s education ended when they left primary school at the age of 13. So we started fundraising and sought the advice of the government’s education department on setting up a secondary school.

The new secondary school was completed and opened in February 2002 with 80 students. It was named Nguluma Secondary School (using the initials of the surrounding villages) and is situated at the edge of  Luhimba near the main road. It has over 600 students on roll, from surrounding villages.

So the three primary schools and the secondary now provide a good standard of education to over 2000 students. The children start kindergarten aged 5, then primary school aged 7 to 13, followed by secondary school aged 14 to 18 when they sit their O levels in Form 4. For those who qualify for further or higher education we help them with their fees. We have several students at university at the moment all around Tanzania. When the schools are up and running they are taken over by the government, which appoints staff and runs the schools. We support the schools by helping to provide much needed resources etc as and when needed.