Grumeti Fund it is a Non-Government Organization (NGO) that protects Grumeti game reserve which is perched on Tanzania’s high-profile national park of Serengeti.
The organization began operating since 2003 through the community development department.
The 18 years of its existence has seen it become a key player in education development across all villages near the Grumeti game reserve.
The organization has, within that spell, engaged in supporting infrastructure projects such as drilling wells, building a 50, 000–litre capacity rainwater harvesting wells etc.
It also donated desks, built classrooms and teachers’ houses, upgraded libraries, bought books, laboratories equipment, laptops and desktops.
Such support was directed to schools along the Ikorongo Grumeti game reserve coastline.
Grumeti Fund has, since 2003, engaged actively in educational funding to vulnerable children every year. This funding runs from secondary (Form 1 to 6) to tertiary level. The number of currently funded students is 182 per year.
These students are paid for all tuition fees. The donation has had a positive impact on the 21 villages located on the edge of the reserve. The young people who received funding are the catalyst for development especially around tar-get villages of the project.
The organization pro-vides motivation for a girl child education so that she optimizes on the opportunity to study, graduate and live her dreams.
The Grumeti Fund reaches 3,600 children a year and each girl child is provided with disposable female towels. Through this program, the attendance rate for girls in schools has increased, and so has self-confidence.
Grumeti recently launched a twin program to promote girls’ education through motivating boys to support and participate effectively in enabling a girl child attend classes, graduate and flourish. A total of 650 boys for the first time were reached.
The Grumeti Fund through the community development department makes a significant contribution to reducing student-teacher ratios by funding volunteer teachers who are mostly university graduates.
These teachers are given the opportunity to use their vocational skills to teach the existing primary schools within 21 villages. These teachers volunteer while waiting for their jobs announcement and recruitment from the Government. Teachers, students and the communities where these teachers work enjoy this program.
A total of 49 teachers provide this service.Along with the volunteer teachers Grumeti Fundi has been able to provide English language teaching training to primary school teachers in 21 villages.
Teaching methods were provided in collaboration with Concordia Language village in the United States. A total of 35 teachers came with this training.
Grumeti Fund sponsors 480 students and 30 teachers to study conservation education. For 12 years now, the environmental education center provides conservation training, students learn the challenges facing the environment and how to cope with them. These young people return to school and strengthen their environmental clubs through the Maliahai Club of Tanzania.
Environmental Education Centre students show their dirty palms after planting trees
After the training, these students plant trees where about 50,000 trees have been planted in schools with this program.
Beekeeping for some schools, combating invasive alien plants, protecting their environment against soil erosion, conducting debates, painting, essay competitions as well as participating in outdoor debates with counterparts in the Taiwanese City of Taipei.
For 12 years a totalof 3,722 students and 360 teachers have benefited from this training.
The Fund has been at the forefront of partnering with government in the Bunda and Serengeti districts in providing examinations distribution vehicle, especially for primary schools.
It will continue to work with the government and other education stakeholders to contribute to the development, with education being the top—notch priority.
