Olkokola villagers recast priority list

by Nyamanoko Bwire

Over Tsh.1.6 million has been raised by residents of Olkokola village, in Arumeru district, during a brief fund raising event for the construction of an additional wing to the Olkokola primary school.

Fifteen bags of cement, two lorry loads of sand and other materials for the construction were pledged in last Saturday’s fund raising event.

Village Chairman, John Kiloka said the construction of the additional school wing, was to comply with the current government strategy of supporting primary schools expansions through the MEMKWA Programme.

The programme, running under the Ministry of Education, assists in the finishing of any school building as long as the parents have started the construction.

Though this "Offer" started about two years ago, Olkokola village was however a bit late in taking the advantage of it as the villagers were busy in another community project.

"We had directed all our energy and resources towards the village hospital", said the chairman, adding that the construction of the hospital had cost over Tsh.45 million.

"The money came from the villagers’ own contributions and this includes the project engineering", said Kiloka. "No village in Tanzania owns a hospital like ours".

As for the school project, the village chairman said Olkokola primary needs 30 classrooms, because currently there are only 11.

The school also needs 20 staff houses for the teachers.

Olkokola primary school with classes from Standard One to Standard Seven, has a total of 1,425 pupils.

Other problems affecting the village include transport, as roads leading to the area are in pathetic conditions and rendered impassable during rainy seasons.

"That’s why we built the hospital", said the village chairman. "Sick people used to die since the nearest hospital is about 20 kilometres away".

Last modified: November 06, 2003.
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