NEEMA INTERNATIONAL GIVING TUESDAY 2022
Tax deductible
In August 2015, Neema International was gifted the Digitruck, a 40ft shipping container that had been converted into a solar powered computer lab and classroom.
Starting in 2016, Neema launched the Digitruck Bridgeway Program, a second chance education-empowerment project which provides youth, who have either failed or dropped out of school, with the opportunity to further their learning and their academic career.
The Digitruck bridgeway program features a two-year curriculum that is based heavily in life skills, technology, and remedial studies in basic English, Science, and Math. Students who complete the program are provided with sponsorship through Neema so they can return to an accredited academic institution. Each graduate’s academic path looks different, some choosing to go into vocational training and others return to traditional schooling. We have put over 60 students back in schooling through this program.
Currently, the Digitruck classroom is located on Neema International land which also houses Uru Community Pre and Primary School. In October 2021, Uru Community Pre and Primary School (UCPAPS) FINALLY received its registration and became an official school recognized by the Tanzanian government. While this was a huge accomplishment for us and has brought tremendous benefits for our students, it has also caused some serious logistical issues—the government said that the school needs to be its own entity, and the Neema International office and its other projects cannot be on the same land as the school.
We were able to acquire an additional plot of land next door to our school and have moved the Neema Bags project as well as the Neema admin team into temporary offices on the new land until we get more funding for construction. The Digitruck classroom however is positioned in between other classrooms and cannot be moved to a new location without causing serious damage to the surrounding structures at the school.
Without a computer lab/classroom outside of the UCPAPS property, we were unable to run the Digitruck Bridgeway Program this past year. The Digitruck classroom has instead been used as the UCPAPS full time computer lab and tech room for watching educational movies, which is our plan for the container classroom going forward.
In Tanzania, 72% of all students stop going to school at the age of 13-14 years old. This has a HUGE impact on the country’s economic mobility and overall development, and contributes tremendously to its extremely high birthrate of over 5 children per mother. We have had dozens of students from the streets come ask to join our bridgeway program this past year, and it broke our hearts to have to turn them away. We desperately want to get this program back up and running so we can start making a difference again for these students.
As soon as we have the funding, we can start construction and have a new classroom built and fully furnished as early as mid-January. We plan to build an actual classroom instead of using a shipping container as it will allow for more learning space for some vocational training opportunities such as carpentry and sewing lessons.
We need $12,000 for the classroom construction, $2000 for solar electricity, $1000 for the furnishings, and $5000 for 15 computers and a projector/tv.
The success stories that have come out of the Digitruck in the past 6 years are incredible, and we would hate to not be able to resume this program in 2023 simply because we didn’t have a classroom.
Starting in 2016, Neema launched the Digitruck Bridgeway Program, a second chance education-empowerment project which provides youth, who have either failed or dropped out of school, with the opportunity to further their learning and their academic career.
The Digitruck bridgeway program features a two-year curriculum that is based heavily in life skills, technology, and remedial studies in basic English, Science, and Math. Students who complete the program are provided with sponsorship through Neema so they can return to an accredited academic institution. Each graduate’s academic path looks different, some choosing to go into vocational training and others return to traditional schooling. We have put over 60 students back in schooling through this program.
Currently, the Digitruck classroom is located on Neema International land which also houses Uru Community Pre and Primary School. In October 2021, Uru Community Pre and Primary School (UCPAPS) FINALLY received its registration and became an official school recognized by the Tanzanian government. While this was a huge accomplishment for us and has brought tremendous benefits for our students, it has also caused some serious logistical issues—the government said that the school needs to be its own entity, and the Neema International office and its other projects cannot be on the same land as the school.
We were able to acquire an additional plot of land next door to our school and have moved the Neema Bags project as well as the Neema admin team into temporary offices on the new land until we get more funding for construction. The Digitruck classroom however is positioned in between other classrooms and cannot be moved to a new location without causing serious damage to the surrounding structures at the school.
Without a computer lab/classroom outside of the UCPAPS property, we were unable to run the Digitruck Bridgeway Program this past year. The Digitruck classroom has instead been used as the UCPAPS full time computer lab and tech room for watching educational movies, which is our plan for the container classroom going forward.
In Tanzania, 72% of all students stop going to school at the age of 13-14 years old. This has a HUGE impact on the country’s economic mobility and overall development, and contributes tremendously to its extremely high birthrate of over 5 children per mother. We have had dozens of students from the streets come ask to join our bridgeway program this past year, and it broke our hearts to have to turn them away. We desperately want to get this program back up and running so we can start making a difference again for these students.
As soon as we have the funding, we can start construction and have a new classroom built and fully furnished as early as mid-January. We plan to build an actual classroom instead of using a shipping container as it will allow for more learning space for some vocational training opportunities such as carpentry and sewing lessons.
We need $12,000 for the classroom construction, $2000 for solar electricity, $1000 for the furnishings, and $5000 for 15 computers and a projector/tv.
The success stories that have come out of the Digitruck in the past 6 years are incredible, and we would hate to not be able to resume this program in 2023 simply because we didn’t have a classroom.
Organizer
Mandy Stein
Organizer
Houston, TX
Greater Houston Community Foundation
Beneficiary