Dingani Primary School is a rural school in Zimbabwe, close to Hwange National Park and our Hideaways lodge Elephant’s Eye, Hwange. Our Foundation supports the school through initiatives such as Project Penya and Pack for a Purpose, as well as maintenance and conservation awareness projects. Dingani Primary’s final year pass rate is 23%, which is a great improvement from the 3% pass rate of 4 years ago. However, the school has set a target of a 50% pass rate for 2021 and we are dedicated to helping them reach this goal.
Our new projects for this year include:
Early Child Development (ECD) Teachers: The state provides funding for 1 teacher for the 108 current ECD students. As of from 1st March 2018 Grow Africa is sponsoring a second, qualified, ECD teacher from the community (Yolanda Ncube). The community, in turn, have committed to providing an additional ECD teaching assistant. We are urgently looking for assistance sponsoring Yolanda at a cost of US$200 / month. SPONSORS NEEDED
Student Scholarships: More than 50% of the students cannot afford the school fees (US$30 / Year). If the students don’t pay their school fees they cannot graduate. We are appealing to sponsors for assistance. In the collaborative spirit, parents of sponsored children will contribute 2 hours of assistance to the school per week. SPONSORS NEEDED
Project Penya: In 2017 we successfully achieved our goal of supplying sets of washable sanitary pads to every Gr 6 and 7 girl at Dingani Primary. This ensures they don’t miss out on their schooling due to monthly menstruation which in turn empowers them for a better future. Project Penya will continue building on this success, providing educational and community workshops for all Grade 6 girls, and creating employment opportunities by upskilling members of the community to produce the washable sanitary pads locally.
Pack for a Purpose: This enormously successful initiative allows Jenman African Safaris clients to support Dingani Primary School directly by bringing much needed stationary equipment in their luggage.