Welcome Back, Pre-Schoolers! We Missed You!

Community Development, Coronavirus, Education, Fundraising, updates | August 20, 2020
Karibuni to our 40 Pre-School Students!
We missed you.
A few weeks ago, we welcomed back our pre-schoolers who had been off since mid-March due to the threat of the coronavirus. We took many special precautions to ensure that all our students and staff were safe.

Thanks to the generosity of donors and the agility of all the MCH staff, pre-school is up and running better than ever. 
Temperature Checks: We continue to check temperatures regularly to make sure none of the students at school are sick. Our head mama, Martha, helps record temperatures so we can keep track.
Handwashing: We are washing our hands! A lot! Thanks to the bucket system we have installed throughout the centre — and the many taps — handwashing is available everywhere you turn!
 
Toothbrushing: Though we have stopped our toothbrushing at school, the students have been provided with toothbrushes to take home. They are encouraged to practice dental hygiene at home. We hope to restart our toothbrushing program at school in the future.

Eating:  We have tried to limit the number of students eating at once, and we ensure the children are sitting a little farther apart than normal.

Veggie Program: Our gardens are bountiful, and since most MCH kids are back at school, we are sharing our vegetable gardens with the pre-schoolers. This extra food support makes life at home just a little bit easier.
 
Learning:  We are back to the classroom, and though we need to take special care to not get too close, the pre-schoolers continue to learn and have fun with their friends and teachers.
On behalf of the 195 children enrolled in Majengo’s programming, and the hundreds of families and thousands of students we have been supporting in the broader community, thank you! 
Recognizing a couple of great Majengo friends who have been playing a really important role in the Majengo story:

Philip & Joyce Epstein

Majengo Canada has had the privilege of working with Philip and Joyce Epstein over the past several years, and thanks to their generosity, many Majengo dreams have been realized. They have provided support for new additions to the Majengo campus, including an office, a goat and duck house, as well as provided funding that allowed Majengo to host a mental health support training program for the Majengo children. (See below for some pictures of projects at the centre.)

The Epstein’s favourite project is the Animal Husbandry Program which included the purchase of some new cow friends at Majengo. This is a gift that keeps on giving, with our newest calf, Tulip, making her debut appearance earlier in 2020 — a welcome addition during such a challenging year.

 
Philip and Joyce, also helped ensure that our pre-school and community programs will remain at full capacity in 2021, notwithstanding the difficulties the broader Majengo community has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We thank them so much for partnering with us, sharing our stories with their friends and family, and for their love of Tanzania and the Majengo children.