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Reneal Scholarships: Part 2 [2019-01-05]

Happy New Year from Reneal!  The first blog post of 2019 will be continuation of the final post of 2018.  We talked last about the Reneal scholarship program in the Philippines, now in its tenth year.  This time we’ll be focusing on the Reneal scholarship program in Tanzania.  This program, a long-time dream of Neal’s, finally came to fruition in 2018.  Just like in the Philippines, a few dollars can go a very long way in helping students in Tanzania reach their dreams!  We couldn’t do this without the dedication and hard work of Reneal School Liaison David Nyangaka.

The Tanzania scholarship program is focused on a single school, Mwandet Secondary School.  We first visited Mwandet SS in 2012 and installed a Reneal computer lab there in 2014.  Mwandet SS is six bumpy, dusty (or muddy, depending on the season…) kilometers from the main road.  Life is challenging there, with most people grazing cattle or engaged in subsistence farming.  During the dry season, people must carry water for long distances every day for their home water needs.

Mwandet SS is a public school, and currently public schools are not allowed to collect fees from the students in order for them to attend.  However due to its remote location, Mwandet SS has many boarding students, and those students are required to pay for room and board.  Just like in the Philippines, Reneal looks for students that have shown academic promise but have financial need.    

The Reneal scholarship program in Tanzania started in January of 2018.  Six students in Form 3 (ninth grade) were selected through a competitive process administered by David and the staff at Mwandet SS.  Here is a breakdown of the annual per-student costs paid by the Reneal scholarship (in US dollars):

+  Room and board: $200

+  One-time dorm set-up (mattress, bedsheet, blanket, pillow, cup, plate, spoon, bucket, USB flash drive): $60

+  School uniform, dormitory clothes, and shoes: $55

+  School supplies: $20

+  Soap, lotion, laundry soap, other personal supplies: $50 (plus additional $9 for girls to cover menstrual supplies)

+  Pocket money: $57 (23 cents per day)

The first six scholars at Mwandet SS did very well in School Year 2018.  Their end-of-year class rankings (out of 326 Form 3 students) were 4, 5, 6, 12, 25, and 85!  At the Reneal Board meeting in November, the Board approved an expansion of the Tanzania scholarship program.  In 2019 we are adding an additional six scholars from Form 2, with the support of our 2018 scholars continuing on to their Form 4 year.  The total budget for the 2019 school year is about $4800 for the 12 Reneal scholars.  Funding a new scholar averages about $430 for the entire year, while a returning scholar averages about $370 for the year.

We are very grateful to David Nyangaka and the Headmaster, teachers, and staff at Mwandet Secondary School for being our partners in this exciting endeavor!  Between the combined Tanzania and Philippines programs, Reneal will be supporting a total of 32 students in 2019! 

 [Photos: The 2018 Reneal Tanzania scholars with David Nyangaka]