A 760-box consignment was sent to Cape Town and Pretoria for distribution to primary and secondary schools.
These contained a wide variety of school library books and reading literature. Also a large quantity of equipment including filing cabinets, bookshelves and a pallet of science equipment from our partner, Lab Aid.
In March, we sent a consignment to a large number of schools in Mphumalanga, a completely new region for us in South Africa.
The container arrived in Durban and was transported by land to Ximhungwe.
The books, stationery and equipment were sorted equally between 23 schools, with advice from the schools' teachers and headteachers. The primary resources and furniture were in particular demand.
The shipment was organised in association with Rosemary Dally who was key in making this consignment a success.
In May 2012 a shipment was sent to South Africa. The books and other resources in the shipment will be distributed primarily by School Aid South Africa.
Thankfully the rain held off on 21 June 2012 as volunteers worked to load a 40ft container for schools in Tanzania. With a strong focus on the core subjects of maths and science, as well as plenty of reading books, the shipment also included sports kit, computers, sewing machines, and school furniture - some supplied by our partner organisations.
The resources have been delivered to eight secondary schools, two primary schools, a vocational college and a university, many of them situated in the remote north-western district of Bukoba, close to Lake Victoria.
On 6 September 2012 a container of educational materials was dispatched for Malawi. It consisted of 16 pallets for 15 Primary schools. They contained mainly reading books as well as a variety of text books. The extra pallet contained mainly tables and chairs.
The container arrived in Dedza, Malawi on 23 November 2012. Distribution to schools was carried out shortly afterwards by Link Community Development (referred to as Link below), our partner NGO in Malawi. All resources were received by the schools by December 2012.
We are pleased to report that another 20 pallets were loaded onto a container and sent to South Africa on 6th November 2012. Books and other resources are being sent to 12 recipient schools and other educational organisations.
"The School is absolutely delighted with the new books, as their library was not well stocked and this will encourage a love of reading."
-Kirstenbosch Rotary Club (referring to the donation of books to the library at Timour Hall Primary School)
Five secondary schools in the newly created Njombe Region of Tanzania and one in Dar es Salaam are to benefit from a container-load of books, uniforms, sports kit and school furniture which was shipped from School Aid at the end of 2012. All the Njombe schools are relatively new, lacking even the most basic educational resources, so we anticipate that these new resources will be put to immediate use.
Books, educational resources and sewing machines sent to schools in South Africa.
School Aid volunteers turned up in force on the 6th June to pack every inch of a 20ft container with textbooks, reference books and fiction bound for 18 primary and secondary schools in Malawi.
Books donated by schools, libraries and individuals across the UK will benefit more than 7,500 children in largely rural schools around the Dedza region. Most are taught in classes of 100 or more, with no school library and even essential textbooks in very short supply, so these new resources will make a considerable difference to their educational opportunities.
It's always special when a container leaves the warehouse, but the shipment to Tanzania in August 2013 was special on many counts. In collaboration with a long-standing partner, Computers4Africa, we shared a 20ft container, loaded mainly with books, and destined for six secondary schools, four primaries, a pre-primary and even a nursing school.