Currently, Mkombozi is starting a "Safe Schools programme" in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions. This involves scaling up Church World Services' Safe Schools Programme (Kenya) and combining it with the participatory action research (PAR) experience that Mkombozi already has working in schools. In this way the exchange of learning between the two approaches will add value both in Tanzania and Kenya.
Safe Schools become models for community commitment to the well being of school children. They have the opportunity to renovate their physical infrastructure, procure school supplies and furnishings, upgrade teacher qualifications, improve nutrition and health standards, and engage the surrounding community in a commitment to child safety and nurture. The programme ensures not only nutritious meals, but also a safe environment, and adequate educational resources for children in Africa's most challenged regions.
Using a PAR process, primary schools establish initiatives to address the identified causes of children dropping out and playing truant from school. Schools determine the nature of their initiatives, but they are all directed at supporting vulnerable children and addressing the underlying factors that make children at risk in communities.
Mkombozi intends to extend this initiative in two urban schools in Moshi (Pasua and Majengo) where sexual abuse amongst students is prevalent (these schools have already been involved in Mkombozi's former three year PAR programme) and from where significant numbers of children come to the streets. We will also extend the programme to Moshi Primary School where considerable numbers of former street children study and to 2 new urban slum schools in Arusha.
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