Tloma 2030!

Just wait until you hear what's in store for the future!

I want to share some exciting news from the Tloma Environmental Club and to explain the

role it plays in our Tloma 2030 Project. But first, for those who have not met Tloma teacher

Bertin Sulle, I want to introduce him to you.

Sulle (Su-lay') - as everyone calls him - is why your gifts have had such an astounding impact at Tloma Primary School. He had recently joined the school when I met him during my first school visit in February of 2018. Since then, he has served as my protector, guide, mentor, working partner, and dear friend. He is also a fabulous role model. Not just for me, but for all the students and teachers at Tloma. The students love him, and they know he loves them!

Sulle is our Tanzanian Board Member and is the driving force and manager for virtually everything we have accomplished. He is an astute businessman with a broad scope of interests and abilities and unflagging dedication and energy. He is a humble person who asks for nothing in return for his service. Superman has nothing on Sulle.

That brings us to an update on Sulle's Environmental Club. As you may recall, students have been planting and caring for banana trees for a new banana orchard. A few trees are bearing and many more will be fruitful next year, providing sweet and nourishing treats for the students.

A large maize field was relocated and the backbreaking preparation work for transplanting 600 student-grafted Hass avocado seedlings has begun. Bananas and avocados will soon be joined by a variety of other fruit trees.

Sulle researched information about different maize seeds and decided to try a new variety and a new planting method. Instead of the historical 125 kg/acre, the school harvested an astounding 800 kgs this fall - enough to provide breakfast porridge to all K-3 students! A larger area will be planted this year with a future goal of providing sufficient maize for breakfast porridge for all students and for school lunches.

New Beginnings

Success breeds success, and these projects have created increased student interest in agriculture. Some students are focusing on a new agricultural project, but this won't be

for the school. It is for the community. It is for the community.

It is not unusual for a single mom and perhaps four or five children to live in a small, one-room house containing a few pots for cooking over a small fire, a table or a chair, and one

or two stick-mattress beds. Scant clothing may provide padding or warmth from the cold nights.

Approximately 40% of the students' families cannot afford to provide the required maize and bean allotments for the children to eat at school. One reason for the focus on growing food is to provide breakfast porridge and lunch to every student so that they have the energy to learn. But that doesn't help the younger children or the parent who remain at home.

Student garden activities have included harvesting seeds to grow seedling beds for the next

crops. Now students are using recycled plastic buckets to test different types and combinations of seeds and plants for container gardens. The plant-producing containers will be shared for free with their village families to grow food at home.

These school experiences are some of the most important educational opportunities possible for our students.

Your generosity has allowed us to help Sulle make it happen. Thank you!!

Tloma 2030

The goal of Tloma 2030 is to fill the gap between significantly insufficient government funding and the school's ability to pay for electricity, supplies and other needs, and to hire the teachers required to provide its students a quality education. And to do it without depending on donor support!

Future income-producing projects include the beautiful dining hall built in 2023 by Marjan Tieberink from the Netherlands.

Unexpected developments prevented Marjan from completing build-out of the large kitchen, but we hope to install a clean-fuel (solar) cooking system within the next year. This will allow the cooks to stop preparing meals with wood fuel, a practice currently banned for schools by the Tanzanian government due to massive deforestation and high rates of lung disease.

The dining hall is the largest and nicest building for many miles around, and it was designed to serve double duty as a community center. Once the kitchen is completed, weekend and after-hour rentals will provide an additional source of revenue for the school.

Enormous amounts of rainwater from the massive roof creates standing puddles and erosion during rainy seasons. We plan to install a large storage system to capture that valuable resource. This will provide irrigation water during the long, dry season for existing agricultural endeavors and also allow expansion into other areas of school property to increase income potential Produce from the gardens and orchards will be used as needed for school meals and snacks. Extra produce, seeds, seedlings, and grafted avocado trees will be sold, sometimes given, to the community. Most avocados will be sold to an exporter.

It is anticipated that the combined income from the agricultural products, the hall rental, and the small government support will put Tloma Primary on the path for self-sufficiency by 2030. Sulle is the key to making that happen, and we will be there to support his efforts.

Who could have imagined seven years ago that this poor school, where only the villages' poorest families wanted to send their students, might become the 'poster child' for what a school could be.

This is indeed a Happy New Year!

Winona