SCOTCH COLLEGE AND PRESBYTERIAN LADIES’ COLLEGE
MATIPWILI PROJCT TANZANIA
Building on the Foundations
Background
In July 2008, a group of 24 students from Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies College, accompanied
by 6 staff, travelled to Tanzania to complete a three week odyssey. The expedition was similar in nature
to an expedition to Tanzania in 2004, with the time away divided equally between Service, Physical
Challenge and Wildlife Safari. The focus of the 2008 Service Project was the village of Matipwili, north of
the coastal city of Dar es Salaam. The group worked for four days, restoring classrooms that had become
severely degraded, almost to the point of being unusable.
Prior to the journey the group raised just over $16000 – money which was used to purchase the
materials needed for the restoration and to employ tradesmen and additional labourers. During the four
days of work, the tin on the roof was replaced with a heaver grade of sheeting, the window security
grills were replaced and the interiors of four classrooms cleaned and repainted. Over 40 laminated
educational posters brought from Perth were topped and tailed with wood and fixed to the walls with
plugs and screws.
The Physical Setting
Tanzania is located in East Africa, bordered on the East by the Indian Ocean and in the West by the lakes
of the Rift Valley. Matipwili village is situated on the bank of the Wami River and 16 km inland from the
coast - 90kn north of Dar es Salaam, the largest city and port in Tanzania. The region is tropical and
experiences two wet seasons – the ‘Long Rains’ from March to June and the ‘Short Rains’ from October
to November. Temperatures are hottest in December, just after the short rains and cooler in the months
following the long rains. Humidity is high throughout the year. The vegetation in the area is a mixture of
savannah scrub and pockets of evergreen forest. The track to Matipwili passes through the Zaraninge
Forest – an important forest ecosystem and part of the Saadani National Park Management Region.
Matipwili Village
Matipwili is a focal point for some 9000 people who live in village and surrounding area. It is a sprawling
collection of houses, on the eastern side of the Dar es Salaam – Tanga Railway line. There are a number
of large disused warehouses on the track side – once used to store salt prior to transport to Dar es
Salaam. The main street is little more than a track with a few ‘Dukas’ or small general stores and a small
central market place. The village has neither electricity nor piped water. Generators are used for lighting
and refrigeration; Water is obtained for the nearby Wami River.
Most villagers live a subsistence existence – farming and fishing. There is limited employment in the
area. In recent years there has been some prosperity generated by the creation of the adjacent Saadani
National Park and the development of the privately owned ‘Sanctuary Tanzania’ tourist venture.
1
The schools
Matipwili has both primary and secondary schools. The secondary school was build during 2007 from
funds donated by Perth doctors. Prior to the opening of this school, students completing Standard Seven
and successfully passing the examination for secondary school entry had to travel to another town and
board in order to continue their education. For most successful graduates, the expense of this was
prohibitive. Students now have a local pathway to the end of secondary education.
The primary school, the site of the 2008 service project, comprises three classroom blocks arranged in a
‘U’ shape around a central courtyard. Two blocks have four classrooms each, the third three classrooms
and two offices – the staffroom and Head Teachers office. Each classroom has rudimentary furniture –
wooden desks, benches and a blackboard. Lighting is natural – through the windows on each side of the
classrooms. The overall impression is one of gloomy, dull rooms, lacking in stimulus and subject to the
vagrancies of the weather. Many of the classrooms have holes in their roofs making them virtually
unserviceable during the wet seasons
Project 2008
The aim of the 2008 service project was to renovate one four-classroom block. Prior to the group’s
arrival in Matipwili, the corrugated iron roof sheets were removed and holes in the cement floor
repaired. This enabled the work of repainting the interior to commence immediately. During the four
days of the project, the new roof was installed; window grills replaced, new doors attached and the
interior painted. Colourful educational wall hangings brought from Perth were attached to the walls of
each classroom. The Australian students worked along-side Tanzanian secondary students, guided by
tour staff and village tradesmen employed through the project.
Each day, the 30 members of the tour party would be divided into work groups and assigned tasks. Most
of the tools used for each tasks were purchased for the project in Tanzania, although some paintbrushes
and specialised items were brought from Perth. Each work group laboured for approximately six hours
each day and care was taken to ensure that there was mixing of the group and changes to the work
tasks allocated.
Four days was sufficient to complete the work to a high standard and the village was left with four bright
and weather-proof classrooms, ready for the new school term. The village council was extremely
grateful and the Australian visitors were warmly thanked at an official reception at the conclusion of the
work.
Support Base
During the Matipwili project, the group stayed at ‘Kisampa’, the bush camp base of the ‘Sanctuary
Tanzania’ wildlife conservatory owned by the Barbour family. Rob Barbour (former SAS Regimental
Medical Officer) was Head Boy of Hale School and the family has strong connection to Western
Australia. Rob’s extended family live at ‘Kisampa’ and host paying visitors. Rob is the driving force
behind ‘Sanctuary Tanzania’ and his company has been highly commended for its adherence to strong
2
conservation values. ‘Sanctuary Tanzania’ serves as a conduit for funding of a number of village projects
and the sponsoring of many students through secondary school. Around 20 village people are directly
employed by the company to service the tourist operation and maintain the wildlife conservatory.
Kisampa is an idyllic base camp. The huts are quintessentially ‘African’ and designed to take advantage
of the views form the ridgeline site. Using a mixture of huts and tents, the family had no difficulty
housing the group of 30. Food was plentiful and safe, as was the drinking water. Basic amenities such as
showers and toilets were excellent and the there were no security issues. The family members made the
group welcome - as if into their own home – which indeed ‘Kisampa’ is for much of the year.
The four wheel drive vehicles needed to travel to Matipwili were arranged by Teena Payne, who with
her partner Steve Chumbley own ‘The Infinite Horizon’ Tour Company. Teena is from country Western
Australia and a number of males in her extended family attended Scotch College. Both Teena and Steve
are experienced teachers who have lived for many years in East Africa.
Didier Murcia, Tanzania Honorary Consul who resides in Perth is knows Rob Barbour well and he has
been very supportive of the Matipwili project. Through his initiative, the Matipwili schools, along with
Scotch and Presbyterian Ladies’ College are now part of the ‘Australia Tanzania Young Ambassador
Programme’. (ATYA)This programme aims to foster understanding between the two countries through
conferences on development themes, aimed at secondary school students. Didier is able to use his
consular connections to transport materials from Australia to Tanzania, allowing educational materials
to be transported to partnership schools.
Additional support for the trip in both 2004 and 2008 came from The International School Moshi (ISM).
Accommodation and transport was provided by ISM to each touring group for the latter stages of the
two expeditions and staff from the school were able to provide reliable advice in the planning of the
trips. ISM arranged a visit to the Regional Teaching Hospital in Moshi as part of the 2008 itinerary –
which was one of the highlights of the trip.
3