Hagati Challenge 2022
The topic of everyone having the right to clean water access has been one of my pillars of teaching Biology over the past 14.5 years in Baltimore City. I started my teaching career in Tanzania, East Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer 19 years ago. It was during this time that I saw how scarce water was for students in Tanzania. I have made it a point to teach every child since about the scarcity of clean water access in the world. My students in Baltimore joke about this by calling my regular Biology class “AP Water”. I have returned to Tanzania during this sabbatical year to work with our TETEA libraries, create weather stations, and establish a letter writing exchange program in the Hagati region. I have witnessed that water access is still a major issue. I have worked with local community members to create the Hagati Challenge as one fundraiser to support seven educational institutions to receive clean water access in this region.
Seven groups representing various educational institutions from the Hagati region will be walking from either Matekela or Maguu to Mbamba Bay on Saturday, November 26, 2022. The Hagati Valley is located in the Matengo mountains in the southwest corner of Tanzania.
Each group has at least 5 representatives that have agreed to walk the 36 kilometer (22 mile) hike through the mountains and coffee trees to Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi) to raise funds for their educational institutions with regards to water access and STEM education.
The walk will start at 5:00am from the two different locations. They will meet in Mbamba Bay around 2pm where they will have a late lunch and then board buses to return home to either Maguu or Matekela. Each participant will cover their own costs as their community contribution (i.e. water, lunch, and bus ride home) to the fundraiser. Each participant will receive a t-shirt for their participation in the 36 kilometer (22 mile) hike.
We are hoping to raise $5,253.09 to cover their requests for water access and STEM education. The schools verbally agreed that they would figure out what to do about the installation of their water tanks. The local government of the Mbinga District has agreed to pay for the transport costs of the materials to each educational institution.
–Victoria Mathew
Breakdown by Institution
| Institution | Description | Requested | Raised |
| Hagati Secondary | 5,000L water tank | $430 | $405 |
| Maguu Secondary | 5,000L water tank | $430 | |
| St. Luise-Mbinga Girls Secondary School | 5,000L water tank | $430 | $430 |
| MACOBICA Library | Building materials to complete bringing water to the bathrooms recently built | $386 | |
| Mango Pre & Primary English Medium School | 5,000L water tank | $430 | |
| Matekela Primary | 5,000L water tank | $430 | |
| Nguzo Secondary | Building materials to complete Science Lab Block. The government will allow them to open the school in January of 2023 if they can complete building this on their own. Sadly, they don’t have the funds to complete this. | $2,414 | |
| T-Shirts for every participant walking | $307 | ||
| General Donations | $4,487 | ||
| TOTAL | $5,257 | $5,322 |
Hagati Secondary School
Hagati Secondary School is requesting assistance to purchase a 5,000 Liter water tank. They are a public school that helps students from the Mapera village. They have 640 students attending their school. There are 370 girls and 270 boys attending the school. Students from all four levels (Form 1-Form 4) of high school attend Hagati. They have seven students who also serve as Boy Scouts who will walk the 36 km hike from Matekela to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the water tank. The tank will store water that will assist the school and its students to do the following: drink, cook meals, flush the toilets, wash hands, mop the floors, and clean the bathroom and chalkboards.
5,000L water tank (cost 1,000,000TZS=$430)
Maguu Secondary School
Maguu Secondary School is requesting assistance to purchase a 5,000 Liter water tank. They are a public school that helps students from the Kibandai A, Kibandai B, and Mapera villages. They have 275 students attending their school. There are 173 girls and 102 boys attending the school. Students from all four levels of high school attend Maguu. They have 12 students and one teacher who will walk the 36 km hike from Maguu to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the water tank. This tank will store water that will assist the school and its students to do the following: drink, cook meals, flush the toilets, wash hands, mop the floors, and clean the bathroom and chalkboards.
5,000L water tank (cost 1,000,000TZS=$430)
St. Luise – Mbinga Girls Secondary School
St. Luise is requesting assistance to purchase a 5,000 Liter water tank. St. Luise is a private English medium school that helps girls from all over Tanzania. They have 345 students attending their school. Students from all four levels of high school attend St. Luise in addition to students who are pursuing A Level studies (Forms 5 and 6). St. Luise is a boarding school that also has 17 teachers and their families living on the campus. They have 5 people who will walk the 36 km hike from Maguu to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the water tank. This tank will store water that will assist the school and its community to water its vegetable garden. The school has a large garden that they pull from to provide nutritional meals for all of its students. Due to the lack of a water tank, their garden is now dry and dead.
5,000L water tank (cost 1,000,000TZS=$430)
MACOBICA Library
The MACOBICA Library is requesting assistance to purchase building materials to complete bringing water to the bathroom recently built. The MACOBICA library opened in December 2010 and has had over 20,000 visits over the years. Attendance has increased consistently and currently averages 1,000 visits a month. Having a bathroom available with water access is truly the one key piece that this library is missing. One of the librarians and four adult members of the MACOBICA community have agreed to walk the 36 km hike from Maguu to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for these building materials.
Building materials to complete bringing water to the bathrooms recently built ( 899,500TZS=$386)
Matekela Primary School
Matekela Primary School is requesting assistance to purchase a 5,000 Liter water tank. They are a public school that helps students from the Matekela village. They have 592 students from all levels of primary school. There are 341girls and 251 boys attending the school. The principal and five adult members of the Matekela community have agreed to walk the 36 km hike from Matekela to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the water tank. This tank will store water that will assist the school and its students to do the following: drink, cook meals, flush the toilets, wash hands, mop the floors, and clean the bathroom and chalkboards.
5,000L water tank (cost 1,000,000TZS=$430)
Mango Pre & Primary English Medium School
Mango Pre & Primary English Medium School is requesting assistance to purchase a 5,000 Liter water tank. They are a private English medium school that helps students from varying parts of the Ruvuma region. They currently have 170 students from kindergarten through standard 3. They are enrolling 45 students every year. By the time they enroll all students through standard 7, they will have more than 365 students attending. Many students live on the campus while others walk to school from various surrounding villages. The director and 9 teachers have agreed to walk the 36 km hike from Matekela to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the water tank. This tank will store water that will assist the school and its students to do the following: drink, cook meals, flush the toilets, wash hands, mop the floors, and clean the bathroom and chalkboards.
5,000L water tank (cost 1,000,000TZS=$430)
Nguzo Secondary School
The Nguzo Secondary School is requesting assistance to purchase building materials to complete their Science Lab Block. Many students that live in the Matekela village walk 16 kilometers (10 miles) total a day in order to study at their nearest government secondary school. The Nguzo Secondary School being currently built would greatly benefit these students that live nearby. These students currently do not have time to stay after school and participate in extra-curricular activities since they need the time to walk home. The government will allow the Nguzo Secondary School to open in January of 2023 if they can complete building their science lab block on their own. Sadly, they don’t have the funds to complete this lab space. Everything else necessary is complete (classrooms and bathrooms). Their plan is to start with two classes of forty students for one grade. Each year they will add on another 80 students per grade. The school will eventually service 320 secondary students from the Matekela village. Upon completion, students will be able to participate in Biology, Chemistry, Agriculture and Physics labs in this building. The teachers of these science subjects will also have a space to use for grading and lesson planning. Eight village leaders have agreed to walk the 36 km hike from Matekela to Mbamba Bay to help raise funds for the building materials of the school.
Building materials to complete Science Lab Block (5,624,000TZS=$2,414)