By Lake Zone Watch Writer
Comfort and gratitude reign supreme at Manga Secondary School in Tarime District, Mara Region where Barrick North Mara has donated 70 beds and helped construct 12 bathrooms for girls through CSR funding.
Speaking in an interview with Lake Zone Watch during the school’s Form Six graduation earlier this week, the Headmistress Ms Editha Lazaro Nakei said the Barrick donation was a great relief to the girls who had to endure the embarrassment of bathing in the open due to lack of enough washroom facilities.
“Imagine the girls had to wait till evening when no-one would probably see them bathing in the open. Now they are comfortable and can use the facility any time of day,’’ said Ms Nakei.
Besides construction of the bathrooms, Barrick North Mara Gold mine which is run in a partnership with the government through Twiga Minerals, has also donated 70 beds for the girls, to curb a shortage that had necessitated sharing of one bed between two students.
“We are happy and grateful that each girl can now sleep in her own bed. ’’ the headmistress said, thanking the gold mine for the contribution.
She said the improvement on the basic necessities for the girls has boosted their self-esteem and the general performance was now encouraging, stressing that there are no failures, while the number of those scoring divisions one and two has also risen.
Speaking on behalf of other girls, a Form Six student Ester Supeti Kipetete thanked Barrick North Mara for making life easier for them.
“It’s comfortable around here. I can take a bath and sleep in my own bed. The learning environment in our school is now very friendly. We thank the gold mine for the donation and promise to work hard in our studies,” Ester said.
The School Board Chairperson, Sylvester Marwa Kisiri thanked North Mara for giving Manga Secondary School a facelift and the government for disbursing 508m/- for construction of more dormitories.
Kisiri also thanked Tarime District Council for setting aside a sum of 120m/- for construction of a new dining hall.
Currently, the government owned school has 1,239 students in Form One up to Form Six, of whom 896 are girls and the rest are boys. Majority of the students are from low income- families.
However, the school is grappling with a shortage of text books, supplementary books, chairs, tables, stationery, and is in dire need of a computer, printer, school bus, a reliable water source, fence and a standby generator.