How Rotary clubs in Harborough and Denmark have teamed up to help fund a science laboratory at a school in East Africa

Market Harborough Rotary Club has helped to fund a critical new science laboratory at a school in East Africa in a true international venture.

The active South Leicestershire organisation has got behind the school in Oldonyowas, a village in the Arusha district in north-east Tanzania.

The vital new facility has been bankrolled by donations from the Rotary Clubs of Market Harborough and of Bjerringbro, Denmark.

The two clubs worked together, and linked up with a Rotary Club in Tanzania, to get a grant from Rotary International to match their donations and pay for the new laboratory.

The building itself was finished in good time but there were major challenges with installing gas and water in the isolated village.

“Nevertheless, the laboratory now has a high quality finish,” said Market Harborough Rotary Club.

The school is currently closed due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

But students will have a first-class laboratory when they return to their classrooms.

“The ambition of Oldonyowa's Secondary School is to create optimal schooling for young people,” said a Rotary Club spokeswoman.

“So that even though they come from a farmers’ village far in the countryside they can get a good education which can possibly lead on to higher education.

“The school must be attractive not only to the students, but also to attract good teachers who can be retained.”