Every year, before we can plan any improvements, we must first raise the funds we need to pay the staff and run the school.
This year, we expect the ordinary running costs of Mukwashi will be about £44,000 ($60,000). We hope local parents will cover 75% of this through fees, leaving £10,000 ($13,500) to raise from friends and supporters around the world.
Once we have covered these day to day costs (mainly teachers’ salaries) we will focus on raising funds for our school improvement projects.
Over 98.5% of every pound, dollar and euro given by friends and supporters is used to run the school and improve its equipment and infrastructure. Less than 1.5% of gifts goes on banking and foreign exchange costs.
During 2022, once we have completed the Toilet project, we will prioritise three improvement projects.
- We need to replace our old and unreliable 30 seater bus with a newer, much larger vehicle which is in far better condition.
- The school is seeking to become self-sufficient in food for the long-term. We have just planted several hundred fruit trees and banana plants, and this year we want to buy enough goats, rabbits and hens to provide daily eggs and milk for our 500 learners.
- We also need to build a second block of 4-6 staff houses. Although this will be expensive in the short-term, it will reduce our staff costs by 25% every year in the long term.
Your ‘regular gifts’ fund our children’s Free Places
all ‘regular gifts’ (weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual donations) to increase the number of free places we provide to the local children who are most disadvantaged. These are either orphans, or whose family income is less than £22 ($29.75) per month.
This year, we are providing 50 learners with a free place (and 9 with a heavily discounted place). Ideally, we’d like to increase this to 70 free places for the children in our community who live with the greatest poverty and most vulnerability.
At the moment, 29 regular supporters fund 40 of our 50 free places, and teachers in a UK and an Austrian school have raised the funds for the other 10. This means that each time we recruit another regular giver we can offer another child in the community a free place.
