UCRT staff climb Makame Hill to fundraise towards dormitories at Secondary Schools in Kijungu and Ndedo

Our relationships with the communities we work with are at the heart of everything we do. During a recent trip to Makame Wildlife Management Area, several staff members were approached by the District Commissioner about an urgent need for student dormitories at secondary schools in Ndedo and Kijungu villages in Kiteto District.  Due to the lack of beds, students are currently sleeping in classrooms or forced to walk up to 10 kilometres from school to home each morning and afternoon in order to attend school, facing the risk of encountering dangerous wildlife. 
 
We were invited by the District Commissioner for Kiteto to contribute towards the construction of these dormitories. This ask presented itself at the perfect time as several of our staff had made the decision to climb Makame Hill at the end of the year to explore future tourism opportunities in the area. We decided to turn this climb into a fundraiser to support the construction of domitories. 
 
Makame Hill, also known by Ndikira locally, is the tallest mountain in Makame area standing at 1,600 meters.  It stands within the Makame WMA, the largest WMA in Tanzania at over 4,500 km2. Makame WMA is made up of five villages of Makame, Ndedo, Ngabolo, Irkiushibor and Katikati and home to over 20,000 pastoralists. 

On December 23rd, Loure and Lekaita, joined by over a dozen UCRT staff members, set off to climb Makame Hill. They successfully summited and with the support of 27 sponsors, the fundraiser  secured enough funds to start building the dormitories at Kijungu and Ndedo Secondary Schools. If you would like to contribute towards this fundraiser, please get in contact with Loure at oleparmelo@gmail.com. 

Makame Hill photo credit: Marc Baker/Carbon Tanzania