Currently, only 5% of Tanzanian youth attend high school, a statistic that speaks to one of the world’s lowest rates of secondary education.  IEFT operates Orkeeswa Secondary School, located in the predominantly Maasai area of northern Tanzania known as the Monduli hills.  Through the development of Orkeeswa School, IEFT provides secondary education to children from rural villages of the region.  For our students, Orkeeswa Secondary School offers the only community-based option for continuing their studies beyond the primary level.

IEFT begins by providing a quality secondary education with a holistic approach.  This includes academic skill building as well as a dedicated staff, qualified teachers, small class size, and opportunities for hands-on learning. Sciences, Mathematics, History and other basic courses join hands with Life Skills, Sex Education, Athletics, Art, Woodworking, Music, Journalism and a plethora of enrichment activities. The result is that Orkeeswa students can develop academic skills and expand their base of general knowledge in an environment that also recognizes the importance of practical, hands-on learning. We believe such a approach best equips our students to navigate a future that will lift themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty.

But that's not where it ends...

To prevent the transmission of water-borne infectious disease, IEFT has engineered and built a safe water-supply system that also allows us to hygienically harvest rainwater.

To harness the energy of the sun, we have installed solar panels that enable us to power a growing number of computers, printers and iPads.

To promote environmental sustainability, we are teaching more effective crop cultivation, introducing new crops,   building rain catchments and water storage, as well as helping students to explore alternative forms of water purification.

To create entrepreneurial opportunities for students, we develop and implement micro-finance initiatives (MFIs) within the communities we serve. Although these projects are varied – from raising chickens to making jewelry for western markets – their goals are the same:  to develop creative, income-generating initiatives where students learn strategic planning and management skills while they research, design, and implement business plans within their own villages.

To improve the health of students, school personnel, families and members of the broader community, we emphasize the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that lead to the adoption of healthy habits of behavior.

To provide our students with primary healthcare means that they will lead healthier lives.  Improved health enables Orkeeswa students to engage more fully in creating possibilities for the future.

PETER'S STORY:

In 2005 I made my first journey to Tanzania. After working as an English Teacher in El Salvador and Brazil, I wanted to travel to Africa and teach and learn. I arrived in Tanzania and knew immediately this place was very different. In the following months I encountered extraordinary inspiration: the brightest and most motivated students I had ever met living amidst extreme poverty. Students would ask/hope for me to stay in the class and teach "just five more minutes" or "just one more lesson." I had never seen such passion for knowledge. Students would walk hours to school, eager to work, learn, play, and succeed. This experience spawned a series of ideas. What was the real potential of these students? What could these students and communities accomplish with resources?Where could they go? What could they become? And, most importantly,how could they transform their communities? Six years ago we began the long journey of creating a high qualityeducation project in the middle of Maasai Land. We were told it couldn't bedone. We were told we couldn't take Maasai girls to school. But we didn't listen. We listened instead to the community members and to the studentswho would fight to make Orkeeswa Secondary School a reality. TodayOrkeeswa stands as one of the best schools in Tanzania and is receivingwide recognition for its achievements. But this is just the beginning. The schools that IEFT will build and operateare not the answer or the solution. The students who are enrolled in ourschools and who will leave our schools are the true change agents; theyare the difference-makers: the problem-solvers and community leaderswho will transform their society and culture on their own terms. We are nottrying to change the world. We will leave the world changing up to them.

An Orkeeswa education begins with our students and reaches deep into the community. Orkeeswa students receive a high-quality education that simultaneously allows them to remain within their own communities. Because Orkeeswa students do not attend boarding school, the predominant model of secondary education in Tanzania, they have the opportunity to take their education home with them, sharing it with family and friends on a daily basis.

The cross-pollination that occurs between Orkeeswa students and their families compounds the gift of an Orkeeswa education many times over.