Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues,

Thank you from all of us at REACH Shirati for your generosity and support over the past years. We hope that at this time of year, you will think of REACH Shirati again for your annual giving. We’ve had a terrific year, with many hard-earned successes, challenges overcome, and new projects in the works, all thanks to the generosity of donors and volunteers like you.

2016 Highlights

• Now over 350 children are receiving a quality education at Tina’s Pre and Primary School in Nyamagongo, Tanzania!
• Given our strong curriculum, as well as our school providing English instruction, (unlike the free government primary schools), our students placed 2nd in the local region, and among the TOP 2% in the country (168th in about 20,000), on the 2016 National Exams!
• The community’s neediest students attend our school for free, thanks to donor-supported scholarships. Others pay a nominal school fee. All students continue to receive a free daily meal, for some, this is their only meal of the day.
• In July 2016, fourteen eager summer volunteers spent 2 – 6 weeks working with the local community in Nyamagongo and Shirati! The group included people from diverse professions and backgrounds, ranging in age from 12 – 75!
• With funds raised by ‘Kids for Shirati’, we began the construction of a third rainwater tank at Tina’s School, with completion planned in spring 2017.
• Our Engineering Volunteer Team cleaned and repaired both existing water tanks, set up an ongoing tank maintenance process, and redesigned the school gutter system to increase rainwater collection yield.
• Our Teacher Volunteer Team from Berkeley led a teacher training program at our school and made great improvements to our school administration.
• In September, one of our young summer volunteers formed the ‘BHS REACH Shirati Club’ at Berkeley High School; the 25 members have many fundraising plans in the works.
• Our Hospital Food Project is now supported by two fundraising efforts, here in the Bay Area and in Germany! The additional funding allows us to provide one meal a day for the full week, to the pediatric and maternity wards.
• Early in 2016, one of our Advisory Board members created a valuable, and popular Computer Learning Project, using small connected laptop devices as learning tools in classrooms at Tina’s Pre and Primary School, enabling students and teachers to access a world of knowledge and information.
• In February, with the help of our advisory Board members, we launched our new name and logo as well as a new website: REACHshirati.org. The new name reflects our mission and commitment: REACH Shirati, Rural Education and Community Health in the Shirati region of Tanzania.

The Road Ahead; 2017 Goals

We have ambitious goals for 2017, and invite you to join us on our journey. Your support and donations help us create life-changing opportunities through education, health care and community development in the Shirati region. Here are some of our goals for 2017:

• Increase our teacher salaries and provide health insurance for all school staff. Over the past three years, the Tanzanian government has nearly doubled public school teacher salaries. In order to offer a fair market wage and avoid losing our dedicated and hard working teachers, we intend to offer comparable salary increases and health insurance to all our staff. To meet this significant increase in our operational budget we need to increase our fundraising through Teacher Support Circles, learn more below.
• Expand our Scholarship enrollment at Tina’s Pre and Primary School so the neediest children in Mama Chacha’s village remain in school as long as possible.
• Increase funding for the Hospital Food Project, so all patients can receive two daily meals every day of the week. 
• Complete construction of our third rain water catchment tank, support the ongoing tank maintenance plan, and complete the construction of our teacher residences.
• Engage at least fifteen volunteers for our 2017 summer trip.