Building for Education is an aid and development charity facilitating the provision of buildings and facilities for schools in East Africa.
Building for Education funds and oversees the building of educational facilities for poor communities in East Africa. Our core projects provide buildings for schools, though where required we will also fund the provision of essential services such as water supply and sanitation for our buildings.
We partner with established education providers in East Africa to identify needs that can be met by the types of projects we deliver. Our relationships with our partners give us certainty over key developing world issues like land rights and quality of construction.
Mission Statement
To facilitate lasting change through the provision of educational facilities for poor communities in East Africa.
Projects are built around a template designed to be flexible in the right areas and set in stone in other vital areas. Final quality control and project sign-off is undertaken by a contracted independent party in each territory to avoid corruption and to ensure that be* projects meet the highest standards and to ensure longevity.
We focus on what we’re good at – funding buildings and not the running costs of a school. For example, we do not pay teachers’ salaries, provide teaching resources or curriculum schemes, but we may fund building maintenance to ensure the assets we provide are looked after.
Where We Work
Where We Work
Where We Work
Where We Work
Where We Work
Building for Education is currently focusing its efforts on East Africa – in particular, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. As well as containing some of the most poverty-stricken countries on earth, the East African region also operates as a united economic community, making regional operations within the East African Community a lot easier.
Kenya
Population: 48.6 million
Languages: Swahili, English
Kenya’s landscape is diverse, from the arid north, to the tropical Indian Ocean coastline and low plains in the east rising to snow capped mountains in the west separated by the Great Rift Valley which runs the length of the country.
A financial hub for East and Central Africa, Kenya boasts the community’s largest GDP, supported by export of tea, coffee and fresh flowers, and rapidly growing tourism and telecommunications industries. Despite this, factors such as poor infrastructure mean that 40% of Kenyans still live below the poverty line.
Kenya is home to an estimated 42 different people groups, speaking 69 different languages and living in communities from extremely remote tribal villages to densely populated urban environments, including Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums.
Tanzania
Population: 55.5 million
Languages: Swahili, English
The United Republic of Tanzania formed with the union of the two formerly independent nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which joined in 1964. Tanzania’s population consists of over 130 tribal groups, as well as small Arab, Asian and European populations.
In the north sits Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, while world famous wildlife parks including the Ngorogoro Crater, Serengeti National Park and Gombe National Park are also situated within the nations borders. The picturesque islands of Zanzibar with its ancient Stone Town settlement lay just off the eastern coast in the Indian Ocean.
Tanzania’s economy is primarily agriculturally based, though exports of natural gas, minerals and the rare gemstone Tanzanite are growing. In the bottom 10% of the world’s economies, the nation’s extreme poverty is offset by one of Africa’s most stable governments and a relative absence of corruption.
Uganda
Population: 41.4 million
Languages: Swahili, English
Home to Africa’s highest mountain range and the source of the Nile River, landlocked Uganda is situated high on the East African Plateau. A significant portion of the landscape is dominated by lakes and marshlands.
Coffee bean exports account for a large portion of the economy, although increasing development in service sectors and the recent discovery of crude oil could give GDP a much-needed boost.
Officially the Republic of Uganda, the country was formed from a diverse population of tribal groups and kingdoms, and today is politically divided into 5 traditional kingdoms and over 100 districts. Crippled by a long history of civil war and rebel uprisings including the violent dictatorial reign of Idi Amin during the 1970s, Uganda is finally entering a more peaceful stage of its recent history.
How We Work
How We Work
How We Work
How We Work
How We Work
be* works alongside education providers in East Africa who meet a strict set of risk management criteria that identifies issues like school management, maintenance, accreditation, staffing and curriculum. This criteria gives a good indication as to whether potential partners are going to provide an effective platform for investment – part of due diligence in ensuring every dollar we raise is spent in the smartest way possible.
A typical be* project consists of multiple stages:
VIEW OUR PROJECTS HERE
Why Build Education Facilities
Why Buildings?
Why Build Education Facilities
Why Buildings?
Why Build Educational Facilities?
Developing nations face a number of hurdles in their journey from poverty and dependence on foreign aid through to self-reliance and economic and governmental stability. Access to education for the next generation is a major key to progress, and while figures indicate steadily rising percentages of children in primary school worldwide, it’s also clear Sub-Saharan Africa is drastically lagging behind the rest of the world.
Lack of resources has been identified as a major barrier to keeping up with the demand for education. Many established schools suffer from a dramatic lack of classroom space – seriously affecting their ability to teach as many kids as possible.
be* works to provide ‘bricks and mortar’ classrooms and facilities which enables the school to focus on teaching.
16%
OF KENYAN CHILDREN OF PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL*
ONLY 41%
OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TANZANIA WILL BE ABLE TO TRANSITION ON TO SECONDARY EDUCATION*
YOU’LL FIND 73
PUPILS IN AN AVERAGE CLASS IN UGANDA**
*UNESCO Global Education Digest 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
**Nannyonjo, Harriet. World Bank Working Paper No. 98. “Education Inputs in Uganda: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Learning Achievement in Grade Six.” The World Bank. 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
Testimonials
Testimonials
Testimonials
Testimonials
“We, the Moindabi people are very happy for the hope we have received through the arrival of Building for Education. ”
“Building for Education has done a great job partnering with us in our school in the slum of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. ”