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Mangetti Dune Project

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At St George’s, we feel proud and privileged to learn and grow in an international environment every day.

Since Summer 2018, we are proud to have established an international partnership with the Mangetti Dune Combined School in Namibia, working closely with the charity “Hand in Hand for Africa e.V.”.

Located in the north east of Namibia, Mangetti Dune is a sparsely populated settlement in a dry and barren region. The village has a clinic, shop, church, school and many homes. The living conditions are harsh, with water and food supplies often being scarce, and buildings being only intermittently powered by generators. Mangetti Dune is accessible by a single dirt road and the nearest town is a three-hour drive away. The people who live there have an average life expectancy of 55 and rely on income from the one job they can complete only once a year – to harvest a plant called Devil’s Claw.

The Mangetti Dune Combined School is currently attended by over 600 children aged between 4 and 18. The school has a wide catchment area. The school has a Primary and Secondary department and covers a wide range of subjects including English, Mathematics, Science, Topics, Art and such, similar to St George’s. The school also has a hostel, which serves as sleeping quarters for the children who come from villages outside of Mangetti Dune. However, these hostels are vastly overcrowded with some children sleeping six to a bed. They do not have reliable or consistent access to electricity or water.

In October 2018, we sent two of our Lower School teachers to Mangetti Dune to make the first connections with the school. On this trip, they found visiting the school and hostel a harrowing and eye-opening experience. This visit has allowed us at St George’s to understand the situation in Mangetti Dune in more detail and to develop ideas for how we can best support the teachers and learners there.

Since this visit, we have raised funds through various events throughout the whole school, and have received a generous donation from the International Club in support of the project. As well as renovating the hostel and purchasing stationary, cooking and cleaning supplies, we have also been able to fund an internet connection at Mangetti Dune Combined School. We are now in the process of developing an online programme together, which will allow our schools to communicate and collaborate effectively. This will be the first connection of its kind globally, serving as a fantastic platform for a two way cultural and educational exchange. Some of our current Year 12 and 13 CAS students have already started to plan and deliver their own teaching sessions online to a group of learners in Mangetti Dune, which has proved a unique and valuable experience.

St George’s is proud to have established a partnership with Mangetti Dune Combined School. This cultural, educational and linguistic exchange is a project which we believe has, and will continue to, enhance the learning of the pupils and teachers on both sides, and to enrich the lives of all involved.

 

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