About Village Education Project Kilimanjaro
Katy Allen, MBE set up the charity in September 1994. Katy left her work as a lawyer in the City of London and went to teach in Mshiri village on the north eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Katy now spends more time in England concentrating on fundraising and developing the work of the charity. In 2001 she was awarded an MBE for services to education in Tanzania. Katy and her VEPK work are featured in a book entitled Legal Eagles, a book about lawyers who are making a difference in the world.
Details of our Patron and UK Trustees
Project co-ordination in Tanzania
Dilly Mtui is the coordinator of all the projects. Dilly was a primary school headteacher for 25 years.
He started working for the charity in 1999 when the Tanzanian Ministry of Education gave permission for his secondment.
Dilly retired from government service in 2005, aged 55, but continues to work full-time for the charity.
Our work in Tanzania is run from four departments. For details of the staff in each of these departments click on the links below.
- Project Management Unit
- Teachers' Resource Centre and Whole School Development Programme
- Guerba Computer Centre
- Vocational Training School
The local educational environment
Children go to primary school from age 7 for seven years. For the first two years they have half a day at school, so it is not until age 9 that they start full time education. Most schools are in a terrible condition with earth floors, breeze-block walls, no shutters or doors and decrepit desks. Over 70% of primary school leavers in rural villages never have the chance of secondary education. Their primary schooling is vital for their foundation in life.
Most villagers on the slopes of Kilimanjaro are subsistence farmers, but the land is now cultivated to the full. The tribal tradition of sons inheriting part of the father's plot in most cases can no longer carry on as there is insufficient land. So, most of today's children will not be able to stay in their village as subsistence farmers.
They will need to find jobs and new homes. For this they must be equipped with an adequate basic education so that they can act to their advantage and have some hope of earning a living. Basic education is the key to any lasting development for rural communities, and that is what Village Education Project Kilimanjaro seeks to improve.