The Kapani School Project was established in 1986. Its aim is to give an education to children who otherwise would not be able to go to school.

Yosefe School is the flagship of our project. We currently sponsor 40 children there, giving them uniforms, books, pens and pencils. We also pay their tuition fees.

We have 34 students at various high schools all over the region (grade 8-12). This sponsorship is more expensive at around $250 per year as they have more elaborate uniforms, boarding fees, text books and transport costs.

We also have some students who have progressed to further education. The project originally chose not to send students to college since the costs were so high but a few years ago we sent our first person to a teachers training college, that lady is now a qualified teacher and has returned to Yosefe School.

Yosefe School gets no grant from government so the project also undertakes the maintenance of the school. Each year the general fund puts a bit aside for maintenance.

Over the years we have had several sponsors who wished to give money for a specific project. As a result we have been able to build seven new teachers' houses. (The government will only allocate teachers to a school if there is suitable accommodation for them).

We have also put in a borehole and a hand pump. Clean water is essential to good health and this borehole is a treasure not only to the school but also to the surrounding communities.

We have built a new two classroom block and recently renovated the existing two blocks and replaced all the desks.

We have also been able to provide a school laboratory, and pit latrines for both pupils and staff.

We also teach the children conservation awareness. Twice a month we take groups of kids into the National Park to watch the animals. We also give lectures on many conservation issues. The general attitude towards wildlife in the villages is negative - elephants destroy crops, lions eat people or livestock, and impala are just meat to eat. However due to our efforts it is very rewarding to see the changing attitudes in these young children. A couple of years ago we organised a tree planting competition and the winners were treated with a night at one of our bushcamps. They just loved it!

With the assistance of specific donations the School Project has also built a library at Yosefe School which is designed to benefit the whole community. We had no problem filling it with books - many people sent over small packages of books and we have recently received a container full of books sent from the States by Rotary International.

Yosefe has 886 children with only 20 teachers. Therefore our future project proposals would include the construction of a three classroom block, two teachers houses, a staffroom and we hope to electrify the school. Supplying electricity is very expensive but we hope to purchase a generator for the meantime.