Sunflower Primary School Opens in Ilula, Tanzania

The Sunflower Montessori directors travelled to Ilula in Tanzania last week to witness the inauguration of phase one of the primary school at the Ilula Orphan Program, who decided to name the school “Sunflower”.

This first phase has six classrooms and eight more will be ready at the end of this year. The school will have places for 560 children and will truly change the path of their lives forever.

This is the fruition of seve years of fundraising and Sunflower Montessori and the IOP Luxembourg committee are both extremely grateful for all who have supported this project. The children at Sunflower Luxembourg supported their friends in Africa by baking biscuits and recording songs on a CD to sell to their parents. Many people have attended the (very popular) annual table quiz at The Black Stuff. In addition, there were many sponsors for running, cycling and swimming and many private donations. Also, many people have enjoyed listening to the band “Alizeti” who sing simply for donations.

The ceremony took place on Tuesday 16 January 2018 in Ilula in th cntre of Tanzania; the sun shone and spirits were high. In attendance were the new students who delighted all those in atteendance with a song about a Sunflower. Their new uniform was revealed which features a hand in the centre, achieved by the sewing ladies.

The three Sunflower directors, Helen Clarke, Tom O’Dea and Sam O’Dea, together with senior Manager Ellen Okkerman, were proud to help this dream come true for Berit Skaare (IOP founder), Edson Msigwa MD and all the IOP staff and teachers.

An important part of the ceremony was to raise the flags of Tanzania and Luxembourg, especially poignant as the project was co-funded by the Luxembourg government with the co-operation of CSI.

Another esteemed attendee was the Tanzanian government inspector who came to hand over the official registration certificate to allow the school to open. The ceremony ended in great celebration with a dance by the IOP staff and the cutting of a Sunflower cake which the children thoroughly enjoyed!

IOP Luxembourg has announced their project “Farm For the Future”, more details of which will follow soon. For those who would like to change the life of a child in Tanzania by sponsoring, please contact email: helen@sunflower.lu or email: Ellen.okkerman@sumflower.lu