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Who is AZAR

AZAR is a UK registered charity founded in 2004 specifically to build a primary school in the town of Kisasa, in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. In 2006 an international group of around 30 friends joined together with local builders and volunteers to commence construction. The school officially opened in January 2007. How this all came about can be found on our history page.

Since then the school has grown to be one of the largest schools in the region (where there are nearly 200 schools) and supports over 2000 students. There is more information and pictures about the school on our Kisasa page but please do watch the films below made following the recent Tanzania visit of two of our trustees in March 2023. 

In 2019 the AZAR Trustees felt that we were also able to support another school. Two of our team visited the region, did some research and came up with a shortlist and reported back. Eventually trustees decided that Chikowa Primary, a small school with just six classrooms set in a rural location, could definitely use our help. Here the main priority of the headteacher and staff was a water supply for drinking water and sanitation and they desperately needed additional classrooms.
After we had provided a connection to a borehole 1.5 Kilometres away, AZAR again sent a team from the UK to work with the local builders (fundis) in the construction of new classrooms. You can read how this progressed on our Chikowa page.

Kisasa
Primary
School
Chikowa
Primary
School

AZAR Trustees Caroline and Simon visited Tanzania to see progress at both Kisasa and Chikowa primary schools. Due to the Covid pandemic, none of the AZAR team has been out since 2019 when they worked on our last building project, a two-classroom block in Chikowa Primary. It was wonderful to meet up with some old friends and, in particular, JB (Joseph Biseko) our dear friend and 'our man in Tanzania' who has helped us throughout our now 18 years of school development in Dodoma. We were deeply saddened to recently hear of his death from cancer in June 2023. He will be greatly missed by the AZAR team.

 

Whilst on location we took some video clips and have compiled them into two short films to show how things are progressing (see below). The videos were shot in March and some of the work mentioned here has now been completed.

Caroline and Simon with Joseph Biseko


Contact us here for further information
 

AZAR UK Tanzania visit March 2023

AZAR now working in Ghana

In June 2023 AZAR began working in Ghana to provide support to two primary and one secondary school in the town of Abodom, Ghana. This has very much been helped along with the joining of Isaac as a new AZAR trustee and his wife Cynthia as a new committee member. You can read all about our progress on our home page and also on our Abodom page.

Trustee Isaac & Committee member Cynthia Osei Kwame

Supporting AZAR

We’re so grateful for every gift that helps us continue the work of AZAR. If you’d like to support us, there are several simple ways to give:

  • Online Giving: You can make a secure donation through our JustGiving or Stewardship links below.

  • Direct Bank Transfer: To give directly from your bank account, please click the DONATE button to find AZAR’s bank details. You are welcome to use our bankers order if you don't use online banking.

  • Gift Aid: If you’re a UK taxpayer, you can make your gift go even further at no extra cost by completing our Gift Aid Form. You can also let us know your name, address, and email through our Contact page.

  • Cheques: Cheques can be made payable to AZAR and sent to our registered address, which is also listed on the Gift Aid form.

Every donation—large or small—makes a real difference. Thank you so much for standing with us and supporting AZAR’s mission.

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