In 1997 our member Primo Bonacorsi travelled for the first time to the catholic mission of Rumuruti in Kenya, run by Father Mino Vaccari who urged us to undertake the construction of a school, comprising 3 separate blocks, in a remote area of the savannah called Tingamara. Thanks to the club’s endeavours, we were able to build two schools with four classrooms each, as well as a multipurpose hall for nursery classes and the church. Initially the schools had around forty pupils, but this number has since risen to almost two hundred.

Since then, Rotary Club Sassuolo has taken on the sponsorship of 4 children, so each year we cover all the costs for the children’s education and for ensuring they have two good meals a day. The schools were later dedicated to the dearly departed wife of Primo Bonacorsi “in memory of her love for the children of Tingamara”.

Three years ago, following political elections, tribal tensions bubbled over and villages were ransacked and torched as old scores were settled; over a thousand people were killed and schools too were damaged or destroyed. Our work in the area continues, as many of the children who fled took refuge in Rumuruti, considered safer, and they still attend the school there.