The History of the Swaziland Schools Project

Swaziland is completely surrounded and has no access direct to the sea. Most of it's borders are with South Africa the rest with Mozambique.

Jack Dobson originally went to work there forty years ago as a draughtsman/builder and farmer. He knows the country well and speaks Siswati - the Swazi language. He lives there in retirement and also runs a small holding. He and John Tibbs knew each other from the 1960's when John was priest of Mbabane Parish.
John Tibbs set up the charity in 1999 after a return visit to Swaziland and the parish where he worked in the 1960's. The needs for the schools continued to be obvious. The difference made by a small amount of money here (a couple of drinks in the pub), when transfered to Swaziland is astronomical. For instance £10 transferred to a Swaziland School will feed a child in that school for a whole year. Over the past years the building of class rooms has meant more children are able to find their way to a school where they would be cared for and educated. The school fees include a daily meal which for some children is often lacking when they are not in school.

The excitement of being able to make such huge changes for the School's and Children's future in Swaziland has meant more and more people are coming to support this charity in small but massively vital ways. This has meant us achieving a solid base of funding and our full charitable status and now we can build on this to further our work and the projects that we are able to be involved in.

Some of the projects are listed on the previous page, but a vital factor in what has been undertaken from the very start has been the cooperation between Jack and his team of builders and the local communities. Jack speaks Siswati fluently and never moves without the full approval of the local chiefs and School Committees. The relationship is based on an understanding of the needs of the local people as they see them.

Therefore our most recent projects have been the completion of a Domestic Science block, and the building – at present being worked on – of a Unit for Agriculture which largely consists of a house for chickens and a store for tools. The Head Teacher of St Andrew’s School believes passionately that both boys and girls must learn the life skills of food nutrition and cooking, the care and ability to mend, wash and dry clothes and do ironing. They learn to cook on stoves and cookers of all kinds, ie. wood fired ovens as well as electric stoves. This is important to them, but also may assist them in getting employment in the future. Again both boys and girls have to learn how to grow vegetables and to raise live stock, and they contribute to the daily schools meals and are also able to take home what they have grown.