TEACHER HOUSING

Housing availability on the school campus is critical to attracting the best teachers and maximizing their availability to the students. Good teacher attendance has been shown to be the most important thing for successful education. At Meali,  Friends of Meali, completed two unfinished buildings and  built a third one from scratch, creating a housing capacity for 10 teachers and their families, each with a 2-3 room apartment and shared bathroom and kitchen facilities.  As a result, the teachers  formed a more close-knit community – complete with babies, children, and animals – and Meali was able to expand its staff very quickly from 6 to 8 to 9 to 10 in just two years. Today Meali has thirteen teachers and a need for more housing. Housing at Meali is particularly important since the teachers otherwise have a two-hour walk to the nearest town with any housing.   Losirwa is close to villages, but housing availability at school is a good financial incentive for prospective staff members.   Losirwa currently offers housing for eight teachers, since we have built two houses for 6 teachers and renovated their existing house.   The new Lucas Mhina school, which Friends of Meali just completed for the government, (2024),has enough housing for now.