The ARF Team visited the school which was seeking help for the supply school desks and small repairs on the dilapidated buildings and classrooms.

Maria immediately spotted the construction of the school roof and pointed out to her friends that it still has asbestos roofing on some of the classrooms; the use of this carcinogenic substance is condemned and banned worldwide. People exposed to asbestos could develop a rare cancer called Mesothelioma.

Maria, Jean and Elaine became very concerned of the situation as this is for the children. “We are concerned about the health hazard these children are exposed to”, said a disturbed Maria. She also commented that during the removal of the asbestos sheets, people should be protected and the products destroyed properly and the children be kept away from school for the duration of the work and the clean up.

Maria promised to look into the situation and pledged to immediately look for sponsors to help in replacing the roof with galvanized metal sheeting. The job requires 600 pieces of metal sheeting, 90 kg of nails and 500 pieces of 20 foot lumber, as well as $1500 for labor. This excludes the paint and varnish etc. for building 100 desks and replacing the hazardous roofing.

ARF Team Dar Es Salaam has started seeking help from various organizations to solve this problem.