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What if you could build a school?
With Makuyuni it's possible. We are a non-profit from Cologne and build schools in Tanzania, together with the people who live there.
5 + 2
Five schools completed, two under construction
1,000+
Students
3,000+
People provided with drinking water
100 %
All donations go into building schools
Every school starts with the people who live there.
We build every school with the community that will use it. The idea comes from the people themselves, Lalahe and Lazaro coordinate the construction and know every family in the villages. We bring money, ideas and support.
Our goal is for every school to sustain itself and be handed over to the Tanzanian government. Then we step back and the community carries it on. That's what help towards self-help means to us.
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Zaburi Primary School (2023)
Until 2023, the children from Zaburi had to walk several kilometers along the unlit main road to the next school. Today they learn in their own village.
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Makuyuni Juu Primary School (2022)
Since 2006, the community has been building this school. Over 17 years, two classrooms and a teacher's house were created. In 2022, we joined in. Since then, it has continued to grow together.
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Selela Nadosoitok Primary School (2021)
The community had already built a classroom. We joined in and expanded the school with them. Today, Selela is the largest school in our network.
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Orkisima Primary School (2019)
The project began in 2019 from personal connections to families in Orkisima. In 2020, the well was added and provides 3,200 people with drinking water.
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Idimayii Primary School (2018)
Our first school, built together with the Lomiyon community in 2018. It has now been handed over. Another nonprofit organization continues to support it.
A school costs less than you think.
Sounds crazy: The whole school in Orkisima, with classrooms and a teachers' house, cost less than €120,000. That's less than a two-room flat in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.
Lolera, our sixth school, started with €76,000 for the first classrooms, the teachers' house and the toilets. Your donation pays for walls, roofs, school benches and learning materials, while the crew contributions cover administration.
Friendship that builds schools.
Makuyuni e.V. grew out of a friendship. Jan and Andy met Lalahe in Tanzania in 2017. Lazaro joined later. At some point the question came up: why don't we build a school?
Today there are over 90 people in our network. The six board members in Cologne are volunteers, while Lalahe and Lazaro have been working full-time on site since 2018.
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Lalahe
Project management Tanzania
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Lazaro Laizer
Project management Tanzania
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Andreas Klein
Board · Sponsoring & Finances
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Jan Grandisch
Board · Donations & Projects
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Daniel Vogelgesang
Board · Merch
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Olivia Vogelgesang
Board · Events & meet-ups
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Dana Bergmann
Board · Marketing & PR
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Oliver Blank
Board · All-rounder
Wear the message. #wearresponsibility
Our merch collections are made together with artists from Cologne and printed by fair print shops. Material and packaging come out of our crew contributions. 100% of the purchase price goes into school construction.
Every piece starts a conversation: when someone asks about your socks, you get to talk about Makuyuni.
We're often asked this.
Any questions? Write to us directly.
Andy looks after partners and sponsorship, Jan after donations and projects.
Who builds with us.
Families, foundations, book charities, companies. The partners without whom no school would stand.
Where your money goes.
100% of all donations go into building schools. How the money is split across three pots is set out in the financial report, audited by the Cologne-Altstadt tax office.
What drives us.
Why we do all this and the five criteria we use to decide where the next school will be built.
Andy
Andreas Klein. Co-founder, involved since 2018. First contact point for sponsorships, partners, financial reports, and technical matters.
Jan
Jan Grandisch. Co-founder, involved since 2018. First contact point for donations and projects. He met Lalahe in Tanzania in 2017.