By Ngaire McCubben | Comms, Ext, Relations and Fundraising, Tanzania
Losinoni village is part of the East African Rift fluoride belt. While a small amount of fluoride is associated with the prevention of tooth decay, many parts of Tanzania and East Africa have toxic levels. The World Health Organization recommends that we ingest no more than 1.5mg/liter of fluoride in the water we use for drinking and cooking. Unfortunately in some parts of Northern Tanzania, the fluoride level reaches 95mg/liter.
Students at Losinoni Primary School benefit immensely from the generous donors who contribute to their school lunch program through AfricAid. In addition to the nutritious lunch they receive daily, the teachers and administrators ensure that the lunch is a healthy break from the often dangerous levels of fluoride occurring naturally in their home water supplies. Levels above 10 mg/liter are associated with the bone disease skeletal fluorosis, which causes pain and damage to bones and joints and can have a severe crippling effect.
By collecting rainwater from the roofs of all the school buildings, the school is able to provide safe drinking water and to cook the daily lunch of traditional makande stew in uncontaminated, fluoride free water.
We’d like to thank our Global Giving donors for supporting the school lunch project at Losinoni Primary School. As a result of your support, we feel confident these students have a brighter future ahead of them.
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