The Tanzanian Children’s Fund (TCF) works to eliminate poverty and improve the lives of marginalized children and families in the Oldeani area of Northern Tanzania. Our goal is to ensure that all children and families in this region lead healthy and productive lives and have the opportunity to become positive agents of change for their country.

In order to achieve this goal, we provide a permanent and loving home to 101 marginalized youth, ensuring not only that their basic needs are met, but also that they receive the love, care, and unwavering support that every child deserves as they grow into adults. At the same time, TCF recognizes that the best way to promote the well-being of all children and families is to address the root causes of poverty from all sides. We have therefore focused on increasing the quality of education, health care, and economic opportunities in the area. We have formed a strategic partnership with the government to co-manage the local primary and secondary schools in order to improve educational outcomes for all students in the region. Our Rural Community Health Clinic provides affordable, high-quality care to our catchment area of 10,000. Additionally, our Microfinance program increases access to meaningful employment through loans and trainings for local entrepreneurs, the majority of whom are women. This innovative, multi-pronged approach to addressing systemic poverty has enabled us to have a deep impact and catalyze real and lasting change.

Our organization’s holistic, community-based approach to mitigating poverty in the area has allowed us to work effectively towards our goals. TCF has formed strategic partnerships with Tanzanian institutions and the local government in order to mobilize the human capital in the area as well as build capacity. We partner with a local hospital, FAME, and often refer our patients there when they need further care. We hire local teachers and provide regular trainings and professional development seminars. Through our Microfinance programs, including bee-keeping workshops, chicken-raising trainings, and sewing lessons, we are able to promote skills development and increase economic opportunities in the community. These community-focused efforts increase TCF’s capabilities to address the root causes of poverty in the region and help us achieve our mission to promote the well-being of children and families and build viable futures for all in the region.

TCF monitors several indicators in each of our areas of impact. For example, to understand our impact on education in the region, we track improvements in our students’ exam results, the students-to-teacher ratio, and how much time is being set aside for teachers’ professional development and course-specific trainings. For our health efforts, we look at how many patients are being treated each day, track what types of issues are common or recurring, and monitor what kinds of information dissemination methods are effective in reducing preventable illnesses in the community. Our Microfinance team monitors things like the average amounts of the loans we are giving out and how many people in the community are directly supported by those loans. Through these various indicators, among others, we are able to effectively track where we have made progress and where it might be useful to devote more resources or rethink our approach. We are constantly evaluating our work and seeking out ways in which we might expand our impact in the area.

Our thorough monitoring and reporting has allowed us to understand the wide impact we have had so far in the community. We have been able to provide 101 children with a permanent, stable, loving home. Through the two schools we co-manage, we provide a high-quality education to over 900 students each year. Since the TCF partnership began, the student-teacher ratio at Gyetighi Primary School has dropped from 56:1 to 17:1, and currently 100% of students are passing the Standard 7 national exam. The school has become the #1 government school in the district and is among the top 5% nationwide. Already in 2019, we have instituted a Form Four mentorship program, through which older students can help graduating primary school students with their transition to secondary school, and implemented a new attendance policy that has sent the numbers of recurring absences shooting down towards zero. Our health care team, which treats an average of 23 patients a day, has made great strides in improving overall health of the community. So far in 2019 alone, we have dewormed all 900+ of our primary and secondary students, eradicated Tinea capitis and Tinea corporis (ringworm on scalp and skin, respectively) for RVCV kids through Standard 7, and created an improved chronic disease management system that makes it easier for patients to receive refills on their medication. Meanwhile, our Microfinance program has grown exponentially in the past ten years, raising average incomes by over 300% in that time. This year, our trainings will focus partly on “Advancing Training and Risk Management at the Grassroots Level,” to prepare clients for the climate change-induced food shortages that the World Food Programme expects to hit East Africa in the coming years. We have accomplished much in our 16 year history, and this year will be no different. Our sights are set high as we continue to expand our programs and create lasting change that will enable all in our community to live healthy, stable, productive lives and to build futures for themselves in Tanzania.