Country: Tanzania
Tanzania is currently ranked as the 36th poorest country in the world. With a population of 44 million people, an estimated 1 out of 10 people is an orphan. The extreme poverty is aggravated by a lack of social services, education, and infrastructure. For example, the doctor to patient ratio in Tanzania is 1 doctor for every 220,000 people. In the USA that ratio is 1 doctor for every 250 people. (Source: UN Human Development Report)
Region: Mwanza
Mwanza is the second largest region in Tanzania, hosting the city of Mwanza, where over a million people and over 100 different tribes coexist. Urban Africa attracts the greatest concentrations of widows, orphans, refugees, disabled, and chronically ill people. These people flock to the cities in search of life, but find overcrowded streets void of opportunity. Mwanza is especially attractive for such people because it is located along a water source, Lake Victoria – the second largest freshwater lake in the world. The concentration of orphans and vulnerable children in Mwanza is evident as the streets are flooded with homeless children. Mwanza is the prime location of Kwetu Faraja’s outreach efforts.
Village: Kahunda
The village of Kahunda has a population of over 10,000 people, most of which are children. The village economic activities are agriculture and fishing. Kwetu Faraja’s choice in building a campus at Kahunda was strategic because it allows us to interact with another extremely vulnerable population – children who are the product of the migrant fishing industry. Kahunda is a major hub for migrant fishermen who live and work on the islands of Lake Victoria. The fishing industry is associated with a higher prevalence of HIV infection and as such there is a higher concentration of children orphaned by HIV. Kwetu Faraja hopes to begin outreach efforts to these fishing communities in order to identify additional vulnerable children in need of care.
Urban Operations
Kwetu Faraja’s street outreach program works to meet some of the basic immediate needs of street children such as food, clothing, education assistance, counseling, medical care and advocacy. When possible Kwetu Faraja also works to return these children to live with family members, but when this is not a feasible option those children in the most vulnerable situations are taken to our campus and given a home. Street Research involves remaining in community with vulnerable children as they struggle to survive urban dangers without any social safety nets. Who are these children? What are their stories?
Kwetu Faraja collects information and produces statistical profiles of the population of street children in the Central Business District of Mwanza. Each child is identified (if possible) by age, tribe, place of origin, length of time on the street, causes for present circumstances, education, general health, and – in the case of girls – if they are pregnant, or have children.
Kwetu Faraja staff are always prepared to aide children in immediate danger or any who are seriously ill.0
Life in the Streets
Children sleep along the sidewalks or in gutters. They have no protection from the mosquitoes, cold, or rain and often get sick because of these conditions. Malaria, HIV, and parasite infections are everyday realities for these kids. Children in the streets are often victims of violence – whether car accidents or beatings from the police or other members of society. These children are left abandoned along roadsides wounded and unable to get medical care for themselves. We have always provided care for such children when we come across them. Children in the streets must search dump sites for scraps of food and other needs. There are no soup kitchens or shelters. There are no government programs to offer them assistance. They are left to survive on their own. Mwanza is an attractive location for children in the street because of the lake. This body of water is used for bathing, washing clothes, drinking (though it is full of parasites). Clever children also find ways to fish and catch other water animals to cook and eat. This lake is full of crocodiles and hippos though, and the many dangers are always present.
Our Campus in the Village
The Kwetu Faraja campus is located on 35 beautiful acres fronting on Lake Victoria. Our community in the world is an extended family raised from the streets of Tanzania through acts of love, acceptance, and solidarity. Overcoming homelessness and despair, we empower children to grow into adults who represent a new and vital potential for African leadership. One by one we are rescuing children from the streets and giving them refuge, education, hope, and a new life.
Education
In Tanzania, education is a privilege that not all children are afforded. At Kwetu Faraja we provide education to all of the children living on our campus. Our primary boys attend a private elementary school. The secondary school is a private institution as there are no government secondary schools available in our village. Upon completion of high school each of our children is given an opportunity to continue their education in a college, university, or trade school depending on their placement and ambitions. Currently our boys’ education is supported through our sponsorship program. It costs $450 per year to sponsor a primary school student, and $700 per year to sponsor a secondary school student. University and post secondary students scholarships vary depending on the program of study.
Skills for Living
We believe our children should have a diverse education. In addition to their formal schooling, all of our kids take part in chores around the house; working in the garden, watering plants, helping with farming activities, cleaning their environment. Each chore has application to practical life skills and keeps our boys busy so they stay out of trouble. Our boys love learning and many of them have developed some entrepreneurial skills of their own as a result; raising animals, and fishing!
Holistic Care
All of the children on our campus have been touched personally by one or more of the following issues: abuse, abandonment, bereavement, physical and/or emotional injury, depression, substance abuse, aggression issues. We provide counseling and advocacy for all of the children in our program. In addition to psychological counseling, we offer spiritual counseling to our children. No child is forced to follow a particular doctrine, but all are exposed to Biblical teaching as a source for comfort and healing.