Educate 155 Street Children and Girls in Tanzania

The issue

Economic empowerment aims to improve opportunities for marginalized and poverty stricken families. Often the children within these families are unable to attend school and their basic needs are not met. 

The solutions we have been working on

In order to solve this problem, one element of our work has focussed on entrepreneurship and business skills training. 20 families in total have benefitted from these sessions which is followed up with an introduction to a loan to start a potential new business.

The previous 10 families who had already received this training have benefitted from ongoing support and further business skills training. From their initial loan they have set up small businesses which have enabled them to generate income. The families have used this additional income to pay for their children’s school fees and other vital supplies. In total, 39 more children are in school as a result.

In the third year of the project a further 22 teenage girls, who were previously engaged in the sex trade have benefitted from psychosocial support sessions and vocational training on subjects such as tailoring, food production and hairdressing. The project has also matched these girls to local businesses and supported with their formal tuition fees. Five girls who went through this programme in year 1 and 2 have set up successful businesses, supporting themselves independently.

A total of seven weekend events have taken place with children and communities which focus on children’s rights. From sports tournaments to debating sessions and counselling, children were part of a range of activities aimed at enabling them to understand their rights. There is also a weekly community radio programme which aims to embed community awareness of children’s rights.