The Toa Nafasi Project

Greetings from Toa Nafasi!

I’m delighted to share that this September we conducted a training workshop for 60 key stakeholders from 21 wards and Moshi Municipal Council on child rights and protection to include topics such as child protection, abuse prevention and rights based teaching approach. The training was officiated by Mr. Steven Kibulenge on behalf of Kilimanjaro regional administrative secretary and assistant registrar of NGOs for the region Ms. Jesca Mnyaki.

The training workshop is a partnership between Martha Erickson (U.S Participant) and Novatus Marandu (Mandela Washington Fellow). It’s a funded project, Reciprocal Exchange Grant, by IREX, US Department of State, Mandela Washington Fellowship as well as Toa Nafasi Foundation and Harambee Fund. This project is a continuation of trainings offered to young children professionals in our community. Last year, we successfully conducted training workshop to early grade teachers of all public primary schools in Moshi.

This year, the beneficiaries of our project, "Empowering Key Stakeholders with Child Rights Curriculum in Tanzania," are village leaders, parents and caregivers, Police Gender Desk Officers and Ward Education Officers in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The project reached and trained 60 key stakeholders on child rights and protection. It has empowered them to strengthen their institutions, and protect children against abuse and violence.

It is our firm belief that children from all 21 wards in Moshi Municipal Council will benefit from the improved child protection capacity of their village leaders.

Nonetheless, through this project, we have achieved the following outcomes: (1) We have improved knowledge and understanding of child rights among the key stakeholders. (2) We have improved ability of key stakeholders to prevent and respond to child abuse and violence. (3) We have increased use of child rights-based approaches in supporting parents and caregivers, leading to improved child protection in local communities, and, (4) We have increased awareness of child rights and protection among parents and the wider community through village leaders and parent champions-led advocacy and engagement.

Participants in this year’s training were vibrant and very engaged. Dr. Martha shares how she was struck with how people wanted to be in the room – the interactions, dialogues. “People stayed for two days and their feedback at the end was positive” – she says. One of the magistrates shared that she wished more magistrates and judges could have similar training.

Dr. Martha and Novatus are working on further action and sustainability of the project, to include on-going support for the village leaders to help them integrate the new knowledge and skills into their child protection and community development work as well as advocacy and engagement activities led by parent champions to raise awareness of child rights and protection issues among parents and wider community. They’re also thinking of reaching teachers colleges and empower the students next year.

The training has indirectly impacted the safety and well-being of children in our community and hope that the project will contribute to the long-term goal of creating a safer and more protective environment for children in Tanzania, ultimately improving their quality of life and future prospects.

Hello from Toa Nafasi!

I hope this report finds you well. It’s always an absolute honor to write to you and keep you on the loop on the important work you’re a part of that we’re doing in schools and communities in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Here is a snapshot of the 2023 cohort successes and our work with the 2024 cohort.

Our Achievements with the 2023 cohort

In 2023, we assessed over 1000 grade 1 students and 422 students with learning difficulties matriculated into the Toa Nafasi’s pull out program. Our tutors worked for months starting April to provide the students needed support and tests. The results of test 3 that were out this March show impressive changes in the academic performance of the students. Out of 336 students that attempted the last Test, 320 entered Tier 1 scoring above 80 percent. These were students that were in tier 2 and three and had a myriad of psychological, medical and academic challenges.

The impact we have had on these students will have significant lasting effects as they advance in upper grades and later in life. We are immensely grateful for being part of the learning and life journey of these students and Toa Nafasi.

A New Dawn in 2024

The graduation of one cohort marks a begging of a new journey with another cohort of students. As usual, this year started with Observation of 1150 students enrolled in grade one in all the 11 schools we have placed tutors. This exercise will be followed by Test 1 for the observed students as well as one on one meetings with their parents/guardians. We are excited to meet the 2024 cohort, to sit and chat with their families and start a new journey of learning and friendship.

Implementers’ Dialogues

In March this year, Toa Nafasi joined over 20 civil societies working in the education sector for a day meeting to share and discuss our work in realizing the education quality education outcomes for all children. We learned the benefits of using sports to deliver important messages, the work of Faith Community Development Initiative in education, and we adopted KIWIZ, a free educational material that promotes digital literacy. Our goal is to continue to learn from peers, gain important resources for our work and students, share our work and scan potential partners to scale our work.

Challenges

The 2023 cohort was not free from challenges. Despite of having a few number of students with learning difficulties in Tier 2 (7 students) and Tier 3 (9 students), we had a high number of truancy. Out of the 422 students that were enrolled earlier in the year, 86 students were absent from the program and in school due to multiple reasons. We are working with the school administration and parents/guardians and implement measures to lower the truancy levels this year.

Thank you for continuing to support Toa Nafasi. You can donate now. When you donate, you are helping us making schools and our communities safe and inclusive for all children. Once again, thank you.