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.