The Foundation For Tomorrow

TFFT through the lens of Kaitlin Rogers

2011-10-31T08:39:00.011-04:00

Before working for TFFT, I worked as a family portrait photographer. The opportunity to create images for families is a blessing, and I love thatthe resulting images become personal artwork and family heirlooms for their children and grandchildren.I now work for The Foundation For Tomorrow as Director of Communication and Donor Development. My work for TFFT initially began as a photography

TFFT Form 4 Graduates Holiday - By: Josh Nassari (Scholarship Program Director)

2011-10-24T11:20:00.003-04:00

TFFT conducted a Training of Trainers from October 14 to 16 and Dec. 1, 2010. There were 9 participants—seven of whom were the “training champions” from the first teachers training held in August, and the other two were Usa River Academy’s headmaster and second master. The main goal of the ToT was to prepare the training champions for their role as URA’s in-house continuing

Training Better Teachers

2010-09-27T17:48:00.008-04:00

Blog Entry by: Melissa Queyquep, TFFT Teachers Training Program DirectorAugust witnessed TFFT’s first teachers training—my first major outing since joining the organization in June as Teachers Training Programme Director. The training, held at Makumira University College, brought together twenty-one (21) teachers from Usa River Academy and Matonyok Learning Center for five days of learning,

Graduation Ceremony!!!!

2010-09-14T05:03:00.005-04:00

Graduation Ceremony for Standard seven and form four students class of 2010 at usa river academy took place on Saturday September 11. It was one of the happiest days out there. Lots of performances from kiddos and one of the things that I was mostly amazed with was how talented the TFFT scholarship children are. Out of every performance there was a minimum of 4 TFFT kids. And two of the

Arusha Airport

2010-09-13T05:00:00.003-04:00

Emily and I decided to treat some of our younger kiddos who spend the term break on the other end of town to a surprise trip to the airport. We realized what a true surprise it was when we arrived to pick them up and they had long faces and were hesitant to join us as they thought they were going to the hospital...All was quickly well when we explained the days plan.We went to the little Arusha

RIDETZ IS HERE!!

2010-07-13T03:50:00.004-04:00

In the next 3 days 17 RideTZ riders will be arriving in Tanzania to kick off our amazing Kili to the Coast- Ride For A Cause! I can't believe it's finally here. Our riders have spent countless months, days, and hours training on bikes and in the gym as well as fundraising. To date, this dedicated crew has raised more than 100K collectively for The Foundation For Tomorrow's scholarship kids and

Ride TZ Reccie

2010-07-13T02:45:00.002-04:00

Last month the guys at Summits packed up and headed off to do the last of the Ride TZ Reccies. The guides rode the entire route and I was lucky enough to join them for the first 3 days of riding.We headed off with two of the Summits guides. This is Jacob, he recently returned from a six month bike adventure throughout the whole of East Africa.This is Ema, he runs up and down Kilimanjaro for a

Hop a Long

2010-06-29T02:32:00.004-04:00

So…later this week, I’ll post an update on the RideTZ course along with details of the recent Reccie trip that Ema and Jacob (our fearless guides) of Summits Africa took, accompanied by TFFT staffer and RideTZ rider Anne Palmer. However, first let me share the little hiccup that has hit the RideTZ team (by team I mean me, Emily) here in Tanzania. It seems that adding rugby training to my

MALARIA FREE!!

2010-05-17T06:34:00.007-04:00

Dear readers,Back again to give you some updates on what is happening on the ground. Getting items and distributing them before school opening date for every single kid wasn’t an easy task as it has always be but went perfect. Sending them all back to school was well organized but tiresome. Finally, all TFFT Scholarship kiddos are back to school, settled and busy with their 2010 2nd term as they

Avocado Tree Grafting

2010-03-26T05:07:00.005-04:00

Two months ago we permanently planted some parachichi trees in the garden at Usa River Academy. A month ago we experimented with grafting. This was a very special event because it was not only the culmination of many prior lessons but it also marked Full Circle's first attempt at a collaboration with an Usa River Academy teacher. Mr. Benjamin, the Biology teacher, was very excited to participate

Clean Hands Save Lives!

2010-03-19T08:14:00.003-04:00

My first day meeting the TFFT kids I was struck by two things. First and foremost was how great, smiley and easy to fall in love with they all are. Secondly was how openly they sneezed and coughed all over each other. As many of us learn when we are young clean hands save lives. In an effort to introduce our kids to the concepts of germs, the spread of illness and importance of proper hand

Full Circle Round- up

2010-03-19T04:33:00.004-04:00

Wow! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks in the Full Circle program. We have been learning a lot but even more importantly we have been having a lot of fun while doing it!Parachute play!Once a week a Full Circle group has a cooking lesson. Coming up with recipes for our youngest kids that they are able to prepare and recreate themselves has proven to be somewhat of a challenge. For our first

RideTZ Days 3 & 4

2010-02-26T09:31:00.002-05:00

Ahh…and welcome to the bush! Day 3 will find us waking up and hitting the route full on. We will cover about 50 miles on bike daily and from here on out, we’ll be sleeping in tents until we reach Pangani (the beautiful coastal town where we’ll be celebrating our massive accomplishment). We’ll be heading towards Nyumba ya Mungu, Kiswahili for “The House of God.” This lake is

CocoMo!

2010-02-23T05:40:00.002-05:00

Guacamole is quite possibly the world’s most perfect food. Coming from a Southern California girl who was raised on Mexican food and ate a stuffed quesadilla at the airport as my last meal stateside, I admit my opinion could be biased. Needless to say, when the kids said that they really, REALLY wanted to learn to cook I immediately thought guacamole would be the perfect first dish. Now I know

2010-02-22T04:21:00.003-05:00

NOTHING WAS HAPPENING WHEN I WAS BORN!! Richards great grandma and josh on the top left, Vincent's hut on the top right and Wema and Vincet's brother, his wife and their son in the farm where they grow corn and veggies to earn living.(meghann and i were given some fresh corn to take with us)On Monday last week Meghann (TFFT Executive Director) and I drove in a rented Land

RideTZ Days 1 & 2!

2010-02-17T04:07:00.005-05:00

A little bit of information for all those wondering where and what exactly the RideTZ adventure seekers will be accomplishing on their 10-day ride to the Coast. I’m going to be covering different days in the next few weeks, so stay posted to make it through the whole, crazy trip!When the RideTZ riders first land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, they will go straight to Momela Road, where

2010-02-12T02:54:00.002-05:00

YOU NEED TO GROW YOUR BEARDS TO BE THE BOSS Hi all, It’s such a big shame that it has been two months now since I joined the TFFT team in Tanzania as the Scholarship Program Director But this is my first blog post. I know I have been difficult to post something for TFFT blogers not because I don’t want to, rather because of the fact that social media and the like are new things to us in

Parachichi planting

2010-02-12T01:10:00.006-05:00

In July the secondary students along with class 6 took a special trip to Lou's house and planted avocado seeds. They have since grown and were ready to be permanently planted. The headmaster at Usa River Academy was kind enough to allocate us with a plot of land in their extensive garden for our trees. We had two great hardworking days and have the pictures to prove it!Ombeni being very serious!

RIDE TZ!!

2010-01-28T04:55:00.004-05:00

Many of our readers know about this already, however I would like to officially introduce RideTZ, to our blog! We are also on Twitter @RIDETZ and on Facebook if anyone would like to see more regular updates!The Foundation For Tomorrow has launched RIDETZ, a 10 day, 400 mile adventure ride across Tanzania in July 2010. With a maximum of 35 riders and 21 crew, we will be riding rugged African

First Week Down as Member of The Foundation For Tomorrow Staff!

2010-01-21T01:49:00.003-05:00

Hi all. Well, the first week of the term is down here in Tanzania and we are almost done with week two. I can't believe how fast it is going by. It has been a swift introduction to The Foundation For Tomorrow for the children and myself, but I think we have embraced it wholeheartedly. My first day in town we visited the students at Usa River and given that these photos were taken within 5 minutes

Team TFFT

2010-01-14T02:51:00.002-05:00

Happy 2010! Hope everyone rang in the New Year in some fun way. I spent it in the snow of the Rocky Mountains with my family, skiing, relaxing and eating delicious food! I’m thrilled to be back in Tanzania now, where the kids are back to start a new school year; the rain is still coming, and my new roommate is getting settled in! That’s right…new roommate! Anne Palmer

Superstars

2009-12-03T06:27:00.002-05:00

This is very, very belated, but I want to share with everyone the awesomeness of Myers Park High School, Amy Hammond, Ashton Ratcliffe, and Drew Hammond (as well as chaperone extraordinaire Julie Hammond). At the end of June, Julie brought her daughter Amy, her son Drew, and friend Ashton to Tanzania to volunteer at our partner orphanage, Matonyak, whom you have read about in previous blogs.

Long Time No Blog

2009-11-18T04:04:00.002-05:00

Well, unfortunately this is not the first, and probably not the last apology I will be writing, but it is sincere. I am sorry for the lack of blog posts recently. Life in Tanzania has definitely been changing and busy lately! A quick re-cap of the past few months- the kids went on break in August which gave us some much needed time to re-organize as well as visit many of the kids in their

Barber Blues..

2009-07-29T06:51:00.003-04:00

So- just a funny little post quickly...Every couple of weeks it seems the kids get this rather nasty head fungus. Not sure if it's ring worm, or a random fungus but it's pretty gross either way. The remedy for this is a quick trip to the Doctor for some medicated cream and a full buzz cut at the barber. Last week was no exception with Rosie being the first to approach me with said fungus. She

Half Way Again!

2009-07-06T04:51:00.001-04:00

Well I can’t believe we are already half way through another term, and visiting day has come and gone. Alley and I have definitely been busy the past few months and it seemed that before we knew it the Big Day had snuck up on us! The kids were all a buzz about Saturday, asking us constantly if we would be coming. Of course!Learning from experience, we decided to bring food for the kids instead of

Thank You Edith & Margaret!

2009-06-30T04:48:00.006-04:00

After succesfully summiting on Kilimanjaro, Edith and Margaret Wyatt - TFFT sponsors - spent some time at Matanyok on their recent trip to Tanzania. They hoped to bring some artistic inspiration to Matanyok and the children there.. with a mural! Margaret hopes to study art in the future and put together a plan. After careful selection of the local hardware store's paint, they were ready to

Alley Brindza's 1 Year Anniversary

2009-06-08T13:03:00.003-04:00

For those who are not aware today is Alley's (one of our fabulous Program Directors in Tanzania) 1 year anniversary of being on the ground in Tanzania working with our kids. For those of you who are parents you'll be able to commiserate a bit with alley. Working with kids is not always the easiest job. They are not always the first to say thank you or you've done an amazing job or I couldn't bear

A family of 64?

2009-05-18T04:35:00.002-04:00

As the kids returned to school this month, I was reminded yet again how important the TFFT Family has become to not only us; the organization or the staff here on the ground, but to the children. Earlier this month Alley, Lou and myself headed out to pick up our 64 watoto and bring them back to Usa River Academy for Term II. It made for 3 cars (with the help of Lou and John), and a long day, but

Snake Park Safari

2009-03-23T05:11:00.005-04:00

Lou cooked up the brilliant idea to have a fun-filled afternoon for our scholarship children of a field trip & ice cream and had the perfect location: Usa River Snake Park. Split into two groups, we took off up the Momella Road last Thursday and Friday. Within minutes of arrival, it was obvious who were the reptile lovers. I was quite impressed as most were fearless, trying to get as close as

Our Scholarship Kids

2009-03-18T11:08:00.000-04:00

SOS Gala Press Release

2009-03-15T10:34:00.002-04:00

Howdy All;Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!Sorry this has taken so long to get out - I've been in Nairobi setting up the Teacher Training program with Braeburn High School (Nairobi). I'm actually meeting two members of the Education Department from Kenyatta University tonight, so hopefully I can report back some welcoming news.

Kids helping kids

2009-03-05T00:23:00.003-05:00

Hey all, so I guess my first order of business is to apologize for being such a slacker this past month. I promise I will make my bloggin' more of a priority this month for those of you waiting patiently to hear the latest Tanzanian on-goings. Although Tim seems to have things pretty under control below.A lot has been going on lately but one of my more favorite moments last month was a field trip

Matonyok Dedication Ceremony

2009-03-03T07:06:00.000-05:00

Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!

Emmy and Ndemno

2009-03-03T07:04:00.004-05:00

The wonderful patrons of Matonyok, Ms. Emmy Sitayo and Mr. Peniel Ndemno.Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!

2009-03-03T07:00:00.003-05:00

So, now that I inexplicably have a stronger internet connection, here are some pictures of the Dedication Ceremony at Matonyok.Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!

Gala-pa-looza!

2009-03-03T06:59:00.000-05:00

March 3 – Greetings to all and a happy beginning of March! For those you not in the know, this past Saturday was our first annual S.O.S (South of the Sahara) Fundraiser in Nairobi. About sixty people descended in Muthaiga to spotlight TFFT’s projects in and around Tanzania. And in the end, we raised quite a bit of money for the Foundation – and raised a considerable

A Special Thank You to Lou Corse & Friends...

2009-02-24T03:35:00.012-05:00

Lou Corse hosted a lovely evening of Christmas Carol singing back in December for family and friends. The evening benefitted The Foundation For Tomorrow as everyone was asked to kindly bring donations of toys, clothing, or school supplies for our scholarship children. We received boxes and bags of items as well as generous monetary donations which were used towards purchasing over 200 pairs of

2009-02-23T03:24:00.001-05:00

Also, for those of you who wished you could have been there and missed the bus, here's my address from the event (the event being the Matonyok Dedication Ceremony):Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!-- Dear honored guests, friends of Matonyok and ‘The Foundation for Tomorrow’ I would like to thank you for

2009-02-23T03:13:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone - Here's the press release from the Matonyok Opening Ceremony:Get the AddThis Social Bookmarking Button widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!--Maasai Home Converts Waste to Fuel With Help of TFFT Olasiti, TZ Becoming environmentally conscious provides significant benefits to the Matonyok Parents Trust and the 27 children who live there. On Wednesday, February 4th

Going Clean

2009-02-02T02:34:00.003-05:00

This month was the official kick off to our Term 1 Full Circle afterschool program. We spent the first week of school dividing into groups, choosing group names, which range from Tembo (elephant) to Manchester, and discussing what the kids would like to learn. The younger kids, as I suspected, are game for anything, while the older kids had some great ideas. This month is Go Clean, which has us

Big Brothers & Big Sisters

2009-01-23T08:19:00.006-05:00

The third week of term is coming to a close today and the TFFT children seem to be settling down from all the excitment and getting into their routines. The past few weeks have been dedicated to taking inventory of items the children are in need of (they range from sports shoes to school bags to blankets to hairbrush and so on), organizing and distributing all of these things, starting the

Lushoto

2009-01-14T02:19:00.003-05:00

Well my first week back in Tanzania sure has been busy! The first part of the week was spent getting all of our TFFT kids back and settled at Usa River Academy. It was great to see everyone smiling and excited for school. I even caught a few fist pumps from some of them! Once everyone was settled, Lali and I headed out to Lushoto to see 2 of our scholarship children, Zawadi and Asha before their

New Year, New Projects

2009-01-13T02:55:00.001-05:00

First off, hopefully this post finds you enjoying the New Year. The Foundation For Tomorrow programs, as in the past, have shown considerable progress over the past month. Matonyok is nearly completed (at least, it was nearly completed when I left for Zanzibar) so I can only assume that the doors have been put on their hinges and that the window glass has been installed. Ndemno, true to form,

Back To School We Gooo

2009-01-09T02:11:00.003-05:00

Emily and I spent this past Sunday collecting all the children for the start of the 2009 school year. The day was as hectic as ever but everyone has arrived safe and sound at Usa River Academy, ready to go for a new school year! All of the students within the TFFT Scholarship Program, with the exception of Asha and Zawadi in Lushoto, will be attending Usa River Academy. The decision to move all

Traveler's Philanthropy Conference Dec 2008

2008-12-17T07:10:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago I attended the Traveler’s Philanthropy Conference www.travelersphilanthropy.org here in Arusha. The Centre on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD) www.ecotourismcesd.org hosted the three day event, in Arusha at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge. At the core of Travelers Philanthropy (TP) is the idea of “giving back” of time, talent and treasure to tourism destinations, with

Feeding Table for Nkoaranga Orphanage

2008-12-12T02:02:00.006-05:00

Nkoaranga Orphanage, a partner orphange of The Foundation For Tomorrow, has recently received a very useful and helpful donation from the Bianucci Family. The Bianucci family spent some time this past summer volunteering at Nkoaranga Oraphange and helping out in any way possible. They have become very involved with various projects to help improve the facilities and way of life at the

December is Hot in Tanzania

2008-12-11T03:43:00.001-05:00

December 11th – Not that the title has anything to with this blog, but it’s been a busy past two weeks here on the ground in Tanzania (notwithstanding the fact that it really is just really hot in Arusha right now). Starting at the end of last week where TFFT exhibited at the Traveler’s Philanthropy Conference hosted here in Arusha, there’s been a lot of busy work to be done (including having a

December!

2008-12-01T14:23:00.000-05:00

12/1 – Hello everyone and happy December. I must apologize for my delayed blogging… I’ve been through about three computers this month as well as two power bricks and all of this technological difficulty has taken its toll on my ability to write for an extended period of time. So here it is.As always, Matonyok is proceeding nicely. Aside from the workers’ wages and some incidental materials

Sports Day at LouLou's!!!

2008-11-28T02:43:00.008-05:00

Lou Course is the newest volunteer addition to TFFT Tanzania, she initially became involved to help me with our tutoring program at Fikiria Kwanza but that was just the beginning! In just the past couple weeks, she has started tutoring, hosted a Sports Day at her home in Usa River, and is organizing a Christmas Carol Fundraiser to benefit TFFT. The kids adore her, completely adopting her as their

2008-11-21T02:17:00.001-05:00

I have been spending more time at FK recently, it has been magic! I really like the new tutor, Raphael, who is doing a phenomenal job with the kids. Yusuf finally knows the alphabet! R is a massive, gentle giant and I think the kids have a lot of respect for him! I took the kids old tennis balls this week to play with, and it was amazing watching them, we had balls flying every where. We

Fikiria Kwanza Library

2008-11-11T01:40:00.010-05:00

Fikiria Kwanza students have been enjoying their new library donated by TFFT for almost a month and a half now! It was a slow beginning to the library due to delays in furniture construction and internet installation but it's all coming together quite nicely now. After the furniture was completed in September, I had a goal of opening the library to the children on October 1st. There was a lot to

Usa River Academy Parent's Visiting Day

2008-11-08T01:38:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday, Usa River Academy hosted a day full of singing and dancing preformances, speeches, food, and christmas carols for the families of student's attending the school. Parent's Visiting Day is really special because Usa River administration does not allow for any parental visits throughout the course of the term except on this day. So all of the children have been anxiously awaiting this

Working to Get Greater Support

2008-11-07T06:32:00.002-05:00

This past week has been busy. I started off the week in Dar es Salaam, following a forum last Friday in Dar, run by the East African Association of Grant Makers (EAAG), on mobilizing philanthropic resources in Tanzania. Whilst everyone acknowledges the help Tanzania needs, it seems few local companies are willing to support local NGO’s like The Foundation For Tomorrow. It was exciting to meet

Updates at Matonyok

2008-10-27T14:31:00.000-04:00

Howdy peoples. Sorry for the delay, but I’m currently working on my third computer in as many months and even this one is a bit temperamental. So, again even though there is a blog there are no pictures. But I’m sure that you can use your imagination… Everything is going incredibly well with the Matoyok sanitation

Go Clean - Body Collage

2008-10-17T03:06:00.007-04:00

This week of Full Circle was dedicated to Reuse in the 3R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). The program's four groups (Tembo, Nyoka, Kima, and Sunguara) reused old newspaper and magazine clippings to create their own collage art on a cutout shaped like a person!Pictured here, you'll see a few of the kids hard at work on their collages. Thanks to the donations of local shops StiggBucks, Ciao Gelati, and

Full Circle - Go Clean!

2008-10-10T15:13:00.009-04:00

TFFT is proud to present: GO CLEANFully equipped with prideful teams of 6-8 sponsored children doing art projects and learning about the 3R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). I've designed October's activities so that we can take the opportunity to extend September's (GO GREEN) message of environmental conservation. This month, the kids will use creative expression in art projects that emphasize the

Tuition

2008-10-10T02:05:00.006-04:00

TFFT is working to provide all of our students with quality education and one of the best ways of measuring their knowledge and progress are their grade reports. One of my main goals over the next year is to have all of scholarship students earning at least at "C" average in all of their subjects at school. Almost half of our scholarships students need some special attention oustide of the

2008-10-10T01:59:00.002-04:00

The weeks are just flying by, I can't believe that it is already the middle of October! Last week I was in Nairobi fundraising and meeting with people regarding our fundraising event on the 28th of February 2009. I was lucky enought last week to meet with Allavida www.allavida.org an organisation that works to transform development funding in East Africa, in order to enable poor and marginalised

October is here!

2008-10-06T15:10:00.002-04:00

October 6 – Well, sorry to everyone about not writing last week. Since it was the end of Ramadan and about a third of the Tanzanian population is Muslim, the Tanzanian Government celebrates Eid as a national holiday. Which makes a great opportunity to head to Nairobi for a few days for a) holiday and b) to do some work. While I must that there was more of the former than the latter, we did

Tree Planting with Trees for the Future

2008-10-01T12:47:00.005-04:00

As I've posted, Full Circle (TFFT's Holistic After School Program) is under weigh. Last week, David Tye of Trees For The Future attended our Thursday session. We had been speaking for some time and he was eager to speak with Fikiria Kwanza's boarding students about the many uses of trees.Mr. Tye stood before a group of about 40 of them and asked one simple question: "What are trees used for?"

Bricks

2008-09-22T14:16:00.002-04:00

9/22 – Currently, it’s the Muslim holy month of Ramadan where Muslims fast from day break to sundown. Not only abstaining from food, pious Muslims will tell no lies, partake in no gossip, have no sexual relations, smoke no cigarettes and will not even drink water during this period. And let me tell you, today was hot. Not only was it hot, but my Tanzanian friends assure

Full Circle Is Underway!

2008-09-16T12:54:00.007-04:00

"WEENA, WEENA, WEENA!", the girls shouted as they jumped up and down erratically. They had just defeated the boys in a Tug Of War match. Full Circle, our holistic after school program, is underway! The program is designed to bring the concepts environmental conservation and nutrition into the lives of its participants.Through games and hands-on activities, our kids (and most of the other boarders

Upendo's Class Seven Graduation!!

2008-09-16T03:58:00.009-04:00

Saturday, September 13th was graduation for Class Seven and Form Four from Usa River Academy. TFFT had one graduate from Class Seven, Upendo Estomi. The Tanzania Educational System has three different levels. The first is basic level which consists of pre-primary school (the equivalent of Preschool and Kindergarten) for Baby Class and Pre-Unit. The second portion of Basic Level is Primary

Homeopathy for our children

2008-09-10T03:55:00.000-04:00

According to The World BankAbout 12 million young people between 15 to 24 live with HIV/AIDS6,800 more people are infected with HIV every day! Almost half of them are under 25!Young women are about three times more vulnerable to HIV infection that their male peers2 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 20072.5 million people became infected with HIV in 200796% of infected people live

Maths Education for Matonyok

2008-09-07T14:46:00.000-04:00

9/8 –Well, another week has gone by and both the Teacher Training and the Matonyok projects have shown some progress. First, I met with two different teachers who would be willing to offer critical analyses of teaching methods for those teachers selected for TFFT’s program. This is important, as selected teachers will be spending time overseas in a new educational

Henry-our TFFT dog!

2008-09-04T10:21:00.002-04:00

Today I got a fright! I could not find Henry, our characterful little guard dog! I went every where, out side, up and down roads, asking everyone if they had seen a dog with a red collar-no, no, no! I was getting desperate, it reminded me of when Henry was kidnapped and a ransom of $50 was paid to get him back! After combing the streets, local dukas, and fruit stalls, I came home almost in

Back to School!!!

2008-09-04T07:28:00.002-04:00

The third term of the school year started on Monday this week! Meaning that all boarding students were required to report back to school on Sunday afternoon. I spent Sunday driving all over Arusha (and surrounding areas) to pick up over 50 children and drop them off at Usa River Academy and Fikiria Kwanza. There are some guardians who look after the kids during break that are able to transport

The Power of the Internet

2008-09-01T09:39:00.001-04:00

9/1 – Well, happy September to everyone! Last week was pretty chaotic, with people visiting from South Africa and our inter-web being down for about half the week. It’s mildly disconcerting how much I rely on the internet for work, and this black-out period has really brought that unsavory fact home. I forget how people dealt before the advent of such a time consuming tool?

Peace House

2008-08-25T09:53:00.002-04:00

8/25 – Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with the Managing Director at Peace House, a secondary school that provides education for Tanzanian orphans. Similar to the School of St. Jude, Peace House’s goal is to provide quality instruction to those members of the community who need it most – in this case, children who have been left orphans as a result of the HIV/AIDS

Dream Clinic

2008-08-25T09:49:00.002-04:00

AIDSA disease that has ravaged sub-sahara Africa, infecting over 28 million people. A disease that has killed off older generations of Africans leaving behind millions of orphaned children. A disease that has stalled progress in educational, economic, and development sectors..."A great many things made Africa particularly susceptible to AIDS, some of them innate to the communities where the

Matonyok Parent's Trust

2008-08-21T15:12:00.000-04:00

A Bit More from Matonyok

2008-08-19T04:14:00.006-04:00

The Foundation For Tomorrow has a big job helping a handful of special kids.As I noted in my last blog, the children at Matonyok don't have any real shower or bathroom facilities on hand. Rather, the bathroom consists of a hole in the ground surrounded by four posts enclosed with plastic sheeting, which provides only very minimal privacy. For washing, the children fill buckets with warm water

2008-08-12T15:17:00.002-04:00

August 6th - This week, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at the Matonyok Parents Trust – an orphanage that provides a structured environment where some of the area’s neediest children can come to learn. Since the term ‘matonyok’ come from a Maasai term meaning ‘struggling very hard together’, there is little wonder that the directors – Emmy and Ndemno Sitayo – are working hard to provide

Our Organic garden at Fikiria Kwanza

2008-08-12T01:37:00.005-04:00

The sun emerged from behind the clouds for the first time in weeks on Thursday. Mount Meru flaunted its peak for Wazungu and Watanzania alike. Alley and I marveled at its impressive size, and realized how fortunate we are to be living in such a beautiful country.That day, we were on our way to Fikiria Kwanza Academy to do what I like to

Saba Saba

2008-08-05T02:57:00.010-04:00

July 7th , “Saba Saba” is a national Tanzanian holiday which celebrates the founding of the Tanzanian political party, Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) in 1954. Being a national holiday, school is out for the day so we decided to do something special…we brought the great American summertime tradition of slip-n-slide all the way to Fikiria Kwanza Academy!Meghann inspired this brilliant

Prize day at FK

2008-08-04T02:38:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday 29th July we all went along to FK school to witness their first EVER prize giving at the end of term. When I arrived I was asked to be guest of honor and help present the prizes to the kids who had done well in school, improved the most and been the tidiest! It was such fun! The best bit was when Nicemary and Matayo received prizes as the whole school erupted into applause and wolf

Jessie's Blog

2008-07-25T03:52:00.004-04:00

On Thursday morning our motley crew of 7 woke up bright and early at 3 am to get going on our very own safari! Our trip was intended to scout out the route for our Ride Tanzania bike trip. The charity and service bike trip, which follows the old slave and ivory trade route, will bring awareness of the issues Tanzania faces with education and child slavery. TFFT believes that education will

Gardening in TZ

2008-07-09T08:49:00.000-04:00

June 26-27, 2008A group of us from TFFT participated in a two-day seminar at the World Vegetable Center, right here in Arusha. We arrived to meet up with thirty other matrons and mamas from the local schools and orphanages we work with. The morning began with classes on different types of roots, fruits, vegetables, and seeds and the nutrients they supply. Although we were surprised by the

2008-07-09T07:26:00.003-04:00

This past week has been amazing, a week of learning, of growing, of being present. I have been working on the new after school program "Full Circle" which will facilitate progressive social change through our children's exposure to and appreciation of the benefits of environmental restoration and conservation, healthy lifestyles and creativity. On the way to FK I always drive past a sign for "The

2008-04-02T10:27:00.011-04:00

They were all out at Fikiria Kwanza Academy on Monday, dressed for success and ready to celebrate the opening of the brand new library financed and built by The Foundation For Tomorrow in this, our first year on the ground in Tanzania.Mandu was lookin' sharp.Helena was looking radiant, as always.And the MC was lookin' straight up Superfly.Have you ever been to a library dedication in northern

2008-04-01T13:02:00.002-04:00

The Foundation For Tomorrow wishes to inform you, the interested reader, that we are rooting for the University of North Carolina to win the NCAA Tournament.APRIL FOOL'S! LET'S GO BRUINS!

Face Time with the Leader of the Free World.

2008-02-28T01:03:00.009-05:00

Nothing boosts your street cred like a little face time with the leader of the free world.(I was wearing a trucker hat I bought in our village sokoni that says "Texas Proud." Without it, TFFT wouldn't have gotten more than a passing handshake. Who says you've got to dress up when you're meeting the president?)"Niliwaona kwenye TV jana usiku!! Mlikutana na Bush!!!"Hunter and I have heard about

A Child Named Rosie

2008-02-02T04:15:00.005-05:00

Depending on who you ask, the HIV/AIDS rate among Tanzanians runs between ten and 40 percent. I will never be confident in any figure that is released by the Tanzanian government, and there is no way to confirm all the he said, she said numbers I hear from the flocks of aid workers we come across on a regular basis who "know" Africa so well. But the fact remains: UKIMWI, just like the mass of

Back to School and a New Library Too! (Almost)

2008-01-20T04:26:00.000-05:00

My grandmother was what I like to call a "pre-Vatican II Catholic." Back in the days before 1965, when the pope gave his flock an inch, from which they subsequently took a mile, good Catholics obeyed by the rules -- all of the rules. And my grandmother was a by-the-book, "good Catholic." That explains why she had ten children in about ten years.She lived in a time before Target, in a time

Every Drop Counts

2007-12-19T02:30:00.001-05:00

When Fikiria Kwanza Academy sent our kids home a week earlier than they had stated they would on the syllabus, it presented a little bit of a problem. Not a huge problem; just your standard, dull and slightly annoying, "Welcome to Africa" headache. Hunter and I still hadn't collected the letters (or, for the little ones, the random scribblings of Crayon) our students were going to make for

2007-12-04T07:02:00.000-05:00

SCHOOOOOOL'S OUT, FOR, THE SUMMER!It sounds weird that the next verse should be "school's out until early January." Still getting used to the hemisphere switch. For almost all of the 21 new TFFT kids placed in school this September/October, last week marked the end of their first term at Fikiria Kwanza Academy. The older students preparing to enter secondary school had to stay a little while

2007-11-23T05:42:00.000-05:00

Today was not your average Friday for 16 children at the Good Hope Orphanage in Usa River, Tanzania.At 8:30, a half hour after they would normally be beginning class at their local government school Meru Peak, a bus from a nearby private school came and rounded them up. The words "Usa River Academy" were sprawled across the sides. For most of these kids, it was probably the first time they'd

2007-11-07T10:04:00.001-05:00

I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this, but these past two months of teaching at Fikiria Kwanza Academy have changed things. My eyes have been opened to the truth: Girlz do rule. You must not know 'bout us, you must not know 'bout us...At least in Standard 6 they do, my English class being the extent of the sample size. Maybe the wasichana just have an unfair advantage in demographics.

2007-10-21T14:33:00.000-04:00

Meet Lomnyak and Namayani.TFFT's newest wanafunzi Wamaasai.Simply put, I am obsessed with this brother and sister tandem, the only two Maasai in a group of 19 students that TFFT placed in Fikiria Kwanza Academy this September. Just look at them. Possibly the cutest kids in history.On their applications, their ages were listed as seven and five, respectively. Hunter and I place the real figures