Background...

Just like so many other coastal villages, Mwambani is lagging behind when it comes to development. The over reliance on fishing and small scale farming does not do them any favours. Sites of poverty strikes you the moment you arrive at Mwambani, the little mud huts, animals and humans competing for space, houses with almost caving in walls and malnourished children. A few of the women engage in sea weed farming as men do fishing but in most cases many of them have nothing to do.The youth kill time playing draughts and cards which as you well know is not very productive.

There’s a high rate of school drop outs due to parents not able to pay tuition fees. A good number of village girls have had unwanted pregnancies and the burden of fending for their little ones is left with the already financial constrained parents and relatives.

But...

It is not all miserable and glum though, the villagers are the most friendly, welcoming and co-operative people we have worked with. The Camp Tanzania volunteers who have come through would agree with me on this one. This is why when Camps came up with the most ambitious project of building a trust house for the village, Raruh, whom most of the past volunteers might know, offered his plot of land. Raruh who is paralyzed from waist down has his little house in the heart of the village. Because he is a parent and has school going kids of his own  he understands the need for the village to have a nursery school thus avoiding the little kids walking for 6kms, five days a week to go to the nearest school. He offered his plot of land to be used for the benefit of the entire village. As a company we returned him a favour by offering his wife with permanent employment and now there is a bread winner in the family.

The future...

The centre would comprise of a nursery classroom which would double up as a tailoring and computer training centre for the women and youth of Mwambani. Because nursery going kids would only be using the classroom for half a day, we can do so much more with this space if we can raise the funds.

Women in these parts of the world are considered the backbone of many families. We believe by providing women with additional skills, they will have more opportunities to create an income for themselves. Furthermore, the youth will now have a chance to engage in the modern world and stand a chance.

Our long term plan for the Trust House is to also have a kids’ play centre fully equipped with games, toys and a play ground.

All this and more is possible. Camps International has made tremendous steps to getting this far and with our Foundation, 100% of any donation will go directly to the new Tanga Trust House.

Help us make that difference!