Arafat Bakari Mlumba is 16 years old and lives at Upendo Home. Arafat was born in the village of Musimi, where he lived with his mother and grandmother. His mother tried to provide for the family on her own, but the scarce resources were often not enough. When Arafat's mother decided to move to another region to find work, he stayed behind with his grandmother. He was eleven years old at the time. Everyday life was not easy: there was often a lack of school materials, clothing and sufficient food. It was not possible for Arafat to attend school regularly. [...]

In June, the parents of pupils at the Tumaini School for Deaf Children had the opportunity to take part in a sign language course. These courses are particularly important as they greatly improve communication within the families. The sign language courses help parents to communicate better with their children. This enables them to respond better to the children's needs and the children finally feel understood. Teachers report that parents need less support during the summer vacations to communicate with their children (e.g. if the children fall ill) after the training courses. Also, the children's school performance and behavior improved, as [...]

The province of Salzburg has been supporting the regional cooperation projects in Singida and San Vincente for 30 years, currently with 72,000 euros per year. Martina Berthold (chairwoman), Andrea Rainer (program manager) and Dieter Rachbauer (project manager of the regional cooperation and consultant) visited the projects and Deputy Governor Stefan Schnöll emphasized: "Behind all initiatives are extraordinarily committed people who provide help where it is needed most. The state supports the implementation with around one million euros annually, with Salzburg-Singida certainly being one of the major flagship projects." You can read more about the visit here (in German).

After over a year of construction, the girls' hostel is finished. The first 58 girls have moved into the dormitory. They can now concentrate fully on their final exams. The time they previously spent walking to school (up to 7 km one way) can now be used for studying. And the solar system provides electricity so that the girls also have light (for studying) in the evening. A total of 40 bunk beds and 20 rooms provide space for 80 girls. Soon all the beds will be occupied. The hostel also made it in the news. Nicole Schuchter from SALZBURG24 [...]

We invite you to our anniversary celebration on Friday, September 13, 2024 at 7.00 pm in the Orangerie, Schloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg. Come to our anniversary event and get to know our project partners Afesso Ogenga and Violet Shaku from Singida. At an informative and festive event in Hellbrunn, we will take a look at the developments of 40 years of being sister cities and 30 years of regional cooperation. Afterwards, there will be a small buffet where we can end the evening in a relaxed atmosphere. Please register at singida@tanzania.at and we look forward to seeing you there! Please be [...]

Annual report 2023 (in German) The Upendo Home has set itself 3 goals: to catch - infrastructure and framework conditions Strengthening - education & training Giving perspective - Independence To catch: This is about securing the basic needs of the children. The Upendo Home offers a safe place (physically and emotionally) and a home. This is achieved by a competent team that attends annual training courses and works according to the educational concept developed by the team in Salzburg and Singida. The maintenance of the facilities is also important. There is plenty of space for the children to play and [...]

Since the fall, the staff in Singida, Afesso and Violet have been collecting information and feedback on the projects from 270 residents from the focus villages. At the beginning of February, program manager Andrea, consultant Dieter and psychotherapist and supervisor Bettina were on site for three weeks, leading discussions with women's groups, residents, community health workers (who support the population in the area of health), teachers and nurses from the villages. The aim of the discussions is to find out what is particularly important to the residents, what can be improved and what has worked well. The results are incorporated [...]

96 children and 8 teachers are at the Tumaini School for deaf children. Together they went on an excursion on August 18 and visited the weather center in Singida, the Maasai school and had a picnic at Lake Singida. The teachers reported many happy faces and a fun day for the children. This trip is very special for the children.  

We have received great news from Upendo Home. Afesso, the director of Upendo Home reports: "After trying to trace his family for the past ten years in vain, eventually we were able to reach Pius’ family and reunite him with his sister who came along from Dar es Salaam. Indeed it was an exciting and joyful moment for Pius, his family, staff and children at Upendo home as it was our wish and desire to see Pius get in touch with his family. This is a miracle!"