change together – open up perspectives – protect the vulnerable
Regional Cooperation
The program of regional cooperation includes regional development in the areas of health, education and village development. The selected measures have a direct impact on people’s quality of life.
In a priority region of Singida, work is carried out with the village communities of selected villages over three to five years. The projects are aimed particularly at the weaker members of society, especially the rural population, women and girls.
Following a needs assessment and selection process, work began in 2018 in the two districts of Ikhanoda and Mwasauya. This marked the successful completion of the program in Singida Rural (2014-2018) with the focus villages of Itaja, Kinyamwenda, Mughamo and Mjura with the construction of a Charko Dam (water retention basin) and an evaluation.
Our local partner organization involves the regional and local government representatives in the different project phases. As an NGO, we see ourselves as a mediator between government services and the people.
Trainings
Like most other sub-Saharan countries, Tanzania suffers from a high maternal and child mortality. A lack of or insufficient basic medical care, a low awareness level, structural malnutrition as well as certain cultural perceptions, which are sometimes in contradiction with modern medical findings, ultimately have lead to this situation.
The qualitative improvement of medical care through training and education of medical staff is a central approach in this regard. This element of the program serves to further qualify health workers in Singida, who already work in the civil service.
At the same time, four-day continuing education courses on the topics of pregnancy, birth and newborns will be offered at local health stations. Both of the trainers work at the local hospital in Singida town; one of them is the only gynecologist in the whole region of Singida.
Facilities
The health stations are quite often inadequately equipped with medical-technical equipment. At this point, the project should provide targeted and needs-based support. Some health stations have no water (problems in the course of births and hygiene issues in general) or no power connection (problems in the course of births at night). In order to tackle these problems, affordable solutions should be found, for example, solar systems for rainwater collection.
Outreach & Nutrition
Health workers are rarely available in sufficient numbers. To address this problem, so-called community health workers have been engaged. Once a week, they support the health workers directly at the health station and go from door to door in the village (outreach).
The Community Health Workers hold short trainings on healthy and sufficient supplementary diets for infants from 7 months of age. Up to this age, breast milk is totally sufficient for the infant’s well-being. Particularly low-income families with children facing malnutrition are supplied with oatmeal for three months in order to produce a nourishing porridge. Additionally, a program dealing with vegetable gardens will be launched to support a balanced diet especially for infants.
The projects support the upskilling of midwives and nurses and better-equipped health stations. Campaigns dealing with maternal and child mortality and malnutrition save lives.
Physical infrastructure
For years Salzburg – Singida and CIP has been supporting the construction and equipping of additional classrooms. As part of the 2018 evaluation, this support was given top priority by the respective village population. Although infrastructure projects in the area of Regional Cooperation have been deliberately pushed back in recent years, there is still a strong need for them.
The “school package”, a combination of a building with 2 classrooms separated by a teacher’s office and a water tank for rainwater collection as well as a latrine block for girls and boys, including the possibility to wash hands has proven very successful.
Teachers are usually not from the village in which they work, but from other parts of the country. Their salaries are normally low and therefore renting a small room in the village is a financial burden; additionally, privacy is hardly given. Schools without teaching quarters are unattractive to most teachers. In order to keep teachers at the school and to get more teachers assigned by the school authority, it is necessary to provide housing for them.
Girls hostel
The higher you get in the school system, the fewer girls complete school. To improve the situation for girls, Tanzania plans to build a girls hostel at every secondary school. However, the state usually does not have the money to do so. With support from the state of Salzburg, a girls’ dormitory was built at Mwasauya Secondary School in 2023/24. The dormitory offers space for a total of 80 girls.
Quality of education
Many classes consist of 60 to 100 students. Reasonable teaching under these conditions is hardly possible. The reduction of the number of school pupils is thus a central concern of Regional Cooperation. However, more teachers have to be assigned by the school authority, otherwise one teacher has to teach two classes at the same time, which will not necessarily increase the quality of the teaching. A close cooperation between the school and the school authority is therefore absolutely necessary.
Also for years CIP and Salzburg – Singida have been offering continuing education courses for teachers of English and Mathematics. The two subjects were chosen because the success rate in Standard Seven Exams in these two subjects in the Singida region is particularly poor by national standards.
In cooperation with the instructors at the teachers’ college in Kinampanda (Teachers Training College – TTC), further education modules are developed and offered based on the wishes and needs of the teachers.
In order to strengthen the quality of education, additional teaching materials for the subjects English and Mathematics are provided and so-called clubs (for individual in-depth studies) are supported.
The educational projects support the continuing education of teachers in Mathematics and English, the accessibility of necessary teaching materials and the improvement of the infrastructure of elementary and secondary schools through the construction of school classes, rainwater tanks and toilets. Very important is a toilet for girls to protect their privacy during menstruation. Here the distribution of menstrual pads is part of supporting girls to improve their school attendancy.
Increased quality of life
In addition to the two sectors of intervention health and education, CIP and Salzburg – Singida have for some years been implementing a series of sometimes smaller activities, collectively referred to as community development.
These activities include the construction of vegetable gardens or smokeless and more energy-efficient stoves, the promotion of savings- and micro-credit systems (VICOBA), the construction of water reservoirs (Charko dam) for the dry season or the promotion of commercial chicken farming.
Empowerment of girls
Empowering girls has been the focus of village development since 2022, as girls and women are still disadvantaged in many areas. At 37%, Tanzania has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world. 44% of women aged between 15 and 49 years have experienced either physical or sexual violence. There are still no equal opportunities in everyday life, although equal rights are enshrined in law.
The empowerment training provides valuable awareness-raising work on these and many other challenges faced by girls. Knowledge and information are provided on gender equality, women’s rights, body image, boundaries, sexuality, education, and other relevant topics. The two-day training sessions provide the girls with tools that promote their self-determination and courage. It is important to affirm that their voice is important and legitimate and that they can make a difference. It is particularly important to realize that this is not about individual or family issues but about deep-rooted structural and social problems.
Upendo Home for street children and orphans
Since its foundation in 2008, the Upendo Home has developed into a home for around 40 street children. Children and adolescents live on the streets of Singidas city because their parents are addicted, violent, sick or deceased. They are unable to feed the children or care for them properly.
They are admitted to the Upendo Home according to established admission criteria. Their new home covers basic needs such as food and accommodation, provides relationship and community, a safe place and education. The children and young people are supported according to their abilities and talents and if necessary they receive psycho-social support.
Between the ages of 18 and 22, the young people leave the home. The challenge for all involved is to prepare and accompany the transition to an independent life well.
Upendo in Kiswahili, the most widely spoken lingua franca in East Africa, means love and affection and is a popular first name in Tanzania.
Social competence
The community at Upendo Home offers the children and young people the opportunity to grow together and rub shoulders with each other. Everyday activities such as helping to prepare meals, working in the garden or caring for the chickens and cows, learning together and supporting each other creates a family life.
Many are enthusiastic soccer players and in the regular tournaments they compete against other teams. Volleyball and other team games are also popular with the boys and girls. The playful interaction fosters rapport and communication. Once a year, a field trip is organized to one of the many natural sites in the area so that the children can learn about their country.
Confidential feedback about difficulties that cannot be solved individually ends up in a feedback box at the office of the home’s director, who deals with it. In addition, monthly group meetings create a framework for sharing and conflict resolution.
Personal responsibility
Routine and clear rules provide the necessary security to be able to express their own opinions. It is important for the young people to be able to decide for themselves about defined areas of their lives. The assumption of personal responsibility prepares the young people for the transition from the home to an independent life.
Together with the home’s director, we are constantly working on the development of the framework conditions for these two areas. The social worker and matrons are particularly committed to their implementation. Professional support is organized for the children who have difficulty coping with their traumatic past.
The children’s school performance is very good. They are all eager and motivated to use the opportunity for school education. Already four teenagers are studying at universities in the country. Six of them attend technical schools, higher education or do apprenticeships. We are all proud of them!
Afesso Ogenga, Heimleiter
“I like working with children and people in need.”
Jackson Joseph Kivuyo, Social Worker
“It has been my dream to serve and support children facing different challenges especially most vulnerable children.”
Magdalena Joseph, Matron
“I love working with children, learn from them, and help them.”
Hawa Shabani, Köchin
“Children support me as they learn.”
Upendo Home Board members: Bernhard Fries (Founding members and longtime supporters of the home), Parseko Kone, Fatuma Malenga, Rehema Gwao, Permenas Mashanjara
The workshops
- Tailoring & Knitting
- Carpentry
- Workshop for metalworking
- Arts and crafts
In the workshops, the young people learn handicraft skills for everyday life while attending school. Thanks to the long-term support of Bankhaus Spängler, it has been possible to create a professionally oriented infrastructure. The team provides individual and personal support to each child. Work on the further development of the workshops is ongoing.
Once a week, the children and young people are taught by teachers and can train and improve their manual skills. In the carpentry and metal workshop, furniture and repairs for Upendo Home are made. The school uniforms, fashion and other useful things are made in the sewing workshop and the knitting workshop. And the modern pieces in the arts and crafts class range from bracelets and handbags to ornaments and batik cloths. Some children find great pleasure in handicraft work and begin apprenticeship training at the state-run Vocational Education Training Association (VETA).
The products of the training workshops are for their own use and are also offered for sale in a small showroom of the Upendo Home.
TUMAINI School, boarding school for deaf children
A total of 84 children attend the school. The dedicated team of teachers and caregivers has been lovingly caring for the deaf children for many years. A big problem is communication. Especially the parents can only communicate with their children to a very limited extent. Training in sign language and training materials and aids for self-training have changed the situation considerably. There is more exchange and acceptance between parents and children. Teachers are supported by training grants to train and expand their capabilities in the classroom. The construction of toilets and the distribution of sanitary pads to the girls is also an important part of a humane education in Tumaini School.
Salzburg – Singida has supported the school for many years. Two fully equipped classrooms and two teachers’ offices, dining hall and kitchen were built, the beds and mattresses got renewed.
For the Tanzanian government, the promotion of deaf and vision-impaired children is a priority in the education sector. NGOs in particular are committed to inclusion here and are trying to advance the government’s ambitious goals or at least take the first steps.
