WHY TUMAINI? – Tumaini Children’s Foundation

About TUCHIFO (TUmaini CHIldren’s FOundation)

Tumaini Children’s Foundation is a not for profit, charitable organization dedicated to the care, support and education of orphaned and needy children in and around Usa River, Arusha, Tanzania with a focus on establishing sustainable independence.

TUmaini CHIldren’s FOundation, or TUCHIFO, (acronyms are VERY popular in Tanzania) is registered through Revenue Canada (BIN 831502059), a U.S. 501(c)(3), (EIN 46-3090671) and a registered NGO (United Republic of Tanzania, Non-Governmental Organization Act, 2002, Section 12(2) of Act. No. 24 of 2002, Certificate No. 3232).

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Why Tanzania?

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. In our founding year it was ranked 162nd out of 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index. Canada was ranked #3. This index references quality of life, life expectancy, standards of living, education, etc.

Visit our site and meet our children . . . better yet, visit us in Tanzania and meet them in person. We offer a volunteer experience program where you can work with our children, and/or within the community making a difference. Further, one of our own Tumaini graduates will arrange your safari to the Serengeti or one of our other spectacular national parks, or a climbing expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain!

“With Hope all things are Possible”

How do we do what we do?

Our Tumaini family lives on two acres in Ngyani Village on Mount Meru, where our children enjoy their (donated) soccer pitch and basketball court after school, homework and chores. They eat nutritious food including meat, milk and eggs and are provided the best medical care we can provide when needed. We spend millions of shillings every year to provide our children with the very best education we can afford and are proud to share that we have produced several university graduates!

Tumaini was founded by Mama Dee, Cherie Tiffin-Szucs (Canada) and Oddo Ndonde (Tanzania) who are supported by some pretty exceptional administrators both in Tanzania and around the world.

Our primary support comes through child sponsorship and targeted fundraising efforts which go into a general “pool” or fund and are used strictly for the day to day operations of Tumaini House and in support of our outreach family. Every non Tanzanian is a committed, unpaid volunteer which helps keep administration costs low. We are extremely proud to declare that over 90% of our dollars go DIRECTLY to the care of our children!

Our PROJECTS section describes additionally needed efforts but no project can proceed without being funded first. Please review this section and see if you can help!

When we founded Tumaini it was our commitment to provide the very best nutritional, safety and educational care we possibly could for our children, enabling them to have a REAL chance at a future. We are committed to complete transparency so you can be confident in your support of us.

It truly does “take a village to raise a child”. In this case a global village. Please do consider helping us give our children hope! Asante!

Why do we do what we do?

Tumaini’s Objectives or “Charitable Purposes” are as follows:

To relieve poverty by providing food, clothing, medical care, school fees and subsidized housing to the neediest citizens in and around Usa River, Tanzania. (Ongoing now, with home visits, needs assessments and relocation through Chair Cherie Szucs when she is in Tanzania)
To relieve poverty by operating a home (Tumaini “Hope” House) and care centre for poor, orphaned and unsafe or critically needy children in and around Usa River, Tanzania.
To relieve poverty by employing a small number of Tanzanians as support staff for the home and care centre, who shall be governed by officers in Canada. The home will be supported through child sponsorship, fundraising efforts and corporate and individual donations.
To relieve poverty through the sponsorship of capital loans (micro-financing) to begin/expand small businesses which in turn will better support the children of desperately needy parents. (Ongoing with Chair Cherie Szucs when in Tanzania and volunteers).
To advance education by providing foundations in English, Swahili, printing and counting for children under school age. Instruction through volunteers and support staff of Tumaini House.
To advance education by providing sponsorship for tuition fees, uniforms, notebooks, school supplies and assistance with homework and school assignments. Funds to be provided through child sponsorship, fundraising efforts and corporate and individual donations.
To advance education and benefit the community by establishing and maintaining a neighbourhood library.
To advance education and benefit the community by providing free lessons in English to the citizens of Usa River. Learning program will be taught by volunteers.
To advance education and benefit children by organizing and hosting educational seminars intended to improve teaching methods (to be taught by volunteers) and to support (when possible) local schools/teachers.
To benefit the community by providing medical support (when financially feasible) to the most needy citizens of Usa River and area. Funding will be provided through dedicated fundraising efforts, corporate and individual donations.
To benefit the community by working with local HIV/AIDS groups, including “Dream” in Usa River, Tanzania.
To benefit the community by providing support (when possible) to the Meru District Social Welfare Office.

Our vision is to support children in critical need to good health and safety, through secondary and even post-secondary education, in order to give them the best chance at a full life, with the hope that they will then “pay it forward” to others struggling with poverty.

Help us to make our future bright.

Please tour our site, meet our children and consider sponsorship. Asante sana!!

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About Need . . .

TUCHIFO has no religious affiliation, most simply put; the level of need dictates the level of assistance TUCHIFO provides. When asked, we make home visits assess need and select children based on their individual living situations. In most cases, TUCHIFO is able to provide support in an outreach capacity, in other words, the child remains in their home and we assist them there. Only the most severe cases (dangerous living situations, critical need), are brought to Tumaini House.

Queenie was born in prison – Kelvin (blind) was born to a severely mentally handicapped and desperately poor mother – Several of our HIV+ children came to us orphaned, desperately sick and would not be alive today without our intervention. Several of our children were taken out of life threatening living situations of abuse. Many of our children were abandoned and there was simply no one else . . .

About Health . . .

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION . . .

Unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene kill 1.7 million people annually.
Indoor smoke (cooking) kills an estimated 1.6 million people annually.
Malaria kills 1.2 million people (mostly African children under the age of 5) annually. (www.who.int/heli/risks/ehindevcoun/en/)

Malaria kills one in five Tanzanian children and although not common in our part of Tanzania, several of our Tumaini family have suffered and were treated for it.

The human decimation of HIV/AIDS has left a population of almost 50% children (under fourteen years of age).

TUCHIFO children Christina, Francis, Joseph, Janet, Busaina and Mulki, Emmanuel, Neema, Rashid, Daniel, Esther, Ibrahim, James, Mary and Winnie were living, and suffering with their Bibis (grandmothers) who, in their 70s and 80s struggled every day to find food, clothing and medication, never mind the possibility of school fees.

Some of our children are HIV+. We work closely with HIV support groups helping children and mamas, without husbands/partners who are struggling with desperate poverty, their own and in some cases their child’s HIV status, all the while trying to feed and educate their children.

About Education in Tanzania . . .

Only about 4% of children in Tanzania complete secondary school and many will not even finish their primary educations because of cost. For one child to attend public school, (where classes approximate one hundred students per teacher and students attend without pens, pencils, paper, desks, etc.) a family must allocate the equivalent of almost $100 per child to cover the cost of: watchman/water/school maintenance/desk $40; uniform shirts (2) $10; uniform skirt/trouser $10; uniform sweater $10, uniform shoes and polish $15, uniform socks $2, school book bag $5; exercise books $5. $100 equates to ¼ of the average annual household income of $395 and is impossible for most families to commit to a child’s education and we are only talking about PRIMARY education!

Of that 4% of secondary school graduates mentioned above, only about 11.5% finish with any real proficiency in Math or Science. A greater focus MUST be given in this direction if Tanzanians are to qualify for “technically challenging” careers. TUCHIFO is committed to improving this by focusing support in government schools in this direction. And after secondary school?

Virtually unheard of in an orphanage in Tanzania, we are very proud that Tumaini has supported several young people straight through the completion of their university educations! It is our objective to take each child we support as far, academically as he or she can possibly go ensuring a real chance at a future!