January 12, 2018
Our founder and Executive Director, Meghann, discusses our focus on student and teachers, why both populations matter, and the goal of the ripple effect across communities…the power of education can truly transform lives. All images copyright of The Image Is Found
Our mission is to secure quality education and emotional support for orphan and vulnerable children so that they may reach their full potential and thrive in their communities.
TFFT focuses on addressing vulnerability using the power of education. When we say we invest in students, we are talking about offering orphan and vulnerable children the opportunity to succeed through access to quality schooling, health and psycho-social support and life skills programs. When we discuss our investment in teachers, we are referring to our efforts to improve the quality of instruction by training excellent educators, providing access to quality resources and training of school management to ensure widespread, sustainable impact.
Our intent is that through investing in these two groups, we can empower individuals to become change agents in their own communities and stronger leaders for our world. It is why I give my time, talent and financial resources to The Foundation For Tomorrow.
TFFT has worked in Tanzania for over a decade. We began by providing orphan and vulnerable children access to quality education through enrollment in private boarding schools. As TFFT evolved, we developed and implemented programs to compliment and enhance our scholars’ education. We continued to evolve and start to look at the whole child, simply based on the need to provide our scholars with life-skills lessons such as health and hygiene. We then designed our Teacher Training Program to improve the quality of educational instruction at our partner schools, and now focus on supporting scholars and teachers in both private and government schools. We see teachers as the front line of defense, our partners in ensuring vulnerable children can reach their full potential and truly thrive. The goal is to create a ripple effect across Tanzanian communities through a strong educational foundation for those our program touches.
Investing in our teachers’ growth matters. On top of being a main goal set by the UN in their 2030 agenda, ensuring quality education for all is the right thing to do. Our organization sees it as a moral obligation we have to our next generation. Teachers are central to achieving access to high quality and equitable education for all learners. Research in diverse countries and education systems show that teachers are the biggest in-school influence on student achievement and learning, especially for disadvantaged students. The success of education objectives and reform depends on solving teacher shortages where they exist, creating conditions for teacher motivation and a sense of professional responsibility as key factors in individual learning and education system success. (UNESCO – Teacher Policy Education Guide)
A child’s right to primary school education is non-negotiable, regardless of the child’s wider family economic, cultural or social background. However, for children living in a family extreme poverty, the likelihood of access and completing their primary school education is sustainably reduced. Their best chance to escape extreme poverty is through education, which can empower youth to make the best choices for themselves and their communities. When you deny a child access to primary schooling, you are stripping them of their dignity (ATD Forth World – Tanzania, Access to Primary School Education For Children Living in Extreme Poverty). We see power in equipping the next generation with the tools they need to lift themselves up. That is why we invest in students as well as the teachers whose work in the classroom can change the trajectory of an individual’s life!