September 18, 2020
As we continue to navigate the realities of COVID-19 in all aspects of our work, high ambitions and a sharp focus on ending the global learning crisis drive TFFT programming forward. This month, the TFFT community has celebrated many accomplishments and achievements as we make steady progress in our mission to deliver quality education to the world’s most marginalized children. In this blog, we present some of the many highlights of the past two months. We hope that while reading this blog, you share in the pride of the impact of these initiatives! Your support transforms the world into one where each individual has the power to shape her or his future!
- Glady goes to college!
TFFT scholar is starting her college journey next week! Gladness Emmanuel Mollel joined TFFT in 2012 when she was in class 4. She is a maternal orphan. She did her primary school education at USA River Primary School before proceeding to Arusha Modern Secondary. She’s quite soft spoken personality wise and takes her time to make a decision which in the end always proves well formed. Her passion for salon, hairdressing and beauty therapy was ignited by supporting her sister during the holidays who runs a hairdressing salon business in Tengeru. She has recently enrolled at Arusha City College to translate her strengths into certified and recognisable skills and is pursuing her passion in Salon, Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy (for 6 months) which will be followed by Event Decoration and Cake Making (for 3 months). This is a decision she firmly stands by and says, one can never go hungry if they can use their hands to bring food onto the table. She also observes that women need hairdressing and beauty therapy services almost on a daily basis and that people engage in a lot of events that would require decoration and cake making for celebrations and with that in mind, this can be a lucrative career path that she can turn into a thriving business. She’s motivated to become an entrepreneur and is grateful for the unwavering encouragement, support and confidence in her abilities from her sponsors and TFFT.”
- Teacher Training Program
Teacher Training School Break Program kicked off at the start of the month. In-Service teachers are excited and motivated by the professional development support to further develop, strengthen and sustain their skills to be more effective in improving the quality of instruction offered by TFFT. As Noah (TFFT’s Teacher Training Program Manager) said, “We were honoured to have Mr. Nazi, a District Education Officer and Mr. Kabati, a District Academic Officer of Meru District Council.” TFFT’s Teacher Training team works with local leaders and government to further develop, strengthen, and sustain the professional capacity of teachers and educators. Hongera sana (many congratulations!) for a good start team!
- School Feeding Program
On September 8th, in partnership with The Lunch Project, we launched the full, five days a week, School Feeding Program for Elkurot Pre & Primary School (475 boys & 706 girls). This is a targeted safety net program in six schools, designed to provide educational and health benefits to vulnerable children. The implementation of this intervention in all of the schools that are supported by The Lunch Project show increase enrollment rates, reduced absenteeism, positively impacted nutritional status of scholars, educational status, and gender equity, each of which contributes to improving both human and national development.
- International Youth Day
On International Youth Day, TFFT alumni showed the world what it means to be active citizens, with the goal to be the source of change and empowerment among each other and to the world. TFFT alumni embarked on different world changer projects with Richard Augustino Pallangyo, a TFFT alumni studying IT with a dream to use IT to transform Africa. Richard did a Zoom presentation on the website he developed from scratch for his fellow alumni Issack Sufian. Richard said “When I was asked to think of a project that I can do as part of my class, I immediately thought of doing something for my fellow alumni Issack Suffian who have been in need of the website for his business for a very long time but he couldn’t afford the costs.” Richard said, “I knew the decision to create a website for Issack was a very big challenge that could mess up my school work, but I was convinced that the challenge was worth a try and was incredibly happy to see it came together perfectly.” Issack, who is a determined eco-tour practitioner with the dream to use part of the revenue coming from his eco-tour company to support people in need was grateful to receive a gift of a website from his fellow alumni. Issack said, “The website has rekindled my strength and determination to strive for the success of Usambara Destination Tours Company. I have been funding this company from my own pocket and you know how hard that can be. So, to get the help from someone like Richard made me feel seen and that my project has meaning!”
For a different project, TFFT alumnae Nancy Felix planted a tree in a government school to inspire them to start their own garden. Nancy said “I planted a tree at Kaloleni Primary School with the belief that it will provide students with a shed during a sunny day, but this tree also stands as motivation for them to start their own garden at the same place I planted a tree.”
Finally, Issack Suffian, Nicemary Lema, Eliupendo Nnko, Vaileth Pallangyo and Ombeni Elisante participated in Youth International Day: Stakeholder Roundtable as an upcoming network of youth for youth in Arusha. They went into this conversation with the intention not only to connect with youth stakeholders, but also to make sure the voices of youth are represented during youth stakeholder dialogue. Issack Suffian contributed, “For youth to be empowered, institutions supporting youth have to go beyond knowledge sharing to incubating and supporting youth intervention.” Nicemary spoke about the impact that The Foundation For Tomorrow has had among every child who passed through their hands including how much The Foundation For Tomorrow have made it possible for her to stand on her own feet as an independent soap producer.
- International Literacy Day: Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond
International Literacy Day 2020 focuses on “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond,” especially on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The theme highlights literacy learning in a lifelong learning perspective, and therefore, mainly focuses on youth and adults. The recent Covid-19 crisis has been a stark reminder of the existing gap between policy discourse and reality: a gap that already existed in the pre-COVID-19 era and negatively affects the learning of youth and adults, who have no or low literacy skills, and therefore, tend to face multiple disadvantages. By exploring these questions, International Literacy Day 2020 provides an opportunity to reflect on and discuss how innovative and effective pedagogies and teaching methodologies can be used in youth and adult literacy programs to face the pandemic and beyond.
Thank you for your continuous support and ongoing investment in quality education for all!