Ishinde Kindergarten Development Program
Ishinde is a small, rural community in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. Set close to the Ruvu floodplains, the land is fertile and the people are industrious with a strong sense of community. Being a rural backwater, they get little assistance from the government.
The nearest secondary school is 6 kilometers away and the nearest kindergarten 10 km away. Both are fee-paying.
I first went to Ishinde in 2007, having become friendly with Fidelia Tezura, an Ishinde lady who worked in the hostel I was staying at in the town of Same. Her and her husband Moses had taken in Noel, an orphaned boy. At the time, Noel was finishing secondary school, and as both Fidelia and Moses worked long hours, Noel looked after meals and day to day household chores despite have a 6 km walk to school in the morning and the same in the afternoon. He struck me as a thoughtful, friendly, humble young man, grateful for the shelter and love that the Tezuras gave him. The Tezura’s had started an informal kindergarten at Ischinde church, which migrated to their house and that Noel became involved in.
Noel and I kept in touch, he finished his A-levels, went to university and got a Diploma in Human Resources Management. The following year I paid for a computer studies course for him, and in 2013 he obtained sponsorship to go to Germany to study infant education at kindergartens in Hamburg. On returning to Ishinde in 2014, with the advice, sponsorship, and funding from Germany, mainly through the registered NGO Social Business Stiftung, www.social-business-stiftung.org, he started building a proper kindergarten for the village and created an NGO, Ishinde Youth Initiative. www.ishindeyouthinitiative.or.tz https://youtu.be/x79UnUKzdCc
Today the kindergarten is operational on a pilot level, with 25 children being provided with age-appropriate education and activities, breakfast and lunch, with four employees Antonia (social pedagogue), Msami (caretaker), Anjela (cook), and Noel (project leader).
To develop and reach its full potential of 50 to 60 children in two classes, the project needs 3 things:
- Regular donations: There are currently 56 people donating 10 euros a month. It needs another 24 people to do the same to increase the number of kids it can take in.
- More staff: To improve the level of education provided, 2 international volunteer teachers are required. I can find them, but they need somewhere to stay.
- A volunteer teachers’ house next to the kindergarten. A two-bedroom house will cost $14,300 USD to build and equip. Once created, volunteer teachers from overseas can come and teach for two to three-months at a time.
You can help by making a donation for either regular running costs, or towards the teachers’ house to:
That cant be done very simply through Paypal, you don't need an account, just a debit or credit card, click here
Or you can make a donation via bank transfer to:
Account holder: Social Business Stiftung
Bank: Sparkasse Stade Altes Land
IBAN: DE14 241 510 05 10000 220 69
BIC: NOLA DE21 STS
Account holder: Social Business Stiftung
Palstek 33
21129 Hamburg
www.social-business-stiftung.org
Send them an email at info at social-business-stiftung.org with your name and address and they will send you a receipt. Fro German citizens, there is tax relief available, and theoretically to all EU citizens.
Links
Video on how the project started here.
See the latest kindergarten news from SBS's visit in November 2017, here.
