What are the problems for the children?
Many children struggle every day and have no hope for the future, some of the children’s problems are that their parents are in prison, there is not enough money for food, having to take care of the elderly, parents passed away or they have HIV. As a result of all these problems children aged 6-14 years have to work in these regions. With your donations we can give children education, hope and a chance on a better future.
If we build the classrooms, there will be no costs anymore for The Kindergarten of Joy, therefore they can allow children to go to school for free. This way there are no debts, children get free education and do not have to work or take care of their families at home, because they get food in school.
We built a school in Mafinga, Tanzania! By doing so we freed 71 children from child labour. Weeks before we finished the school some of these children were working long hours on the farm land. Thanks to this school being built, they now get to be children with the opportunity to play, learn and attend school.
We still need more monthly donors to make sure we can provide food for all of the children at The kindergarten of Joy. A monthly donation of € 3.50 per child means the children can stay in school and out of child labour.
About the school
The Kindergarten of Joy is a school in Mafinga, Iringa in Tanzania built by The Next Smile. It consists of two classrooms and one office where four to six teachers will teach. This school offers free education to benefit the less fortunate children and families in the area. The aim is to make sure that the children do not have to drop out due to lack of funds. At The Kindergarten of Joy everyone is equal regardless of religion or tribe.
Why was help needed?
Mafinga, Iringa is one of the poorest regions in Tanzania. Here the average monthly income is $40 per person. When our ambassador arrived he noticed that people would eat as much breakfast as they could, simply because there was no guarantee of lunch or dinner that day.
In this region it is common to see children aged four to twelve years old work hard on the farm land. These children work because of one simple reason: food. A lot of the children are orphans. Others have parents in prison or who do not earn enough money for food. Therefore these children do not have enough money to pay for government schools and instead they end up working to survive.
People in this region live under hard conditions. There is no electricity, running water nor good transport. These challenges that people are facing make it even more difficult for them to escape poverty.
How did we achieve this project?
On the 5th of October 2020 an ambassador of The Next Smile flew to Tanzania to help children in need by building a school in their region. This project was divided in 8 phases of building (see the photo report below). To construct the school we hired local labourers and the materials used were also bought locally.
When our ambassador saw children working on the farm lands he started talking to them and asked them why they were working and if they were going to school. When the children answered that they didn’t go to school and had to work for their food our ambassador asked to see their parents or guardians. He then had a conversation with them, offering their children to go to our school, without paying any tuition fees. He also promised to provide the children with 3 meals a day if they would join our school and stop working. It is also a part of our deal with the parents or guardians that the children do not work after school nor during the weekends.
But how do we make sure that parents follow the mutual agreement when we are no longer there? After getting to an agreement with the parents, our ambassador went to the local chairman of the village (with whom we are in direct contact) and shared the agreement. The local chairman will continue to oversee that the child does not work anymore.
Why did The Next Smile decide to help?
We believe that every child should be playing with other children and that they should not be working all day. We believe that every child should have the right to an education. We want to give children hope and a future. We believe giving them a chance to attend school will provide them with the ability to think for themselves and allow them a chance to go to university after they finish primary school and high school.
Financial report
The received donations will be used solely for the projects. We want to be as transparent as possible so below when pressing on the icon, you will find an overview of the costs made for this project.
Photo report of the school
To see pictures of the school from start to finish, click on the PDF icon below!
We still need your help!
We have now accomplished building the school, hiring teachers and saving some children from child labour. However, in order to continue to help children in this region we have to keep the operating costs low. This is done by making the school as self sufficient as possible. Next to the school is a piece of land which we will use to grow vegetables and other food. In order to do this we need a water tank for the summer months. When we have bought this, food will become very cheap for the school. It will then cost €3.50 to feed one child for a month. For €3.50 a child will get 3 meals a day, for an entire month.
For the price of 1 cup of coffee you can feed a child for a month, enabling him or her to go to school. If you want to make a change, press on the donate button below and when donating make sure the box for "Monthly payment" is ticked. This way you are covering the monthly food costs of 1 child. By doing so you really make a change.
Water tank
We are also raising €1500 to buy a water tank to put in the middle of the farmland. This way we will be able to grow food during the dry season (May to October).
Electricity
At this moment there is no electricity in the classrooms, office nor in the kitchen area. Teachers have to go into town to charge their phones and laptops in order to make the school operational. Our aim is to install solar panels to make the schools operation more efficient.
If you want to make a change today, please donate.
So far we got 71 children out of child labour in Mafinga!
This would not have been possible without your support!
Additional information
Why donate to us? What will happen with your donation exactly?
The donations will be 100% used for the Kindergarten of Joy in Tanzania. Charity The Next Smile takes 0% of the funded money for costs, costs made for this project are already covered by volunteers.
We also make sure that there are no middle men involved between Charity The Next Smile and the Kindergarten of Joy. We are in direct contact with the director of the school. This way there is not a third party involved who can make a profit on any transaction.
At all our projects a volunteer of The Next Smile will personally visit the projects.
These are the measures used to make sure that 100% of your donations go towards benefitting children.
Donate to help us be able to keep providing children in Mafinga, Tanzania with an education!
Classes
From Monday to Friday
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Sport and Arts
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Health Care
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Maths
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English
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Social studies
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Science and Technology
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Kiswahili
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Civic and moral education
Tanzania is also hit by Covid-19 and the teachers need some help to survive this period without income. Therefore you can also directly support the teachers by clicking here:
https://gogetfunding.com/Teachers/
Link to the Instagram of the school: https://www.instagram.com/ajoykindergarten/