Our Education - Tanzania Education Network/Mtandao wa Elimu ...

Volume 4: Issue 16
Report for Tujenge Pamoja 2007 - 2008
Thank you for announcing
the first phase of our
multi-year capacity building
initiative “Tujenge Pamoja”
(Let’s Build together), which
was initiated by Ark Foundation
of Africa from the United States.
The first meeting was held in
Nakuru, Kenya from July 17th
through 21st, 2007
Participants came from the following
Countries and Districts:
• Kenya; from Mombasa, Nandi,
and Trans Nzoia districts
• Tanzania; from Bagamoyo,
Dodoma rural, Mbozi, and
Zanzibar
• Uganda; from Gulu, Kitgum,
Luwero, and Wakiso
The workshop inaugurated a
three year initiative to engage
and strengthen the capacity of
indigenous organizations so that
they can scale up their programs
and effectively meet the complex
needs of orphans and vulnerable
children in their communities.
Too many orphans and other vulnerable
children (OVU) in Africa
are growing up in a situation of
scarcity, without education, healthcare,
and strong parental support.
Grandmothers, who care for the
majority of orphans, are overwhelmed
doing their job under
very hard, unsupportive circumstances.
Grandmothers are simply
doing what they know and what
they love doing, day after day.
In countries with very weak or
particularly nonexistent social
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safety nets, indigenous CBOs are
also struggling to survive. Many
do not have the resources, or
enough staff with the right skills
and training to enable them to
effectively address OVC related
challenges.
The goals of the program are:
• increase knowledge of the rights
and needs of the children
• increase and improve service to
OVC and their caregivers
• develop a learning network for
support and information
exchange among participants
• scale up proven effective
program designs
Emphasis on the use of local
resources
• Committed to addressing difficult
issues such as child sexual
abuse and neglect, and the way
children experience grief
• Diverse group with different
experiences and programs
• on-site visits to assess programs
in their community settings.
Lessons Learned:
• Strong desire by leaders of the
NGO’s to improve their skill
• Networking is a powerful generator
of learning encouragement
and mutual support
• People need on site, ongoing
support between workshops
• Building skills without
having access to
financial resources to
scale up their programs and
deliver new services is not
helpful,
• People can make significant
improvement in services
relying on local resources, but
they also need access to
external financial resources to
build staff and infrastructure.
• Most NGOs’ programs avoid
development programs for
children from 0-3 years
Next Steps:
1. Holding another workshop
in Tanzania and focusing on the
needs and the rights of youngest
children
2. Project and financial plan for
sustainability for long term and
human resource issues
3. Develop a funding pool to
provide seed money to help start
up new programs and build basic
organization infrastructure
4. Initiate a program of learning
visits among participants
5. Make at list one onsite visit
to each participant for technical
support, and gather participants
in midyear country level meetings
to view project plans, provide
peer support, and program
solving support.